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DENVER -- Trevor Story broke out of a slump in grand fashion.Story tied an NL rookie record for most home runs before the All-Star break, homering twice and boosting his total to 21 while the Colorado Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-2 on Thursday night.Story, one of five players on the ballot for the last NL All-Star spot, had a three-run drive in the third and a solo shot in the fifth. He snapped an 0-for-17 skid that accompanied playing through a bruised middle finger and thumb suffered when he was hit in the hand by a pitch June 26 against Arizona.The last couple of nights, I felt good out there, Story said. I just havent had the results. You just simplify, keep working, trust your preparation in the cage and how its going to translate to the field.It translated well enough for Story to join Dave Kingman (1972) and Albert Pujols (2001) as the only NL rookies to hit 21 home runs prior to the break.Any time youre with guys like that, its an honor. To have done what theyve done, its pretty cool, Story said.Rockies manager Walt Weiss saw Story making strides at the plate as his hand injury improved.Its good to see him swinging the bat, Weiss said. I felt like even though he hadnt gotten many hits the last few games, I saw better at-bats. He really hit those two balls tonight. Its been an unbelievable first half, quite a way to start a career.Mark Reynolds also homered and doubled to drive in four runs for the Rockies, helping to back Chad Bettis (7-6), who kept the Phillies in check while pitching into the seventh. DJ LeMahieu added three hits, including an RBI single in the Rockies five-run seventh.Ryan Howard had a home run for the Phillies in the second, his 12th of the season and 369th of his career to tie Ralph Kiner and former Rockies first baseman Todd Helton for 78th place on the career list. Maikel Franco doubled and singled but had his home run streak snapped at four games.The Rockies scored runs in the first three innings, starting with Nolan Arenados RBI double in the first off Adam Morgan (1-7). Morgan allowed six runs on nine hits in five innings and dropped to 0-7 in his last nine starts. After the game, Morgan was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.You never like to send anybody out, Phillies manager Peter Mackanin said. He knows what he has to do to improve.Morgan was told of his demotion during a postgame meeting with his manager.It was a good conversation, Morgan said. They shot me straight. Thats all you can ask for as a player. It was good, it was the truth and I needed to hear it. My point of view right now is I can only go up from here.Reynolds led off the second with his ninth home run, and in the third, with LeMahieu and Carlos Gonzalez aboard, Story drove a 3-2 offering from Morgan into the left-field bleachers for his first homer of the game and a 5-1 Rockies lead.Story put the Rockies up 6-2 in the fifth with his second homer.Reynolds keyed Colorados five-run burst in the seventh with his bases-loaded double.Bettis allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.GET OUT THE VOTEWith fan balloting for the final NL All-Star berth nearing a close, Story made his pitch for last-minute votes with his big night. Story leads all major league rookies in home runs (21) and RBI (55).TRAINERS ROOMPhillies: RHP Andrew Bailey (left hamstring strain) should be activated Saturday when he is eligible to be reinstated from the 15-day disabled list. ... RHP Aaron Nola, who was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday to give him a breather before the All-Star break, was scheduled to throw a two-inning simulated game Saturday.Rockies: With RHP Christian Bergman nearing a return from a strained left oblique that has sidelined him since May 20, team officials are discussing whether to insert him into the rotation or use him in long relief.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (7-2) has won his last two starts since being reinstated June 27 from the 15-day disabled list. He spent time on the DL because of a right biceps strain.Rockies: RHP Jon Gray (5-4) is slated to make his seventh start this season at Coors Field, where he has gone 3-0 with a 5.05 ERA.---This story has been corrected to show that Ryan Howard has hit 369 homers, not 370. Salomon Shoes Nz Sale .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Cheap Salomon Shoes Online . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. http://www.cheapsalomonnz.com/ . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Salomon Shoes Nz Wholesale . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Cheap Salomon Shoes Nz . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. One of the great advantages of fantasy basketball over football is sample size. Eighty-two games versus 16. Six months versus four. Twenty-six weeks versus 16. Two hundred possessions versus 25.Theres plenty of time to revert to the mean. Whether a player is flourishing (Gorgui Dieng) or floundering (Kristaps Porzingis), they have about 78 games or so to get back to normal.But what if a player is coming to grips with a new normal?The NBA posted a particularly dramatic offseason this summer with 10 coaching changes and high-octane free agency ... fueled by an ungodly amount of newly created cap space.Players were placed within new zip codes ... systems ... rotations. Many of the factors that drive fantasy production are driven by chemistry. Sometimes, just a single new element can throw off a players entire fantasy outlook.One should never, ever overreact to the opening week of the NBA season. But it is more illustrative of a players fantasy value than a month of preseason activity.And right now, there are a few players you may need to be just a little concerned about.Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 7 (13.69 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 48 (5.03 points)Tom Thibodeau is one of the NBAs finest coaches. A hyper-intense, defense-first maven. A culture transformer. A leader who stresses the little things that dont end up in a box score.And therein lies the problem.Because things that dont end up in box scores dont help us.Thibodeau is a noted fantasy-value serial killer. But in a way, the notation is unwarranted. If youre a selfish offensive player more concerned with getting yours? Thibodeau can chew your numbers up.But if you defend your position and rebound well, you wont have too much to worry about. Just ask Jimmy Butler.Towns is an across-the-board producer. He generates numbers in nooks and crannies (4.3 assists per game, 1.0 3-pointers) that lie beyond the parameters of a post player.But his rebounds per game are decidedly down -- from 10.5 to 6.7. And while were dealing with an astonishingly small sample size, there is one large variable that concerns me.An active, high-minute, fully operational, recently well-paid Gorgui Dieng is a very large variable.Long one of fantasys most underrated players (due to Sam Mitchells inexplicable penchant for giving lesser talents his minutes), Dieng is going predictably nuts under Thibodeau. Because Dieng is Thibodeaus kind of guy.He rebounds. He blocks shots. He protects the rim with aplomb.Towns is 48th on the player rater. Dieng is 12th. Towns is collecting under seven rebounds a game. Dieng is hoarding 11.Its only three games. Yes, Dieng could be celebrating his new four-year, $64 million extension. But if he continues to harness 34.0 minutes per game, he could erase just enough of Towns rebounds and blocks to drive Towns down into a late-first-round valuation.Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 18 (11.29 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 128 (1.46 points)There was a lot of preseason palaver concerning Kevin Durants siphoning of Stephen Currys production. And while Curry hasnt been quite his league-leading 2015-16 self to date (20th overall), it seems as if he will adjust.Curry produces in many areas. He has several statistical categories he can draw upon for fantasy value.Klay Thompson is another story. Thompsons top-20 2015-16 campaign relied on his elite standing in two areas: points and 3-pointers.(Thompson also shot 87 percent at the free throw line. But he averaged only 2.8 free throw attempts a game. I would argue that Thompsons .425 3-point percentage -- across 8.1 attempts a game -- made his .470 field goal percentage borderline elite.)I never quite understood why there wasnt more concern surrounding Durants effect on Thompson. Thompsons a catch-and-shoot player. Maybe the NBAs best catch-and-shoot player. He doesnt require a high usage rate to deliver value.Thompson just needs to catch and shoot 3-point attempts ... and make them.But if Thompson isnt making his 3-point shots? If hes, say, 3-for-28 from deep over his first four games? Thats a serious fantasy problem. Because shooting about 42 percent from deep is the fulcrum that leverages Thompson into the top 20.The volume isnt that far off. Thompsons 16.5 field goal attempts per game is right up there with his 2015-16 average (17.3 FGA). His 7.0 3-point attempts are within striking distance of last seasons 8.1 (a 14 percent drop-off).So what gives?Thompson is a rhythm guy. A system guy. A player that relies on pace and spacing. By the way, thats a condition for most elite shooting guard production, since so much elite SG play is 33-point-driven.ddddddddddddThompson can be streaky. He can let emotion interfere with his play. Shot makers thrive on flow. Confidence. (Which really means little more than, Yeah, hes a shooting guard.)But when you go from option two on offense to a distant, remote third option? Behind two top-five players? And you have a shooters mentality? And youre the emotional opposite of your combustible power forward (who doesnt need to make shots to create elite value)?It may portend a permanent shift in overall production.Thompsons the clear victim of KD-to-CA. But Thompson isnt going to shoot 11 percent from behind the arc for an entire season. Its just a bad opening week.But I do believe those of you that drove Thompsons average draft position up to 24.9 are going to walk away slightly disappointed.Trailing behind Curry and Durant, Thompson may be more of a fourth-round kind of guy. Thats not bad. But changes in rotation can hurt when youre elite in one to two categories.Kristaps Porzingis, PF, New York Knicks2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 47 (6.90 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 87 (3.23 points)Of just about any NBA player in fantasy, it would have been easiest to predict an early season dip for Porzingis.New coach. New system. Several new veteran teammates. New point guard. Heightened expectations. (And Porzingis punches the clock in the NBAs toughest place to play given heightened expectations.)Porzingis nadir arrived last night against the high-pace, Mike DAntoni-driven Rockets. He didnt convert a single field goal attempt. He scored three points and sat most of the fourth quarter.The Knicks need to get Porzingis the ball. More explicitly? Derrick Rose needs to get Porzingis the ball. Plain, clear and simple.Porzingis can still block shots (1.8 per game). His 3-point production has increased in both volume and efficiency (1.5 3-pointers on .375 shooting).But Rose is averaging only 2.5 assists per game. I dont know how many of those dimes went to Porzingis, but from watching last nights game? It hasnt been much.I was excited to see how Joakim Noah meshed up front with Porzingis. And Noah has delivered in the assist column to date (5.5 per game).Rose badly needs to find some rhythm with Porzingis in the post.Porzingis was advertised as entering the season with more of a commitment to low-post play. And while his percentage of 3-point attempts has risen (from .274 to .348), his attempts from 3 to 9 feet have dropped (from .184 to .152).In what is supposed to be a sophomore leap year, Porzingis usage rate is regressing, from 22.9 to 18.4 (when its projected to rise to 25.6).Its waaaaay early. The new-look Knicks arent clicking as of yet. Jeff Hornacek is a fine coach. Porzingis is still an All-Star in the making ... with top-20 fantasy upside.But you have to wonder if the Rose experiment at PG isnt going to shave a round off Porzingis season-long value.Andre Drummond, C Detroit Pistons2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 114 (3.19 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 119 (1.93 points)DeAndre Jordan, C, Los Angeles Clippers2015-16 Player Rater Rank: 56 (6.00 points) 2016-17 Player Rater Rank: 204 (-1.21 points)Im not concerned with Drummond. I didnt draft Drummond.Meanwhile, Drummond is leading the league in rebounding (13.6 REB). Jordan (11.3 REB) isnt too far behind.Both players are averaging double-digits in points (12.6 for Drummond, 10.0 for Jordan). Both players are struggling just a little from the field versus their historical output (.429 for Drummond, .571 for Jordan).Drummond is 119th on the player rater. Jordan is 204th.Jordan is dealing with an early-season finger injury. He will start blocking more shots. Jordans elite shot-blocking averages mean he will eventually swat his way into fantasys top 60.Drummond will make a few more shots per game. But because he hasnt displayed a propensity for elite shot-blocking production, Drummonds ceiling is probably in the 80s at best.And Drummonds ADP was 26.6. Jordans ADP was 31.8.If you drafted either of them in the third round? You made a sucker bet. Because their values wont go anywhere near where you predicted as long as they continue to be two of the worst free throw shooters of all time!This has nothing to do with player movement, a new coach or a new system. It has to do with everyone in Fantasyland starting two below-rock-bottom free throw percentages and ignoring them in favor of volume-based stats.Jordans floor rises because hes insulated by his shot-blocking. But Drummonds value doesnt have that kind of protection.Dont say I didnt warn you. ' ' '