Post by Tigertecz on Jun 17, 2009 12:57:36 GMT -5
My first article… Sort of like a playoff power rankings, but rather than just ranking the teams I’ve gone for something different and focused on their best strengths for when the playoffs roll round. Western Conference one should be done tomorrow if I have enough time.
Seed 1: Miami Heat, 42-20 (.677)[/u]
Team MVP: Karl Malone – 32.1ppg, 11.3rpg, 2.7apg, 1.3spg, 1.6bpg, 53.9% FG%
Team’s Biggest Strength: Offense – leads the league in scoring with 109.4ppg
The current leading team in the East is outscoring their opponents by over 7ppg, and it’s not surprising when you look at their roster. Led by the league’s second highest scorer and genuine MVP candidate Karl Malone, they have 4 players averaging over 12ppg and 3 others averaging over 8ppg. The Mail Man scores 32.1ppg with Drazen Petrovic raining in 21.1ppg from the point. Up front with Malone is Benoit Benjamin, who averages a healthy 14.4ppg, while the young Jalen Rose makes up the final double digit scoring Heat with 12.4ppg. This team certainly can score, and with Malone in the paint and Petrovic behind the 3 line, you’ll need a good defensive line-up to stop this team come the post season. They seem to be running away with the Eastern Conference’s best record, and will be strong contenders come the post season. The scary thing about the league’s leading offensive team is that they have Rookie Kobe Bryant to take the offensive reins on for the future too…
Seed 2: Charlotte Hornets, 35-23 (.603)[/u]
+ 
Team MVP: Alonzo Mourning – 21.5ppg, 12.3rpg, 3.6apg, 4.3bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Defense – leads the league in blocked shots with 8.7bpg, holds opponents to 3rd best 95.6ppg
Crazily the second best shotblocking team in the league (Sacramento) is 1.5bpg away from Charlotte’s number, proving how dominant the Hornets are on D in the paint. They’re also a top ten rebounding team and hold opponents to only 95.6ppg. It’s no wonder when you look at who they have starting up front – Shawn Bradley and Alonso Mourning. Zo fills box scores all over the place, proving himself amongst his peers by ranking 6th in the league for rebounding with 12.3rpg, while leading the league in blocked shots with a whopping 4.3bpg. Bradley himself is tied for 3rd in the league with 3.6bpg, although he doesn’t seem to do much else… His lack of scoring though is picked up for by 29.2ppg scorer Larry Johnson, who is the team’s worst defensive starter. In the backcourt the Hornets have the shortest player in the league (I believe) averaging 2.7spg, a number that Bogues leads the league with. David Wesley is an average defender starting at the 2, but as a whole, this team is defensively supreme, leading the league in many defensive categories both collectively and individually. They’re not the same powerhouse they were which brought them two Championships, but we all know that defense wins Championships… so maybe they’ll be able to go all the way again this season.
Seed 3: New York Knicks, 36-25 (.590)[/u]
Team MVP: Reggie Miller – 26.9ppg, 5.5rpg, 3.6apg, 1.9spg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Balance – All five starters have double digit scoring averages while having top ten league leaders in PPG, RPG, APG
When looking at the Knicks I see that they are surprisingly balanced from 1-5. Reggie Miller leads the offensive duties very well indeed, while fellow veteran Ron Harper averages close to 20ppg to help out, and surprise package Alejandro Camby chips in 15.7ppg too. Michael Adams scores 16.7ppg from the point, rounding off a great backcourt duo in New York, while leading the league with 10.6apg to help out on offense too. Defensively the backcourt duo average nearly 2spg each, while Harper’s 1.5spg is certainly not shabby at SF. Camby blocks shots at 2.6bpg while grabbing 10.4rpg to go with Rodman’s 13.6rpg up front – good enough for the 4th best rebounding team in the league (52.9rpg). They have the fundamentals to play good balanced basketball in many categories, explaining why they’re 3rd in the East, but they will probably struggle to go real deep in the playoffs without also being spectacular at one of those categories.
Seed 4: Atlanta Hawks, 34-24 (.586)[/u]
Team MVP: Sam Cassell – 18.7ppg, 4.5rpg, 10.6apg, 1.7spg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Offense – 2nd in the league in scoring with 108.1ppg with all five starters average over 15ppg
Although not great defensively (3rd worst points allowed average in the league with 105.1oppg), Atlanta know how to score, and that’s important. They’re argument may be that it doesn’t matter how many your opponent scores, as long as you score more, and with all their starters averaging 15.8ppg or more, it seems as though that strategy is working. Recently recruited Vernon Maxwell from the Celtics leads the way with 25.6ppg, while also playing decent D with 2.3spg. Wayman Tisdale does his best to rebound and score (averaging 19.4ppg and 11.2rpg) up front with his Rookie partner Priest Lauderdale putting up similar numbers (15.8ppg and 11.3rpg). Chris Mullin rounds off their offensive firepower in the froutcourt averaging a healthy 17.5ppg. But the glue holding the whole team together, of course, is E.T., arguably a strong league MVP candidate. Cassell can score and defend pretty well himself, while his passing ability is up there with the very best in the league (currently 2nd in the league with 10.6apg). It’s this great creative spark that allows the Hawks to get the best offensive production from the entire team. This will be crucial come playoff time because I do believe they will struggle defensively against other offensively strong teams.
Seed 5: Washington Bullets, 37-27 (.578)[/u]
+ 
Team MVP: Chris Webber – 22.2ppg, 11.2rpg, 4.1apg, 1.3spg, 2.2bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Fundamentals – 7th best scoring team (105.0ppg), 2nd best rebounding team (54.0rpg), 3rd best ball-stealing team (9.6spg), 5th best shot-blocking team (6.0bpg), 4th best team at limiting TO’s (11.3tpg)
Like NYK, Washington is another balanced team, and they do all the fundamentals well (better than NYK too IMO). The stats don’t lie and CDUBBZ seems to be the model the team has based itself on – able to do pretty much everything, pretty well. Davis does the dirty work up front, while Webster and Starks help out a lot on offense averaging 20.0ppg and 17.8ppg respectively. While none of their players individually will stand out in the top ten for steals, they all seem to do their part collectively, explaining why they’re the 3rd best ball-stealing team in the league at the moment. It’s some feat to be this high up in so many team categories and must be a coach’s dream to be doing all the fundamentals well. Whether or not this translates to success in the playoffs though is uncertain, because while Webber is a fantastic young talent, the team lacks the veteran superstar experience of some of the other big teams in the Eastern Conference.
Seed 6: Chicago Bulls, 35-26 (.574)[/u]
Team MVP: Etienne Preira – 30.3ppg, 6.3rpg, 7.8apg, 1.5spg, 1.3bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Etienne Preira – Single handedly changed the team from lotto team to playoff team and strong candidate for league MVP too
So this team has been lotto bound for the past few seasons and when I took over the team was in very bad shape, with very little talent on the roster at all. Since then Preira was signed in FA on a very reasonable contract, Derek Fisher and Adrian Griffin were drafted in the last draft, while slow starter Rasheed Wallace was picked 1st in the draft two seasons ago and traded this season in a deal that brought Dikembe Mutombo to Chicago. The team hasn’t been completely transformed into a contending team yet, evident by all the youth left in the team – reminiscent of a team in rebuilding mode, but with Preira already playing at superstar level, trying to compete was always going to be less problematic than rebuilding. Deke’s presence has cemented that intention, and, as one of the candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, is averaging 13.0ppg, 12.1rpg, 2.2apg, 1.3spg and 3.7bpg. However, outside of Deke and Preira, the Bulls aren’t exactly going to scare the title favourites. Derek Fisher is doing well in his Rookie season, coming off the bench with 14.8ppg, 3.3rpg, 3.2apg and 1.1spg, while Eric Montross is helping out on offense a bit with his 12.9ppg too, and starting at SF, Rookie Adrian Griffin isn’t making a huge impact numbers-wise, but has played well this season showing flashes of lock-down defending. This team is far from being a contender though, and will probably struggle in the post-season unless league MVP candidate Preira produces some magical performances.
Seed 7: Toronto Raptors, 33-24 (.579)[/u]
Team MVP: Michael Jordan – 32.6ppg, 6.0rpg, 3.7apg, 2.1spg, 51.0% FG%, 90.6% FT%, 44.3% 3PT%
Team’s Biggest Strength: Michael Jordan – As one of the greatest players to ever grace UOSLR, he is carrying his team with amazing numbers and production
Very much like the Chicago Bulls, most of the team’s production revolves around their league MVP candidate MJ. He leads the league in scoring while shooting some fantastic percentages, and plays top notch D too, and is definitely the main reason why the former Champs are playoff bound again. Unfortunately for MJ, his supporting cast is not going to trouble the true title contenders. Damon Stoudamire and Vin Baker are playing well enough to average 13.0ppg, 9.5apg and 17.2ppg, 11.1rpg respectively, and Elden Campbell and Brian Grant are doing the dirty work up front, but MJ is going to need more help if he’s going to lead his team back to the top in the postseason. And again, much like in Chicago, upgrades are certainly needed to make this team compete.
Seed 8: Indiana Pacers, 33-28 (.541)[/u]
Team MVP: Stanley Roberts – 16.8ppg, 9.8rpg, 1.7apg, 2.8bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Teamwork – Six players averaging over 11ppg while none are over 20ppg
There won’t be any league MVP candidates from this team, but they’re all sharing the work pretty well. Indy is still a very young team in the midst of a rebuild, but have somehow managed to find their way into an 8th seed position. Whether or not they stay in the playoff positions until the end of the season, only time will tell. There are no standout players on the team production-wise, although young prospects like Antoine Walker and Jamal Mashburn look like ones to watch going forward. Stanley Roberts has been as solid as a rock, helping Monster Mash on offense from the beginning of the season, while Danilovic has been acquired at the point to try and spark some more creativity in the team. He’s had mixed results so far, but is not really producing the sorts of numbers that will push Indiana deep into the playoffs. Should they manage to make a playoff berth this season with their current personnel, they will be lucky to get out of the first round to be honest, however, they are certainly a team to watch for the future.
Seed 1: Miami Heat, 42-20 (.677)[/u]
Team MVP: Karl Malone – 32.1ppg, 11.3rpg, 2.7apg, 1.3spg, 1.6bpg, 53.9% FG%
Team’s Biggest Strength: Offense – leads the league in scoring with 109.4ppg
The current leading team in the East is outscoring their opponents by over 7ppg, and it’s not surprising when you look at their roster. Led by the league’s second highest scorer and genuine MVP candidate Karl Malone, they have 4 players averaging over 12ppg and 3 others averaging over 8ppg. The Mail Man scores 32.1ppg with Drazen Petrovic raining in 21.1ppg from the point. Up front with Malone is Benoit Benjamin, who averages a healthy 14.4ppg, while the young Jalen Rose makes up the final double digit scoring Heat with 12.4ppg. This team certainly can score, and with Malone in the paint and Petrovic behind the 3 line, you’ll need a good defensive line-up to stop this team come the post season. They seem to be running away with the Eastern Conference’s best record, and will be strong contenders come the post season. The scary thing about the league’s leading offensive team is that they have Rookie Kobe Bryant to take the offensive reins on for the future too…
Seed 2: Charlotte Hornets, 35-23 (.603)[/u]
+ Team MVP: Alonzo Mourning – 21.5ppg, 12.3rpg, 3.6apg, 4.3bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Defense – leads the league in blocked shots with 8.7bpg, holds opponents to 3rd best 95.6ppg
Crazily the second best shotblocking team in the league (Sacramento) is 1.5bpg away from Charlotte’s number, proving how dominant the Hornets are on D in the paint. They’re also a top ten rebounding team and hold opponents to only 95.6ppg. It’s no wonder when you look at who they have starting up front – Shawn Bradley and Alonso Mourning. Zo fills box scores all over the place, proving himself amongst his peers by ranking 6th in the league for rebounding with 12.3rpg, while leading the league in blocked shots with a whopping 4.3bpg. Bradley himself is tied for 3rd in the league with 3.6bpg, although he doesn’t seem to do much else… His lack of scoring though is picked up for by 29.2ppg scorer Larry Johnson, who is the team’s worst defensive starter. In the backcourt the Hornets have the shortest player in the league (I believe) averaging 2.7spg, a number that Bogues leads the league with. David Wesley is an average defender starting at the 2, but as a whole, this team is defensively supreme, leading the league in many defensive categories both collectively and individually. They’re not the same powerhouse they were which brought them two Championships, but we all know that defense wins Championships… so maybe they’ll be able to go all the way again this season.
Seed 3: New York Knicks, 36-25 (.590)[/u]
Team MVP: Reggie Miller – 26.9ppg, 5.5rpg, 3.6apg, 1.9spg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Balance – All five starters have double digit scoring averages while having top ten league leaders in PPG, RPG, APG
When looking at the Knicks I see that they are surprisingly balanced from 1-5. Reggie Miller leads the offensive duties very well indeed, while fellow veteran Ron Harper averages close to 20ppg to help out, and surprise package Alejandro Camby chips in 15.7ppg too. Michael Adams scores 16.7ppg from the point, rounding off a great backcourt duo in New York, while leading the league with 10.6apg to help out on offense too. Defensively the backcourt duo average nearly 2spg each, while Harper’s 1.5spg is certainly not shabby at SF. Camby blocks shots at 2.6bpg while grabbing 10.4rpg to go with Rodman’s 13.6rpg up front – good enough for the 4th best rebounding team in the league (52.9rpg). They have the fundamentals to play good balanced basketball in many categories, explaining why they’re 3rd in the East, but they will probably struggle to go real deep in the playoffs without also being spectacular at one of those categories.
Seed 4: Atlanta Hawks, 34-24 (.586)[/u]
Team MVP: Sam Cassell – 18.7ppg, 4.5rpg, 10.6apg, 1.7spg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Offense – 2nd in the league in scoring with 108.1ppg with all five starters average over 15ppg
Although not great defensively (3rd worst points allowed average in the league with 105.1oppg), Atlanta know how to score, and that’s important. They’re argument may be that it doesn’t matter how many your opponent scores, as long as you score more, and with all their starters averaging 15.8ppg or more, it seems as though that strategy is working. Recently recruited Vernon Maxwell from the Celtics leads the way with 25.6ppg, while also playing decent D with 2.3spg. Wayman Tisdale does his best to rebound and score (averaging 19.4ppg and 11.2rpg) up front with his Rookie partner Priest Lauderdale putting up similar numbers (15.8ppg and 11.3rpg). Chris Mullin rounds off their offensive firepower in the froutcourt averaging a healthy 17.5ppg. But the glue holding the whole team together, of course, is E.T., arguably a strong league MVP candidate. Cassell can score and defend pretty well himself, while his passing ability is up there with the very best in the league (currently 2nd in the league with 10.6apg). It’s this great creative spark that allows the Hawks to get the best offensive production from the entire team. This will be crucial come playoff time because I do believe they will struggle defensively against other offensively strong teams.
Seed 5: Washington Bullets, 37-27 (.578)[/u]
+ Team MVP: Chris Webber – 22.2ppg, 11.2rpg, 4.1apg, 1.3spg, 2.2bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Fundamentals – 7th best scoring team (105.0ppg), 2nd best rebounding team (54.0rpg), 3rd best ball-stealing team (9.6spg), 5th best shot-blocking team (6.0bpg), 4th best team at limiting TO’s (11.3tpg)
Like NYK, Washington is another balanced team, and they do all the fundamentals well (better than NYK too IMO). The stats don’t lie and CDUBBZ seems to be the model the team has based itself on – able to do pretty much everything, pretty well. Davis does the dirty work up front, while Webster and Starks help out a lot on offense averaging 20.0ppg and 17.8ppg respectively. While none of their players individually will stand out in the top ten for steals, they all seem to do their part collectively, explaining why they’re the 3rd best ball-stealing team in the league at the moment. It’s some feat to be this high up in so many team categories and must be a coach’s dream to be doing all the fundamentals well. Whether or not this translates to success in the playoffs though is uncertain, because while Webber is a fantastic young talent, the team lacks the veteran superstar experience of some of the other big teams in the Eastern Conference.
Seed 6: Chicago Bulls, 35-26 (.574)[/u]
Team MVP: Etienne Preira – 30.3ppg, 6.3rpg, 7.8apg, 1.5spg, 1.3bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Etienne Preira – Single handedly changed the team from lotto team to playoff team and strong candidate for league MVP too
So this team has been lotto bound for the past few seasons and when I took over the team was in very bad shape, with very little talent on the roster at all. Since then Preira was signed in FA on a very reasonable contract, Derek Fisher and Adrian Griffin were drafted in the last draft, while slow starter Rasheed Wallace was picked 1st in the draft two seasons ago and traded this season in a deal that brought Dikembe Mutombo to Chicago. The team hasn’t been completely transformed into a contending team yet, evident by all the youth left in the team – reminiscent of a team in rebuilding mode, but with Preira already playing at superstar level, trying to compete was always going to be less problematic than rebuilding. Deke’s presence has cemented that intention, and, as one of the candidates for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, is averaging 13.0ppg, 12.1rpg, 2.2apg, 1.3spg and 3.7bpg. However, outside of Deke and Preira, the Bulls aren’t exactly going to scare the title favourites. Derek Fisher is doing well in his Rookie season, coming off the bench with 14.8ppg, 3.3rpg, 3.2apg and 1.1spg, while Eric Montross is helping out on offense a bit with his 12.9ppg too, and starting at SF, Rookie Adrian Griffin isn’t making a huge impact numbers-wise, but has played well this season showing flashes of lock-down defending. This team is far from being a contender though, and will probably struggle in the post-season unless league MVP candidate Preira produces some magical performances.
Seed 7: Toronto Raptors, 33-24 (.579)[/u]
Team MVP: Michael Jordan – 32.6ppg, 6.0rpg, 3.7apg, 2.1spg, 51.0% FG%, 90.6% FT%, 44.3% 3PT%
Team’s Biggest Strength: Michael Jordan – As one of the greatest players to ever grace UOSLR, he is carrying his team with amazing numbers and production
Very much like the Chicago Bulls, most of the team’s production revolves around their league MVP candidate MJ. He leads the league in scoring while shooting some fantastic percentages, and plays top notch D too, and is definitely the main reason why the former Champs are playoff bound again. Unfortunately for MJ, his supporting cast is not going to trouble the true title contenders. Damon Stoudamire and Vin Baker are playing well enough to average 13.0ppg, 9.5apg and 17.2ppg, 11.1rpg respectively, and Elden Campbell and Brian Grant are doing the dirty work up front, but MJ is going to need more help if he’s going to lead his team back to the top in the postseason. And again, much like in Chicago, upgrades are certainly needed to make this team compete.
Seed 8: Indiana Pacers, 33-28 (.541)[/u]
Team MVP: Stanley Roberts – 16.8ppg, 9.8rpg, 1.7apg, 2.8bpg
Team’s Biggest Strength: Teamwork – Six players averaging over 11ppg while none are over 20ppg
There won’t be any league MVP candidates from this team, but they’re all sharing the work pretty well. Indy is still a very young team in the midst of a rebuild, but have somehow managed to find their way into an 8th seed position. Whether or not they stay in the playoff positions until the end of the season, only time will tell. There are no standout players on the team production-wise, although young prospects like Antoine Walker and Jamal Mashburn look like ones to watch going forward. Stanley Roberts has been as solid as a rock, helping Monster Mash on offense from the beginning of the season, while Danilovic has been acquired at the point to try and spark some more creativity in the team. He’s had mixed results so far, but is not really producing the sorts of numbers that will push Indiana deep into the playoffs. Should they manage to make a playoff berth this season with their current personnel, they will be lucky to get out of the first round to be honest, however, they are certainly a team to watch for the future.
