Empty the Bench

Last Four Games: 3.5 3s – 24.5 Points – 8 Rebounds – 1.8 Steals – 1.8 TOs

Those In Need of Steals and Points Should Be Looking His Way

When he’s on his game, Ron Artest can be one of the best players in fantasy basketball. This month he has been spectacular, providing 8.1 boards, 3.6 assists and a very handy 2.3 steals. He is a master thief (100 total steals on the season, 4th in the NBA) and a guard who can give you a ton of rebounds along with some helpful scoring, assist and three-point shooting numbers. His stats over the last four weeks rank him fifth in standard Yahoo! scoring.

The story with this guy is always the percentages though. After finishing below 70% from the line and 40% in the field for the month of November, Artest has picked up his overall shooting considerably. He’s hitting 80% of his foul shots with 44.3% field goal shooting in February. This is key, because despite his contributions in boards and steals, Ron Ron needs to be decent in the percetnages in order for his game to be palatable. When he’s not, the positive impact he can make in other categories is completely negated by his effect on your team’s percentages. The recent improvement has raised his season field goal shooting to 43.6% and free throw shooting to 74.6%. The terrible November shooting looks to be in the rearview mirror, so make some trade offers now before his rank climbs any higher.

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