Kritik und Anregungen » d juries, interviews of nearly 150 people

Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we pose a question to a rotating panel of ESPN fantasy basketball experts to gauge their thoughts on a hot topic. Todays contributors are ESPN Fantasys Kyle Soppe, Joe Kaiser and Jim McCormick.Julius Randle messed around and got a triple-double Tuesday night against the Brooklyn Nets (17 points, 10 assists, 14 rebounds). Coming into the season, we knew that he could hit the glass and score to some extent, but weve seen his field goal percentage increase from 42.9 percent last season to 55.1 percent, and he is averaging an impressive 3.8 assists per game. Should we expect him to maintain those numbers, and what do you think of his overall fantasy value?Kyle Soppe: There are a lot of pieces to this question, but lets start with something that we know: This kid can play and is going to be a force. The question is, to what capacity? Randle possesses the skill set to be a fantasy star, but I think he is a much better roto play this season than head-to-head. Look at his game log. The assists and free throw totals stick out to me as areas in which Randle needs to gain consistency before I push all my chips to the middle of the table on him. He has failed to make a free throw in four games this year and has five games with fewer than three assists.That said, his fluidity for a 6-foot-9, soon-to-be 22-year-old is rare, and his upside is essentially what we saw Tuesday night. The scoring bump is here to stay, given that the Lakers operate at a top-five pace and Randle has been far more effective at the rim this season than last, shooting 67.1 percent from inside 8 feet compared with 50.5 percent a year ago. It will be an up-and-down ride, but Randle could make a run at averaging a double-double while averaging three assists per game, something only Pau Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins accomplished last season.Joe Kaiser: Randle has always been known as a scorer and rebounder, fitting the mold of a Kenneth Faried-type as far as his fantasy numbers go, but his passing has always gone overlooked ... until now. This is the most underrated part of his game, and it took a triple-double Tuesday night for everyone to collectively start paying attention. Listed at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, Randle often seems undersized when matched up against taller players at the power forward position, but he presents a mismatch as a big man who can handle the ball and create opportunities for teammates. When matched up against a power forward his size, hes often able to put up big numbers on the glass.Seeing that the Lakers already have seven wins, which they didnt reach until Jan. 1 last season, Im more and more convinced that coach Luke Walton is really good at this coaching thing. Hes a relationship guy, and he uses that to his fullest advantage as a coach. It worked last season in Golden State, and clearly, its working with the Lakers. As you can see, not just with Randle but also Nick Young, Waltons style is allowing the young Lakers to play with confidence and reach their ceiling. I expect Randle to finish the season averaging right around 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists per game, and for that shooting percentage to end up closer to 50 percent. One thing working in his favor as far as shooting percentage is concerned is his lack of 3-point attempts (0.8 per game).Jim McCormick: I think the shooting percentage will drop a bit, because Randles elite efficiency so far has been buoyed by shooting 81.4 percent from within 3 feet of the basket, up 24.6 percent from last season. When we look into his opportunity metrics, Randles usage percentage and minutes are nearly identical to last season, and his assist percentage has leaped from 11 percent to 20.3 percent, another sizable positive margin. Its safe to say former Lakers coach Byron Scott was less than ideal for grooming the Lakers young roster last season, especially in the context of this space-and-pace driven modern NBA. Now that the Lakers have Walton, a coach on the forefront of this schematic shift, were seeing some of the rewards of this transition in Randles production.For example, the Lakers are now fourth in pace (102.82 possessions per 48 minutes) and ninth in offensive rating (107.1 points per 100 possessions), after ranking 16th in pace last season (97.9) and 29th in offensive rating (98.6). Such inflations in opportunity and efficiency have helped Randles rates. He has leaped from 29.7 frontcourt touches per game last season to 37.3 this year, a 25.5 percent leap. Randles assist-to-pass ratio has jumped from 4.2 percent last season to 8.7 percent this season, so there has been a clear improvement in not just his possession rate, but also the quality of his passing and the teams improved scoring efficiency.Its worth noting Randle averaged 2.9 assists per game over the final 15 games last season. Its also worth noting ESPNs Jovan Buha wrote up a piece this past offseason about Randle seeking to emulate Draymond Greens ascension as a playmaker under Waltons watch.Obviously, there are a lot of similarities between Draymond and myself, Randle said. There will be a lot to learn, but especially with the style of play, itll be fun for us to get up and down. Sharing the ball is going to be big for us this year. Just building that chemistry on both sides of the floor.Mike Daniels Jersey . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Mike Daniels Youth Jersey . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. http://www.packersrookiestore.com/Packers-Rashan-Gary-Jersey/ .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Paul Hornung Packers Jersey . -- The Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake played to a 0-0 tie Saturday night that left the top of the Western Conference standings unchanged. Dexter Williams Jersey . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap.SCITUATE, R.I. -- An investigation into former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schillings failed video game company, 38 Studios, has resulted in no criminal charges, authorities announced Friday.The yearslong investigation found no provable criminal violations of state law, according to a report released by the state police and the state attorney generals office. Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and state police Col. Steven G. ODonnell said there was not enough evidence and probable cause to bring charges.At the end of the day, justice is getting the right result under the law, which is not necessarily the popular result, Kilmartin said. Bad politics, bad public policy, bad business decisions simply do not always rise to the level of criminal conduct.ODonnell said there were many ways the 38 Studios deal was problematic, starting with the way lawmakers pushed through the legislation used to finance the deal, which he said was not transparent. He also said those involved in the deal didnt do their due diligence, partly because of the states poor economy and Schillings celebrity status. But he said those factors were not enough to bring charges.Schillings company relocated to Rhode Island from Massachusetts in 2010 in exchange for a $75 million state loan guarantee. The company went bankrupt less than two years later, leaving taxpayers on the hook.Schilling reacted on Twitter, telling WPRI-TV he was disgusted that authorities investigating the failed deal with his video game company were sent on a witch hunt and telling WPRO-AM that company executives didnt do anything wrong but fail at business.Schilling, who also played for the Baltimore Orioles, the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks before ending his career with Boston in 2007, has said 38 Studios fully disclosed its financial condition to the state.Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo has no plans to call for an additional investiggation and continues to support all efforts to recover as much taxpayer money as possible, a spokeswoman said.ddddddddddddAn attorney representing two former 38 Studios executives, board member Thomas Zaccagnino and chief financial officer Richard Wester, said they fully cooperated with the police investigation.We are not surprised that the state police found no wrongdoing on behalf of my clients ... after what we understood to be a fairly thorough investigation, attorney Michael Connolly said.Two civil actions are pending. One, a lawsuit brought in state court by the states economic development agency, names Schilling and several others involved in the deal. That case has netted nearly $17 million in settlements.In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed in federal court a civil complaint that accuses the economic development agency and a bank of defrauding investors.The criminal probe has been going on since 2012 and involved two grand juries, interviews of nearly 150 people and tens of thousands of documents. Kilmartin said prosecutors ultimately determined they did not have enough evidence to ask a grand jury for an indictment.The U.S. attorneys office and the FBI in 2012 ended a federal investigation into the deal after determining there were no violations of federal criminal laws, including bank fraud.Still, Kilmartin said the investigation was not closed, and if more evidence is brought forward in the civil lawsuit investigators, he will consider it.Kilmartin and ODonnell said their findings are not expected to have any bearing on the state economic development agencys lawsuit in the matter, which is scheduled to go to trial in the fall. Max Wistow, who represents the state agency, noted that there is a higher threshold to find probable cause in criminal cases. ' ' '