Day 12: Rotoworld and the act of biased fantasy advice

(A smiling Evan Turner. Illustration courtesy of Patrick Ortega/Five magazine, K1X)

Evan Turner had a fantastic performance on Friday. The fourth-year pro scored 22 points on 10-18 shooting, pulling down 10 rebounds and grabbing 5 assists, and the blurb he received on Rotoworld was noticeably appreciative. "The Fantasy Four of Turner, Spencer Hawes, ... Thaddeus Young ... and Michael Carter-Williams ... are all must-start players until further notice."

You hear that, guys? Evan Turner is a must-start fantasy player! But... you know, I can't help but notice that this differentiates slightly from what his Rotoworld blurb was just a week ago... Allow me to fire up the time machine, when Turner scored 20 points and added 3 rebounds and 3 assists back on November 2. This is what Rotoworld had to say about him back then: "His lines have habitually been empty in his career and so far this season he's failed to make any of his six 3-point attempts, he doesn't have a block, handed out just 4.0 assists and grabbed only 4.3 boards per game. Turner has really improved as far as reality goes, but his game doesn't translate to fantasy with the aforementioned lack of production."

Ouch! So, in the span of one week, Evan Turner has gone from a player with "habitually empty" stats and a game that "doesn't translate to fantasy" because of a "lack of production," to a "must-start player." Gee, that didn't take long.

Now, before I continue, I want to make something clear. One thing I will never, ever do on this site is attack or criticize someone else's fantasy predictions/assessments so long as they are done honestly and fairly. Predictions are an inexact science that we fantasy "analysts" -- if I can deign to call myself that -- have to engage in. Sometimes we accurately call how someone will do, and sometimes we get it dead wrong. And I'm not in the business of gauging the success rate of other people's advice, because no one, not me nor Matthew Berry nor anyone, isn't susceptible to getting something completely wrong from time to time.

However, I have one exception, one little asterisk to my no-criticizing policy, and that's when a fantasy analyst's advice isn't so much about a players' statistical prowess, but instead is just an excuse for that analyst to vent about how much he, personally, dislikes a certain player. And that was what was awful about that Evan Turner blurb I just pimped. The dude freakin' put up 20 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in a game, and had gotten at least 20-3-and-3 in all three games he had played in to that point. Habitually empty? Lack of production? Really????? Who gives a crap that he doesn't hit a lot of three's -- there are only like five players in the entire league that won't mildly hurt you in at least one category.

No, that aforementioned analysis had nothing to do with Evan Turner or his fantasy longevity, but everything to do with the writer's own personal, irrelevant dislike of him. And this terrible, short-sighted excuse for advice pops up on Rotoworld all the time. Gaze, if you will, at what the site said about David Lee after he had his best game yet with the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 22, 2013, when he scored 25 points and pulled down 22 rebounds in a gritty win over San Antonio: "Easily one of the league's most overrated players, his defensive issues negate much of what he does offensively and on the glass in any given contest. The good news for fantasy owners is that none of that matters."

What awesome advice! Hey, this guy really sucks, but uh, I'm kind of admitting that what I'm bitching about doesn't really matter. So there you go. Use this bit of knowledge to enrich your fantasy team!

Look, I think Rotoworld and Rotowire provide a basic service to fantasy owners that's pretty invaluable. I think Rotoworld is, overall, a very competently-run website with analysts who generally know what they're talking about. But this non-advice-advice stuff has got to stop. It's seriously a disservice to everyone who goes to that site, who are only reading about guys like Lee and Turner because they want an honest appraisal of them, and instead, what they're getting is some dude ranting about them for no good reason.

The bottom line is that if a guy is putting up good numbers and an analyst believes that he's going to continue to put up good numbers, then that's all he/she needs to write. This extracurricular sniping is counter-intuitive and helps NOBODY with their fantasy team.

Oh, and by the way, Evan Turner had 31 points, 10 rebounds and 2 three's last night against the Cavs. On the year, he's averaging 23.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals, while shooting 52% from the floor and 86% from the foul line. Those are sensational numbers; on the ESPN Player Rater, Paul George, LeBron James, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson are the only small forwards who rank ahead of him. Yes, he's ahead of even Kevin Durant right now. And how did Rotoworld's blurb of him read after his fantastic performance yesterday? "In fantasy, he's a little better suited for points formats than Roto because he doesn't provide much defensive stats or 3-pointers."

Haters gonna hate.

All right, so let's get to some other fantasy dudes, who I promise I'll assess fairly, even though I may have a vendetta against a few of them for doing badly for me when I owned them previously.

• If you wanna know why gambling on sports is a good way to bankrupt, look no further than the Celtics-Heat game. The Boston Celtics -- maybe the worst team in the league -- went on the road and actually defeated the Miami Heat, which is just amazing. And they did it on a last-second game winning three by Jeff Green, who finished with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 three's. Green may have been inconsistent in the past, but he's the last decent scorer standing on that miserable Celtics roster and is a lock to put up great stats the rest of the way.
• Stephen Curry came back from his ankle injury and had a swell night in a limited run, putting up 22 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 4 three's in 34 minutes. And just like that, Toney Douglas goes right back to being forgettable. Sorry, dude.
• Harrison Barnes had a quiet night for the Dubs, finishing with just 4 points and 2 rebounds on 2-7 shooting. Barnes is a very, very talented forward and I like his chances to be a consistent contributor off the bench as the season winds down. So far, his statlines have been less than awe-inspiring and they might remain that way for a little bit. But at some point, he's going to be someone you'll want on your team. He's droppable if a better option exists for you, but keep him on your watch list.
• Tristan Thompson continued his impressive play on Saturday, getting 19 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks in a double-OT win over Philly. The oft-hurt Andrew Bynum isn't a threat to poach minutes from him, and Anderson Varejao -- who Thompson starts next to -- gets injured all the time too. Thompson doesn't have a great offensive game; he doesn't strike me as someone who'll average more than a dozen per game. But his placement in the Cavs' starting lineup is absolutely secure, making him someone who needs to be universally-owned. (That's right, if you're an astronaut and you happen to be reading this in outer space, you too need to own Tristan Thompson and his dependable rebounding average.)
• Michael Carter-Williams had 21 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and he hit all 3 of his three-point attempts. I'm going to keep beating the same drum I've been beating all season: DO NOT SELL HIGH ON THIS GUY. YOU SHOULD KEEP HIM. HE'S VERY, VERY GOOD.
• Paul Millsap continued his excellent season on Saturday, scoring 18 points and adding 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Millsap's averages of 20-8-and-4 are elite, and he's even made 4 three's on the year through six games. The only weakness in his game is at the charity stripe, where he's shooting just 57.5%. But Millsap is a career 72% shooter from the foul line, so that shouldn't be a year-long problem for him.
• Kelly Olynyk started at center for Boston and got 7 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in their improbable win over the Heat. Those aren't sexy numbers, but the fact that he's starting and that Kris Humphries has been exiled to the bench means that Olynyk should be picked up in fantasy leagues. Am I expecting great things from him? Not really, but anyone who gets a decent run on a team like Boston needs to be owned simply because an NBA player that plays 30 minutes a night on a crappy team is more often than not going to be an asset. Vitor Faverani can be safely ignored at this point.
• Patrick Beverley has his best game of the year, picking up 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks in 37 minutes. That's a phenomenal statline, and now that he's back from an injury and is in the starting lineup again, Beverley is poised to be a terrific fantasy commodity. He's not a great scorer and he has to contend with Jeremy Lin -- who put up 6 points and 7 assists off the bench yesterday -- and I wouldn't even peg him to be a big assists guy, just because James Harden and Lin are going to have the ball so much. Still, Beverley is a fantastic defender and is fully capable of producing across the board like he did on Saturday. Absolutely pick him up. Meanwhile, if you own Lin, he should still get close to 30 minutes a night and be productive, but understand that now is the time to capitalize on his name recognition. If you're going to sell high on Lin, this is THE time to do it.
• Damion Lillard had a disastrously-bad shooting performance against the Kings, going just 1-15 from the floor, though he salvaged his night by getting 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. The Blazers starters are receiving an insane amount of minutes from head coach Terry Stotts, so even on nights like this when he's having trouble scoring, Lillard and the others are still capable of chipping in in other ways. Lillard is averaging 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, and is hitting 3.3 three's per contest. The dude is a beast.
• Brandon Knight returned from an injury on Saturday, playing just 14 minutes and producing 6 points and 1 assist. I'm extremely high on Knight this season, who should very quickly get promoted into the starting lineup, where he'll get big minutes on a nightly basis for the Milwaukee Bucks. If he was dropped in your league, add him. (Boy, I've been recommending adding a lot of people lately. Well, for what it's worth, I think Knight is legit and I would add him without a second of hesitation if he was available.)