The idea behind these power rankings is simple. Teams will be ranked, in order, by the quality of their roster (factoring injuries) and how well they are playing, at the time. Rankings will be presented in tier format, to further delineate the quality of the teams.
Here are the first power rankings of the season, ready for opening night.
Tier 1
1. Los Angeles Lakers: Defending champs are back with an improved team. Bynum out at least a month.
2. Boston Celtics: Tough team. You know they feel disrespected. Interested to see O'Neal's.
Tier 2
3. Miami Heat: Time to finally see "The Big Three" in action. Can they meet ridiculous expectations? Early injury concerns.
4. Orlando Magic: Team very few are talking about. For good reason?
5. Dallas Mavericks: Steady, veteran group.
6. Oklahoma City Thunder: The bandwagon is overflowing. Target on their back.
Tier 3
7. Utah Jazz: Interested to see Deron Williams/Al Jefferson combo. Waiting on Okur.
8. San Antonio Spurs: See Mavericks, Dallas.
9. Portland Trail Blazers: May start slow with Oden/Pryzbilla out.
10. Houston Rockets: GM Daryl Morey feels disrespected by pundits' predictions. He should.
11. Atlanta Hawks: Orlando sweep hangover or new coach, new mentality?
Tier 4
12. Chicago Bulls: Party will have to wait for Boozer.
13. Denver Nuggets: Tons of question marks. How will they respond?
14. Milwaukee Bucks: Jennings improved? Bogut healthy? Skiles not tuned out?
15. Phoenix Suns: What's the rotation for their small forward laden roster?
Tier 5
16. Memphis Grizzlies: How do they respond to unexpectedly good season?
17. New York Knicks: Can Amare be a #1 all around player and lead a team?
18. New Orleans Hornets: Chris Paul, Chris Paul, Chris Paul.
19. Los Angeles Clippers: Talented, but they wear that jersey.
Tier 6
20. Philadelphia 76ers: Elton Brand's health and production vital. Evan Turner may be an issue.
21. Indiana Pacers: My sleeper team. Lookout for Hibbert.
22. Washington Wizards: The John Wall Era begins. Arenas still lurking.
23. Charlotte Bobcats: Need to start out decently or things will unravel. D.J. Augustin at the point.
24. Sacramento Kings: Evans-Cousins duo will be lethal.
Tier 7
25. Golden State Warriors: Curry-Lee combo interesting. Where's the defense?
26. New Jersey Nets: Brought in several moderate talents over one or two big ones. Watch Brook Lopez.
27. Cleveland Cavaliers: How do they respond post-LeBron?
28. Minnesota Timberwolves: Young team, trying to figure itself out.
Tier 8
29. Detroit Pistons: Poorly constructed.
30. Toronto Raptors: Team full of mid-tier "role" players and marginal potential.
What do you think?
one-liner on the clips was funny
ReplyDeletei would put cleveland behind detroit just because that franchise is just deflated right now.
about the rockets, when you say pundits, you mean bill simmons? haha i saw his tweet this morning
and i would have the suns over the bucks. i just cant count nash out, no matter how old he gets and how the rest of the roster looks like.
i think atlanta drops a bit from last year, im not so sure about how much better theyll be with larry drew. not that woodson was good to start with.
keith smart, any idea what system he runs??
I think Cleveland has about the same amount of talent as Detroit. It could go either way for them. Deflated or invigorated.
ReplyDeleteAbout the Rockets, I do mean Simmons, but also on ESPN they had some other prediction that had Houston 11th in the West. Here that is: http://twitter.com/#!/dmorey/status/28064963983
Agreed, can't count out Nash, but I think they have more to prove than Milwaukee at the outset just because I'm not sure who rebounds for them.
Atlanta should be motivated b/c everyone is doubting them, but I don't think they will be.
Not sure about Smart. I have heard it's different than Nellie, but that doesn't mean anything. Can't expect a dramatic improvement defensively.