TheHoopsForum Power Ranking
By Ron Campbell
12/22/2008
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The 1981-82 Boston Celtics and 08-09 Celtics have two things in common, both teams won 18 consecutive games and both teams featured promising players in
their third season. 08-09 Team has Rajon Rondo the 81-82 team had a guy named Larry Bird.
Kevin Mchale blames bloggers for premature firing of NBA coaches, really……………really McHale it’s the bloggers fault???????? In my opinion PJ Carlesimo should not have been fired, the Thunder traded away Ray Allen and let Rashard Lewis go in free agency because they wanted to focus on Durant, surprise surprise Durant alone can't get them wins. Reggie Theus, I
dont't think he deserved to be fired, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller both were out this season for a significant amount of time and this team overachieved last year. Eddie Jordan was a good coach he shouldn't have been fired Mo Cheeks, I think did deserve to be fired, you can’t have slow starts and expect to win a championship. Ditto for Sam Mitchell his team obviously tuned him out. McHale blames bloggers but McHale look at your track record the last two seasons, you traded Brandon Roye for Randy Foye on draft night, then you followed that up by trading OJ Mayo on Draft night for Kevin Love despite already having a full time power forward in Al Jefferson. No, I will be fair I can understand Brandon Roy his knee was an issue coming out of college but OJ Mayo was a slam dunk can't miss pick. I don’t think any blog prompted McHale to make these trades.
As remarkable as a season as the Celtics are having the Cavs allow the least points only 89.2ppg and are the NBA's only unbeaten
team at home.
Here are the rankings:
(1)1. Boston (26-2)18 Consecutive wins for the Celtics ties a franchise record set in the 1981-82 season. Rajon Rondo broke his career high twice this week first time was 25 points against Utah Jazz in a game that Rondo simply took over in the fourth then he broke it again scoring 26 points against the Knicks on Sunday.
(3)2. Cleveland (23-4)
Lebron James hopefully quieted rumors about him possibly leaving Cleveland in 2010 by stating that he would consider resigning with Cleveland this offseason. Lebron likes the direction the organization has taken.
(4)3. Orlando (21-6)
I didn't expect any team other then the Celtics, Cavs and Lakers to occupy the top three but I have to put the Magic here after two consecutive losses by the Lakers one of which came against the Magic. What a week for Jameer Nelson 28ppg 4rpg and 5.3apg in three wins.
(2)4. LA Lakers (21-5)
The Lakers are on a two game losing streak, in both losses Kobe Bryant had a chance to tie the game but both shots just came short. The Lakers are on the road today and tomorrow against the Grizzlies and the Hornets before they return home for their christmas day showdown against the Boston Celtics.
(7)5 New Orleans (16-7)
The trade for Antonio Daniels so far isn't paying dividends Daniels has seen very little action scoring 14 points and 10 assists in four games.
(8)6 Houston (18-9)
The Rockets had a pretty easy week getting victories over the ailing Nuggets, Kings and a road victory against the Timberwolves. Things will be a tougher for the Rockets this week as they continue their road trip with games against the Nets, Cavs and Hornets. Ron Artest says he may have to take some time to rest his ankle during this stretch.
(10)7 Atlanta (17-10)
The Hawks lost a heartbreaker at home on Wednesday against the Celtics 85 to 88, Joe Johnson missed a free throw with 2.7 seconds left that would have tied the game at 86.
(14)8 Portland (17-10)
Last week I mentioned a disturbing trend that, the Blazers lost three straight games in which Brandon Roy scored 30 or more, well Thursday the Blazers were able to break that
trend getting a win against the Suns when Brandon scored 52 points and set a career high.
(5)9 San Antonio (16-10)
Last week I said we would see where San Antonio was at, after they play back to back road games against Hornets and Magic. Spurs lost both games but were able to get past Toronto. Interesting stat, Spurs are last in the NBA in points off turnovers.
(6)10 Denver ( 17-10)
Denver had a tough week, losing to Rockets, Cavs and Suns. Carmelo Anthony averaged only 15ppg in the three losses and grabbed only 5 rebounds, Melo may have to consider sitting out until his elbow is fully heeled.
(9)11 Dallas (15-11)
Dallas was again reminded of the ridiculous trade made last season in which young, promising Devin Harris
was traded to the Nets for a washed up Jason Kidd. The Mavs lost to the Nets by 24 with Devin Harris going for 41 points 13 assists. Jason Kidd has 17 points and 7 assists.
(11)12 Phoenix (16-11)
Phoenix is 3-1 in the Jason Richardson era, they have looked good of as
of late and seem to have thrown away their half court offense thing out the window as everybody other than Shaq appeared comfortable playing that style. The Suns are averaging 112 points in their last four contests.
(12)13 Utah (17-12)
Deron Williams still isn't 100% but he is getting there, Williams had his first 20 or more point game of the season scoring 29 points on road victory against the Detroit Pistons. Carlos Boozer will have a third MRI on his injured quadricep tendon.
(15)14 Miami (14-12)
After shooting 19-36 from the field and only scoring 53 points in three consecutive losses Dwayne Wade returned to form in two wins against the Lakers and Nets shooting 26-47 from the field while scoring 78 points.
(13)15 Detroit (14-11)
According to Michael Curry, Allen Iverson has a problem staring at the ball on defense, this was his explanation for Mike Bibby torching Iverson and the rest of the Pistons
for 27points and a perfect 6-6 from the three point line.
(16)16 New Jersey (13-13)
The Nets had some unwelcome company this week losing at home to the Jazz and the Heat.
The Nets play Houston today, Brook Lopez who is averaging 14.4ppg and 8.0rpg will need a big game against Yao Ming if the Nets are to have any chance of getting past the Rockets.
(18)17 Chicago (13-14)
The Bulls won a big home game on Saturday beating the Jazz 106 to 98 The Bulls start a four game road trip Tuesday
in Detroit, then go on to face Heat, Hawks and Nets.
(22)18 Milwaukee (13-16)
After losing a close game at Philly 93 to 88 the Bucks blew out the Knicks 105 to 91 and annihiliated the Clippers
119 to 85.
(21)19 Philadelphia (12-15)
Elton Brand injured his shoulder against Milwaukee on Wednesday and is expected to miss a month.
His Doctors say he still has a 50/50 chance of dislocating his shoulder upon return, this is real bad news as the 76ers begin a stretch where they play the next 8 out of 10 games on the road.
(17)20 New York (11-16)
THe Knicks have lost four games in a row and in real poor fashion allowing their opponents to score an average of 114 points in the losses. Its no wonder Knicks lead the league in highest field goal percentage allowed at .482.
(23)21 Indiana (10-17)
The Pacers had a great week winning three out of four games however with
the Pacers current record at 10-17 Danny Granger will be a tough sell for the all star team.
(24)22 Charlotte (9-19)
The Bobcats snapped their seven game losing streak with a overtime win against the Chicago Bulls.
They followed that up with a win at Memphis on Friday but lost a tough game to the Warriors on Saturday.
(20)23 Memphis (9-17)
After winning four games in a row the Grizz dropped their last two against the Hornets and Bobcats, the Grizz have a busy holiday week with games against the Lakers, Mavs, Pacers and Spurs.
(26)24 LA Clippers (8-19)
The Clippers went 2-2 this week on their four game road trip, the Clippers are moving in the right direction their goal is .500 by the all-star break.
(25)25 Golden State (8-20)
Jamal Crawford's 50 points helped the Warriors snap their five game losing streak, the Warriors play the next three of four games on the road.
(27)26 Sacramento (7-21)
Sacramento has lost the last three games on their four game road trip which ends today in San Antonio.
(20)27 Toronto (10-17)
Toronto drops this low because they are flat out not competing, they have only won 2 out of their last 12 games.
(28)28 Washington (4-21)
Antawn Jamison is playing thru a thumb injury despite the Wizards season all but lost.
(30)29 Oklahoma City (3-25)
It is kind of silly to say the Thunder broke their losing streak because they are just going to start another one and is it really a losing streak when you haven't had a winning streak?
(29)30 Minnesota (4-22)
The Wolves own the NBA's longest losing streak at 12, the good news is that the team with the worst record often doesn't win the lottery.
| 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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