Post by Contract Year on Jun 14, 2010 11:10:35 GMT -5
2012 Early Season Power Rankings
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1. Indiana Pacers (25-3)
The Indiana Pacers are no strangers to crazy good win percentages, but their pace this year is nothing short of extraordinary. Signing a 26, 12 and 3 guy for a mere 5 million dollars can do that for a team. 2010 MVP Michael Redd has taken a back seat as David Lee now leads the charge for the Pacers. Averaging a cool 112.1 PPG (2nd) and 58.3 RPG (1st in the league by +3), the Pacers are certainly looking like the team to beat at the moment.
2. Los Angeles Clippers (19-5)
The Clippers started the season on a similar pace with the Indiana Pacers but they have slowed down quite a bit since then as they’ve went just 6-4 in their last 10 games. Still their record through 24 games is more than great and the Clippers happen to boast what is most likely the best duo the league right now. Lose Playoff MVP Allen Iverson to retirement? No problem for Arenas and Ming. They’ll just elevate their games enough to make it seem as if Iverson never left. Crazy shit.
3. Houston Rockets (13-6)
Kinda pissed that Durant did not leave and Ray Allen didn’t retire lol I thought I had some gold picks here. Anyway… the Rockets are nothing to marvel at defensively but with their offensive execution they can get away with it. They are a top 3 team in field goal percentage and at least top 10 in both free throw shooting and 3 point shooting. The efficiency from tier one wing scorers such as Kevin Durant and Ray Allen has played a significant part of the Rockets success thus far. Kevin Durant in particular has been absolutely bananas. Nearly 35 points per game to go along with 9 rebounds and over 2 steals. Easily the leading MVP candidate right now.
4. Golden State Warriors (16-8)
The Warriors are another team that I hoped would suck as they don’t have very much other than LeBron and I have their picks
It seems the Nene signing has saved their behinds for this season though as he’s averaging 13 points and rebounds a game to go along with nearly 3 blocks. They’ve gone 8-2 in their last 10 games and LeBron has shown some flashes of dominance in this stretch, including a 44 point, 11 rebound and 6 assist game on Day 33 from LeBron. Other than that the team is pretty boring. At 97 PPG a game, their scoring is below average at best and they’ve basically had a ton of close games end in their favor.5. Miami Heat (16-8)
I keep trying to explain to people that any Miami Heat first you have is absolutely useless but no one ever wants to listen. The fact of the matter is iflip gets his team to achieve almost every time. Seriously... he has been doing it since he’s joined the league. To give him some credit, his team this season looks a lot better than his past squads. Led by Andre Kirilenko, Miami is kind of in the middle of the pack offensively but they find the way to get the job done with their defense. Averaging 7 points and nearly 11 rebounds a game, Yi Jianlian has been quite the surprise for the Miami Heat.
6. Atlanta Hawks (15-8)
With an oPPG of 93.9 (1st) and an oFG% that is top five in the league, the Hawks have easily been one of the best defensive teams in the league thus far. You can’t chalk up their great oPPG to slow pace as their scoring is slightly above average. Still, with bigs such as Kris Humphries and Antonio McDyess it makes you wonder how they are so good on the defensive end. Perhaps I underrate them, or maybe the perimeter trio of Stevenson, Richardson and Azubuike is superb defensively. Anyway… Led by Stevenson’s 24 points, 6 rebounds and 8.5 assists, the Hawks are off to a nice start this year.
7. Chicago Bulls (18-10)
Considering the Bulls lost their all-star point guard for nothing they have been managing quite well as of late. Flip Murray has been an unsung hero so to speak as he been a decent playmaker in place of Stevenson. Now Preira has made his return and the Bulls are once again looking at another possible title run. The Bulls have gone 1-2 sim since Preira’s arrival, including getting smashed by the Cavaliers and Bucks… not a good look, but the sample size is tiny.
8. Seattle Supersonics (15-9)
It seems people have been quiet on the shit talking front with Chipper and it’s with good reason. He’s built a great team that is relatively young and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Dwight Howard has forever shed the “sucks” label (though it was idiotic to claim that to begin with), and Mo Williams, Tyreke Evans and DeSagana Diop all continue to impress. Hell even Dorrell Wright is putting in work with his 17 point, 7 rebound and 2 steal a game averages thus far. They’ve been mediocre in their last 10 games however, going a mere 5-5 but Wright has been in and out of the line up.
9. Minnesota Timberwolves (14-9)
The Timberwolves went from looking really good to really bad in the matter of a sim. They didn’t lose Amare in FA which sucks for me. Hopefully their first is lottery for my sake. Getting back on topic, the Wolves are still a very good team in spite of their recent struggles (4-6 in their last 10). I mean lets be fair.. Losing a guy like Stephen Jackson for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL will make any team worse.
10. New Jersey Nets (12-8)
It does not seem like the Nets have been able to find any consistency this season. They do have 5 players that average double figures and 3 more players that are pretty damn close to averaging double figures so that’s cool to see. However they have a negative point differential and after their phase of streaking Ws (Day 18-24), they went right back to mixing and matching Ws and Ls.
11. Portland Trailblazers (14-10)
This would be the 2nd year in a row that the Blazers haven’t been able to come out of the gate with the intensity that they’ve wanted. If they proved anything last season, it’s that they can turn shit around and catch fire at any moment in time.
12. Denver Nuggets (12-9)
After a Cinderella run in last year’s post season the Nuggets are on chill mode right now. They are scoring just enough and playing just enough defensive to get by, but they don’t seem to have the personnel to really step on the gas pedal and begin to rack up Ws. They have been much better in their last 10 games though, going 7-3. John Wall is budding into a superstar, averaging 18 points and nearly 10 assists a game. What is up with that Joe Johnson contract though…
13. Toronto Raptors (14-11)
While I think it was a bit overblown, Saga definitely got the short end of the stick in his deal with DB. With Monta along for the ride the Raptors have gone 3-2 and Monta has looked at least decent in all of the games. Curry getting destroyed in training camp really fucked this team in the ass though. How about we give some love to that Dexter Pitman kid though…nearly 18 points and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes of play, he’s one of the big reasons why the Raptors are even over .500.
14. Orlando Magic (11-9)
Between Josh Smith, Jameer Nelson and Andre Iguodala, the Magic have some very nice looking players. However one stat in particular seems to be poking me in the eye. 47.6 rebounds a game? Absolutely atrocious for a team that’s trying to be a contender. If it weren’t for their scoring efficiency the Magic would probably be well under .500 right now. To their credit they have been playing a bit better as of late, going 6-4 in the last 10.
15. Vancouver Grizzlies (14-12)
Weird… the Grizzlies get demolished in a trade for Wade and they end up going 3-1 immediately afterward… isn’t the basketball phenomena where a franchise trades their best player and they suddenly begin to play better referred to as the Ewing theory? In all seriousness, hopefully Ib4 continues to do nothing with his team and Biggie lands a top 3 pick. He’ll be in good shape then.
16. Philadelphia 76ers (13-12)
The 76ers are the best team in the league. This is proclaimed by none other than their very own general manager, tmacsdaddy. When tmacs looked over the multiple smashing that he received this past sim, he simply referred to his losing as being “unlucky.” Really now… lol fucking around with you macs but that shit is funny though
17. Phoenix Suns (9-8)
Looks like this is going to be another season where the Suns coast their way into a 40-45 win season. I can’t even hate on Jah at least he tried to change things up for once with the Chris Paul deal. It may be time to finally consider rebuilding though.
18. Milwaukee Bucks (10-10)
The sample size was tiny, but the impact of getting the best player of the league for nothing of supreme value to the Bucks was apparent as they not only went 3-0 with Wade, but they crushed their opponents. Once they upgrade in the post they are going to have a very scary team (if they aren’t a little scary already).
19. Washington Bullets (8-9)
How this team hasn’t been able to tank is beyond me. It’s still early and they’ve only played 17 games so things could change in a hurry, but right now they are staying afloat. 2nd round draft choice Erving Walker is practically keep the Bullets in games by himself with his 20 points, 7 dimes and 2 steals per game average.
20. Cleveland Cavaliers (12-14)
I’m assuming the Cavaliers want to lose but with the likes of Rudy Gay, Martynas Andriuskevicius and Ronnie Brewer that seems damn near impossible. How did Ronnie Brewer get so good anyway… damn. Wouldn’t be surprised to see this team sneak into the playoffs if they don’t begin to get rid of these guys.
21. Detroit Pistons (10-15)
Well I’m positive the Pistons want to lose but I put these guys in the same boat as the Cavs. They seem to be losing pretty comfortable as of late however which is impressive (or horrible, whichever way you prefer to look at it) to say the least. 2-8 in your last 10 with Vince Carter, Manu Ginobli, Louis Williams and Marc Gasol? Louis Williams is damn near averaging 5 turnovers so that helps, but the team as a whole actually takes very good care of the ball. What about Carter’s career though huh… career 28 PPG and he’s been wasted for a good amount of it.
22. San Antonio Spurs (8-13)
After a nice deal with the Bucks and some good training camps from young guys like Paul George and C.J. Leslie, things are starting to look up for the Spurs. They aren’t losing as much as they probably want but it’s still pretty early. And let’s give Kevin Love some shine as he’s killing it right now. 18 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists… sick. That’s the type of line I’ve been expecting out of him for a while now.
23. Sacramento Kings (8-13)
Marty seems to be kinda MIA atm. He only just posted a DC which sucks…He has a nice group of players here but he hasn’t been active enough to play around with them. 3-7 in the last 10 for that group of players is horrible. Hopefully he returns to his normal form soon.
24. New York Knicks (7-18)
The New York Knicks have a great assortment of young guys and they easily won a deal with the Raptors so they are sitting pretty at the moment. Just wait for Perry to become truly dominant and make your move.. or at least that seems to be their strategy. These guys are rebounding better than the Magic lols.
25. Utah Jazz (6-17)
The Jazz are pretty bad. Acie Law is pretty good, but he contributes to the bad with his Louis Williams like turnover rate. Alex Oriakhi looks like just the kind of piece the Jazz need to get things back on track.
26. Dallas Mavericks (5-17)
They are the only team to lose the Lakers this season. For shame imo… I guess they aren’t too far off from the Lakers as far as suck so w/e.
27. Charlotte Hornets (5-24)
I didn’t end up getting the late lottery that I wanted but damn did I want Zeke to fall to me. Nice looking pick by the Hornets there. Not much to say about this team. They pretty much get dominated in every facet of the game.
28. Boston Celtics (4-20)
Time to do something with your team Ib4… next season. Let Biggie get a top 3 pick.
29. Los Angeles Lakers (1-19)
On pace for 4 wins or so lol.
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