LestersLegends.com

Danny Bollinger/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES
.
I’m not suggesting that Vince Carter, at 35, is going to leap over anybody on a slam or revert back to his Half-Man, Half-Amazing days. I’m not suggesting that the Vinsanity is going to return either. Those days are behind him. However, he can still score, as evidenced by his recent streak. The question is whether or not he can keep it up.
.
In his past four games he has twice went for 21 points en route to a 15.5 points per game average. He is contributing across the board, adding 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.5 blocks, 1.3 steals, and 2.0 three-pointers. He has even 50.0 percent of his shots during the hot streak.
.
His recent stretch has allowed his season numbers to increase to 10.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 0.4 bpg, 0.9 spg, and 1.3 3pg. Not exactly superstar numbers, which is why he is owned in 48.0 percent of Yahoo! and 39.4 percent of ESPN leagues.
.
Obviously his age and the Mavericks depth also play a role. Carter is averaging 29.0 minutes per game over his past four, but with Jason Kidd, Rodrigue Beaubois, Jason Terry, Vince Carter, Delonte West, Shawn Marion, Lamar Odom, Dirk Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood, and Ian Mahinmi, the Mavs have ten players playing just about 17 mpg or more. Nine of them are playing at least 20 mpg.
.
Carter has bounced around quite a bit, with Dallas being his fourth team since the 2008-09 season. He likely can’t sustain the 15.5 ppg average, especially with Dallas’ depth. If you want to ride him while he’s hot, it’s not a bad idea. Along with the scoring, you’ll get a little bit of everything.
.
.

Also check out:

• A Tale of Two Dunks
• Gooden Gold
• Can Amar’e Stoudemire Be Had at a Discount?
• Jordan Crawford Heating Up
• Fresh Prince of Motown

.
Injuries often open the door for certain players to elevate their game. Milwaukee’s Drew Gooden seems to cherish that opportunity. The injury to Andrew Bogut is the latest opportunity for Drew to up his game.
.
So far he has delivered. In the two and change games he’s played since Bogut went down with an ankle injury, Gooden has averaged 19.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 blocks, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 three-pointer.
.
Gooden has seven starts this year. In those starts he’s averaging 17.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.7 steals, and 0.4 three-pointers. The simple fact is, with Bogut out the Bucks are going to ask Gooden to play 30+ minutes per game. With that amount of run I expect him to put up those kinds of numbers.
.
He has obviously put up better numbers as a starter, but playing center has suited Gooden well. He has 33 career starts at the position and has averaged 13.7 points and 9.8 rebounds, which is 1.3 more points and 1.3 more rebounds per game than he averaged in 421 career starts at forward.
.
At first glance there is a pesky little problem of facing Orland four times in the next 18 games. In sixteen games against Orlando since Dwight Howard’s rookie year, Gooden is averaging 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds. Not many people can say they had that kind of production against Howard.
.
Gooden is owned in most ESPN leagues (81.0 percent), but there still could be some time to snatch him up in Yahoo! leagues where he is owned in just over half of their leagues.
.
In deeper leagues you may want to look at teammate Ersan Ilyasova.
.
.

Also check out:

• Can Amar’e Stoudemire Be Had at a Discount?
• Jordan Crawford Heating Up
• Fresh Prince of Motown
• Jodie Meeks or Kyle Korver for Three
• Udonis Haslem Hits the Boards

.
Throwing out Amar’e Stoudemire’s three game 2005-06 season, he’s averaging less points (17.8) than he has since his rookie season, way back in 2002-2003. He’s four points per game below his career average, and 7.5 points below last year’s average in his first year with the Knicks.
.
Not only is his scoring down, but his field goal percentage is off-the-charts down. We’re talking more than ten percent below is lifetime 53.4 percent shooting. The shooting woes run deep in New York. Only two players (Tyson Chandler and Landry Fields) getting significant run are above 47 percent. Fields is at 47.1 percent so even that isn’t entirely impressive. Of all the players to bounce back, Amar’e has the best odds.
.
Also uncharacteristic of Amar’e Stoudemire is his lack of blocks. At 0.5 bpg he is only getting about a third of the blocks per game that he has got over the course of his career. Eight blocks in sixteen games just isn’t cutting it.
.
It’s not a lost season by any means. Sure, the scoring isn’t the same, but 17.8 isn’t bad. Neither is a 8.4 rebound per game average. Assists have never been his strong suit, but he is averaging a career high 1.2 steals.
.
Obviously getting Stoudemire isn’t going to be cheap. He’s still a huge name and it’s early enough that his owners may not be quite frustrated enough. His past eight games are helping your cause though. During that stretch he has as many 20+ point games as he has single-digit games. His scoring average is 14.6 ppg and his rebounding average is 7.8 rpg. He’s shooting 41.7 percent during the stretch. To make matters worse, he’s averaging 3.8 turnovers during the eight games, with at least five turnovers in half of the games.
.
His owner may not be willing to move him right, but I bet he or she will listen. Given Amar’e's track record he’s a good bet to rebound. If you can get him at a discount, all the better.
.
.

Also check out:

• Jordan Crawford Heating Up
• Fresh Prince of Motown
• Jodie Meeks or Kyle Korver for Three
• Udonis Haslem Hits the Boards
• Byron Mullens Scoring Big

.
Washington Wizards guard Jordan Crawford has eight double-digit scoring efforts in his past ten games. The other two he went for nine points, giving him a 13.7 ppg scoring average during the stretch. He’s been particularly hot over his past six games averaging 15.2 ppg.
.
He’s been helping out in other categories as well, averaging 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.0 three-pointers per game during his past six games. While he hasn’t shot extremely well (44.4 percent) during the stretch, it is an improvement considering he’s shooting below 40.0 percent on the year.
.
While even his hot streak isn’t comparable to last April and May when he averaged 19.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.2 three-pointers in 18 starts, he can be a productive option. He was averaging nearly 40 minutes per game in those starts. Barring injury, he won’t come close to that amount of playing time, but as long as he’s averaging 20+ minutes he can be a spot starter.
.
Obviously a lot will depend on how he’s used by Randy Wittman, who surprisingly landed the head coach position despite a horrible track record. Wittman went with a very balanced line in the battle of the have-nots last night. Ten players played at least 19 minutes and one more (Trevor Booker) checking in at nine minutes. Given the way Wittman’s good friend Flip Saunders was run out of town, Wittman could just be looking to see who shows a spark. Interesting times ahead in the nation’s capital. Just remember even bad teams often supply unlikely fantasy options.
.
.

Also check out:

• Fresh Prince of Motown
• Jodie Meeks or Kyle Korver for Three
• Udonis Haslem Hits the Boards
• Byron Mullens Scoring Big
• Leandro Barbosa Heating Up

.
Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince is feeling it. Over his past five games he’s averaging 38.4 minutes, bringing his season average up to 33.4 mpg. He has made the most of his extra playing time.
.
During his five-game stretch he’s averaged 20.0 points per game. His high coming in the form of a 29-point explosion on January 18th against the Timberwolves. He’s been in double-figures in his past seven games to raise his scoring average to 12.2 ppg on the season, which is his lowest mark since his second season in the league, but his recent stretch is encouraging.
.
Prince isn’t quite doing the same across the board damage we’ve grown accustomed to. He’s averaging 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists on the year. Even his recent five-game average of 4.0 rpg and 0.8 apg don’t quite reach his career 4.6 and 2.7 marks respectively.
.
Prince has provided a fair share of blocks (1.0 bpg) and steals (0.8 spg) during his hot stretch and his season numbers are in line with his career numbers in those categories.
.
He’s right at his career mark for three-pointers per game on the year, but has doubled that number (1.4 3pg) over the past five games. Prince is shooting a career low 41.5 percent on the year, but is at 48.3 percent during the stretch. He’s also hit 90.0 percent of his free throws, which has brought his season average (76.0 percent) in line with his career mark (76.4 percent).
.
Prince is owned in 45.0 percent of Yahoo! and 57.6 percent of ESPN leagues. He has never averaged more than 14.7 ppg for a season so don’t expect the scoring binge to last, but he is a solid multiple category contributor. Ride him while he’s hot.
.
.

Also check out:

• Jodie Meeks or Kyle Korver for Three
• Udonis Haslem Hits the Boards
• Byron Mullens Scoring Big
• Leandro Barbosa Heating Up
• Need Steals? Look to Tony Allen – Need Points? Pass the Mayo