Chutes and ladders this week. Teams are starting to get into the swing of things.
(Last week in parentheses)
1. San Antonio Spurs (2): 4-0 last week, including a 18-point win over new power, Orlando.
2. Boston Celtics (1): Close call against Charlotte, but at least now we know who take the last shot (Sorry Paul).
3. Phoenix Suns (3): 8 game win streak, but most of that came against cupcakes.
4. Utah Jazz (5): Lossless week against three likely playoff teams (New Jersey, New Orleans, and Detroit)
5. Dallas Mavericks (4): Started the week well, ended it badly, relying too much on Jason Terry in the clutch.
6. Orlando Magic (7): A 4-1 week in which your only loss comes against the Spurs is pretty good. Surrounding Howard with shooters seems to be brilliant.
7. Cleveland Cavaliers (14): Lebron has decided to put the Cavs on his back, morphing the Cavs into a rich man's version of Kobe's Lake show.
8. New Orleans Hornets (6): Chandler is still day-to-day, without him in there, they don't hve post presence to keep teams off Peja.
9. Houston Rockets (8): T-Mac is back and the Rockets are off of their skid, but not before an embarrassing loss to the Heat.
10. Denver Nuggets (9): AI and Carmelo are stll performing, but they aren't getting what they need out of Kleiza and K-Mart (Because they are injured).
11. LA Lakers (10)
12. Detroit Pistons (12): I'm pretty sure the Pistons have one of the worst stengths of schedule in the league.
13. Toronto Raptors (11): TJ Ford is out, but Jose Calderon is more thn maing up for his absence (35 assists in his last 3 games). Chris Bosh is suddenly beastly as a result (110 points, 48 rebounds in his last 4 games).
14. Milwaukee Bucks (16): Momentary leaders of the Central Division with big wins over the Cavs, Lakers, and Mavs (all above them in the standings). Still somehow have a negative point differential though.
15. Indiana Pacers (20): JO is out again, and... the Pacers are good again? With Granger and Dunleavy at the helm, they've rolled off wins against the Hornets and Mavs, and only prevented against beating the Cavs by an explosion by Lebron. Trade him (to the Bulls).
16. New Jersey Nets (19): How good is Jason Kidd right now? (So good.) He leads the team in rebounds, assists and steals.
17. Memphis Grizzlies (22): Juan Carlos Navarro is throwing his name into the hat of Rookie of the Year talks after seizing a starting slot and running away with it (28 points vs. the Wizards)
18. Portland Trailblazers (13): 5-1 at home, 0-7 on the road. They have a homestand to lok forward to this week.
19. Charlotte Bobcats (18): The heartbreaker against Boston left stunned Bobcats lying on the court. Gerald Walace stayed there as he's day-to-day.
20. Washington Wizards (17): Gil is out, but Jamison and Butler more than make up for it. Look for Blatche to make a splash don the road too, as he is starting to shine.
21. LA Clippers (15)
22. Atlanta Hawks (25)
23. Miami Heat (21): A good win against a depleted Rockets squad. When Shaq and Wade come to play...they might be halfway decent.
24. Golden State (28): On a 2 game winning streak, but I can't exactly say why.
25-30 Every other team in the league: Every team down here (Knicks, 76ers, Kings, Sonics, TWolves, Bulls) is so bad, that they are almost undifferentiable from each other. Does it really matter if the Sonics can beat the Bulls or if the Knicks can beat the Kings? Only in the fight for Derrick Rose.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA: Week 4
Monday, November 19, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA: Week 3
All teams have a win, all teams have a loss. This is where it starts to get fun.
(Last week in parentheses)
1. Boston Celtics (1): Everyone has to lose sometime.
2. San Antonio Spurs (3): The regular season is their preseason, and yet they are still dominating.
3. Phoenix Suns (5): In the midst of a 5 game win streak: they look unstoppable.
4. Dallas Mavericks (4): Killed the Spurs in their match-up, their best win in a 3-0 week.
5. Utah Jazz (6): D-Will and Kirilenko are both among the league leaders in assists with 8.6 and 6.9 respectively.
6. New Orleans Hornets (8): On a 5-game win streak, but how long can it last without Paul?
7. Orlando Magic (9): The only team in the league who can say they beat the Celtics.
8. Houston Rockets (2): They've lost 4 straight during one of the tougher weeks you see. Thankfully, T-Mac returns on Tuesday when they face the Mavs.
9. Denver Nuggets (9): Bounced back nicely after that drumming by Boston, they haven't lost since.
10. LA Lakers (13)
11. Toronto Raptors (15): Looking good after moving Bargnani to the bench.
12. Detroit Pistons (7): I was wary about their strength of schedule last week, and they responded by losing 3 of 4, against the Blazers, Knicks, and Kings at that,
13. Portland Trailblazers (10): The real question is, can they win on the road?
14. Cleveland Cavaliers (12)
15. LA Clippers (14): Starting to come back down to Earth after a hot start.
16. Milwaukee Bucks (16): Michael Redd may be the leader, but all eyes are on Yi right now.
17. Washington Wizards (27): That one win seemed to catalyze their season.
18. Charlotte Bobcats (21)
19. New Jersey Nets (17)
20. Indiana Pacers (18): Jermaine O'Neal might be having a Patrick Ewing effect on the team; they looked much better when he was injured.
21. Miami Heat (28): Hung in there with Boston, probably the high point of their season so far.
22. Memphis Grizzlies
23. Chicago Bulls (22): I keep wanting them to snap out of it, but they never do. They make me feel dumb for picking them to win the East.
24. Sacramento Kings (25): 2-2 last week with a key win against the Pistons. Isn't every beating the Pistons though?
25. Atlanta Hawks (19): It's starting to look like their big wins were just flukes.
26. Philadelphia 76ers (26)
27. New York Knicks (23)
28. Golden State Warriors (24): The last team to win a game now has 2 under their belt.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (29): Randy Foye and Corey Brewer are showing flashes of greatness.
30. Seattle Supersonics (30)
Think your team got slighted? Voice your opinions through a comment.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA: Week 2
Two weeks through the season, we are left with one undefeated team and three winless teams. We've already seen our fair share of upsets: The Mavs are getting pretty used to them. The rookie class is already strting to show its merit, with Kevin Durant, Al Horford, and Yi Jianlian as the early standouts and Luis Scola, Jeff Green, and Acie Law IV picking up their scraps. Its still a little early in the season to make definitive rankings, but as always, I'll try my best.
(Last week in parentheses)
1. Boston Celtics (3): It's pick your poison with these Celtics: not Garnett, Pierce, Allen, but whether you want to be held to below 30% shooting or if you want to give up 78 points in a half.
2. Houston Rockets (1): Came back from a heartbreaking loss to Dallas with a win against the Spurs. Yao is having the year of his life with averages of 24 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks per game while shooting a ridiculous 55% from the field and 90% from the line.
3. San Antonio Spurs (2): With Barbosa entering the Suns' starting line-up, the 6th man award is Manu's (20 ppg, 5 rpg, 5 apg, 2.5 stl) to lose (to Jason Terry presumably).
4. Dallas Mavericks (5): Winning against Houston is nice, but losing to Portland is not so much.
5. Phoenix Suns (7): Barbosa made a splash in his first appearance in the starting line-up, scoring a career-best 39 points and tacking on 6 assists, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals to boot.
6. Utah Jazz (6): Kirilenko is playing like it is 2002 and D-Will is becoming, as we all knew, one of the league's premier point guards. Utah is also averaging a league best 111 points per game.
7. Detroit Pistons (10): They own the league's second best point differential (+10), but in all but the Clipper game (in other words, @CHI, @SEA) they've looked less than dominant against mediocre competition.
8. New Orleans Hornets (8): Lost against Portland, but really who doesn't these days?
9. Orlando Magic (14): A lot of people questioned the Lewis signing, but so far it looks pretty good with the Magic poised to run away with the Southeast.
10. Portland Trailblazers (25): Went 3-0 in their second hell week of the season, with wins against New Orleans, Memphis, and Dallas. They should be looking forward to their upcoming match ups against Detroit and Denver, as a brief respite.
11. Denver Nuggets (9): Had an embarrassing loss against the Celtics, but came back with wins against the Pacers and the Wizards.
12. Cleveland Cavaliers (17): A 3-1 week is a 3-1 week, even when your wins come against Golden State, Sacramento, and the Clippers.
13. LA Lakers (12): Is Kobe worth it? In short, yes.
14. LA Clippers (24): Their record demands this spot, but no Brand and no Livingston stil does not inspire confidence.
15. Toronto Raptors (5): Alright, so they aren't nearly as good as I thought, but they still have one of the best point guard tandems in the league and Bosh is still feeling that nagging injury.
16. Milwaukee Bucks (19): Yi Jianlian is quickly becoming one of the best rookies in the league and developing much faster than Yao did.
17. New Jersey Nets (21): Quietly worked up to a 4-1 record before getting beat down by the Celtics and losing Vince Carter to injury.
18. Indiana Pacers (11)
19. Atlanta Hawks (20): Not quite the giant killer that Portland is, but no longer the baby birds.
20. Memphis Grizzlies (16)
21. Charlotte Bobcats (13): Raymond Felton is the catalyst for this team; without him they are not the same team.
22. Chicago Bulls (18): I thought they'd be the cream of the crop in the East, but they look like they really need Kobe, now.
23. New York Knicks (23)
24. Golden State Warriors (15)
25. Sacramento Kings (28): Beat up on the bottom feeders last week, with their only wins coming against winless teams.
26. Philadelphia 76ers (26)
27. Washington Wizards (30): Finally somewhat finding their offense.
28. Miami Heat (29): Owner of one win, which is more than some teams can say.
29. Minnesota Timberwolves (27)
30. Seattle Supersonics (22)
Think your team got slighted? Voice your opinions through a comment.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA: Week 1
First regular season Power Rankings. We should celebrate.
(Last week in parentheses)
1. Houston (4): Call me a homer, but they looked amazing against the Jazz.
2. San Antonio (1)
3. Boston (3): Raptors gave them a scare, but that defense looks impregnable.
4. Toronto(9): Owners of the league's best point-differential fought Boston to a standstill.
5. Dallas (5): Slipped up against the Hawks, but now are blesses with two J. Howards on their active roster.
6. Utah (6)
7. Phoenix (2) I feel like I should drop them farther because they look so sloppy right now.
8. New Orleans (12): They will stay here if they stay healthy.
9. Denver (9)
10. Detroit (7): 3-0, but they had to fight for it against mediocre competition.
11. Indiana (18): Could this be the long-awaited break out of Mike Dunleavy (22 PPG, 9 RPG, 4 APG)
12. LA Lakers (19): They hold this spot as long as Kobe is there to take over.
13. Charlotte (13)
14. Orlando (14)
15. Golden State (16)
16. Memphis (17): 0-2, but played well against hard teams (SAS, IND)
17. Cleveland (11): They look like they really miss Varejao right now.
18. Chicago (8): They look like a young team letting the Kobe trade situation hang over their collective head.
19. Milwaukee (23): Yi looks like he is developing much quicker than expected. Look for the headline Yi-Yao match up on Friday.
20. Atlanta Hawks (24): Beat the Mavs and lost to Detroit by 1, maybe I should be giving the Hawks more credit?
21. New Jersey (22): They haven't actually looked too bd other than that 106-69 beat down by the Raptors.
22. Seattle (28): KD is the best rookie we've seen in a long time, but can the team keep up with him?
23. New York (20)
24. LA Clippers (26): Hanging in there so far against meager competition, still don't inspire much faith though.
25. Portland (29): Came close hanging in there in a hellish first week (@SA, @NOR, @HOU) that doesn't get much easier in week 2 (NOR, MEM, DAL).
26. Philadelphia (27): Beat Chicago... but...
27. Minnesota (30)
28. Sacramento (25): Everyone's favorite punching bag have a league worst -17 point differential
29. Miami (15): Off to an 0-3 start, and things to come don't look good (@SA, PHX)
30. Washington (21): All-offense no-defense doesn't work when you score 91 PPG.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA - Final Preseason Rankings
The NBA season is just hours (33 hours to be exact) away and teams eiter seem to be in top gear bursting out of the gate or wishing that they still had another couple weeks to get into shape. The injury bug has hit a couple teams early and they are hurting for it. In unrelated news, I slept through my fantasy live draft and ended up with Gerald wallace, Shawn Marion, Paul Pierce, Antawn Jamison, Tayshaun Prince, Josh Childress, and Corey Maggette on the same team. Whoops...
Onto the rankings (Last week in parentheses):
1. San Antonio Spurs (4): You knew they were going to take this spot eventually, why not now?
2. Phoenix Suns (3)
3. Boston Celtics (5): KG may have gotten a triple double, but the season hinges on Rajon Rondo's jumper.
4. Houston Rockets (2): Closed out the preseason with 3 straight losses to finish last in the Southwest.
5. Dallas Mavericks (1): Not showing to many ill effects yet, but how will they cope with the loss of Josh Howard?
6. Utah Jazz (6)
7. Detroit Pistons (7)
8. Chicago Bulls (10)
9. Toronto Raptors (9)
10. Denver Nuggets (13): AI and Melo seem to be clicking better than ever after putting up 133 against the Blazer when Linas Kleiza (who?) put up 34.
11. Cleveland Cavaliers: Lebron and shlubs won't be good enough to win the revamped East.
12. New Orleans Hornets(11)
13. Charlotte Bobcats (12)
14. Orlando Magic(14): Five straight wins in the preseason does not a great team make (ask the Hawks).
15. Miami Heat (22): They brought in Ricky Davis for some emergency help, which doesn't really bode well for the state of the squad.
16. Golden State Warriors (16)
17. Memphis Grizzlies(21): Showed potential in back-to-back wins vs. the Rockets, but then let the Pacers put up 140.
18. Indiana Pacers (24): People (including me) forget that this was the team to beat before the brawl.
19. Los Angeles Lakers (15): How long is the Kobe issue going to hang over their heads?
20. New York Knicks (17)
21. Washington Wizards (18): Brandon Haywood has the Center position to himself (Andray Blatche?) without Etan Thomas pushing him, which isn't good for Wizards fans.
22. New Jersey Nets (19)
23. Milwaukee Bucks (25): The young guns are starting to come around.
24. Atlanta Hawks (27): 7-1 in the preseason counts for something right?
25. Sacramento Kings (29): Mike Bibby is out for a couple weeks, look for Kevin Martin to shine.
26. Los Angeles Clippers (20): They need a lot from Maggette and Kaman with Elton Brand out for a while.
27. Philadelphia 76ers (28): Down here it is a war of attrition; just don't get worse and your ranking will probably improve.
28. Seattle Supersonics (26)
29. Portland Trailblazers (23): No GODE, no Roy, the Blazers want a mulligan.
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (30): The loss of Ricky Davis doesn't hurt too much with Corey Brewer, Gerald Green, and Ryan Gomes waiting in the wings. Even still it hurts when you lose your best player (Al Jefferson?), even if it is just Ricky Davis.
Think your team got slighted? You're probably right! Comment about it.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA #2
After 2 weeks of preseason, it is due time for the power rankings to be shuffled a little. I don't usually put much stock in a team's performance in preseason (the Spurs have been 0-5 the last two years), but a couple things have been apparent.
Firstly, the Celtics are the cream of te crop in the East. The Big Three is stepping up and the role players mesh perfectly. I don't know if they can beat the Western heavyweights, but I have little doubt that they'd hold their own against Detroit and Cleveland.
Secondly, some teams that I thought were going to be taking the next step don't seem to agree with me. The Milwaukee Bucks have been glaringly inconsistent while the Grizzlies look like they want to be back in the hunt for OJ Mayo, Eric Gordon, and Kevin Love. Also, I realized that some of my rankings were simply ill-advised to bein with (Chicago as the top of the East).
Anyway, onto the rankings (Last week in parentheses).
1. Dallas (1): Put a hurt on a depleted version of the Spurs and still haunted by images of Baron Davis in ther dreams.
2. Houston (4): Gave up a huge lead against New Orleans in the last second, and T-Mac's back is acting up again, but try to stop all of their weapons.
3. Phoenix (3)
4. San Antonio Spurs (2): It's funny how they always sneak up on us at the end of the season though.
5. Boston (9)
6. Utah (6)
7. Detroit (7)
8. Cleveland (11)
9. Toronto (12)
10. Chicago (5): Not quite as good as the 5 ranking I gave them, but good enough to end a Eastern run in the rankings.
11. New Orleans (24): They were hammered by injuries last year and seem to be clicking if they stay healthy.
12. Charlotte (21): Raymond Felton, Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor, Jason Richardson, Walter Hermann, etc. Not necessarily in that order.
13. Denver (13)
14. Orlando (8): Looked great against the Heat, but who doesnt?
15. Los Angeles Lakers (14)
16. Golden State (10): Sure when Baron is healthy they are great (against the Mavs at least), but how often will that be the case?
17. New York (20)
18. Washington (17)
19. New Jersey (15)
20. Los Angeles Clippers (19)
21. Memphis (16): Might just be trying to surprise the league. Also might just be bad.
22. Miami (18)
23. Portland (22)
24. Indiana (26)
25. Milwaukee (23): Maybe when Yi comes around they'll move up, but not yet.
26. Seattle (28)
27. Atlanta (27)
28. Philadelphia (29)
29. Sacramento (30)
30. Minnesota (25): The Baby Celtics look like they might be good in about 3 years. They also might benefit from giving Randy Foye and Al Jeff some PT.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Power Ranking the NBA #1
No explanation given, just rankings by division (Conference, Overall in parentheses).
Eastern Conference
Atlantic
Central
Southeast
Western Conference
Northwest
Southwest
Pacific
