1st Edition of Season Team Rankings

1) Detroit- The Pistons are off to the hottest start in the NBA. They look great on both ends of the floor and have been able to take care of some hard teams. As the only undefeated team the top spot on the rankings is mandatory.
2) San Antonio- The Champs only loss was to Dallas. They lost by 19 but that still stands as their only loss, though they did play an awfully close game with the Bulls. Still, the champs look good and the bench is deep. The Pistons and Spurs are just a step ahead of everyone in the NBA.
3) Indiana- The Pacers are only a half step behind the top two teams. Ron Artest has looked brilliant at times. Although the players are having a little trouble defining their role’s still, the Pacers are looking like they’re good enough to keep winning.
4) LA Clippers- Sam-I-Am knew it was coming. Elton Brand wasn’t surprised. The Clippers are winning and those two are the biggest reasons why. Suddenly they look like a deep team. Without a doubt the best team in California.
5) Washington- The Post-Hughes era has begun and the Wizards are no worse for it. Caron Butler has stepped up big, despite coming off the bench but should move into a starting role as soon as Eddie Jordan is comfortable with him in the rotation.
6) Milwaukee- This team can flat out play. Ford looks like the best point-guard in the game. Bogut and Maglore are starting to fit in and Bobby Simmons looks as natural as butter on bread. They’ll keep winning the more they play.
7) Golden State- Warriors have one some close ones and lost some close ones. They’re 4-2 right now but could just as easily be 6-0 or 3-3. This shows that they’re learning how to win. If they keep it up they could break that playoff drought.
8) Dallas- It’s tough to say the Mavs are disappointing, but they have been. Avery Johnson’s defensive approach seems to be clicking with half the roster. The other half doesn’t seem interested and that half includes a 7 foot tall German. Though he frequently outscores his match-up, Dirk is doing so with great offense, not stifling defense. If Nowitzki doesn’t buy into playing defense, the Mavs will run into trouble in the playoffs. Fortunately that’s a long way off so he has plenty of time to learn, but will he?

9) Utah- Boozer-less Jazz have looked very good. Memo is really coming into his own and even Ostertag has a few highlights. If the Jazz can work Carlos Boozer in when he comes back healthy, they could be scary.
10) Cleveland- Lebron looks great. Shooters look streaky. Defense looks bad. The Cavs have had a relatively easy schedule up to this point and have won all the games they should, but they’ve lost the ones they should have too. Still have only won a third of their road games, which is worrisome for a team that fancies themselves championship contenders.
11) Minnesota- Everybody is playing as expected except Wally. Shooting only 36% from 2 and 7% from 3 isn’t the kind of production you want to see from your deadeye. Maybe his eye is actually dead, or maybe he just hasn’t found a rhythm yet. Either way, don’t expect him to keep missing shots; he’s too good a player for that. As soon as Wally lights up, the Wolves are going to look better.
12) New Jersey- If they can find some help in the front watch out. If they can’t, watch out. Vinsanity has been vinsane, Jefferson has been consistent but Kidd hasn’t been great. If the Nets are going to win based on the strength of their big three, Kidd is going to have to step up.
13) Miami- No Shaq hurts but Zo has been making up for his absence. Dwayne Wade looks spectacular, but the rest of the team looks lost. Van Gundy looks like a man who nobody is listening to. Is it time for the Riley era to begin yet? Almost…
14) LA Lakers- If Kobe doesn’t go 7-27 the Lakers would have won last night against the Sixers (more on that later). Beyond that game, he’s looked like the best player in the league. Lamar Odom is starting to learn to run the triangle, but he seems to be catching on. The biggest surprise in LA has been Smush Parker. He’s come out of nowhere and is a great fit in the triangle and looks very good on defense as well.

15) Chicago- The Bulls are learning. They’re learning how to live without Curry, learning how to win close games and learning how to mesh as a team. Ben Gordon needs to learn how to start and Mike Sweetney needs to learn what to eat. If those two can learn that, the Bulls will be winning a lot more close games than they’ll be loosing, and they’ll be playing a lot fewer close games.
16) Memphis- Pau has been Kung-Pau, except for on the glass… When it comes to the boards, he’s been Kung-Painful. He’s seven feet tall and averages 6.8 a game; that’s less than 1 rebound-per-foot. Gasol needs to clean the glass if the Grizzlies are going to be successful this season.
17) Philadelphia- Cwebb-Iverson looks decent. They’ll look a lot better when the Haitian-Sensation returns to the lineup. Their biggest weakness has been depth inside and Dalembert’s return will remedy that situation. Their biggest strength has been Andre Iguodala’s defense. He shut down Kobe Bryant and has looked like one of the best defenders in the league. If he ever finds a jumper he’ll be the missing piece to this puzzle.
18) Phoenix- There’s just not much to say here. Nash looks like an MVP but without a serious force down low, the Suns will continue to struggle to win games. All they need to do is be .500 when Amare returns.
19) Boston- The Celtics haven’t looked bad, but they haven’t looked good either. This is a team that looks very average. They seem to be playing exactly how you would expect them to play.

20) Portland- Darius Miles is stepping his game to another level. That’s all the Blazers need right now. If he, Zack Randolph and Sebastian Telfair can learn to play together the rest of the pieces will fall into place in the future. JP’s looked pretty good and says he wants to stay in Portland next year; we’ll see if he’s saying that when teams are throwing some serious money at him in the off season.
21) Orlando- It’s almost unfair to put the Magic this low but besides Franchise and Howard, they don’t have much of a roster. Those two have looked very good, even showing the potential to be great, but nobody else on this roster is going to be around when that time comes. Actually Turkey and Stevenson might still be around but they certainly won’t be filling their current roles.
22) NO/OK- The Hornets have not looked good, but they’ve found a way to win a few games. They’ve looked gritty, like sandpaper. Expect further roster moves to shake things up. Speedy Claxton has been brilliant so he might be the first to leave.
23) Denver- No Nene, no shooting guard and not many wins. This is not what Nuggets fans were hoping for. They could still pull themselves up, and they’ll have to, but if they continue to put themselves in a whole it won’t be easy. Here’s an interesting rumor: The Nuggets have applied for an injured player exception to recoup some of Nene’s salary. This could open the door for Sprewell.
24) Houston- The Rockets have fought hard to stay in games, but just can’t keep up without McGrady. He’ll be back this week and that will change things a lot.
25) Sacramento- It looks as though the Rick Adelman era is coming to an end. The Kings still seem to be laboring under the misconception that you don’t have to play defense in the NBA. Not having a bench isn’t really helping them win either.
26) Charlotte- Two wins, four losses. The Cats are looking young but are showing they have what it takes to make it in the future. If they can get somebody like Antoine Wright or Zoran Planinic from the Nets for Melvin Ely they could have a more complete roster for the future.
27) Seattle- What the heck happened here? Were Nate McMillan and Antonio Daniels really that important? The Sonics are going to need to figure out some answers quick or they’re in for a really long season.

28) New York- This is the strangest thing of the season. New York is 0-5 but several of those could have gone the other way in the fourth. Their shooters have been pretty bad and their new centerpiece Eddy Curry has been questionable at times. That being said, they are showing some glimpses of what Larry Brown does to a team. Now that Jamal Crawford is starting he’s playing with as much control as he’s ever had; and this is a guy who frequently throws himself passes off the backboard for dunks and while in Chicago challenged the Globe Trotters to a dribble off. Crawford has even been playing a little defense. Even Curry looked good on defense some of the time. Trade rumors are centered on the Knicks picking up Jalen Rose for either Marbury or Penny Hardaway. While reuniting the former Bulls team seems like a bad idea keep in mind, this would all be done under Larry Brown. Rose is a Brown guy and spent the best years of his career buying into Brown’s system. Reuniting him with former Pacers enforcer Antonio Davis would also recapture some of that toughness that the Pacers took to the NBA Finals against the Lakers. The Knicks need toughness and if that’s a way they can acquire it, then its time to make a trade.
29) Atlanta- The experiment isn’t working although Al Harrington is quietly having a very decent season. If the Hawks want to make things interesting they should give a roster spot to T. O. Rumor has it that he wants to play some ball now that he's not catching them, what better place than in Atlanta? It can't hurt, Owens has to be at least as good as some of the players that have made their way through the city over the past few years plus he's a huge name. Everyone would love to watch him play to see if he could hang. This is the only winning situation for the Hawks.

30) Toronto- The best course of action for Rob Babcock to take at this point is to just make crazy trades that will be fun to write about. How about Vince Carter for Eric Williams, Alonzo Mourning and Aaron Williams… Oh wait; he’s already done that. Is there a reason Babcock still has his job? Some would say its because of his brilliant drafting while others would say its because Raptors ownership has simply forgotten that they own a team. The point is Babcock is probably on his way out so he should try to shake things up as much as he can on his way out the door. Scott Layden was an earthquake on his way out of the garden bringing in Keith Van Horn. Is this something Babcock could top? Penny Hardaway is available. What if they trade Chris Bosh for Clippers backup center Boniface Ndong and future considerations? It's obvious that Babcock is on his way out, its time for him to do it in style. Watch out Toronto; Ndong could be coming your way.