TheHoopsForum Power Ranking
By Ron Campbell
1/12/2009
|
The Celtics 19 game winning streak seems to have taken a lot out of the champions as they have since lost seven of nine games, the Celtics bench has been exposed during this stretch, General Manager Danny Ainge may have underestimated how much James Posey meant to this club. The rumors that the Celtics are going to sign Stephon Marbury have made me sick to my stomach but the Celtics need to add some depth to their bench if they want to make another Championship run. I must admit putting the Pistons at 6 was a bit premature as they
went 1-3 on their West coast road trip. Charles Barkley has taken a leave of absense from TNT after he was arrested on suspicion of DUI, why take the leave of absense?? It is obvious Charles has his demons like we all do, why hurt the fans, the NBA on TNT won't be the same without Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles on Thursday's.
(2)1. Cleveland (29-6)
Lebron James aka the "King" was sensational as the Cavs rolled over the slumping Celtics, James finished with 38 points 7 rebounds 6 assists 3 blocks and 4 steals.
(1)2. LA Lakers (30-6)
The Lakers lost at home on Tuesday to the Hornets, but were able to rebound with wins against the Pacers, Warriors and Heat. The Lakers are winners of 9 of their last 10 but their next four games will put them to the test with games against the Rockets, Spurs, Magic and Cavs.
(4)3. Orlando (30-8)
The Magic are the Championship contender nobody is talking about but after watching them get past the Spurs on Sunday, I am convinced that this team has as good a chance as Boston and Cleveland to come out the East. JJ Redick made 11 of 16 three pointers this week as the Magic won four in a row.
(3)4. Boston (30-9)
The Celtics have an obvious problem with their bench, especially now with Tony Allen going down. Another glaring issue that everyone seems to be ignoring is the lack of production from Kevin Garnett, who is averaging 16.2ppg his lowest average since his rookie season and 9 rpg the lowest since his sophomore campaign.
(9)5. New Orleans (22-11)
Ranking the New Orleans Hornets is quite a challenge every week because they have played the least amount of games at 33 but the Hornets seem to be getting some of their swagger back from last year after a huge victory against the Lakers last week.
(5)6. San Antonio (24-12)
Orlando defeated the Spurs and became the second East coast team along with the Milwaukee Bucks to sweep the season series against the Spurs.
(6)7. Detroit (22-13)
Last week I said the Pistons had a chance to make a statement with games against the Blazers, Nuggets and Jazz, they did make a statement they are not as good as past Detroit teams.
The Pistons lost to the Blazers and Jazz. Granted they lost by one to the Blazers and the 17 point loss to the Jazz was the second night of back to back.
(8)8. Denver (25-13)
Carmelo Anthony is expected to miss about six more games as he recovers from injury, Carmelo has a broken bone in his right hand.
(11)9. Houston (24-15)
With all the hoopla surrounding the Rockets and all the potential they have Saturday's 96-76 victory over the Knicks was their second 20 point victory of the season, the Cavs have won by more then 20 eight times this season.
(7)10. Atlanta (22-14)
The Hawks had a bad week losing twice to the Magic and then losing to the 76ers on Sunday. Hawks are on the road this week with games against the Suns, Clippers and Warriors.
(12)11. Phoenix (21-13)
Shaquille O'Neal is averaging 17.4ppg and 9rpg, if you need more of a reason to think Shaq should be an all-star, how about the Big Aristotle going a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line and 33-42 in his last five games.
(10)12. Dallas (22-15)
Josh Howard missed the Mavs Sunday game against the Kings as he reinjured his wrist that caused him to miss two games earlier in the season expect the Josh to miss Tuesday's game against the Nuggets.
(13)13. Portland (22-14)
Brandon Roy returned Saturday night, after missing four games, in a win over the Golden State Warriors 113-100, Roy scored 19 points on 8-15 shooting from the field.
(15)14. Utah (22-15)
The Jazz 82-99 win over the Pistons on Saturday marked the eighth consecutive victory over the Pistons. Carlos Boozer is expected to miss a month while he is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery.
(14)15. Miami (19-17)
Micheal Beasley turned 20 years old on Friday and so to celebrate the other Heat players poured ice on the rookie during shoot around and then they had Beasley clean it up. Shawn Marion is averaging 11.9ppg the lowest since his rookie year.
(17)16. Milwaukee (18-21)
Charlie Villanueva had a pretty good week averaging 20.3ppg game and connecting on 7-15 of his attempts from behind the three point line.
(16)17. New Jersey (18-19)
Yi Jianlian returned to Milwaukee Friday but was unable to get the win as the Bucks defeated the Nets 102-104, to make matters worse Yi broke his pinkie on his right hand and is expected to miss a few weeks.
(20)18. Philadelphia (17-20)
The 76ers are 5-6 without Elton Brand, he is expected to be practicing with the team by next week.
(19)19. Chicago (16-21)
Derrick Rose's scoring average continues to plummet, after averaging 18.9ppg in November and 16.3ppg in December, Rose is starting 2009 at 13.0ppg.
(18)20. Toronto (16-22)
The Raptors are 4-3 without Jermaine O'Neal while he has been out Andrea Bargnanni has been playing probably the best since he has been a pro, Bargnanni is averaging 21ppg over the last seven.
(21)21. Charlotte (14-24)
During the first half of the Bobcats Saturday game against the Wizards Gerald Wallace failed to take a shot, Larry Brown benched his star player in the second half without giving him a reason but Brown told the media he wasn't happy with the Wallace's lack of energy.
(24)22. Indiana (13-24)
Danny Granger balled out of control this week averaging 35 points a game but unfortunately the Pacers went 1-3. Mike Dunleavy Jr. made his return last Wednesday after missing the entire season with a knee injury.
(22)23. New York (13-22)
Nate Robinson had a horrible week shooting 18-47 from the field and 1-20 from behind the line in three losses, all players go thru this so hopefully Robinson will play better this week when the Knicks face Hornets, Wizards twice and the 76ers.
(27)24. Minnesota (11-25)
Randy Foye is loving the move to shooting guard averaging 20.2ppg during the Wolves five game winning streak. The Wolves play twice this week at home Tuesday against the Heat and then on the road against the Suns on Friday.
(23)25. Memphis (11-26)
Last Wednesday the Blazers issued a warning that they will sue any team that signs Darius Miles, Chris Wallace general manager of the Grizzlies signed Miles to a 10-day contract on Saturday.
(25)26. Golden State (11-28)
The Warriors broke their five game losing streak with a victory Sunday over the Pacers 120 to 117. Jamal Crawford led the Warriors with 32 points.
(26)27. Washington (7-29)
After beating the Cavs last Sunday, it was business as usual for the Wizards losing four games this week. Their is still no timetable on Gilbert Arenas return.
(29)28. Oklahoma City (6-32)
With the Thunder having an abundance of big men Robert Swift, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Nick Collison, Nenad Krstic and Mouhamed Sene look for the Thunder to shop some bigs around in hopes of future draft picks.
(30)29. Sacramento (9-29)
Despite the win over the Dallas Mavericks, who were without Josh Howard, the Kings are losers of 11 out of 13 games. The Kings are also 0-13 versus the East.
(28)30. LA Clippers (8-29)
Back in December the Clippers said their goal was to be at .500 by all star break, maybe they meant all-star break 2010, the Clippers own the NBA's longest losing streak at 11.
| 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. |
|