First NBA Power poll of the season

[ziggy]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/power-rankings.htm?csp=34

Rank     
Team
        Comment
1      Boston Celtics         The NBA champs deserve the inaugural top spot. But they'll miss good luck charm James Posey.

2      Los Angeles Lakers         They should be better with a healthy Andrew Bynum, but can Odom defend at small forward?

3      New Orleans Hornets         Adding Posey helps. But the loss of Jannero Pargo to Moscow will hurt.

4      San Antonio Spurs         When healthy, the Spurs are as good as anybody.

5      Portland Trail Blazers         Already-solid team adds Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless.

6      Detroit Pistons         Stuckey and Maxiell should become bigger part of the rotation.

7      Philadelphia 76ers         Elton Brand gives this hustling team a dimension it previously lacked.

8      Houston Rockets         Might be higher if not for Alston's off-field trouble, Artest's volatility and Yao's injury woes.

9      Cleveland Cavaliers         Mo Williams gives LeBron some offensive help.

10      Orlando Magic         Howard's still improving and Pietrus will help, but bench still needs work.

11      Dallas Mavericks         Window is closing for NowitzKidd.

12      Utah Jazz         How much more can Deron Williams improve?

13      Phoenix Suns         All of a sudden, the Suns seem Methuselahesque.

14      Washington Wizards         Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler must prove they can stay healthy for a full year.

15      Toronto Raptors         Impressive Olympian Bosh now has frontcourt sidekick in Jermaine O'Neal.

16      Golden State Warriors         It will be interesting to see how they play without Baron.

17      Miami Heat         Dwyane Wade is definitely back, and has help in Beasley and Marion.

18      Milwaukee Bucks         Redd, Jefferson and Bogut have Bucks thinking playoffs.

19      Los Angeles Clippers         Baron Davis and Marcus Camby are talented but have history of injuries.

20      Denver Nuggets         The defense was already bad, then they gave away their best defender, Camby.

21      Atlanta Hawks         A lot depends on Josh Smith's mindset. Childress loss will hurt.

22      Minnesota Timberwolves         With Miller, Foye, Jefferson, Love, Wolves could make a move.

23      Charlotte Bobcats         Not as good as they seem on paper.

24      Memphis Grizzlies         Mayo-Gay (Gayo?) combo could be fun to watch.

25      Chicago Bulls         At least Bulls fans have Michael Jordan memories.

26      Sacramento Kings         At least they have Beno Udrih.

27      Indiana Pacers         At least they rid themselves of the O'Neal headache.

28      Oklahoma City         SuperSonics new nickname: SuperBads?

29      New Jersey Nets         Already dreaming of LeBron.

30      New York Knicks         What has Mike D'Antoni gotten himself into?

[Reality]

Since these pre season power polls can be changed to account for trades and injuries, I'll jump in.

Rank     
Team
        Comment
1      Boston Celtics  The NBA champs deserve the inaugural top spot. But they'll miss good luck charm James Posey.  I'll agree, but will hunger level be there since the Big 3 have accomplished a championship?

2 3 4 tie    Los Angeles Lakers         They should be better with a healthy Andrew Bynum, but can Odom defend at small forward?  They should be better with a healthy Andrew Bynum?  Put your crack pipe down, they will be much better with a healthy SuperByns.  Now as to whether or not Bynum stays healthy, time will tell.  May not be able to get the playoff opponents plane delayed along with the "Pop/Phils Bitty advantage" again.

2 3 4 tie     Houston Rockets         Might be higher if not for Alston's off-field trouble, Artest's volatility and Yao's injury woes.  The legal injustice system is not going to slow up Alston, that's what overpaid lawyers are for.  Shut your pieholes over Artest, contract year and he's worked under Adleman before.  I predict solid year from 'Testy.  Even if not entire year, he only needs to crank it up in the playoffs.  Yao has injury risk but so does Bynum, GNob and a bunch of others.
 
2 3 4 tie New Orleans Hornets  Adding Posey helps. But the loss of Jannero Pargo to Moscow will hurt.  CPaul, West and core should be a year older and a year better.  They will overcome the loss of Pargo.  

5     San Antonio Spurs         When healthy, the Spurs are as good as anybody.  I'm sure another 82 game season will be great for their health.  That being said, if they can ignore Pop and hope to either have Phils Bitty somehow avoid Phil Jackson in the playoffs or pull off another 2003 caper good for the Spurs.  Maybe Tim Dunks can become player-coach announced at midseason. 

6      Portland Trail Blazers         Already-solid team adds Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless.
Okay lets see what Oden and company can do.  Anywhere from 3rd to 8th would not shock me.

7-8-9     Detroit Pistons         Stuckey and Maxiell should become bigger part of the rotation.  Still not gonna solve the loss of a motivated BenWa in 2004-5.

7-8-9      Philadelphia 76ers         Elton Brand gives this hustling team a dimension it previously lacked.  <<Move over Sherlock Holmes.  The buzz is back in Philly, no doubt.  How much better will Thad, Igs and co be come playoff time is the question.  Good enough to advance, or good enough to just scare an opponent? 

7-8-9   Orlando Magic         Howard's still improving and Pietrus will help, but bench still needs work.  Slotting them in at 789 but a rise to EC Finals would not shock me.  Need to get a point guard.

10  Cleveland Cavaliers         Mo Williams gives LeBron some offensive help.  The real MVP can only carry them so far.  Great acquisition of Mo but frontline still doesn't have enough imo.

The rest later.


11      Dallas Mavericks         Window is closing for NowitzKidd.

12      Utah Jazz         How much more can Deron Williams improve?

13      Phoenix Suns         All of a sudden, the Suns seem Methuselahesque.

14      Washington Wizards         Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler must prove they can stay healthy for a full year.

15      Toronto Raptors         Impressive Olympian Bosh now has frontcourt sidekick in Jermaine O'Neal.

16      Golden State Warriors         It will be interesting to see how they play without Baron.

17      Miami Heat         Dwyane Wade is definitely back, and has help in Beasley and Marion.

18      Milwaukee Bucks         Redd, Jefferson and Bogut have Bucks thinking playoffs.

19      Los Angeles Clippers         Baron Davis and Marcus Camby are talented but have history of injuries.

20      Denver Nuggets         The defense was already bad, then they gave away their best defender, Camby.

21      Atlanta Hawks         A lot depends on Josh Smith's mindset. Childress loss will hurt.

22      Minnesota Timberwolves         With Miller, Foye, Jefferson, Love, Wolves could make a move.

23      Charlotte Bobcats         Not as good as they seem on paper.

24      Memphis Grizzlies         Mayo-Gay (Gayo?) combo could be fun to watch.

25      Chicago Bulls         At least Bulls fans have Michael Jordan memories.

26      Sacramento Kings         At least they have Beno Udrih.

27      Indiana Pacers         At least they rid themselves of the O'Neal headache.

28      Oklahoma City         SuperSonics new nickname: SuperBads?

29      New Jersey Nets         Already dreaming of LeBron.

30      New York Knicks         What has Mike D'Antoni gotten himself into?

[Reality]

Tim Duncan viewing the possibilities of what a new coach with offensive as well as defensive abilities and strategies would open up:

[Ted]

I know this sounds like homer whining, but this is the biggest pile of doo doo I've seen in a while. The Utah Jazz are way too low on that list. And the explanation is the weakest one on there. "How much more can Deron Williams improve?" That explains how they are suddenly four or five spots too low?

The Jazz were the second-best western conference playoff team last year. They owned the Celtics by more than 20 in Boston, and are better than Rockets, Hornets, and Mavericks. Which Carlos Boozer shows up for this year's playoffs. Last year's, or 2007's Carlos Boozer. The Lakers series would have been much more interesting . . .

As for Houston, whom the Jazz PWN, one of these days, I'll take the time to articulate my "Artest Doesn't Improve Houston that Much" position. But there it is. A homer's response.

[westkoast]

As for Houston, whom the Jazz PWN, one of these days, I'll take the time to articulate my "Artest Doesn't Improve Houston that Much" position. But there it is. A homer's response.

Glad you said it cuz I've been thinking the same thing.  If T-Mac and/or Yao Ming do not stay healthy it makes little difference if Artest is there or not.

As for the rankings...looks to me like all they did was take the position most teams finished in the playoffs and assigned their ranking that way.  Way too early to do a "power rankings" if you ask me.

[Reality]

Good point Ted.  I struggled with who to leave out in the West and why should it be Utah over Port or others?

However we'll have to agree to disagree until Utah owns Hou again (or not). 

[jemagee]

The whole 'artest doesn't improve' houston that much thing has been beaten to death in a variety of places where people look beyond the name artest

The most important thing is that artest doesn't make t-mac or yao any healthier or younger

[Ted]

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/artest-the-savior/

This article kind of goes along with what I was thinking about Artest on the Rockets.

Basically, Artest takes time from either Scola or Battier. Scola is a better power forward than Artest when measured against the average NBA power forward. Artest probably has a slight advantage in defense over Battier, and a marked advantage in offense, although Battier is much more accurate as a deep threat than Artest. But when you take offensive efficiency into account, Artest's offense doesn't look that great compared to Battier. Per shot attempted, Battier is much more effective, and he doesn't take shots that are better served going to Yao or McGrady.

Now the Rockets will have two guys on the perimeter who shoot somewhere in the forties and are underwhelming rebounders for their position.

If you told me the Jazz could pick between Battier and Artest or Scola and Artest, I take Battier and Scola every time.

[Wolverine]

If you told me the Jazz could pick between Battier and Artest or Scola and Artest, I take Battier and Scola every time.

Not to mention that Battier is a glue player.  He's is an awesome teammate and proven winner (at the college level), while Artest is Artest - a guy who's had his problems on and off the court.

[westkoast]

Artest has the edge in defense compared to Battier because of his attitude/image.  They are both pretty damn good fundamentally when it comes to defense.  Both move their feet really well and have good anticipation.  The difference is Shane comes off as a nice guy.  Artest comes off as someone that might shank you when you go up for a jumper.

The other problem people have not mentioned is the amount of touches Artest feels he deserves.  Those touches which turn into a lot of dribble for him to get his shot.  Which obviously makes the offense stagnant when you have a T-Mac, Alston, and Artest who all need to dribble the ball for a minute before getting ready to shoot or make their move.

[Lurker]

IMO Battier is the better defender...Artest has the rep but in recent years between missing games and his "i-am-the-franchise" attitude his defense isn't as solid.

I think the biggest obstacle facing the Rockets is that Artest is heading for a team with a leadership void.  T-Mac and Yao have not proved to be the strong leader a championship caliber team needs.  And Artest definately needs to be on a team where the leader makes him toe the line...ala Rodman with Jordan.

[Reality]

Well then the Rockets must be in good shape if they need to trade Artest.  Say to the Spurs for Finley, hence Houston would get "team chemistry, locker room leadership & teaching youngsters (professionalism) by example."

[JoMal]

While most of what is being said here is true, the one factor that will certainly make a difference in Houston with Artest on the team is the coach. Rick Adelman has a well-earned history of melding problem <but talented> players into the teams he coaches. During his time in Sacramento, Artest played his best basketball in the few months after he was traded there and played under Adelman.

[Reality]

^^^ you may have been busy with WoW at an examination.

2 3 4 tie     Houston Rockets         Might be higher if not for Alston's off-field trouble, Artest's volatility and Yao's injury woes.  The legal injustice system is not going to slow up Alston, that's what overpaid lawyers are for.  Shut your pieholes over Artest, contract year and he's worked under Adleman before.  I predict solid year from 'Testy.  Even if not entire year, he only needs to crank it up in the playoffs.  Yao has injury risk but so does Bynum, GNob and a bunch of others.

[JoMal]

^^^ you may have been busy with WoW at an examination.

No peeking.

2 3 4 tie     Houston Rockets         Might be higher if not for Alston's off-field trouble, Artest's volatility and Yao's injury woes.  The legal injustice system is not going to slow up Alston, that's what overpaid lawyers are for.  Shut your pieholes over Artest, contract year and he's worked under Adleman before.  I predict solid year from 'Testy.  Even if not entire year, he only needs to crank it up in the playoffs.  Yao has injury risk but so does Bynum, GNob and a bunch of others.

[/quote]



Adelman also seems to work just as well once key players get injured, which, for some reason, is another significant part of Adelman's legacy. He seems to always be coaching teams that are very injury-prone.