TheHoopsForum Power Ranking
By Ron Campbell
3/23/2009
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Its March Sadness as this has been one of the most boring NCAA tournaments that I can remember, no player has really showed me he is a mega star in the NBA, Blake Griffin is the closest but I don't see him being any better then Kenyon Martin in the pros, Tyreke Evans is nasty but he is JR smith "I can only score nasty." The Duke team is probably one of the worst Duke teams I have ever seen and they got into the sweet sixteen. UNC is good but seriously they are made up of a bunch of NBA rejects, well I guess rejects is to harsh but nobody on UNC is a starter in the NBA. The Tournament in my opinion is just lacking star power which isn't good for the NBA as these guys are the players of the future. Here are the rankings:
(1)1. Cleveland (57-13)
They have the best overall record, best home record, best player in Lebron James and they have the NBA's longest current winning streak at nine. Can anything stop their momentum right now?
(2)2. LA Lakers (55-14)
Monumental mistake by the Lakers last Tuesday as they allowed Andre Igoudola to hit a game winning three pointer at the buzzer when the Lakers had a foul to give.
(4)3. Boston (53-18)
The Celtics are once again at full strength and have won three games in the row. We will know for sure if the Celtics are truly back when they face Orlando and Atlanta on the road this week.
(3)4. Orlando (51-18)
The Magic had a great season but I am sorry I can't take them seriously when they are swept by the Pistons in the season series, they will meet Boston in the second round and be out toughed.
(6)5. Houston (47-25)
Houston defeated the Spurs on Sunday at San Antonio and took over the the lead in the southwest division and the two seed in the West, this team is better without Tracy McGrady.
(5)6. San Antonio (45-24)
Brutal week for the San Antonio Spurs they lost three games by a combined total of seven points and their only win came against the Timberwolves, Manu Ginobili is expected to return in the next few weeks, the star guard has missed 17 games with an ankle injury.
(9)7. New Orleans (44-25)
With 8 of 13 of the final Hornets games are on the road for the Hornets they are going to have to play great to snag homecourt advantage in the first round over the Nuggets.
(8)8. Denver (45-25)
The Nuggets have won five in a row in large part to the terrific play of JR Smith, one of my favorite players to watch has averaged 21ppg during the five game win streak including 40 against the Wizards,before you get to excited all the wins came against teams without any chance of making the playoffs except for the Nets who are technically still in the race in the east.
(7)9. Utah (43-26)
I will be watching Utah versus Houston very closely Tuesday as they may be the year that the Rockets will be able to get past their nemesis the Jazz.
(10)10. Portland (44-26)
Greg Oden is back but he is not starting and frankly I like this move by Nate McMillan, Oden is injury prone and foul prone heading into the playoffs it just make more sense for Joel Przybilla.
(11)11. Atlanta (41-29)
Despite losing to Cleveland on Saturday the Hawks are still winners of seven of their last eight games. The Hawks have a tough road ahead with games this week and the Spurs, Celtics and Lakers.
(12)12. Dallas (42-28)
The Mavs are in very good shape to lock up the eighth seed with eight of their remaining 12 games are at home in the Big D.
(13)13. Miami (37-32)
I hope Miami is able to holdoff the 76ers and stay in the fifth spot, I firmly believe a Dwayne Wade vs Joe Johnson first round will be very very entertaining.
(14)14. Philadelphia (35-33)
I have heard a lot of "Philly can get into the fifth spot" I don't see it happening but I do see them staying ahead of the Pistons.
(16)15. Phoenix (38-31)
I am going to leave Phoenix in this spot despite the fact it will be very difficult for them to catch the Mavs but their is still a chance they can get into the playoffs.
(18)16. Chicago (32-38)
I know, I know how are the Bulls this high and frankly they are playing good basketball as of late and the additions of John Salmons and Brad Miller are paying off, the two of them really buried Boston last Tuesday and I would wager with anyone that they will get past the the Pistons on Tuesday.
(15)17. Detroit (34-35)
When Hubie Brown speaks I listen and he said a few weeks ago the Pistons problems were much deeper then Allen Iverson and I agreed the Pistons are losers of five of their last seven games with wins coming against the Raptors and Clippers. Time to blow up this aging squad.
(19)18. Charlotte (31-39)
The Bobcats were without Michael Jordan on Saturday who skipped Saturday game to watch his son Marcus Jordan lead his team with 19 points to lead Chicago Whitney Young to a 69-66 victory over Waukegan in the Illinois Class 4A championship, Jordan was in tears when the game ended.
(17)19. Milwaukee (31-40)
The Bucks have lost 11 of 15 and it is safe to say the Bucks will fall out of the playoff race with five of their next six on the road.
(21)20. New Jersey (30-40)
There was a Chris Douglas Roberts sighting on Friday, the rookie scored a career high 18 points in a 96-88 win versus the Heat.
(22)21. Indiana (29-42)
TJ Ford and Jarrett Jack got into it Friday in the huddle after Ford took three shots in a row. The Pacers lost that game friday versus the Mavericks, well Saturday TJ Ford doesn't start Jack does start on Saturday and scores 31 points on 13-14 from the field. Gotta love this story.
(20)22. New York (28-41)
All my hopes of the Knicks sneaking into the playoffs went out the window this week as the Knicks lost every single game including losing to the Nets and Kings by a combined 53 points.
(24)23. Golden State (25-45)
I never liked the hiring of Don Nelson for this team, even I as a mere 30 year old realize that defense wins games and Don Nelson has not committed any of his teams that he has coached over the last 20 some odd years to play defense.
(23)24. Toronto (25-45)
Sam Mitchell must be laughing every single day at the organization that good rid of him after consecutive playoff appearances. Priority number one for the Raptors is too find a coach.
(25)25. Oklahoma City (20-50)
The team with the worst record hardly ever gets the first pick, it would be great for Oklahoma to draft Blake Griffin.
(26)26. Minnesota (20-50)
Well Minnesota season hasn't turned out as expected but the team will have three picks in the first round of the 2009 draft, Kevin McHale seems to be able to get these guys to compete and hopefully Al Jefferson will return as good as ever.
(27)27. Memphis (17-52)
Rudy Gay has come out and say he wants to be apart of Memphis's future and wants to sign an extension after the season this has got to be good news for management who really needs to find a coach to develop this young nucleus.
(29)28. LA Clippers (17-53)
All the problems with the Clippers is pointing in one person direction Mike Dunleavy who seriously needs to consider finding a good coach for this club.
(28)29. Washington (16-55)
One person who is not hurting during this economic downturn is Wizards Abe Pollin who recently stated that he will be willing to go over the salary cap to get the Wizards a championship.
(30)30. Sacramento (15-55)
The kings did it they finally won a game against an east coast team, they get past the Knicks Friday 121 to 94.
| Name | Comment |
| Stu Parker | wow. after reading this blog....You are spot on. I do not deny Kevin Garnett's ability as a player but HATE the BS stuff he does...All negative crap. |
| | This is a very unfair article. Garnett is an Olympic Gold Medalist, an MVP, an ALL STAR MVP, an ALL NBA member and an NBA Champion... you know how many current players can say that? 2 others (Shaq & Kobe) and they are all considered among the best players at their respected positions in the HISTORY of basketball. The same should be said for K.G. |
| | This is a very unfair article. Garnett is an Olympic Gold Medalist, an MVP, an ALL STAR MVP, an ALL NBA member and an NBA Champion... you know how many current players can say that? 2 others (Shaq & Kobe) and they are all considered among the best players at their respected positions in the HISTORY of basketball. The same should be said for K.G. |
| Ra | This is blasphemy. I hope a Celtics fan did not write this article. |
| KWAPT | How old is that clip of KG? C'mon..of course that was a punk move, but what was that, 10 years ago? It's simple: KG is a fierce competitor who uses intimiadation and mental toughness to strike fear in the heart of his opponents. If he is on your team, you LOVE him. If he is not, you may loathe him. But either way, he is a great player. You cannot deny that. |
| Alex | Wow, now we are going to call an Olympic Gold Medalist, an MVP, an ALL STAR MVP, an ALL NBA member, an NBA Champion, a player that has more 20-10-5 seasons than Larry Bird, Defender of the Year (2008 and most likely, this year) overrated? Hmm, right now I'm kind of smelling a bit of jealousy mixed with stupidity in this article. |
| Tweedster | This blog is poorly written, scattered and incoherent. Thankfully, someone else already tackled the inconsistencies and leaps of logic. Check it out hear:
http://celticshub.com/2009/10/22/did-you-hear-kg-is-overrated/ |
| Tweedster | Some actual statistics, and not just conjecture and strange conclusions based on the number of 'chips KG has.
http://www.celticstown.com/is-kevin-garnett-clutch.html |
| SP | ron campbell must love the Lakers. Or the Cav's. Or the Magic. but he doesn't know @$@@ about basketball! |
| Ed The Sports Fan | I'm sorry, there's no way in life Allen Iverson isn't in the starting 5, especially ahead of Nash. Give a damn about MVP's, Iverson's done more with much much MUCH less and totally revolutionized the game. Other than that, I think your decade team is cool.
-Ed. |
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