Ye Land of Fantasy: Chapter 1 - 0910

They Who Shall Be Exulted:

Rajon Rondo (BOS) - 8 points (4/8 FG), 6 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers in 34:29 minutes

I love Rajon Rondo so much. I love the stats across the board the high free throw percentage, the low turnovers, the whole package. I'm happy to see him get off to a fast start, as he was slow coming out of the gates last season (which caused me to drop him back then, OH SNAP!)

LeBron James (CLE) - 39 points (12/22 FG, 4/9 3PT, 10/13 FT), 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 5 turnovers in 44:55 minutes

LeBron being LeBron.

Gilbert Arenas (WAS) - 29 points (10/21 FG, 1/4 3PT, 8/9 FT), 2 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 turnovers in 38:20 minutes

Arenas being early 2007 Arenas. Of course, the first game is always easy, it's the second game where the old injuries creep back in, so keep an eye out on the-baller-formerly-known-as-Hibachi

Dirk Nowitzki (DAL) - 34 points (10/25 FG, 2/5 3PT, 12/13 FT), 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers in 38:58 minutes

Dallas looked awful awhile ago, with Nowitzki having to take on the scoring cudgels, what with the two Jasons looking like they forgot how to shoot. These numbers are way past his averages, and if this becomes a regular thing, kudos to you who drafted him.

Eric Gordon (LAC) - 21 points (7/14 FG, 2/5 3PT, 5/6 FT), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers in 32:39 minutes

No Griffin, no problem for Gordon. Love the across the board statline but I doubt you can count on a block each game.

Andrew Bynum (LAL) - 26 points (9/15 FG, 8/10 FT), 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers in 38:12 minutes

The Lakers were already planning to go to Bynum heavily early on (y'know, while he's healthy), but Gasol's absence lead to Bynum being option #2 after Kobe, and boy did he dominate the Clips. Expect production to drop down to Earth (19-8 perhaps) when Gasol gets back though.

Lamar Odom (LAL) - 16 points (6/13 FG, 2/5 3PT, 2/4 FT), 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers in 40:04 minutes

Same as above, plus a line about how he'll be rewarded at home (oh the perks of marriage!)

They Who Shall Be Shamed:

Baron Davis (LAC) - 2 points (1/10 FG), 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers in 27:39 minutes

B-Dizzle couldn't hit anything and didn't bother to try to get to the line. Surprisingly only had 2 turnovers though.

Luis Scola (HOU) - 3 points (1/6 FG, 1/2 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block in 22:05 minutes

Eff you "fantasy sleeper," eff you!

Greg Oden (POR) - 2 points (1/3 FG), 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 5 blocks, 7 turnovers in 26:21 minutes

I have no idea what to make of this line. Okay, actually, I do. 3 field goal attempts and 7 turnovers means they were trying to get him the ball, but he'd either lose it on his own volition or have it poked away. I originally thought he'd dominate on the offensive end as well with Houston's undersized line-up but apparently not. Let's see how he does against someone his own size first before we really start throwing stones though.

Sleeper Country:

Andray Blatche (WAS) - 20 points (8/14 FG, 4/4 FT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks in 34:59 minutes

The story goes, Flip Saunders went with Fabricio Oberto as starter because he had more experience guarding Dirk Nowitzki. 2 quick fouls saw to that plan though, and in came Blatche, who ought to be on a roster while Antawn Jamison is out.

Randy Foye (WAS) - 19 points (8/14 FG, 1/3 3PT, 2/2 FT), 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers in 30:18 minutes

Foye, now the 6th man instead of the main guard, obviously likes his new gig. I can see him moving into the starting line-up eventually though, or on certain match-ups, but if he can keep shooting this way, he'll be a good fantasy option.

Kyle Lowry (HOU) - 12 points (3/7 FG, 1/1 3PT, 5/6 FT), 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover

Lowry's 8 assists off the bench are certainly impressive, but so are his other stats, which were more palatable than Aaron Brooks'. I think he'll be able to rack up a generous amount of assists on a regular basis since the Rockets mean to run at every opportunity so he might be a waiver wire option for those who need that stat.

Future Shock:

Lou Williams, Ryan Anderson, Andrea Bargnani, Roy Hibbert, Jamal Crawford, DJ Augustin, Chris Duhon, Michael Beasley, Tyreke Evans, James Harden, Yi Jianlian, Oleksiy Pecherov, Ben Gordon, Rudy Gay, Emeka Okafor, Manu Ginobli, Channing Frye, Carlos Boozer, Luis Scola, Ronny Turiaf