POWER POWER RANKINGS!
Sept 27, 2012 12:28:41 GMT -5
Post by Skillz on Sept 27, 2012 12:28:41 GMT -5
POWER RANKING PREDICTIONS!
Nanz vs. Skillz
Nanz vs. Skillz
NUMBER ONE:
NANZ: Boston Celtics: To me by far the best team in the league. People questioned the trade DBW made in terms in system and how Nash is gonna fit with the big boys up front, but to me it was a great move. Sure they lose Artest, but Nash is the best point guard in the league (not to mention he went up in TC yet again lol) and that makes a huge difference. Not only did Nash beat them in the finals but point guard was always the C's weakness and now its a strength. Going balanced should bring out production out off the big three which will be too tough to beat in the East and in the Finals. Shaq Duncan and Nash is a crazy Big Three tough to bring down in a 7 game series.
SKILLZ: Boston Celtics. This is almost by default because I can't really find another clearly elite team. The Celtics are really, really good, but I don't think they are going to be as good as everyone thinks. Nash, Duncan, and Shaq is a ridiculous trio, but Nash isn't going to the same player in a balanced offense and the Celtics really have no depth at all. They are lacking at the 2/3, and lost Lorenzon Wright who was a solid depth piece. I'm expecting 60-65 wins and probably a finals appearance, but I don't think this Celtics team is a sure-fire title team as everyone else seems to think.
NUMBER TWO:
NANZ: Detroit Pistons .This team is pretty complete top to bottom. Dirk and Redd are always putting up numbers. Dirk is arguably the best player in the league and with this stat line in the pre-season 39.7 36.8 8.2 5.0 1.6 0.5 2.4 .528 .802 .493 it is hard to argue against it. Redd is a 25+ ppg scorer with 2 steals and good defense. Wallace up front holding down the fort and a very good big in a league where good bigs are hard to find. They also have solid depth not great but good . Reople always seems to find the right DC and should get the very best out of this team. This is the second best team in the league in my opinion.
SKILLZ: Houston Rockets. This is probably a surprise pick, but I think the Rockets have the potential to be the best team in the West. This pick is essentially contingent on the Rockets adding a point guard, but they have a sick 2-5 and some decent depth as well. They may have the second best front-court in the league, and they have really good role players in Mash and Hill. Also i wanted to pick a different team 2nd!
NUMBER THREE:
NANZ: Orlando Magic. This might be a little bit of a surprise but man the Magic look very dangerous. Lebron is officially now a beast with no flaws in his game. Along side him Rip is putting up 25 ppg and is a very good guard even though his defense might be a liability. The biggest key here is Jamal who is starting to look like a very good point guard. Good scorer with good %'s. Also Play added K Martin to the mix which should be pretty dangerous off the bench or as trade bait along with Akyol. Up front they are not great but solid enough and I expect Play to add some this season.This team should be very dangerous.
SKILLZ: Cleveland Cavs. I always thought the Cavs over-achieved the past two seasons, and they just added two more over-achievers in Z and Camby (the Warriors perpetually won more games than they should have). Cleveland is pretty strong at every position and has more depth than pretty much anyone else in the league.
NUMBER FOUR:
NANZ: Phoenix Suns. I think the Suns took a big hit by dealing Nash and the Spurs and Rockets got much better. I'll go with the suns here because of respect to the champs they have a tough road ahead. Stack and Larry seem to be able to put up numbers. Bibby is still a very good point and Leandro should be a solid trade bait for skillz to use or using him off the bench. Artest is still a great defender and the depth of the team is still very good. I can say with a lot of confidence that this will not be the same team at the end of the season. Skillz will make more trades and we'll see how good they are then. Right now i'll go 4th; pure respect.
SKILLZ: Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have been the second best regular team in the league the last two years, but haven't been able to generate wins in the playoffs. Though Detroit made a great deal to acquire Ben Wallace, a case can be made that they actually regressed because of their lack of depth. I think the Pistons severe lack of depth hurts them more this year than it had in the past with so many teams getting better. Still, with Dirk and Redd on the wings and Wallace anchoring the front-court, the Pistons should win 55-60 games barring injury.
NUMBER FIVE:
NANZ: Houston Rockets. The rockets made some big time deals this off-season and now they find themselves a top the Western Conference. Their front court is nasty with Yao and Pau leading the way both capable of 3 blocks a game along with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Havnig Emeka come off the bench should be nasty for them as there is really no better back up than him in the league right now. Mashburn and SAR should be able to provide them with a ton of scoring from the 2 and 3 although they might not need it. Also, they have very nice depth. The only weakness is point guard bur it should be solid enough. Overall this is just a complete team top to bottom and should be in the WCFs without a doubt in my mind this year. You could even rank them higher but i'll go with 5 now to see how well their DC works, etc.
SKILLZ: San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs were a game away from the finals last year, and played the Suns closer than the Celtics did. Considering they added Jason Kidd in the offseason, it is safe to say that San Antonio should be making some serious noise this year. Despite having a mediocre TC, the Spurs boast arguably the best backcourt in the league and have a bunch of solid defenders in the post. I think they can be anywhere from 2-5 on this list, though they don't have much star power outside of Kidd and T-Mac.
NUMBER SIX:
NANZ: Clevland Cavaliers. Another team that made some serious moves this off-season to improve their team by adding some solid bigs in big Z and Camby. They were the 4 seed last year with Brand being one of the best 4s in the league today. Marbury is also a very good, maybe underrated, point guard leading the way for them. They have a ton of solid players surrounding these guys like Maggette and Antwan as well as the bigs i previously mentioned. Svedda went all out to try to get these additions up front so lets see how much better they can be this year. They come in 6th on my last.
SKILLZ: Phoenix Suns. After advancing to the finals in BBSV's inaugural season and overachieving en route to a title last season, the Suns decided to blow up their roster in the offseason. The new look Suns still have a ton of depth and a lot of good players, but they no longer have Steve Nash. The lack of star power might hurt without a true go-to scorer, but the suns should boast one of the best defenses in the league and could survive injury perhaps more than any other team in the league. Expect 50-55 wins from Phoenix, and hopefully I can create some more DC magic in the playoffs.
NUMBER SEVEN:
NANZ:Minnesota Timber-wolves. Last year this team was the second best team in the west behind the Warriors and their team just got better in TC. Iverson and Paul Pierce are just nasty players and one of the better tandems in the league. Iverson and Pierce should be good enough to carry the wolves again this year to another 50+ game season but the team still has the same weaknesses it had a year ago. Webber is a very solid big up front but he is getting up there in age and his rebounding isn't ideal. Other than that i don't really see much else on the team. Orstag can get some blocks sure but who plays the point? A lot of weaknesses but two super stars.
SKILLZ: Orlando Magic. Play's team made some enormous gains this past offseason, and are clearly a team that can shoot-up these rankings after some trades. Marty and Cenk should have sick value, and the Magic already have a nice group of players in Hamilton, Crawford, and Griffin next to the superstar James. Right now, the Magic are not elite, but they definitely have the potential to become so after the right moves. It should be interesting to see how aggressive Play gets.
NUMBER EIGHT:
NANZ: San Antonio Spurs. The spurs gave the Suns a nice series last year and since then they've added J-Kidd in the mix which is a big time addition. T-Mac is still a stud and their super star they count on but after him i'm not liking the pieces as much. They were good last year but a bad TC hurt their players throughout their roster. Jalen and Wallace are solid role players to have around and this year Harping should start to get some minutes. Zo seems to be near the end of his career and his decrease in TC should hurt the spurs ability to stop bigs like Pau and Yao in the west. They should be good but I don't seem them as a huge threat right now.
SKILLZ: Minnesota Timberwolves. It amazes me that GAME hasn't capitalized with Pierce and Iverson, but I guess that should be expected with him? After a great creation draft, GAME really hasn't done much with the team and has been content losing in the second round. The team needs a better point guard, depth upgrades, and a lot in the front-court. It might be time to trade one of the big two! Anyways, the Wolves should win 50+ again, but it's hard to consider them elite with so many obvious flaws.
NUMBER NINE
NANZ: Indiana Pacers. I'll go with my boy jeff here good guy. The pacers have 2 big time stars in VC and Marion who should be able to carry them all year long. Miller is another solid piece at the point who should be able to get put up good %s and low TOs. Their Bigs were a joke last year and that hasn't changed lol. No help up front for these guys. Solid back-court depth but this team doesn't scare many teams at the top.
SKILLZ: Indiana Pacers. I always felt like the Pacers should be better considering they have two of the best players in the league. Hopefully Erbes deals for a point guard that fits better--how good would Barbosa or Crawford be on that team!?--so they could go with an outside offense. Regardless, VC and Marion should carry the Pacers to a decent seed in the East and make them a tough out in the playoffs
NUMBER TEN
NANZ: Milwaukee Bucks. Not sure who to go with here but i guess the Bucks take the spot lol. JO is a complete beast who i tried to get in the creation draft but didn;'t work out. High blocks scoring and rebounding, not much more you can ask him for. Foster seems to be a solid big who will get you 2+ blocks and 10+ rebounds. Rich is a very good player at the 3 for them and solid players like Exel and SJax should help them a ton. Solid team.
SKILLZ: Utah Jazz. I'm doing this more out of potential: If maniac can make the right trades, the Jazz could be insanely good. That team has so much value and is a great point guard away from being elite. AMare looks pretty incredible now and Emmet/Battier are two really cool players on the wings. Jason Kidd would have actually been a perfect fit....i'm surprised Maniac didn't try to make biggie a better offer.
