http://thehoopdoctors.com/online2/2009/07/summer-2009-nba-power-rankings/

lols

I don't see how Indiana is ranked that high. What have they done to improve? We are worse than the Thunder?

The Lakers should be #1 provided they sign Odom. If not they are still in the mix up there.

I tried hard to read the article, and even though the top 5 was all out of order, I continued to press on. Then I got to #10 and saw the Clippers in that spot and just couldn't continue. I'm heartbroken that there is someone writing a "Sports Column" out there that's that stupid.

I was going to respond to this trash, but MoTown pretty much nailed it on the head. No more need be said, really, but I have to point out that the Bulls are way too high on that list. Such a joke!

At least the Spurs aren't DONE.

LOL


10. Los Angeles Clippers
That is not a misprint and yes, I do watch the NBA. I think the Clips are one of the most talented teams in the NBA and may be more talented than their LA counterparts.

So he's a Clippers fan. No wonder he has no idea what he's talking about.

I like how he "writes" for like 6 basketball websites.

The Clippers are talented. But they aren't even close to the Lakers talent, and they can't play together.

The Clippers aren't more talented than the Blazers. They could contend for a playoff spot if healthy and they gel.

Just another case of a lowly writer trying to gain some attention by writing bullshit...

The NBA's seven worst teams for next season
http://msn.foxsports.com/id/9808862_36_3.jpg
by Charley Rosen

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9838532/The-NBA's-seven-worst-teams-for-next-season

Whew!

A little better source this time.


Power Rankings: Lakers, Cavs make moves to stay on top

By Sam Amico
Pro Basketball News

There are still a lot of things that can (and will) happen between now and the start of training camp in October.

As PBN colleague Chris Bernucca pointed out, we're still waiting for the Minnesota Timberwolves to hire a coach and the Philadelphia 76ers to find a point guard. And as far as I'm concerned, the NBA season doesn't officially start until Allen Iverson signs.

But based on rosters as they stand today, here's my take on the best and worst of the NBA:

1. Los Angeles Lakers - Slid Ron Artest in Trevor Ariza's old role, re-signed Lamar Odom and still have Kobe Bryant. No reason to think they can't win it all again.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers - Much-improved bench now consists of Zydrunas Ilagauskas, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, with another signing (Joe Smith? Steve Novak?) likely still to come.

3. San Antonio Spurs - Landing Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess gives Spurs two more guys with Finals experience and makes them biggest threat to L.A.

4. Boston Celtics - Still need a backup PG, but a healthy Kevin Garnett and addition of Rasheed Wallace gives C's length and defense that resulted in title two seasons ago.

5. Denver Nuggets - Haven't done squat this off-season, but sometimes, just keeping the nucleus of team together can work wonders. Especially when that nucleus includes Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups.

6. Orlando Magic - Lost three starters off Finals team (Hedo Turkuglo, Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston), adding Vince Carter and Matt Barnes. Time to adjust will be needed, but Magic could still emerge out of East again.

7. Dallas Mavericks - Everyone is back, happy and healthy. Additions of Shawn Marion and Drew Gooden give Mavs more depth and versatility. Could be a major factor by season's end.

8. Washington Wizards - Return to relevancy is highly likely with returns of Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood, and additions of Randy Foye, Mike Miller and especially, coach Flip Saunders.

9. Portland Trail Blazers - Same old very good young talent, now a year older and wiser with valuable playoff experience. Just imagine if Greg Oden finally lives up to expectations.

10. New Orleans Hornets - Chris Paul and David West make Hornets a top 10 team all by themselves, but will need players around them (read: Emeka Okafor and Peja Stojakovic) to play their best to become a true threat.

11. Atlanta Hawks - Only have nine guys under contract, but trio of Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford and Mike Bibby gives Hawks perhaps most potent backcourt in the league. Still need serious help in the frontcourt, though.

12. Phoenix Suns - Will continue to run and gun with Amare Stoudemire back at center, and no longer need to worry about Shaquille O'Neal getting in the way. Have potential to be league's biggest surprise.

13. Utah Jazz - Could move up considerably once Jazz figure out what to do with Carlos Boozer, who's suddenly become more neurotic than Ron Artest.

14. Toronto Raptors - Still awful soft with leaders like Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, but should be much more exciting to watch with their brand of European basketball. Will likely be better at end of year than start.

15. Miami Heat - Lost out on Lamar Odom, meaning Dwyane Wade will have to do it all himself again. But things could be worse, as Wade is just that good.

16. Los Angeles Clippers - As usual, a lot of ifs involving injury-prone veterans Baron Davis and Marcus Camby, but good health, improvements from Al Thornton and Eric Gordon, and addition of top draft pick Blake Griffin could make Clips relevant.

17. Chicago Bulls - Losing Ben Gordon won't hurt as much as confidence-building playoff series against Boston will help. So will having a real winner at perhaps the most important position in PG Derek Rose.

18. Charlotte Bobcats - Despite financial woes and biggest offseason move being the one for average center Tyson Chandler, Bobcats still athletic and likely to continue making strides under Larry Brown.

19. Indiana Pacers - Underrated addition of Dahntay Jones gives Pacers defender that was previously lacking. Having Danny Granger back won't hurt, either.

20. Detroit Pistons - No longer a veteran club, Pistons are now rebuilding under another new coach (John Kuester) with new players who don't defend (Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva). Could be fun to watch on offense, though.

21. Golden State Warriors - If Anthony Randolph plays anywhere close to how he did in summer league, small ball will be bigger, and possibly better.

22. Philadelphia 76ers - Hoping Elton Brand stays healthy for an entire season isn't enough. Especially when you have no starting point guard.

23. Houston Rockets - No Yao Ming, no Ron Artest and no Tracy McGrady in his prime means no more postseason for the team that gave the Lakers their toughest playoff series.

24. New York Knicks - Haven't necessarily gotten worse, but have done nothing to improve since last season, when they finished as somwehere around the 24th best team.

25. Oklahoma City Thunder - With an average age of 22.9, Thunder still resemble a really good college team. But watch out, all that talent is gonna grow up soon.

26. Memphis Grizzlies - NBA and network television types likely dread the thought of small-market teams like Memphis and Oklahoma City meeting in the conference finals, but it very well could happen in four years.

27. Milwaukee Bucks - If nothing else, Bucks will play hard and could have some decent stretches. But who other than Michael Redd is capable of doing something when a game is on the line?

28. New Jersey Nets - Devin Harris and Brook Lopez are two reasons for hope, but the rest of the lineup is a mish-mash of washed-up veterans and inconsistent youth.

29. Sacramento Kings - At least the Kings have a coach, which is more than you can say for Minnesota. Still, it seems like 90 percent of the roster is one bad bounce away from playing D-League ball in North Dakota.

30. Minnesota Timberwolves - Boast some nice young talent, especially in the frontcourt with Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. But anything more than 15 wins would be a basketball miracle.

Sam Amico is the editor of Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at amico@probasketballnews.com.

http://probasketballnews.com/story/?storyid=676

The writer can't even spell Derrick Rose but ranks his team above us... cute.

never underestimate Glan's eagerness to post any published negative opinion about the Pistons as holy doctrine.....

Gla has always been anti-Pistons.

I posted them before I even read them, but please continue...

You have magic bolding powers then. You hate the American flag because it's the same colors as the Pistons.

You have magic bolding powers then. You hate the American flag because it's the same colors as the Pistons.

ISWYDH, but it goes "hey, here are some new power rankings", <copy>, find power rankings thread, <reply>, <paste>, find Pistons in list, <bold>, <submit>, <read>, <sit back and watch fanboys piss and moan>

ISWYDH, but it goes "hey, here are some new power rankings", <copy>, find power rankings thread, <reply>, <paste>, find Pistons in list, <bold>, <submit>, <read>, <sit back and watch fanboys piss and moan>

Glan likes to watch boys pee.

Nice job helping yourself to some low-hanging fruit, Ux, ha ha

You have magic bolding powers then. You hate the American flag because it's the same colors as the Pistons.
If Glan is a heel, he must wear teal.

Gla rides a bike to work, not because he loves the planet, but because he hate the Pistons so much he would never use a combustion engine.

I hope the Wiz turn out to be utter shit.

I think if they are healthy at the very worst they will get the 5th seed and will be very close to the 4th seed. but that all depends on their health

Gla rides a bike to work, not because he loves the planet, but because he hate the Pistons so much he would never use a combustion engine.

Rollerblades aren't chic anymore?

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/powerrankings/08/17/offseason.rankings/

LOL@ fucking the bulls,rockets, and suns being placed in front of us!!

The bulls lost their offense, the Rockets are just so fucked...and the suns lost shaq for earl clark.

Yeah, I don't see how the Rockets stack up to anybody right now.

Yao is a huge question mark. T-Mac has never been reliable. They lose Artest and Von Wafer. They overpaid a role player in Trevor Ariza, and they had no 1st round pick.

These rankings are a joke.

Isn't Yao already out for the season? Hasn't that been stated?

Thought so too but read somewhere that he is most likely out for the whole season.

T-mac is really the huge question mark on that team

Houston will take a step back this year, no doubt, but they will still play D.

Adv: Houston

IBKBHW

"brings his wrath", nice.

Houston will take a step back this year, no doubt, but they will still play D.

Adv: Houston

IBKBHW

I think it's funny that you and others actually think (or so I'm assuming) that the 09/10 version of the detroit pistons on the defensive end is any worse than what we've been subjected to as fans the last few years. The truth is this team hasn't been very good defensively since previous to flip saunders benching ben wallace in the 4th quarters of games and wonder why they couldn't win the 4th quarter and the game.

The sheed/mcdyess combo was really, really, really bad and it got worse as the years progressed and mcdyess started playing more and more and teams started scoring at the rim at will.

Throw into the mix iverson and a youngster in stuckey learning how to defend in this league and you had a very bad defensive team last year.

Again, not saying this current unit is anything special but it's not any worse than the crap we've been witnessing. And this team has improved in many areas over last year's squad. Not only does prince become the 5th best offensive player (as supposed to being a #3 option last year) ben gordon's ability to spread the floor, something the pistons absolutely could not do last year, should make stuckey a more productive offensive player.

Or at least it should make him a more productive player.

Awful, awful post. Just wrong all over.

Let's do this.

We had a bad defense last year. Before that we were never lower than 7th since the 'ship.

In short, I agree with Herm.

Yeah, we had slipped a little (for a few years) from when we won the title, but we didn't get bad defensively until last year.

Awful, awful post. Just wrong all over.


Awful, awful post. Just wrong all over.

Good to see you support your claims. Make sure to read this post, hermy, and learn. I'll begin my points with "so you're saying" because you have yet to say anything and I'm trying to read your mind.

Point 1: So you're saying this team has been good at defending the rim since ben wallace was in his prime even though they primarily were playing 2 current back-ups (sheed and mcdyess) starter's minutes, 2 aging guys with zero lateral movement and ability to help on the defensive end?

If you actually watched these games you would see that many more teams became willing and being able to score near the rim when this team gave up the ability to help-defend. That cannot be denied. And as a result this did impact the teams ability to rebound defensively.

Point 2: So you're saying this team has been a good defensive rebounding team (which after getting guys to miss shots is the most important aspect to a being a good defensive team) the last few years especially when the games counted (ie. the playoffs?)

This team has struggled MIGHTILY to keep teams from getting second chance points in the playoffs since the 06-07 season (which just so happened to coincide with big Ben's departure and mcdyess' increased role). Go back and watch these games and check the god-damned stats. Or maybe you're happy with the team winning games in the regular season and beating up on teams like the bucks or grizzlies padding their "points against" and "rebounding" team statistics? Getting points in the playoffs is more challenging than in the regular season therefore eliminating second chance points is HUGE and something this team HAS NOT DONE FOR MANY YEARS NOW!

Point 3: It's not a coincidence that this team has gotten worse defensively as the playing time for mcdyess increased, sheed aged and became a back-up calibur player, and without having anyone with the size or ability to rebound and help defend culminating in last year's fiasco.

This team has not been good defensively for a very long time. I also don't think the roster as currently constructed is any worse than they have been since they still really haven't addressed these issues.

Point 4: And don't throw (or whomever threw this out there) "we were never lower than 7th in the league defensively since the championship non-sense" which completely goes by the amount of points a team allows which is primarily controlled by the pace of the game and not a strong indicator of how succesful a team is defensively. Also those stats are based on the regular season which feature a majority of games played against really bad teams. It's an almost completely useless statistic.

As for how the team has improved:

Point 5: So you're saying having iverson and stuckey often times playing together on the floor is any different than when gordon and stuckey will be playing together on the floor from a match-up/defensive perspective? Iverson is not only shorter than gordon but also not nearly as able to defend the oppositions most diminutive guard. I think the stuckey/gordon combo will experience issues on the defensive end but it's not as bad as what this team experienced last year. When thinking of ben gordon and his size you have to think how that impacts the team defensively and who he will be matched up with (not his ability to play the point on the offensive end).

Point 6: And are you saying that iverson (or rip hamilton for that matter) helps spread the floor as well as ben gordon whose addition should compliment perfectly a guy like stuckey who is much more comfortable, while also being able, to get to the rim? Gordon's presence should help stuckey immensely.

Just ask Derrick Rose, who has stated this publicly, how much he's going to miss gordon's ability to not only attract defense but attract defense away from the paint.

Point 7: And are you saying this team hasn't improved offensively from the previous version? Prince last year was expected to elevate his game to be a legit #3 or even #2 scoring option. He failed and is not capable of this. He's now #5 (with hamilton, Stuckey, who should improve in his 3rd year and based on reasons listed above, Gordon and villanueva being more talented offensively) which will enable prince to not only be a better player this upcoming season but play more towards his strength.


Point 8: Basketball is not that difficult folks if you take the time to actually watch it.

I was thinknig about maknig a new thread for this but whatever.

What do you think the Eastern conference will look like if there are no major trades or major injuries? Just hypothetically speaking...how would you rank the teams?

1.Boston
2.Orlando
3.Cleveland
4.Washington
5.Atlanta
6.Toronto
7.Pistons
8.Chicago
9.Philly
10.Miami
11.Charlotte
12.Indiana
13.New Jersey
14.Milwaukee
15.New York

I think frrom 6~10 is anyone's game