Fantasy hoops Week 11 outlook

By Eric Wong, RotoEvil.com, Special to SI.com

Kevin Love's shooting eye and rebounding have provided the Timberwolves one of their few bright spots in a dismal season. AP

Evil's Outlook goes around the league, team by team, and examines which players are hot and cold, and which players you should keep an eye on.

The outlook for Week 11 suggests 97 players who are safe starts and 46 players who are borderline, so if your league is much smaller or larger, adjust accordingly. Listed first are the number of games played for each team, followed by five teams with poor and favorable schedules.

After that are my three top pickups for deep leagues and my top five fill-ins for short-term help. Ideally, you'll be able to get a good feel of what's going on around the league just by reading this, even if you didn't watch a single game or look at any boxscores last week.

Four games: BOS, CHA, DAL, GS, HOU, IND, LAC, LAL, MIA, MIL, OKC, ORL, PHI, SAC, TOR, WAS

Three games: ATL, CHI, DEN, DET, MEM, NJ, NOR, NY, PHO, SA, UTA

Two games: CLE, POR

5 poor schedules

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (2 games: Charlotte, Boston)
2. Atlanta Hawks (3 games: Orlando, @Orlando, Philadelphia)
3. Boston Celtics (4 games: @Charlotte, Houston, @Cleveland, @Toronto)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (4 games: @Dallas, @San Antonio, @New Orleans, Phoenix)
5. Philadelphia 76ers (4 games: Houston, @Milwaukee, Charlotte, @Atlanta)

5 favorable schedules

1. Los Angeles Lakers (4 games: New Orleans, @Golden State, Indiana, Miami)
2. Indiana Pacers (4 games: @Denver, @Phoenix, @LA Lakers, @Golden State)
3. Dallas Mavericks (4 games: LA Clippers, New York, @Phoenix, @Sacramento)
4. Milwaukee Bucks (4 games: Toronto, Philadelphia, New Jersey, @Minnesota)
5. Chicago Bulls (3 games: Sacramento, Washington, Oklahoma City)

Top 3 long-term pickups

1. Kevin Love, Timberwolves

Love's rookie season has been rather disappointing thus far, but it looks like he's starting to get the hang of things. Last Monday, he scored 17 points, grabbed 7 boards and had 1 steal and 1 block in 31 minutes. Last Friday, Love scored 19 points and grabbed 8 boards in just 26 minutes vs. the Warriors. And then on Saturday, the UCLA product scored 18 points and snagged 12 rebounds in only 21 minutes vs. the Bulls. In those three games he shot a combined 18-31 from the field and 18-23 from the line, but most important, Minnesota won all three games. Love has been especially impressive on the offensive glass, where the undersized big man currently leads the league with 7.0 offensive boards per 48 minutes. The rookie has clearly earned more playing time, and if he gets it, he'll be a solid starter from here on out.

2. Trevor Ariza, Lakers

Luke Walton missed Sunday's game with a toe problem called sesamoiditis and he's out indefinitely, meaning more minutes just opened up in the Lakers' lineup. Ariza has been incredibly efficient this season in limited playing time off the bench, but now he's going to start and get 30-plus minutes. He won't score a ton of points, but in his last three games, Ariza has chipped in 23 rebounds, 8 assists, 8 steals, 4 blocks and 2 threes. The former Bruin currently ranks second (just behind Chris Paul) in steals per 48 minutes, and if you're in a roto league, you might be able to gain several points in that category just by picking him up.

3. Anthony Parker, Raptors

Parker was a rock solid roto player in October and November, when he averaged 35 minutes, 10.9 points, 1.9 threes and 1.6 steals per game. However, his minutes and production plummeted in December, and he lost his starting job to Jason Kapono when he got hurt. Well, what goes around comes around, as Kapono missed Toronto's New Year's Eve game with a quad injury and Parker got his starting job back. In three games since, Parker has scored 46 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out 9 assists, and grabbed 8 steals. The sharpshooter has made just 2 threes, but he made 13-of-16 shots from the field on Sunday and more treys will come when Jermaine O'Neal returns. If you need a swingman who's related to a hot WNBA player, then Parker is your man.

Top 5 short-term fill-ins

Even in deep leagues, most of these players will usually fly under the radar, but they could fill-in quite nicely.

For boards and field-goal percentage: Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers

Unfortunately for Cleveland, Zydrunas Ilgauskas is going to miss up to a month due to a chipped talus bone in his left foot. I hope Big Z returns healthy, but we're talking about a 7-foot-3 man who's 33 years old and has had major foot surgeries in the past. Enter the 26-year old Varejao, who scored a career-high 26 points on Friday (the first game Z missed). The Brazilian won't score 20-plus points very often, but he shoots a great percentage from the field, is going to inhale rebounds (51 in his last five games), and is a nice source of steals (5 in his last three games). Pick him up immediately if you need a big man, because Sideshow V is going to be superb while Big Z is out.

For boards and blocks: Joakim Noah, Bulls, and Antonio McDyess, Pistons

Drew Gooden has missed eight games in a row with a sprained ankle, and Noah is finally starting to take advantage. In his last four games, Noah is averaging a solid 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 52 percent shooting. He played just 14 minutes on Saturday, but that was mainly due to foul trouble. Nearly half of his rebounds have been on the offensive end, and his 6.8 offensive boards per 48 minutes ranks second in the NBA behind Kevin Love. As long as Gooden is out, Noah should put up decent big man stats.

McDyess returned from a rib injury to grab 15 boards in just 23 minutes on Sunday. Yes, Rasheed Wallace missed that game, but McDyess was hitting the glass hard even before that, as he averaged 7.6 boards and .9 blocks in the seven games before he got hurt. With Wallace ailing, Jason Maxiell doing very litte, Amir Johnson being very unreliable and Kwame Brown being Kwame Brown, the Dice man could be in for an increase in playing time.

For steals and assists: Sebastian Telfair, Timberwolves

Veteran PG Kevin Ollie had been playing big minutes for Minnesota, but he left Saturday's game early with a dislocated elbow. As a result, Telfair will likely get more minutes. In his last three games, Telfair has dished out 15 assists and grabbed 5 steals, and he played a surprising 39 minutes on Saturday (Rashad McCants received a DNP-CP in the same game). If you're in a deep league and you need assists, Telfair might be able to help you out.

For points and threes: Rudy Fernandez, Trail Blazers

Fernandez got off to a great start in his rookie season, but his minutes dropped in mid-December and he was likely dropped in many leagues. However, he's played 36 minutes in each of Portland's last two games because Brandon Roy is out with a hamstring injury. In those two games, Fernandez has scored 33 points and made 5 threes, and that was against the Hornets and Lakers. Portland plays just two games in Week 11, but I'm predicting Fernandez will have a monster game against the Warriors. Yes, Roy is supposed to return in 7-10 days, but hamstring injuries can be tricky, and the Blazers may choose to give him more rest.

Team predictions

Atlanta Hawks (3 games)

The Hawks beat a tough Houston team on Saturday thanks to a Mike Bibby three, and they've now won 10 of their last 12 games (with their only losses to Boston and New Jersey by a combined five points). Joe Johnson had a season-high 14 assists and continues to play like a superstar. Josh Smith had a season-high 29 points on Saturday and has scored 20-plus in four of his last five games now. Marvin Williams missed Saturday's game and is going to have an MRI on his shoulder, so get him on your bench and keep an eye on Mo Evans and Flip Murray.

Start: J. Johnson, J-Smoov, Bibby
Borderline: Al Horford
Bench: M. Williams
Watch: Evans, Murray