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Baron Davis, Chris Quinn, Nate Robinson and more are discussed in this week's Charity Stripe...

Davis hasn't played a full season since the turn of the century...

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NBA Grumblings: The Charity Stripe, Jan 8, 2008

http://www.sportsgrumblings.com/basketball/articles/articles/298/1/NBA-Grumblings-The-Charity-Stripe-Jan-8-2008/Page1.html

Charlie Danoff

In his own head, Charlie has been a fantasy General Manager for years. Unfortunately, real NBA teams did not return his calls when he applied to be their "real" GM. Following his rejection, he has spitefully chosen to share his knowledge with the world. For more from Charlie, visit his blog.

By Charlie Danoff

Published on 01/8/2008

Sell high on the Warriors' G Baron Davis and do it yesterday...

This week I've found three impressive young guards who have received sparce playing time during their young careers. That’s good news for you, loyal readers, because you can be the first in your league to nab them on their ascensions to greatness. I also have three hoopsters to digress, which might not make you too happy if you currently roster their services. Trust me, though; you are much better off following this advice and moving all of them immediately.

The best in the upcoming week.

Three Who’ve Impressed

Chris Quinn
Miami Heat
G

Given that the Miami Heat are not only the worst team in the Eastern Conference, but have suffered severe injury woes, some obscure players have received big minutes this season. One of them has been second-year guard out of Notre Dame, Chris Quinn.

During Quinn’s senior season as “Domer” he averaged 6.4 APG and 17.7 PPG on his way to being named to the Big East All-Conference First Team. Despite also being named a third-team All American by CBSSportsline, Quinn went undrafted, and was signed as a free agent by the Heat.

His rookie year he barely played, tallying only 410 total minutes. In his sophomore NBA season; however, Quinn has taken on a bigger role, starting in nine of the 20 games in which he has played, including all of January’s contests For January his numbers are not amazing, but certainly noteworthy: 3.7 APG and 13 PPG on 52% shooting from the field.

His minutes will go down now that Jason Williams has returned from injury, but given the Heat’s struggles and the increasing likelihood of Williams being traded, figure on Quinn playing consistently for the remainder of the season. He will not be a player who will win you your fantasy league, but if you’re looking for some help in FG% he could be a nice pickup, and will not be completely worthless in the other categories.

Nate Robinson
New York Knicks
G

Robinson is another young guard who’s been pined to the bench for most of his career, but has been enjoying success in the New Year. His numbers for January are even good enough to best Chris Quinn, as he’s averaged 19.3 PPG -- shooting an insane 58 percent from the field. In Saturday’s game against Houston, he made five-of-the-seven threes point shots he attempted.

Lost in the madness of Isiah Thomas’ grand experiment, Robinson has finally been getting some consistent burn of late, averaging nearly 30 minutes per game over the past three Knick contests. Given that he is competing with Stephan Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Fred Jones and the other assorted bums on the Knick roster, there really is no reason he should not continue to play big minutes.

Not only is he one of the few good, cheap, young assets on the squad, he is arguably the best guard on New York’s sad payroll. That said, even though he is one of Isiah’s own draft picks and few bright spots on the Coach and GM’s resume, consistent minutes moving forward are anything but guaranteed.

His best bet would be to get accused of sexual assault, and then maybe Isiah will respect him. Nevertheless, he is worthy of a pickup and could be nice addition for your roster.

Jarvis Critternon
Los Angeles Lakers
G

OK, I do realize recommending a player who has only played more than 20 minutes in an NBA game once in his career is a bit of a stretch, but I'm putting myself out on a limb here. I'm willing to take the reputation-risk. I mean, in those 20 minutes he put up 19 points on 7-9 shooting, with 3 assists!

For those of you who do not really know Critternon, I will quote Ed Weiland’s (1) draft preview piece on ’07 point guard prospects:

“Taking the season as a whole, his numbers are very solid. He scores often and efficiently. He’s a good passer; a great ballhawk and he can hit the jumper. His turnovers are on the high side, but this isn’t a huge issue for freshmen PGs. Several good ones including Kidd, Billups, Terry and Iverson all turned the ball over more frequently than Crittenton did as a freshman.”

Playing behind Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar and Sash Vujanic (who are all playing well) minutes are going to be tough to come by for the rookie from Georgia Tech. Keep in mind, though; Phil Jackson LOVES tall point guards. The 6’6” Ron Harper started on four Jackson championship teams. Phil likes the matchup problems a big guard createsand the triangle offense does not need a true point guard anyway.

This may be a year or two early, but I like this kid and sooner or later he will be starting next to Kobe on the Lakers team that returns to the NBA Finals. Do not say I didn’t warn you.

Three to Digress

Beno Udrih & John Salmons
Sacramento Kings
G

I put these two together because their current situations are so similar. Both are young guards who have been in NBA for a short while. They have played well enough to justify staying in the league, but nothing really beyond that. This season; however, thanks to a rash of injuries on the Sacramento roster, both have played big minutes and proven they are starter-level NBA players.

For the season, Udrih is averaging 13.6 PPG, 4.8 APG and an impressive, for a point guard, 3.7 RPG. As good as Beno has been, Salmon’s play has been exponentially better. In January, Salmons has been a middle class man’s Lebron James, averaging 22.3 PPG, 4.7 APG and an extremely strong 7.7 RPG. Given the huge jumps in both their games this year, you are probably wondering why I have them down here and not up above in the “impress” section.

The reason for this Charity Stripe readers is that both are putting up their stats playing about 36 minutes per game. And even if they continue their per-minute production their value is soon to take a free-fall.

Mike Bibby, Kevin Martin and Ron Artest all figure to return from injury this month. When they do, they will regain their starting spots, and cut heavily into the minutes of these two improving young studs.

Thus, the reason I recommend digressing the pair is because their value this season will never be higher than right now. Buy low, sell high, ya know?

Baron Davis
Golden State Warriors
G

It almost pains me to write this. Watching Davis lead the Warriors over the Mavericks last spring in the first-round of the playoffs was one the best experiences I've had as an NBA fan. Maybe the team didn’t play basketball “the right way,” but they were damn fun to watch and they played their way -- into the biggest upset in NBA history.

Unfortunately, that is in the past.

This year, following Stephen Jackson’s return, Davis has led the team to similar success as they currently sit at 20-15, following their horrendous start. Davis himself has been having a career best year, averaging 22.4 PPG, 8.2 APG and 4.8 RPG. Things are going hella-swell for the Bay Area star.

The problem is, Davis has not played in a full 82 games since the ’01 – ’02 season. His knees have gone out time and again since then, and despite his on-court brilliance has been shadowed by his inability to stay on it. This season Davis is playing almost 40 minutes per game, the most during his last four campaign.

I don’t know how much more clearly I need to illustrate this trend, but Davis is going to go down. and soon. And when he falls, odds are he will miss an extended amount of playing time. Move him now, sell him high, before its too late -- or you’ll end up looking like Mark Cuban following the Mavs defeat last spring.

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