CBB Daily Plays: Saturday, February 14th
Well, hello there! You are currently reading a college basketball article. I repeat, this is a college basketball article. Don’t worry, there’s no judging going on here.
If you are an avid NBA grinder looking to try and make some money on this Valentine’s Day, this article is for you. We have you covered here at RotoGrinders. I will be providing daily plays today, tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday over the NBA All-Star Break. Feel free to check out the column, and hopefully it can help you win some money along the way.
Saturdays have very large college basketball slates. If you need picks for the EARLY games, check out the Grinders Live After Dark video that Varncass and I recorded last night. If you need picks for the LATE games, read onward! I will focus on the FanDuel pricing for this article.
GUARDS
D.J. Newbill ($8,400) – Don’t be fooled by the game logs from his last two contests. D.J. Newbill is a stud, and he is no longer priced like one. Take advantage of the discount and plug him into your lineups on this Saturday night. He put up a solid 18-7-5 line against this same Maryland team two weeks ago, and he should get back to his 30+ fantasy point ways here. This is a $9.5K player that’s priced over $1,000 cheaper than that. Play the fade at your own risk.
Tyus Jones ($7,600) – There are not a lot of appetizing games in the evening slate, so you will want to get yourself some exposure to the Duke/Syracuse contest. It features two teams that are in the top 90 in the country in tempo, and it should be the highest scoring game on the slate. Duke is favored by seven on the road, and a lot of their guys are in play here. I worry about the performance of Okafor and Winslow against the Syracuse zone, so I will target the guards. Tyus Jones has been fantastic since the calendar hit 2015, and he will be called upon to make a lot of plays in this game. He’s one of my favorite guard plays tonight.
Levi Randolph ($7,300) – Ricky Tarrant is doubtful today with a leg injury, which should only increase the chances of Levi Randolph having a big game here. He hasn’t been the stud all season that I expected him to be, but his performance is generally consistent, and he is affordable at $7,300. He has the upside to be one of the highest scoring guards on the slate, but you can get him at a mid-range price tag in a game where he should have a high usage rate and his team is favored to win. That’s plenty of reason to give him a look.
Kasey Hill ($5,600) – Florida’s top guard Michael Frazier could be out for a couple of weeks, which opens the door for increased minutes for Kasey Hill and Eli Carter. Carter is a streaky player who doesn’t contribute much outside of scoring, so I’ll gravitate towards Hill in this spot. He has logged back-to-back 23 fantasy point performances, and that is right at the 4x value threshold on FanDuel. He makes a great cap-saving play for one of your guard spots this evening.
FORWARDS
Rakeem Christmas ($9,700) – As I wrote above, you will definitely want some exposure to this Duke/Syracuse game, and for my money I like Christmas as the top option among the big men. He’s a mortal lock to play 40 minutes as long as he doesn’t get into massive foul trouble, as he has logged 40 minutes in five consecutive games and eight of the last ten. Okafor is not a shutdown defender, and Christmas could easily find himself with a massive double-double in this contest. He doesn’t come cheap, but he’s a source of guaranteed points that are often hard to find at the forward spots.
Stefan Moody ($7,100) – Varncass will be very proud of me for writing up one of his favorite players here, and I do it not as a favor but as a sincere recommendation. Ole Miss gets a nice tempo boost against Arkansas here, and they are playing at home. This game will rival the Duke/Syracuse contest as the highest scoring game on the slate, and Moody makes a nice target. He’s primarily a scorer, but he contributes solidly in rebounds, assists, and steals as well. He has a solid 20-point floor with a nice ceiling in this matchup.
Cameron Ridley ($6,500) – The absence of Jonathan Holmes has opened up additional minutes for Ridley, and surprisingly Myles Turner has been nothing short of awful lately without Holmes around. Ridley has been the biggest beneficiary, and he busted out with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the last game against TCU. Keep an eye on the news throughout the day, as there is an outside chance Holmes could be cleared from his concussion in time to play in this game. I don’t mind Ridley even if Holmes goes, but there is slightly more risk involved if that is the case.
Rodney Purvis ($4,900) – He is by no means a sexy pick. He doesn’t really have a massive upside. He’s also not that intriguing of a talent. So why am I recommending Rodney Purvis here? It’s all about the value. Reliable value is very hard to find in college basketball daily fantasy, as there are plenty of guys out there who can get you anywhere from 2 to 20 fantasy points. Purvis provides that element of safety. He comes off the bench for UConn, but he plays a consistent 30 minutes and is averaging 19 fantasy points over his last eight games. That’s plenty of production for a sub-5K price tag. In fact, it seems like he’s been right at $4,900 all year.