2013 BBS Mid-Season West Report Card
Feb 26, 2013 21:19:58 GMT -5
Post by gp on Feb 26, 2013 21:19:58 GMT -5
2013 BBS Mid-Season West Report Card
Pacific Division
Sacramento Kings – 1st West/1st Pacific – 34-5 overall – 23-2 home record
Grade: A
Imagine how good this potential championship team would be if they still had Quincy Acy? Even without Acy, it’s one of the best on paper and FBB seems to like them just as much. Jiggy has certainly went all in on this season and his veterans Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant still seem up to the challenge. There’s only about a handful of teams that can challenge the Kings for supremacy in BBS right now.
Phoenix Suns – 3rd West/2nd Pacific – 31-10 overall – 18-2 home record
Grade: A-
I always find it amazing when two good/great teams make a trade amongst themselves and both teams benefit from it. Such was the case with the Kings and the Suns, as Phoenix netted Ac y and quickly found out he is one of the most efficient players in BBS, perhaps in history. In a retooling year for the Suns, Acy has teamed up with Brook Lopez and Tony Parker for another possible banner year in the desert.
Portland Trail Blazers – 4th West/3rd Pacific – 25-14 overall – 14-6 home record
Grade: B+
In the span of one off-season, the Trail Blazers went a number of different directions yet still managed to be one of the best teams in the West. The Blazers have a number of strong veterans in Tyson Chandler, Rashard Lewis and Ben Gordon and one prized youngster in John Wall. Still, there are rumblings of a controversial Martin ownership stake being transferred to Broph following this season, so there may be even more change in the Pacific Northwest still to come.
Los Angeles Clippers – 10th West/4th Pacific – 19-23 overall – 13-9 home record
Grade: C+
I think a lot of teams expected the Clippers to be in contention after landing back-to-back No. 1 picks. It just hasn’t happened quite yet. Los Angeles seems to be verge of something special with a core of Anthony Davis, Shabazz Muhammed and Tyler Zeller all as recent lotto picks. Add in swingman Chandler Parson and some other pieces along the way, there’s no recent this team shouldn’t win 50+ games in the next 2 seasons.
Seattle Sonics – 11th in the West/5th Pacific – 17-24 overall – 8-12 home record
Grade: C-
The Sonics are an interesting team because they certainly have talent and seem to have average numbers but are still seven games below .500. Guard Darren Collison along with the upstart Jonny Flynn combine to make of one of the fastest backcourts in BBS history while Glen Davis and Josh Smith are unique frontcourt tandem. A lack of depth seems to be holding this team back even with sensational first year player Victor Oladipo putting up gaudy numbers from the small forward spot.
Los Angeles Lakers – 12th in the West/6th Pacific – 16-28 overall – 11-13 home record
Grade: C
I think Nanz’s tanking skills are starting to slip a bit here. In all seriousness though, there’s some nice talent on this team in swingmen Kawhi Leonard and Harrison Barnes eeking out wins for the Lakers along with ultra-versatile Royce White racking up assists. Still, the Lakers have to be upset that the Rockets are back in the playoff hunt now and they barely in the top 10 of worse teams in the league as it stands now.
Golden State Warriors – 13th in the West/7th Pacific – 12-24 overall – 8-6 home record
Grade: C
Warriors management seems content with Jared Dudley being the lone holdover from the its off-season signings. It remains to be seen if the Warriors will have a chance at a top-5 pick to join big man Isaiah Austin as well. It’s played on 14 games at home from its 36 games this season and usually teams win more at home then on the road no matter how bad they are. We’ll see if Dudley lasts the rest of the year in the Bay area or not.
MidWest
San Antonio Spurs – 2nd West/1st MidWest – 30-18 overall – 22-6 home record
Grade: A-
After being ‘gifted’ Andrew Bynum this off-season, the Spurs were slow out the gate this year but have quickly turned it around and have a current two game lead in their division. With two young studs still on rookie contracts in Marcus Morris and Klay Thompson, the Spurs have deadly shooters on the wings and strong bigs down low to get them to the West Finals this year.
Memphis Grizzles – 5th West/2nd MidWest – 26-18 overall – 17-7 home record
Grade: A-
The Grizz have already had quite a season with already 44 games played this year. It has shipped out a number of players and draft picks and the result is an eclectic mix of young talent and veterans ready to win now. Leading rookie of the year nominee Cody Zeller has been a monster down low for Memphis while his partner Andre Drummond continues to show why he was No. 2 pick in last year’s draft. Scoring from Jeff Green and Gilbert Arenas also pace a balanced scoring attack for the Grizzlies,1 who have quickly become one of the dark horses in the West to win it all.
Dallas Mavericks – 6th in the West/3rd MidWest - 23-23 overall – 15-8 home record
Grade: B-
The Mavs have hit a wall lately losing 8 out of its last 10 with many of those losses coming on the road. Still, Dallas has a deadly combo of Dirk Nowitzki and Louis Willams along with the recently acquired Leonardo Barbosa. After a rescinded trade between Dallas and New Jersey, GM Greggor is vowing to look at all moves in order to rebuild or retool this roster but obviously it still has the tools to contend in the West.
Houston Rockets – 7th in the West/4th in the MidWest – 19-19 overall – 13-5 home record
Grade: B-
After a super slow start, the Rockets have finally emerged and started playing the basketball many expected at the start of the season. GM Biggie began to tinker with the depth chart and get the most of out of his players including guard Monta Ellis and big man Dwight Howard. Yet a red flag remains that the Rockets have only won 6 games away from Houston this year and will need to win more in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Utah Jazz - 8th in the West/5th MidWest – 19-20 overall – 14-7 home record
Grade: C+
Another team with a ton of talent but very little defense on its roster is the Utah Jazz. It has a terrific set of scorers in Tracy McGrady, Eric Gordon and Jeremy Lin yet there’s not big man to defend the paint other than Spencer Hawes. An upgrade is needed for Brandon Bass it seems like in order for this team to reach its full potential. With picks and moveable contract on-hand, this shouldn’t be a problem for the Jazz.
Denver Nuggets – 9th in the West /6th MidWest – 18-20 overall – 9-7 home record
Grade: C
Not really sure where to put this team right now. It seems like they are trying to win but they don’t have enough defense to get it done. There’s only three other teams that get less blocks than them and only one of those teams is in playoff contention. Also, Derrick Rose is a no doubt super stud but should probably play shooting guard and let someone else run point guard and rack up some more assists.
Minnesota Timberwolves – 14th West/7th MidWest – 14-27 overall – 10-11 home record
Grade: C-/INC
It’s kind of hard to give a grade to a team with two GMs in one season already but this team needs a lot of work clearly. It probably should trade Amir Johnson as it as it can and get the most value of it as possible before he wastes his prime years. This team also has a number of players that play the same role or position so it may need to make some deals in order to give some players room to grow and compete.
Pacific Division
Sacramento Kings – 1st West/1st Pacific – 34-5 overall – 23-2 home record
Grade: A
Imagine how good this potential championship team would be if they still had Quincy Acy? Even without Acy, it’s one of the best on paper and FBB seems to like them just as much. Jiggy has certainly went all in on this season and his veterans Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant still seem up to the challenge. There’s only about a handful of teams that can challenge the Kings for supremacy in BBS right now.
Phoenix Suns – 3rd West/2nd Pacific – 31-10 overall – 18-2 home record
Grade: A-
I always find it amazing when two good/great teams make a trade amongst themselves and both teams benefit from it. Such was the case with the Kings and the Suns, as Phoenix netted Ac y and quickly found out he is one of the most efficient players in BBS, perhaps in history. In a retooling year for the Suns, Acy has teamed up with Brook Lopez and Tony Parker for another possible banner year in the desert.
Portland Trail Blazers – 4th West/3rd Pacific – 25-14 overall – 14-6 home record
Grade: B+
In the span of one off-season, the Trail Blazers went a number of different directions yet still managed to be one of the best teams in the West. The Blazers have a number of strong veterans in Tyson Chandler, Rashard Lewis and Ben Gordon and one prized youngster in John Wall. Still, there are rumblings of a controversial Martin ownership stake being transferred to Broph following this season, so there may be even more change in the Pacific Northwest still to come.
Los Angeles Clippers – 10th West/4th Pacific – 19-23 overall – 13-9 home record
Grade: C+
I think a lot of teams expected the Clippers to be in contention after landing back-to-back No. 1 picks. It just hasn’t happened quite yet. Los Angeles seems to be verge of something special with a core of Anthony Davis, Shabazz Muhammed and Tyler Zeller all as recent lotto picks. Add in swingman Chandler Parson and some other pieces along the way, there’s no recent this team shouldn’t win 50+ games in the next 2 seasons.
Seattle Sonics – 11th in the West/5th Pacific – 17-24 overall – 8-12 home record
Grade: C-
The Sonics are an interesting team because they certainly have talent and seem to have average numbers but are still seven games below .500. Guard Darren Collison along with the upstart Jonny Flynn combine to make of one of the fastest backcourts in BBS history while Glen Davis and Josh Smith are unique frontcourt tandem. A lack of depth seems to be holding this team back even with sensational first year player Victor Oladipo putting up gaudy numbers from the small forward spot.
Los Angeles Lakers – 12th in the West/6th Pacific – 16-28 overall – 11-13 home record
Grade: C
I think Nanz’s tanking skills are starting to slip a bit here. In all seriousness though, there’s some nice talent on this team in swingmen Kawhi Leonard and Harrison Barnes eeking out wins for the Lakers along with ultra-versatile Royce White racking up assists. Still, the Lakers have to be upset that the Rockets are back in the playoff hunt now and they barely in the top 10 of worse teams in the league as it stands now.
Golden State Warriors – 13th in the West/7th Pacific – 12-24 overall – 8-6 home record
Grade: C
Warriors management seems content with Jared Dudley being the lone holdover from the its off-season signings. It remains to be seen if the Warriors will have a chance at a top-5 pick to join big man Isaiah Austin as well. It’s played on 14 games at home from its 36 games this season and usually teams win more at home then on the road no matter how bad they are. We’ll see if Dudley lasts the rest of the year in the Bay area or not.
MidWest
San Antonio Spurs – 2nd West/1st MidWest – 30-18 overall – 22-6 home record
Grade: A-
After being ‘gifted’ Andrew Bynum this off-season, the Spurs were slow out the gate this year but have quickly turned it around and have a current two game lead in their division. With two young studs still on rookie contracts in Marcus Morris and Klay Thompson, the Spurs have deadly shooters on the wings and strong bigs down low to get them to the West Finals this year.
Memphis Grizzles – 5th West/2nd MidWest – 26-18 overall – 17-7 home record
Grade: A-
The Grizz have already had quite a season with already 44 games played this year. It has shipped out a number of players and draft picks and the result is an eclectic mix of young talent and veterans ready to win now. Leading rookie of the year nominee Cody Zeller has been a monster down low for Memphis while his partner Andre Drummond continues to show why he was No. 2 pick in last year’s draft. Scoring from Jeff Green and Gilbert Arenas also pace a balanced scoring attack for the Grizzlies,1 who have quickly become one of the dark horses in the West to win it all.
Dallas Mavericks – 6th in the West/3rd MidWest - 23-23 overall – 15-8 home record
Grade: B-
The Mavs have hit a wall lately losing 8 out of its last 10 with many of those losses coming on the road. Still, Dallas has a deadly combo of Dirk Nowitzki and Louis Willams along with the recently acquired Leonardo Barbosa. After a rescinded trade between Dallas and New Jersey, GM Greggor is vowing to look at all moves in order to rebuild or retool this roster but obviously it still has the tools to contend in the West.
Houston Rockets – 7th in the West/4th in the MidWest – 19-19 overall – 13-5 home record
Grade: B-
After a super slow start, the Rockets have finally emerged and started playing the basketball many expected at the start of the season. GM Biggie began to tinker with the depth chart and get the most of out of his players including guard Monta Ellis and big man Dwight Howard. Yet a red flag remains that the Rockets have only won 6 games away from Houston this year and will need to win more in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Utah Jazz - 8th in the West/5th MidWest – 19-20 overall – 14-7 home record
Grade: C+
Another team with a ton of talent but very little defense on its roster is the Utah Jazz. It has a terrific set of scorers in Tracy McGrady, Eric Gordon and Jeremy Lin yet there’s not big man to defend the paint other than Spencer Hawes. An upgrade is needed for Brandon Bass it seems like in order for this team to reach its full potential. With picks and moveable contract on-hand, this shouldn’t be a problem for the Jazz.
Denver Nuggets – 9th in the West /6th MidWest – 18-20 overall – 9-7 home record
Grade: C
Not really sure where to put this team right now. It seems like they are trying to win but they don’t have enough defense to get it done. There’s only three other teams that get less blocks than them and only one of those teams is in playoff contention. Also, Derrick Rose is a no doubt super stud but should probably play shooting guard and let someone else run point guard and rack up some more assists.
Minnesota Timberwolves – 14th West/7th MidWest – 14-27 overall – 10-11 home record
Grade: C-/INC
It’s kind of hard to give a grade to a team with two GMs in one season already but this team needs a lot of work clearly. It probably should trade Amir Johnson as it as it can and get the most value of it as possible before he wastes his prime years. This team also has a number of players that play the same role or position so it may need to make some deals in order to give some players room to grow and compete.
