College Basketball Grind Down: Sat, Jan 4th

by Jon Schiller (Varncass) Last Updated 2014-01-04 00:10:03

It is nice to begin the real season of college hoops as there is a plethora of games this Saturday. The only problem with that it is, it’s impossible to preview all of them in this article. What I will do is post this article up with 7 of the most fantasy relevant games and if you have any other questions about those games or the many other ones, post them here. I will get on around 10:30-11am EST tomorrow and answer everyone’s questions.

Usually on Draftstreet, a score of 200 is going to win a decent amount of your games, but Thursday night 170 would have been good enough to win. This just shows you how some of the salaries have been inflated by cupcakes at the beginning of the season, so in this early part of the season I am trying for guaranteed, low variance points even in the GPPs.

Michigan State T: 69.5

This is probably the best game of the day. Michigan State will run when given the opportunity and Indiana should provide them the opportunity. Keith Appling is very frustrating as a fantasy asset and will randomly put up extreme duds. That being said, I like his matchup against Ferrell in this one and he should be good for 15-5-5. I do not believe that Vonleh can guard Payne either and Adreian should rebound after his poor showing last time out. I am a bit worried about Dawson’s strength being effected against Indiana as they have the length and size to neutralize him. I would stray away from Dawson, but I think Gary Harris could provide a nice point total as he will be required to score by Izzo in a game which should come right down to the wire. I like guards against Indiana as in their losses they have allowed Napier to go for 27, Jerian Grant to go for 19 and 9 and Tyler Ennis to go for 17 and 8.

Indiana T: 73.2

Noah Vonleh is very good but this is not the best matchup for him. He will have problems with the experienced Payne, and in Indiana’s losses he lacks a monster game to make him stand out. His shot attempts have gone way down as well so he is a clear fade to me. Sheehey has finally been playing well, and should draw a smaller Michigan State defender, so he is a decent bargain option. Hollowell and Williams are way too inconsistent to like, so the only other guy to see here is Yogi. A little bit of a struggle in the middle of non-conference has turned into 30 and 25 in his last 2 while averaging 5 rebounds and 5 assists each in his last 3. Load him up with confidence as he should again take a ton of shots.

Notre Dame T: 67.7

Notre Dame barely made it out of the Canisius game without Grant, so who knows what they will be able to do against Duke. The good thing is, Duke’s defense has been vulnerable this year, but I still do not see them pulling off the upset here. That does not mean there is not value, as we saw what Eric Atkins could do without Grant, and I would load him up with confidence in this one. Atkins is going to be the focal point of the offense and has a very high floor here. Pat Connaughton and Sherman do not gain much value from the Grant suspension, but Duke is vulnerable inside so I really like Sherman today. Demetrius Jackson seemed to benefit the most from Grant’s absence, however he was really not a big part of the offense and was frankly disappointing against Canisius. The guy who benefited the most in minutes was VJ Beachem. Not sure if he will be available on your site, but he is a decent play if min-priced.

Duke T: 70.9

In a game that Ken’s projections think will be closer than I think the actual game will be, Jabari Parker makes a great play. There is no one on Notre Dame who can even think about matching up with Parker offensively, so a guy who takes 33% of his teams shots and rebounds only because there is no one else there to rebound, he will absolutely fill up the stat sheet. He could be in for a monster game today. Quinn Cook is always underpriced on multiple sites and always has the chance for a great game makes a solid play as well. Rodney Hood has kind of cooled off, and makes just an average play today. Other guys on Duke you cannot really trust although Andre Dawkins has really been picking up the pace off the bench, and Amile Jefferson has been putting together some decent games in 20 minutes of time.

Oklahoma T: 74.6

This game should really provide some fireworks as Oklahoma battles Texas in 2 of the most uptempo teams this year. Ken has this one as an 86-81 Oklahoma loss so there will be points to go around. You really cannot go wrong with any of the Oklahoma starters, although I would put Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler a rung down on the other 2. The great part about the Sooners is that without Hornbeak, the 3 guards are essentially forced to play the whole game. Hield and Woodard should go nuts today and Cameron Clark should continue putting up monster numbers even against the big Texas frontcourt.

Texas T: 72.0

Texas is a little bit more frustrating to deal with from a fantasy perspective, as Rick Barnes plays a ton of guys big minutes. Isaiah Taylor is the best option as he plays the most and runs the point for Texas. Taylor should be a solid play as he continues to be pretty cheap everywhere. Demarcus Holland plays a ton but you never really know what you are going to get from him, but I have a sneaking suspicion he produces today as someone has to score the 86 points. Javan Felix seems to have settled as a 20-25 mpg guy so I really do not like his upside. If you want to go low variance, Holmes is usually good for 15 and 5 but his upside is limited. Ridley makes a solid play, especially on FanDuel, as he has the potential for a multiple block game.

Washington T: 70.4

This game has Arizona as around 20 point favorites, but if you watched the way Washington played at Arizona State, you would wonder why. Washington was completely dominant and looked like a tournament team. The problem is, Lorenzo Romar is a terrible coach and cannot get his team to consistently play well. Now that I am expecting Washington to keep this close they will most likely lose by 40. Anyways, If you really believe in them, Nigel Williams-Goss could be in line for another nice stat line as well as Wilcox. Wilcox was bottled up by great defense by McKissic last game, but he still managed to get free for a bunch of 3’s so I am not too worried about if he is guarded by Nick Johnson, who is one of the best on ball defenders. Wilcox is one of the most pure shooters in CBB and is really fun to watch when he is on. I expect Perris Blackwell to have a bit of a struggle against the size of Arizona, which could be trouble for Washington. If Mike Anderson can put up some points, he can make value as he does everything else really well.

Arizona T: 64.8

Kaleb Tarczewski returned from injury last game and looked really solid doing so. I think he has a really nice game against the undersized Washington team, especially on FanDuel. I also like Brandon Ashley to put up some nice numbers. Arizona is a team that speads the wealth around and usually most everyone gets stats, so you can hardly go wrong, however they will not put up that 40 point performance for you. I think there is value here for most of them as Arizona should get into the high 70s and Washington should put up more of a fight than Washington State.

Creighton T: 66.6

Essentially for Creighton, Doug McDermott makes the best play on any given college fantasy sports night. There really is no one else who can give you the consistency of a 25 point 8 rebound game that Doug can. If you can afford him, play him as Creighton could get to 80 in this game and Seton Hall has absolutely no one who can defend him without Teague. I would not play anyone else on Creighton as they should run their offense through Doug, and won’t need Wragge or Gibbs to shoot 3’s. There really just is not much more fantasy value to go around here.

Seton Hall T: 67.6

Never have I seen a team be decimated by all sorts of injuries as Seton Hall. Not only injures, they had Mayaan leave for the Israeli army, so a battle of attrition wages here which means we have some value to pick on. This game is at home so they should keep it close for a little. Edwin is having a horrible season and may not be fully recovered, however he still holds value as a low-mid priced option on Draftstreet for a guy who is taking 30% of the shots. I also like Mobley and Oliver’s value as they have produced while Teague is out. Sterling Gibbs also makes a solid play as one of Mobley and Oliver is going to have to take the job of guarding Doug. Plenty of value here, my two favorites are Edwin and Oliver.

Temple T: 70.0

Temple is a really solid team to use for fantasy purposes as you know what you are going to get from Fran Dunphy. This year they are playing at a good pace and will play DeCosey, Cummings, Lee, and Pepper a ton of the game. I really like Anthony Lee in this game and I think he breaks out of his recent slump. Lee should have a distincy advantage over Tristan Spurlock. Calvin Newell has been struggling on both sides of the floor recently so I like Will Cummings to put up a solid game as well. I do not mind Quenton DeCosey either as he has been on fire, however he is a risk with the lack of other stats. Dalton Pepper has also been playing well and even with a size disadvantage should be able to put up numbers as this should be a high scoring game. If I had to pick one or two I would go with Cummings and Pepper.

UCF T: 70.8

UCF likes to play uptempo and also likes to not play defense making them a fun team to pick players for and against. This should be a close affair with no defense against 2 poor teams making good value for everyone. Like Temple, they run their big 4 starers, and I think there is a ton of value in Isaiah Sykes today. Sykes is like Delon Wright where he does everything well and has a chance for a triple double. His salary is depressed because of playing a bunch of cupcakes where UCF won by 30 and Sykes only playing half the game or less. Look for 20-7-7 from Sykes today. Calvin Newell and Kasey Wilson have really been struggling, and I would avoid them as I really dislike Newell’s matchup against Cummings. Spurlock is an enigma as well, but makes a solid GPP play if cheap, but the real guy to own here is Sykes.

Oregon State T: 68.9

Roberto Nelson is always in play with Oregon State, but Craig Robinson is making it really hard to pick from the other plethora of players. He continues to sub in Gomis, Robbins, Cooke and Reid in the frontcourt even though Collier and Brandt are the better players. He will also remove Roberto Nelson with 5 minutes to go in a close game and leave him out for 3 minutes. If he was not the president’s brother-in-law, you would think he would be fired by now. End rant and back to fantasy, Nelson is always in play, even though he has not put up the stats he did earlier he is always a threat to go big. Brandon Taylor will NOT be able to guard him, so Nelson should do well. Moreland came back last game and definitely looked a bit rusty but still managed to pull down 10 rebounds. He will get back to his double double self in no time. Devon Collier when playing good minutes was an amazing option however Robinson loves benching him for worse players, so unless his price has really dropped I am not thinking about using him. Angus Brandt’s minutes are also suffering with the return of Moreland and Robinson’s infatuation with Gomis and Reid so I am not looking at him either.

Utah T: 66.4

It will be interesting to see how this Utah team rebounds from a game they should have win to a game they should win. Dallin Bachynski played like a beast in the last game, which should gain him some extra minutes in this one along with the fact Utah will need to go big to match up with the size of Oregon State. I like Dallin as a bargain option today. Brandon Taylor i can see struggling in this one with the trees of Oregon State, so I would look towards the big 2 for value. If you can get past Jordan Loveridge’s ugly shot, he still makes a good percentage of them and contribues in many other ways. Loveridge makes a solid play as no one on Oregon State really cares about defense. I really also like Delon Wright in this game. He is always a threat for a 50 fantasy point game, and definitely could get it here against the awful defense of Oregon State.