Monday, November 12, 2012

Power Rankings: Week 3


(Yup, this is your new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers)


It's Monday, so it is time for power rankings.

1. San Antonio Spurs 6-1 (1)
-Even though the loss to the Clips exposed them some, you mine as well pencil in this team for 50+.

2. Miami Heat 5-2 (1)
-The Heat looked oddly normal against a bigger Grizzlies team. Maybe having two dominant(cough Lakers cough) is this teams kryptonite?

3. New York Knicks 4-0 (10)
-The only unbeaten left in the NBA needs to come to terms with reality: Amare Stoudemire should come off the bench when he cames back, but Carmello Anthony is your starting power forward from here on out.

4. Los Angeles Clippers (4) 5-2
 -The Clippers looked awful against the Cavs, and then unreal against the Heat. If Deandre Jordan and Blake Griffin can continue their post move improvement, they can play with the bigs in the West.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (9) 5-1
-Remember when people were talking of trading Rudy Gay after the Clipper lost? 5 straight wins including a win over the champs quickly puts that talk to rest.

(Miami who? We got bro-love on our side!)


6. Oklahoma City Thunder (3) 5-2
-The Thunder aren't as exciting to watch without Harden, but still have this guy named Kevin who is pretty good. And while I'm hinting at Durant, the lesser known Martin is quietly showing why he's an underrated scorer.

7. Minnesota Timberwolves (17) 4-2
-While the Budinger injury will hurt, this team is doing exactly what they need to and more while they wait for Love and Rubio to get healthy. 

8. Philadelphia 76ers (7) 4-2
-The 76ers showed something against the Celtics this year that they didn't last year; they can finish games. Could this season by a what if though with no Bynum until January?

9. Chicago Bulls (15) 4-2
-This team is boring, lacks depth, and has trouble scoring. But they know how to win games, and Tom Thibodeau is still their coach. An ugly win is still a win.

10. Boston Celtics (6) 3-3
-The Celtics are the first .500 team on the list; part because of homerism, part because of veteran presence. This team will turn it around the backups learn the offense.

11. Brooklyn Nets (11) 3-2
-The Nets could have let the losses to the T-Wolves and Heat get to them, but they are beating the teams they are supposed to beat, soundly defeating the Magic twice.

12. Denver Nuggets (12) 4-3
-The Nuggets won 4 games in 5 nights. While it was against weak scheduling, that is not easy whatsoever in the NBA, nevermind coming off an 0-3 start.

(The new look Nuggets are finally living up to the hype. If only Galinari can remember how to shoot.)


13. New Orleans Hornets (21) 3-2
-Anthony Davis should make the all-star team over Dwight Howard. I don't care how ridiculous that sounds, it's true. He's playing better, and means so much more to his team.

14. Dallas Mavericks (18) 4-3
-The Mavericks are playing solid basketball, even with their starting difficult schedule. If Dirk can come back and get healthy, this team could be dangerous to an upper seed in the West.

15.  Milwaukee Bucks (16) 3-2
-Milwaukee showed a bit of who they were in their losses to the Celtics and Memphis. But in an East where only the Heat and Knicks look good right now, the Bucks could be your darkhorse 6 or 7 seed come April.

16. Los Angeles Lakers (6) 1-4
-The Mike Brown firing shocked alot of people, but Kobe should be happy with his USA coach Mike D'Antoni. If this starts our with a few losses however, it will be interesting to see what headlines come out of LA.

17. Utah Jazz (14) 3-4
-The team has "really exciting but just not good enough" written all over them. While they are going to compete for a spot in the West, it would be tough to make a case for them beating anyone 4 out of 7 times.

18. Houston Rockets (13) 3-3
-James Harden came back to Earth a little bit, but watch out tonight: he hopes to get a little revenge on Miami with his new pal Jeremy.

19. Indiana Pacers (7) 3-4
-The Pacers are quickly starting to look like the most overrated team of the season. With Granger out for three months, and Hibbert looking worthy of about $20 of that $60 million, this could be a dissapointing lottery season in the making.

20. Portland Trailblazers (20) 2-4
-How did Portland move up to spots besides three straight losses? Because Damian Lillard is getting better every game. I am weirdly excited to watch him beat John Wall's assist record in the Frosh/Soph game.

21. Atlanta Hawks (19) 2-3
-The Hawks look even more mediocre in the past. If this play continues, expect to see the words "Josh Smith" and "trade rumors" in the same sentence.

22. Golden State Warriors (21) 3-4
-There are pieces here, but the Brandon Rush injury really hurts. Who scores consistently off the bench for this team now?

23.  Phoenix Suns (26) 3-4
-The Suns could be a little higher, but their still isn't a person on the roster who is looking to step up as their premier scorer.

24. Cleveland Cavaliers (23) 2-5
-Kyrie Irving continue to proves why he should start to all-star game for the East at Point Guard. The problem is he has no one to pass to for consistent shooting.

25. Sacramento Kings (27) 2-5
-They just never let us down. Two suspensions to two power forwards in the first two weeks of the season. Oh, also just two wins for this underachieving team.

(DeMarcus and an official disagreeing? You don't say!?)

26. Toronto Raptors (24) 1-5
-They have played a few tight games, but the Lowry injury hurts. He was the one guy who Toronto felt comfortable going too late in games.

27. Charlotte Bobcats (30) 2-3
-The Bobcats look like a team headed in the right direction. Very, very slowly, but their is at least some promise there.

28. Orlando Magic (28) 2-4
-Everyone criticized us when we put the Magic down two spots after two wins. Where are all those people now? The Magic will never win games in which Glen Davis thinks he is Paul Pierce.

29. Washington Wizards (29) 0-5
-If the Wizards don't win at Charlotte tomorrow, they could be 0-10 before facing the Bobcats again with games against Dallas, Utah, Indiana and Atlanta up next. 

30. Detroit Pistons (30) 0-7
-I am still awaiting word back from the NBA on my 1/30th discount for my League Pass. Detroit Basketball didn't even get relief when Michigan State was upset by Uconn this weekend.

Let us know what you think in the comments, and until next time here is your amazing NBA YouTube Clip:


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