Gary's Sports Blog-News and Notes for Week of 1-21

News and Notes for Week of 1-21

NBA

Stephon Marbury-PG-Knicks-If you’re like me and you wasted a fairly early draft pick on Starbury, it’s time to lose the dead weight. Stephon seemed disinterested since the season began and now is likely gone for the year, following ankle surgery. Pickup Nate Robinson immediately! Technically, Robinson is still coming off the bench, but he’s getting starters minutes and starters stats.

Tracy McGrady-F-Rockets-McGrady is finally back and should be put back into your lineup immediately. He played signifigant minutes in his first game back Friday night and you should activate him now. Luther Head loses pretty much all value thanks to McGrady’s return.

Jermaine O’Neal-C-Pacers-Another guy, like Marbury, who seems like he could care less. O’Neal has been unhappy all year long and now he can blame his lackadaisical attitude on his bum knee. He’ll miss at least the next two weeks and he’s even talking like he might just take the rest of the season off, so reserve him ASAP. Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster will see a bump while Jermaine sits.

Mike Bibby-PG-Kings-He’s not the player he used to be, but Bibby can still be a serviceable point guard. He’s missed the entire season with a torn ligament in his thumb, but returned last week and should be active in almost all leagues. If Bibby was left for dead and is on the waiver wire, grab him today! And kiss Francisco Garcia’s value good-bye.

Randy Foye-PG-Wolves-Foye is another one who has not played all season, in his case due to a stress reaction in his knee. But Foye has been cleared to return to practice and if you’ve got room on your bench, you should stash him away. The team expects him back in the lineup around the end of the month and the team with the league’s worst record could certainly use him.

Gilbert Arenas-PG-Wizards-Another guy who you should not forget about, just in case somebody dumped him in your league. The Wizards leading scorer has resumed shooting following knee surgery and it’s looking like he might be back in the lineup following the All-Star break. Hopefully, somebody in your league was shortsighted enough to dump him when reports surfaced a while back that he might be out for the entire year.

NHL

Sidney Crosby-C-Penguins-Of course, the lead story has been the high ankle sprain suffered by Sid the Kid. If you’ve got him on your squad, hold on to your butt. He was more than likely leading your squad, but you might have to get used to life without him for a while. High ankle sprains are tricky and the Pens are not saying much about the injury. He could be back after this weekend’s All-Star break or he could be out until March.

Paul Stastny-C-Avalanche-The Colorado center will miss the next several weeks after going under the knife for an appendectomy.

Antero Nittymaki-G-Flyers-The Flyers continue to ride the red hot goaltending of Nittymaki, who is 6-0-1 over the last 7 games. Never one to show much loyalty towards goaltenders, the Flyers have given Martin Biron just three starts this month, so if you have to have one goalie today, it should be Nittymaki.

Shawn Matthias-C-Panthers-If you’re looking for a young guy who should be available in almost all leagues, Matthias might be it. The 19 year old has made an immediate impact, scoring twice in his first two games. Take a chance that he sticks around.

Peter Forsberg-C-Free Agent-Rumors are swirling that Peter the Great is getting ready to return to the NHL. It’s also rumored the Flyers might be his prime target if he does come stateside. Got room on your bench? Stash him away. He could make the difference down the home stretch.

Remember, have fun. And write me at garymacfantasygod@live.com.