defense was nonexistent, as DeAngelo Williams

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 NBA Insider Kevin Pelton and ESPN Fantasys Joe Kaiser and Kyle Soppe.Al Horford is just 11 games into his tenure with the Boston Celtics, but he currently ranks 11th on the Player Rater based on averages. While his scoring (15.5 PPG, 50.4 FG%, 12.6 FGA) is nearly identical to what he did his last two seasons with the Hawks, his 3-point shooting (1.5 3-PPG, 39.0 3-FG%), assists (5.0 APG) and blocks (2.6 BPG) have skyrocketed. Is this just a small-sample-size anomaly or a sign of things to come?Kevin Pelton: Ive been doing some research lately into how to best predict performance the rest of the season, which yields opposing conclusions about these stats. Early-season block rates tend to not be as predictive as past performance, while assist rates tend to stabilize pretty quickly. Naturally, 3-point percentage is also fluky, though Horfords track record is strong enough at this point that I dont expect him to drop off that much.Ultimately, the projections that combine performance to date and preseason expectations peg Horford for 4.1 assists but just 1.4 blocks per game the rest of the season, which suggests his value is probably already at a high point.Joe Kaiser: The fact that Horford started taking 3-pointers for the first time in his career last season, shooting 34.4 percent and making 1.1 of 3.1 attempts, is an encouraging sign that his 3-point success this season isnt a fluke. Playing under Brad Stevens in Boston, hes taking and making more threes (1.5 of 3.7 per game) while shooting an improved 39 percent. I dont think this is a fluke, and at this point we have to consider the 3-pointer a key part of Horfords fantasy value. Just dont expect any style points with the form on his 3-point stroke.As far as his assists go, clearly Boston signed him with the intent of utilizing him as a facilitator, and were seeing that with the hike in assists this season. He has dished out at least five assists in six of his first 11 games with the Celtics, including nine in his last game, against the Rockets. Its safe to say hes going to break his previous single-season high of 3.5 APG, and Id expect him to finish somewhere between 4.5-5.5 by seasons end.The blocks are the one stat that I think we can chalk up to small sample size. Horford is 30 years old and in his 10th NBA season -- this isnt typically a stage in a players career when he would suddenly become a bigger shot-blocker. His previous single-season best is 1.5 BPG, set twice in the last three seasons, and Id expect that to be his ceiling in 2016-17.Kyle Soppe: Im buying all the Horford shares I can get. From a basketball standpoint, the rise in Horfords unique skill set is because ... well, its now unique. In Atlanta, he shared the front court with Paul Millsap, a player whose skill was so similar to his that I often confused the two.Horfords skills havent gotten any better this season, he has simply gotten smarter. The percentage of his shots taken from 16 feet or further is actually down a tick from last season (46.8 percent, down from 47.9 percent last season), but he has joined #TeamAnalytics and determined that he might as well step behind that 3-point line if he is going to settle from a jumper.I also believe that the assist spike is real, for many of the same reasons. Due to his unique set of skills, he often puts the opposing center in a difficult position on the perimeter, thus allowing him to showcase his playmaking abilities. Id take the under on five assists per game and 39-percent 3-point shooting when all is said and done, but the Celtics are a top-10 team in offensive efficiency right now, and that is no mistake. Horford is a reliable player who can help fantasy owners across the board and should finish the season as a top-20 player. Ruben Loftus-Cheek Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Andreas Christensen Jersey . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. http://www.chelseasoccerjerseysonline.com/womens-cesar-azpilicueta-chelsea-jersey/ . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. 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WASHINGTON -- From Kirk Cousins zero-TD, two-pick performance and a total of nine penalties to the admittedly misguided coaching decisions and the out-of-its-depth defense, the Washington Redskins did not look ready to open the regular season.So now the question becomes: Can they get their act together in time to host the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday and avoid an 0-2 start?I think we were ready to play, Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Tuesday. We just didnt make the necessary plays to win.Not even close.After winning the NFC East last season despite never beating a team with a winning record, the Redskins opened this season with a dismal 38-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.There were all sorts of problems for Washington (0-1).Cousins showed, according to Gruden, that he still has some growing up to do as an NFL starter.There were the two interceptions and also other issues, such as miscommunication with DeSean Jackson on a run-pass option and several poor throws, including a trio early that were too low.Hes going to have some bumps along the way. Thats what all quarterbacks go through, Gruden said. How he responds to those downs will make or break him as a quarterback.The running game, which was not really targeted for improvement in the offseason, flopped early and then was abandoned: Washingtons 12 rushes were a league-low in Week 1. Gruden partially tried to explain that away by saying his team was behind in the second half, so wanted to accumulate chunks of yards via the pass.Thats the approach we took for this week, he said. Next week could be totally different.Gruden acknowledged that there were two bad decisions, in hindsight, on fourth downs in the first half. On fourth-and-1 at the Pittsburgh 40 during his teams opening possesssion, Gruden opted to punt.ddddddddddddThen, later, on fourth-and-6 at the Pittsburgh 38, he chose to go for it -- and Cousins completed a pass to running back Chris Thompson short of the first-down marker.Wasnt good, Gruden said.Those two words apply to Washingtons defense, too.The front seven did not generate much of an effective pass-rush, except Ryan Kerrigans early sack-strip of Ben Roethlisberger, which went for naught when the Steelers wound up recovering the football.The run defense was nonexistent, as DeAngelo Williams replaced the suspended LeVeon Bell and gained 143 yards while scoring two touchdowns. And Antonio Brown was allowed to roam free for eight catches for 126 yards, including a 29-yard TD on a fourth-and-1 play.Brown was mostly covered by Bashaud Breeland, while this offseasons big splash, $75 million signing Josh Norman, stayed on his side of the field.We have just got to go back and look and correct our mistakes and then study Dallas and figure out things that we might be able to do differently from a personnel standpoint, from a coaching standpoint and go from there, Gruden said, speaking generally about his teams defense. But the game is done. Weve got to learn from it and move on.Game notes Gruden said the Redskins were deciding whether to re-sign DE Cullen Jenkins. In preparation for such a move, the team waived C Austin Reiter and released G Nila Kasitati from its practice squad. Reiter could be brought back as a practice squad player.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '