Best of the Rest (NBA Power Rankings)
1. San Antonio - Great coach. Veteran leadership. Superstar player (in Duncan). Great defense. Great role players. Can win while playing any tempo. Your 2007 Champions.
2. Detroit - This just in...team basketball wins. I could watch Billups & Hamilton play for days -- they are so fundamentally sound. They don't force anything. Unbelievable defensive team. Is there any lingering doubt that Ben Wallace was a product of Detroit's system...and not vice versa??
3. Phoenix - Come playoffs, Steve Nash is a liability -- he can't cover his own shadow. Great offensive player...very exciting to watch, but he stands NO chance of EVER leading his team to a championship. D'Antoni would be better served playing Barbosa more minutes than Nash in this series vs. San Antonio. Who can D'Antoni possibly stick Nash on?? Tony Parker? Laughable, as Parker is the second fastest player in the NBA (only behind Barbosa). Manu Ginobili? Way too physical -- he'd score at will, either via dribble penetration and/or his patented fade-away. Michael Finley? Much stronger and taller -- he'd be able to launch 3's as if it were practice. If the Suns want to win more than 1 game in this series, they're going to have to implement a zone at some point. But, then again...a zone would further expose their rebounding deficiencies. Yeah, they have no shot against San Antonio.
4. Utah - Solid in every aspect, except that they lack that one go-to scorer that possesses the ability to take over a game. Exceptional frontcourt play, at least offensively. Deron Williams is a rock at the point -- is going to be a superstar for many years to come.
5. Chicago - They were exposed in Game 1 -- Detroit's Tayshaun Prince is a lock-down defender. He may be the most underrated player in the NBA (did you know that this twig once dated Serena Williams -- oddest couple ever??). They will be lucky to take a game from Detroit, as they play the same style -- but, haven't yet mastered it.
6. Golden State - As long as they stick around, I will root for them. Unfortunately, I don't think they can topple Utah. Biedrins to their lone low-post presence (and he disappears for stretches). Deron Williams is surprisingly quick on defense -- and, Kirilenko can guard any position on the court. Utah's Boozer and Okur can be exposed defensively, but Golden State has no punch on the blocks.
7. Cleveland - Both Cleveland and New Jersey are average teams, at best. Neither team has a prayer of advancing beyond this round. If someone can step up and become that consistent #2 scorer (ideally it would be Larry Hughes), they should successfully advance -- only to get smoked by Detroit.
8. New Jersey - Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson make up a formidible trio (although all have passed their prime). In order to make this series interesting, they will need to dictate the pace. Cleveland clearly cannot run with them, yet the Nets didn't fastbreak at all in Game 1. Instead, they settled for 3-point jumper after 3-point jumper. Their frontcourt of Jason Collins and Mikki Moore is disgusting -- they pose no threat on either end of the court.
2. Detroit - This just in...team basketball wins. I could watch Billups & Hamilton play for days -- they are so fundamentally sound. They don't force anything. Unbelievable defensive team. Is there any lingering doubt that Ben Wallace was a product of Detroit's system...and not vice versa??
3. Phoenix - Come playoffs, Steve Nash is a liability -- he can't cover his own shadow. Great offensive player...very exciting to watch, but he stands NO chance of EVER leading his team to a championship. D'Antoni would be better served playing Barbosa more minutes than Nash in this series vs. San Antonio. Who can D'Antoni possibly stick Nash on?? Tony Parker? Laughable, as Parker is the second fastest player in the NBA (only behind Barbosa). Manu Ginobili? Way too physical -- he'd score at will, either via dribble penetration and/or his patented fade-away. Michael Finley? Much stronger and taller -- he'd be able to launch 3's as if it were practice. If the Suns want to win more than 1 game in this series, they're going to have to implement a zone at some point. But, then again...a zone would further expose their rebounding deficiencies. Yeah, they have no shot against San Antonio.
4. Utah - Solid in every aspect, except that they lack that one go-to scorer that possesses the ability to take over a game. Exceptional frontcourt play, at least offensively. Deron Williams is a rock at the point -- is going to be a superstar for many years to come.
5. Chicago - They were exposed in Game 1 -- Detroit's Tayshaun Prince is a lock-down defender. He may be the most underrated player in the NBA (did you know that this twig once dated Serena Williams -- oddest couple ever??). They will be lucky to take a game from Detroit, as they play the same style -- but, haven't yet mastered it.
6. Golden State - As long as they stick around, I will root for them. Unfortunately, I don't think they can topple Utah. Biedrins to their lone low-post presence (and he disappears for stretches). Deron Williams is surprisingly quick on defense -- and, Kirilenko can guard any position on the court. Utah's Boozer and Okur can be exposed defensively, but Golden State has no punch on the blocks.
7. Cleveland - Both Cleveland and New Jersey are average teams, at best. Neither team has a prayer of advancing beyond this round. If someone can step up and become that consistent #2 scorer (ideally it would be Larry Hughes), they should successfully advance -- only to get smoked by Detroit.
8. New Jersey - Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson make up a formidible trio (although all have passed their prime). In order to make this series interesting, they will need to dictate the pace. Cleveland clearly cannot run with them, yet the Nets didn't fastbreak at all in Game 1. Instead, they settled for 3-point jumper after 3-point jumper. Their frontcourt of Jason Collins and Mikki Moore is disgusting -- they pose no threat on either end of the court.
1 comment:
Dude, nobody gives a flying fu*k about the NBA. It's almost as brutal to watch as the NHL. The only two sports that should exist on the planet are football and baseball. There is a foul on every NBA possession...its miserable to watch. Not to mention everyone travels on every play. Move the rim up to 12 feet.
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