Power Rankings: Top 10
Jan 20, 2013 8:35:24 GMT -5
Post by donatello2424 on Jan 20, 2013 8:35:24 GMT -5
1. Phoenix Suns (25-9)
The Suns have surprised many this year and continue to perform at a high level. They are 10-0 over their last 10 and look to make a huge push this year to be a title contending team. The strength of this team has to be their defense. Which is superb at 97 papg. That is in thanks mainly due to Eric Bledsoe and Ron Artest, both of whom are great defenders who can steal the ball as well. The problem with the Suns is outside of those two, no one else really screams DEFENSE! Marvin Williams is a solid player who can score inside and out but his defense is a big surprising. LaMarcus Aldridge is solid at B+ inside which gives him his nearly 26 ppg, but he isn’t a great defender. Brook Lopez is probably the best big defender they have, but we all know where his value is not. The Suns are a well balanced team. They have the defense to combat other team’s top players and the scoring at places where team can usually be weak. It should be interesting to see how they match up with the other top teams in the league.
2. Atlanta Hawks (20-7)
The Hawks have coasted ti a league best winning percentage and look to be a top title contender. The Hawks also boast the top ppg in the league, which could set-up an interesting showdown if these top two teams ever make it to the finals. The offseason trade of Blake Griffin (ironically enough to the Suns) for Michael Redd was seen as an overpay for the Hawks, however it is hard to argue with the 29 ppg he is providing. Lowry has quietly made himself a top pg in the league and has flown under the radar. Rudy Gay is the 3rd head of this monster who is a top 3rd option. The team is anchored inside by a duo of outside bigs in Kevin Love and Tibor Pleis. But don’t think the Hawks are without faults. The team struggles with rebounding from their bigs, averaging only 20 rpg from their team starters, however they are getting 7 rpg from their top backup big. The other issue stems from the lack of defense from Gay and Lowry, both of whom seem to get abused defensively. They need to try and correct that or this season could be another disappointment.
3. Dallas Mavericks (19-7)
Dallas has what I like to consider a very traditional team. They rely on their point guard for offense as well as their bigs. They have a great combination of inside players as well as outside ones. Tim Duncan is still going along and trucking at 35 and his amazing apg number proves just how valuable he is in the league (that and his great rpg and bpg for a guy of his age). Marbury is a good compliment as a player who can score and is damn efficient at it as well. The “young guy” of the bunch is Kris Humphries, who is putting up a solid season of 25 ppg and nearly 12 rpg. All of their big three can score and are all shooting fairly well (Duncan being the outlier). That being said, they do take the team in a very…different turn. Yaroslav Korolev is good for what he does, and that is defend. The ability of him not be a scorer is a bit of a disappointment but you get what you get. I can see why Dante Cunningham is the starter at small forward, but I don’t like it. He gives them another inside player who can score with Duncan and Humphries, but he isn’t a great defender and his main value is his ability to rebound at the small forward position. I like the idea of Maggette off the bench but he seems to be behind some people in the pecking order. This team is different than the other team because the others ones had players who could step up if someone went down for offense. If one of their big 3 goes down, I think they will struggle to score.
4. Detroit Pistons (16-9)
It was a big of a disappointment when no one was able to snag Durant away from the Pistons this offseason. The Pistons are a top team in the east and could easily overtake the Hawks in due time. They have good offensive productions from their big two in Durant and Cenk Akyol. Durant does his thing to the tune of 29 ppg and 9 rpg while Cenk gets around 25 ppg with good rebounds as well. Both are great players, however their 3rd option scorer isn’t as great as some of the others. Don’t get me wrong, Andre Iguodala is a fine player. He can score inside and outside and is a plus rebounder, but his 19 ppg aren’t the 20 that the other teams have. This team has their two bigs in Marcin Gortat and Kendrick Perkins. If you had to pinpoint a weakness, this would be it. Well that and what I am going to talk about after I talk about this. While they are both good, they are both good backups. Perkins is pushing the 12 ppg and 11 rpg with over 2.5 bpg and Gortat is behind him when it comes to that. They do give them solid blocking and their rebounding is covered slightly by Durant and Iguodala, but they still aren’t great. The most glaring weakness has to be their lack of depth from their bigs. Right now they are relying on the jack of all traits in Dominic McGuire to step up, but he is not a big. While he can handle his own defensively he is not a scorer and not really a great rebounder. If one of them goes down are they going to start McGuire there? They better hope they aren’t the victim of the injury bug.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves (19-10)
The Timberwolves were another team that made a splash this offseason with the addition of DeJuan Blair who has given the Timberwolves another option scorer to pair with Marion, which they drastically needed. Shawn Marion has been a stud in the league for several years now and he has himself a number two in Blair. Elton Brand give them another option scorer when he starts at center, but he does make them a very small team (6’7”, 6’7”, and 6’8” at sf, pf, and center). He is also not a great defender which clashes with Blair’s lack of defense as well. The other two main players aren’t that impactful. Evan Turner is the apparent starter at shooting guard I have no idea why. He is an okay player, but he is just so raw. He isn’t a great scorer and he isn’t a great defender. His 10 ppg are horrible for a player who doesn’t provide you defense, however his rpg are nice. I don’t know why Granger has fallen out of favor but I seriously question why Danny boy isn’t start at shooting guard. Could it be that having your tallest start as your shooting guard isn’t favorable? Granger would give better defense and a proven scorer. If you want to give Turner time bring him off the bench as a great 6th man. Backup 1-2-3, but as your shooting guard starter when you have a former 20 ppg guy on your bench rotting away for no good reason? I guess I should mention Rubio. He is just okay. He isn’t a scorer. His topg are kinda high imo for a non-scoring point guard. He is a good defensive pg stats guy, but that’s about it.
6. Miami Heat (16-9)
The Heat are one of the teams that are tiptoeing around the HC, which is surprising to me because they aren’t a great team. I feel that the heat are good, but aren’t a title team right now. That could change once injuries start to hit other teams because they are a solid team. Jason Terry has been playing very well as one of their scorers, even though his ppg are down this year. The big scorer for this team is Ben Gordon and his 24 ppg. With his ratings, he should be vetter than he is. Carter has been a solid addition and brings scoring and that’s about it, but his percentages have been really good. I do love their bigs. Are they overpayed? Of coursem but they can play. Chandler is a beast. 15 ppg and 15 rpg is amazing. Add the fact that he can block almost 5 shots a game and you have a beastly player, well worth the 16 million they are paying him. Bynum is a good compliment to Chandler as well. He can block and he can rebound but he isn’t as dominant. That is why I think he is slightly overpayed is due to him making 13 million and not being truly dominant. The Heat have 3 good defensive players while the other two rely purely on their offense carrying them. That is why I think they will struggle to win a title with this current set-up, Terry and Carter just can’t defend the studs.
7. Chicago Bulls (14-8)
Has Kobe falling off? Why aren’t the Bulls as dominant? These are two questions that seem to go hand in hand. No Kobe hasn’t fallen off. Kobe is playing out of his mind. 34 ppg and 9 rpg is great, however he is a turnover whore at his ripe old age of 33. The problem is Kobe can’t do everything and it seems like he has to. Steve Nash is a great player. He is crazy efficient and his 21 ppg are a great number two to Kobe. Now the rest of the team is interesting. I love Josh Smith and his transition to small forward is interesting. His 20 ppg are nice and the 10 rpg as a small forward is great. The 4 spg+bpg provides a new dimension to the team, but him at small forward is not working. It isn’t because Smith is struggling, quite the contrary as he is beasting. The reason why it doesn’t work is because of DeAndre Jordan and Cheikh Samb. I can understand Kenyon Martin starting. Not saying I like it (7.5 rpg? That’s Brook Lopez territory) but I understand why he Is there. But why the fuck is DeAndre Jordan starting? 10 rpg, okay it is decent. But Jordan isn’t a starter. I feel when you are building a team there are 5 different types of bigs that can start for you. The scorer, the rebounder, the blocker, the defender/rebounder, and the do it all player. Now there are different levels of these players (Duncan is a do-it-all, Chandler is a defender/rebounder over a do-it-all, Blair is a scorer). That being said, Jordan is none of that. 1.2 bpg isn’t good enough to make up for his 5.5 ppg and .379 fg% and .313 ft%. 10 rpg isn’t good enough either. Jordan sucks, end of story.
8. New Jersey Nets (17-11)
The Nets have recently made a big trade but I’m not here to talk about that, maybe next time. I like the Nets. Chris Paul is a great player with his 27 ppg. I do feel his percentages could be a tad better, but I am really splitting hairs. Monta is in the same boat as Paul. Great player who looks to have it all, but the percentages. One of the reason for the percentages could be the fact that they have no one else to score the damn ball. When Martell Webster and his 10 ppg is your 3rd scorer, you know you’re in trouble. Mbah a Moute is a good small forward…on a team with a 3rd option big. They don’t have that and they could really some extra offense. Their bigs are very much unremarkable. I like Haywood’s ability to block shots but not his ability to not pull down rebounds. Haslem is their rebounder and is a decent man defender, but he doesn’t have the blocking they need. If only they could fuse Haslem and Haywood into a super big. The new trade will help by giving them a starting big (Bogut) and a replacement for CP (Deron) but they still will need a 3rd option scorer to make a big push this year.
9. Sacramento Kings (16-11)
This took way longer than I thought it would. I honestly don’t know anything about the Kings other than the fact that they have David Lee. I guess I have to say more than just him though right? Lee is a beast and is one of the best players in the league. Yes I said one of. I don’t think he is but I am like fbb and have a point guard bias (and a sg and sf bias). He is good for what he does. He is a great inside scorer and a great rebounder. His percentages are great, but he can’t block. I can’t say that a big is the best if he can’t block, it is illegal for me. Lou Williams is also very good. His ppg are a big low but think how crazy he would go in an outside offense. Let’s hope he doesn’t tear his acl like he did in real life *tear*. Parker doesn’t have the sexiest ratings, but he is a solid scorer. His turnovers are high though which is a huge negative. Big Baby gives them another scorer who is a solid rebounder, very nice. Battier is your typical defensive small forward (there seems to be a lot of those, that and shitty bigs starting). They are good enough to make the playoffs but right now they are giving up more ppg than they are scoring, which is a bad sign if you want to make a serious run.
10. Toronto Raptors (18-11)
It came down to Raptors or Jazz. Both have been shitty over their past 10, but the Raptors home record is one game better. Plus why is Utah’s name the Jazz? Really dumb they kept that name. Plus Raptors are awesome, just the Raptors are Canadian so they fucked up with the colour scheme. The scoring comes from two main players: Richard Hamilton and Daniel Gibson. Boobie is one of those pg’s. He can score but he isn’t your typical pg when it comes to assists and defense. Arenas is their main leader as he is their best ppg guy and 3rd best rebounder (yep, your sg who is actually listed as a pg is your 3rd best rebounder), and is their best stealer and assists guy (and tied for 4th in bpg, lol). Without Arenas they are probably a lotto team. Caron Butler is a decent enough 3rd option. I like his ratings but not the production. I think Varejao is a solid starting big. Good blocker and good enough rebounder. DJ White doesn’t provide much of anything. His inside rating is nice but the 12 ppg isn’t that great, even if he is a non-option in an outside offense. This team is okay but I think their last 10 is more likely what we will see the rest of this year.
