Day 55: Who's been naughty in fantasy basketball this season?

(Baby it's cold out there. Illustration courtesy of FaustSketcher)

Hey, all you denizens of fantasy land. Today, as some of you may know is Festivus -- and part of the Festivus festivities includes an "airing of grievances." So, in the spirit of Festivus, allow me to briefly run down the most dastardly, disappointing players in fantasy basketball so far this year. These are the players who deserve not only to be shouted at but to receive a giant heaping helping of coal in their stocking, assuming they also celebrate Christmas.

Without further ado, this is my airing of grievances:

• Derrick Rose. Hey buddy. You seriously think you're the best player in the NBA? Then how come you're lower on the Yahoo! player-rater than Quincy Acy and Robert Sacre? Oh, that's right. It's because you're NEVER healthy! And while we're at it, shame on you Brook Lopez and Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant and JaVale McGee. How dare you guys have completely inevitable, understandable injuries? You bastards.
• Rajon Rondo. Dude, you were supposed to be back by early December, Christmas at the latest. And now you're telling people you're going to be out until probably February? Not cool, bro.
• Deron Williams. Okay, so you've played great lately. Big whoop. Where was this good play at the beginning of the year? Seriously, you're only averaging 12.7 points per game. My grandmother could average 12.7 points per game!!!! Okay, that's not true. But you know what I mean, maybe!
• Ricky Rubio. I know, there's a lot of point guards on here, huh? Rubio, you haven't improved yourself at all. In fact, you're arguably a worse shooter than you were a year ago, and your assist totals are underwhelming by your standards, and you still can't hit a three. When are you actually gonna buck up and play like you're supposed to? Huh?? HUH?!?!?!?!
• Larry Sanders. You know what, you're insane man. Rose and Rondo and Kobe at least got their injuries on the court. But you know why your season has been a disaster so far? Because you got in a bar fight and damaged your right hand -- you know, the one you block shots with. I have nothing but contempt for you, Mr. Sanders. Although, I'm still banking on you having a nice second half of the season. But still, anger!!!
• Ersan Ilyasova. Jesus Christ. I mean, Festivus Savior. You, sir, are a disgrace. How do you sleep at night?
• Tobias Harris. You were supposed to be an awesome fantasy sleeper, and yet it took you two freakin' months thanks to injuries just to make it into the starting lineup. For shame. Shaaaaaaaame.
• Andrei Kirilenko. I'm sure someone drafted you.
• Omer Asik. Just get traded already.
• Kris Humphries. Hey, you're on one of the weakest rosters in basketball and yet you can't even start. I wonder what a certain Kardashian would think of your performance...
• Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Martin and Nikola Vucevic. I pegged all you guys to have down years, and yet you're making me look bad. Please stop.
• And finally, Terrence Ross. I went to bat for you, dude. I told everyone that given the amount of minutes you're likely to rack up now that Rudy Gay is gone, you could easily be a poor man's Klay Thompson from here on out. Well, you went 2-10 yesterday and you're stinking the joint up. You're still not a terrible source of three's, but you're not at all a must-own player. So boo, you inconsistent sophomore. You've got some nerve not living up to the slightly-unrealistic standard I set for you!!

Ah, I feel better now. Okay, so let's get into some regular blurbs. There were only three games yesterday, so this is gonna be a quickie. (That's what she said! Amirite?) [crickets]

• Jeremy Lin is slated to return from his back injury tonight, and with Patrick Beverley and James Harden out, Lin has a chance to put up some terrific stats over the next few weeks. This is lame news for anyone (me) who picked up Aaron Brooks, but it's not a killer. Brooks, after all, can do just fine as a sixth man, and with the Rockets playing four games in five nights later this week and with Harden not around, Brooks should still see plenty of minutes, and might even share the court with Lin at times. He's still not a bad short-term option if you need assists and/or three's.
• Kevin Love was just INSANE yesterday: 45 points, 19 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 three's in an overtime loss to the Clippers. It barely qualifies as news anymore when he puts up rediculous statlines like this. If you own Love, you have no reason to be losing rebounds EVER.
• Nikola Pekovic came to play too: 34 points and 14 rebounds. Pekovic is something of an injury risk, but he's awfully good when he's able to walk on two feet. He's averaging 24-and-10 over his last five games, and keep in mind that he's putting up those stats playing next to Kevin Love, which is awfully impressive. Pekovic is not someone to sell high on, injuries or not.
• Matt Barnes was lame yesterday, producing a paltry 3 points in 11 minutes off the bench. Barnes looked great in his first game back, but his second showing is a better indication of what kind of a fantasy player he is. Sure, he can pick up a lot of different stats when he's rolling. But because he's not exactly a go-to guy on offense, he's bound to be inconsistent on a regular basis. He really shouldn't be considered a fantasy option unless you're in a very, very deep league.
• Steven Adams, who I recommended as a stream option if you needed blocks this weekend, produced 2 of them in 11 minutes yesterday, giving him 4 on the weekend. He still isn't to be trusted in standard leagues, but he's not an unreliable shot-blocker, which makes him useful on occasion as someone to stream.
• Lance Stephenson leads the NBA in triple-doubles this season, which is astonishing. The Pacers two-guard produced 12 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, continuing what has been a marvelous fantasy season for him. Danny Granger, meanwhile, came off the bench for 12 points and 5 rebounds in garbage time, which is much ado about nothing. Stephenson may actually be better suited coming off the bench, which would theoretically allow Granger to start again. But with Stephenson playing this well, there's no way that's happening any time soon.