Fantasy B-Ball Remix - All-Kevin Love Team 2016-2017

It's been a few years, but TDZ is back to talk about fantasy basketball and has put together its exclusive 2016-2017 All-Kevin Love Team!

Oh wow. Huh. I totally forgot this was a thing.

What variables qualifies a player to be on the AKL Team? To be concise, chronic under-utilization which, if corrected for, would yield huge fantasy dividends. That is, a player who would stuff the stat sheet if he got more minutes. Selections must average fewer than 20 minutes per game, and obviously we want to skew towards younger players who haven't been discovered yet, not veterans who are just having their minutes monitored.

Past alums of this illustrious brotherhood include Ryan Anderson, Jeremy Lin (kind of), Ian Mahinmi, Enes Kanter, Ersan Ilyasova, and Lou Williams. Which of these under-the-radar guys will explode onto the NBA fantasy landscape in the coming years?

TDZ's All-Kevin Love Team 2K13

It's that time of year again, when TDZ takes you on a journey into parallel universes, where much-deserving bench players get added minutes and make the jump to top fantasy contributors.

If Star Trek taught us anything, our alter egos in parallel dimensions have facial hair. You think it's a coincidence Ryan Anderson grew his the year he broke out? Mind blown - you're welcome.

There's a nebula off the starboard bow, and sensors are detecting temporal distortions. Let's approach at half impulse and get a closer look at the future fantasy basketball studs-to-be.

2012 AKL Team Member Hitting His Stride

The pantheon of All-Kevin Love team gods becomes even more storied and legendary this week with the ascension of Anthony Randolph to end-of-season roto glory. Ironically, a concussion to the very inspiration for the team has allowed Randolph to get the required minutes to beast. His average line over the past three games:

~31 minutes per game, 22 ppg, 59% fg%, 74% ft%, 8.67 rpg, 3 bpg

Oh, oh , gimme gimme gimme!

Get this headcase in your fantasy lineup before he inexplicably beefs with coach Adelman over how he's "misused" with all the extra minutes.

All-Kevin Love Team Honoree Makes Headlines

You may question my methods or madness initially, but you have to admit: I know how to pick 'em. Just as last year's winners have made major waves this year, a 2012 A-KL team member is already making news. T.J. Ford is moving his career to a whole other level: retirement.

He was certainly a promising young point guard when he first started in the league, and though I knew he endured some injury issues, I mistakenly believed they were behind him. Assuming the time away from the game allows his spine to stabilize, he'll get to enjoy a healthy retirement. I'm sure he'd rather continue playing, but being able to retire at his age (almost a year younger than me) is nothing to pity.

The 2nd Annual All-Kevin Love Team

There is no greater honor in basketball than inclusion in the All-Kevin Love team. Its prestige has propelled many to new fame and fortune. Just ask selections from last year's inaugural team: alums like Ryan Anderson, now a fantasy juggernaut ranked 6th overall in Yahoo. I put my money where my prose is and drafted Anderson, along with fellow honoree Jared Dudley this year with great success. And let's not forget Ian Mahinmi, who has earned mentions in a record number of TDZ blog entries (7), plus some minor plaudits from the lamestream media. Powerful stuff.

YES! I live for minor plaudits!

As the NBA hits the All-Star break, TDZ once again goes rooting around the back of the NBA fridge for the forgotten and unappreciated players who are riding the back shelf, only getting snack time duty when they deserve full meal time minutes.

NBA Draft 2011: "Because we have to do it every year" Edition

Few drafts have provided as little fanfare as this year's. Typically at least one or two big names grab your attention while some talent lingering in the later rounds provides some intrigue, but I'm hard-pressed to find any superstars coming out of this lol-worthy draft. Nevertheless, let's chew the cud on the night's studs and duds.

Back in the Game

Like Tiki Barber, The Danger Zone is active once again amidst comments such as "that's pretty random" and "ummm, who cares?" All those who enjoy finding amusement in the mundane and exulting in the trivial, that's who!

However, something happened this week that was decidedly NOT trivial. Yes, a record fell this week that was destined to tumble ever since my article hit the interwebs: Kevin Love has broken the record for consecutive double-doubles. Well, since the NBA-ABA merger. It's still pretty awesome.

A little thing we in the business like to call "boxing out."

He's reached 52 straight as of tonight and has built an even more impressive case for league MVP. With serious questions swirling around the team chemistry of the Heat, Dwight Howard being an inferior rebounder to Love, and Kobe being a ginormously arrogant tool, I can confidently say that Love will earn more votes than people imagine.

In other news on "Stream of Consciousness Thursday," elite slugger, and my personal favorite space cadet, Manny Ramirez is making a favorable impression with his new team, the Tampa Bay Rays. After a litany of top draft picks during countless years of abject futility, the Rays have finally had some recent success. Despite their success, games played in Tampa are kind of like trees falling in the forest: no one cares.

Due to the financial consequences of this, the Rays have been forced to make some thrifty signings instead of simply relying on their prospects, and they've signed the likes of former Sox stars Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. Manny signed for a mere $2 million this offseason, which is 10x less per season than his previous contract. It's kind of like Charlie Sheen going from his 2.5 Men deal to living off royalties for Money Talks. (What on earth ever happened to Chris Tucker anyways?)

Older, but certainly no wiser, I still believe a hitter of Manny's talent will cause headaches for AL East teams once again this year. I also believe that the "highlights" will be plentiful as he roams the grass out in left field for another year. Incidentally, he's the only player in sports history whose position is also his state of mind, and that deserves a tribute video. Unfortunately MLB has their content locked down like Fort Knox so I submit this photo of my favorite Manny play.

Upcoming (better) articles to watch for in... The Danger Zone:

2011 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft: first, I identify the putrid duds to avoid in the early rounds; gangrenous cesspools that are destined to fester in the flesh wound that is your roster if you have the misfortune of picking them. Then, I whisper secretively about the players you can catch baggin' Z's in the later rounds. (The section on putrid duds is proudly sponsored by Comcast.)

-and-

March Madness 2K11: having never watched a college basketball game this season, Danger presents his expert picks for the Big Dance. If you think your bracket is better because you've actually followed college hoops: wrong! And I'll explain why, next week....

*** Congrats to all voters for the latest trivia question: "Jamaica, we have a bobsled team." ***

The All-Kevin Love Team

Many thought the biggest story heading into this NBA season was the 3-headed hydra Pat Riley assembled in South Beach.  Well, since "The Decision":

• They lost plenty of games.
• Home ticket sales were sluggish enough that the Heat had to tell their fans to "Fan Up."
• Chris Bosh has been exposed as the softest power forward in the league. (Somewhere, Rashard Lewis does a fist pump...)

It's time to move on to the biggest story of the year: the emergence of Kevin Love.  That's right, a white power forward playing on a bottom 3 team is the biggest story of the year, and here's why:

• Toughness: Why explain something with sentences when an analogy will do?  Kevin Love:an immovable object::Chris Bosh:angel food cake.
• He's old-school: Boxing out was a lost relic of basketball - kind of like how the mustache was a lost relic of modern male grooming - until Kevin Love (Ron Swanson) brought it back.
• He plays his position, and only his position: Remember when NBA players didn't play a one-on-one face-the-hoop style at every position?  Instead of trying to play point guard, center, and everything in-between, Kevin's focused on just the skills needed to be a beastly power forward.  The FT and 3-point percentages are just gravy.
• The numbers don't lie: Kevin Love has the highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in the league, and he's poised to end LeBron James' three year reign over the category.

Hmm, he kinda reminds me of another awesome power forward...

It's hard to believe that this is a player that struggled mightily for minutes under the absurd regime of Kurt Rambis.  Like the random guy in any given season of 24 that tries to keep Jack Bauer down, Rambis tried to hold Love back.  But like Agent Bauer, Love's brute force and resourcefulness got the job done anyways. With only 22 starts last year (and 60 games played total) averaging 28:30 of playing time a game, Love had 36 double-doubles.  Even to start this year, Love was averaging under 30 minutes a game until the hate mail from fans reached Kanye-West-post-"Swiftgate" levels.

Maybe if Rambis had been wearing these
 sweet spectacles again he would've seen
Love was the best player on his team.

Chart credit: Canis Hoopus

His 31 point, 31 rebound performance on November 12 was literally a once in a generation type of event for the modern NBA; the last time it happened was Moses Malone 28 years ago.  Since that game, Love has received all the minutes he deserves and should be at the top of the discussion for league MVP.

In honor of his amazing season so far, I've compiled a list of other potential breakouts - the All-Kevin Love Team, aka the Put-Me-in-the-Damn-Game Team.  These Chia Pet players are ready to break out!  Just add minutes.

Ryan Anderson - Power Forward - Orlando Magic

• Ryan is not a Kevin Love clone by any means, but the dude knows how to score.  He averages 11 points per game despite playing just 20 minutes a night, often not as the primary scorer on the floor.  His per-minute scoring average puts him ahead of such household names as Paul Pierce, Zach Randolph, and - you guessed it - Chris Bosh.  
• He won't own the boards like Love, but his per-48s have him squarely in double-digits, and that's despite playing in an outside shooting capacity with that monster of the paint known as Dwight Howard prowling the low post.  Clearly a significant improvement over the 4 rebounds a game Rashard Lewis was pulling in next to Dwight.  For shame, Rashard!  That fist pump was premature!
• With Lewis gone and Brandon Bass injured at the moment, we might get a glimpse of what Anderson is capable of.

Ian Mahinmi - Center - Dallas Mavericks

• Ian Ma-wahhh?  Ian Mahinmi.  He's an absolute beast, for better AND for worse.  Despite averaging about 6 and half minutes a game for his career, his per 36s are consistently strong: 20 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.7 bpg, and 78% from the line, which is quite serviceable for a man-beast.
• What's the catch?  He's basically the basketball version of Lenny from Grapes of Wrath.  His per 48 fouls is right around 9 per game.  Please officials, he just wants to play with the little people!
• You can't teach physical gifts, but I've got to think you can teach discipline.  With the proper coaching investment and minutes, Mahinmi could prove a formidable Frenchman... two words I never thought I'd use together.

J'aime le basketball!

Ersan Ilyasova - Small Forward/Power Forward - Milwaukee Bucks

• This wily Turk blipped on my fantasy radar last year as he produced a number of double-doubles for the floundering Bucks.  Much to my chagrin, however, his minutes fluctuated between 15 and 35 on a nightly basis, and he became virtually unusable.
• Don't let the random coaching decisions of Matt Walsh look-a-like Scott Skiles fool you: his production is the real deal.  Per 36 he'll give you around 9 boards a game, plus FT%, and his fouls per game have steadily declined.  Points-wise he'll give you 15, but think how much more it would be if Brandon Jennings passed the ball instead of building his own arena with all the bricks he lays on a nightly basis.  A 37.4% shooting percentage, Brandon? Go to your room!

Jared Dudley - Shooting Guard/Small Forward - Phoenix Suns

• This Boston College product gave us a glimpse of what he could do with monster back-to-back 42 minute performances following the Jason Richardson trade in which he averaged 30 points.  Unfortunately the Suns have opted to play the decaying corpse of Vince Carter until further injury.
• On a per-36 basis you're looking at 6 rebounds to go along with plus shooting percentages, but the hidden value with Dudley is steals.  Channeling his inner LiLo, he projects to 1.5 steals per 36.  

Lou Williams - Point Guard - Philadelphia 76ers

• Lou's perhaps one of the better known backup guards in the league, but he's demanding of even more of your attention.  On a per-36 basis he averages a cool 18 ppg for his career.  A quick glance at his game log and you will see numerous 20+ point performances despite limited playing time.
• His corresponding assists per-36 are a less lustrous 5 per game, but consider that he's always played second string for the 76ers.  Assists are largely a symptom of who you're passing the ball to.  Just ask The Brain how many times Pinky dropped the ball.

Congrats to all for joining the first annual All-Kevin Love Team!  You may resume riding the pine until better coaching arrives.