Friday's Rookies vs. Sophomores game gave us a glimpse of what to expect from the future of the NBA, and it looks promising. Saturday night showed that Deron Williams has a sixth sense, Jason Kapono has perfect form and Dwight Howard has a wild imagination. Sunday's game was almost a compliment to Saturday's events, but when Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant don't play, it's up to LeBron James to entertain -- and that he did. The break is over and it's time to get back to work. Check out my rankings for this week.
BIGGEST RISE: Houston Rockets from 12th to 10th.
BIGGEST FALL: New Jersey Nets from 20th to 25th.
(Editor's note: "LW" indicates each team's ranking from CheChe23's previous week. —RTW)
| CheChe23's Power Rankings: February 20, 2008 | |||
| TEAM | RK (LW) | W-L | COMMENT |
 | 1 (1) | 41-10 | Boston leads the NBA in points per game and field goal percentage differential. Before losing to Denver last night, Boston was on a six game win streak. The Celtics will be tested this week with a trip to Golden State tonight and a match-up in Phoenix on Friday. |
 | 2 (2) | 35-18 | Dallas got instantly better by acquiring Jason Kidd because Kidd brings to Dallas real playoff experience. More importantly and what serves as motivation is that Kidd is a playoff veteran seeking to capture a title before his career is over (don't underestimate desire, Da Kid vs Kidd -- Can you see that?). |
 | 3 (4) | 35-17 | Utah's offense put up 77 points by halftime against the Warriors last night on the way to a 10 point victory. The Jazz roster is filled with depth and talent and it should be no surprise to find Utah in title contention. Stockton and Malone -- who are they again? |
 | 4 (3) | 36-17 | The Lakers are currently banged up. Bynum is out for another couple of weeks, Kobe's got his torn pinky ligament problem, Ariza is likely out for the year and Chris Mihm won't be in action until sometime in March. On top of that, Shaq is in town tonight to try and get some revenge on Kobe, Phil, Jerry and whoever else did him wrong for the Lakers organization -- it should be fun to watch (ESPN, 9pm ET). |
 | 5 (5) | 35-17 | Consider February "focus" month for San Antonio. The Spurs have won six of seven this month, only losing to Boston in Boston. It might be time to start saying "here come the Spurs". |
 | 6 (7) | 37-16 | The Suns still need help on the perimeter on defense, but with Amare and Shaq it's not like anyone's going into the paint against Phoenix. As a whole, the Suns are a big question-mark. But some questions will be answered with the debut of Shaquille O'Neal in a Suns uniform. |
 | 7 (8) | 36-15 | New Orleans returns from its All-Star weekend hangover with a match-up against the Mavericks tonight. Don't look now, but the rest of February is jam-packed with playoff opponents (HOU, SA, WASH, PHO, UTA). |
 | 8 (6) | 39-15 | It looked like the Pistons All-Stars took the night off last night in a big loss to the Magic. One thing that is positive from these big losses is seeing what Detroit's bench players can do -- Rodney Stuckey had 16 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 27 minutes. |
 | 9 (10) | 35-21 | Superman. Maybe the Magic caught a little of Dwight Howard's dunk title winning momentum, but whatever it was in the 18 point blow-out win against Detroit last night -- they need to bottle it. Orlando needs Keith Bogans and Keyon Dooling to be playmakers if they want to contend. |
 | 10 (12) | 33-20 | Houston's nine game win streak has them in the top 10 for the first time since early November. The Rockets have been clicking on all cylinders thanks to the team finally being healthy. Rafer Alston has been a real reason for the recent success, during the win streak Alston has averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 assists per game. |
OUTSIDE THE TOP 10:
11. Denver Nuggets (33-20): One thing that the Nuggets do better than any other team is get to the free throw line (30.3 attempts per game). The Nuggets out-attempt their opponents at the line by 5.3 per game, but in order for Denver to take advantage of that stat, they need to shoot a better percentage (76.1%).
12. Golden State Warriors (32-21): Have you seen Monta Ellis over the last few games? His numbers are on par with the NBA's best guards (Feb #'s: 27.8 ppg, 4.2 apg, 6.0 rpg). Golden State's backcourt of Ellis and Baron Davis is one of the most leathel one-two punches in the NBA.
13. Toronto Raptors (28-23): Toronto has Orlando tonight before starting their run at what is considered a string of "winnable" games. To end February, Toronto faces New York at home and away, Indiana and home and away and Minnesota.
14. Portland Trail Blazers (28-25): Two games against Seattle this week would have allowed for fans to see Kevin Durant vs Greg Oden. Instead, Portland will get a chance to catch up in the win column.
15. Cleveland Cavaliers (29-24): Cleveland literally can not drop any further than No. 15 on the list. I can't put Washington ahead of them, Chicago doesn't look like they'll have a healthy roster for a while, Atlanta maybe, but the Kings, Nets and Bobcats? I can't disrespect LeBron like that.
16. Chicago Bulls (36-46): Thabo Sefolosha prefers the starting line-up, just look at his stats. In 28 games as a sub, Sefolosha averages 2.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg. But when Sefolosha is a starter he averages 12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 2.5 apg.
17. Atlanta Hawks (21-28): Mike Bibby will make the Hawks a better team this year and over the next few years. As the Hawks young guns (Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Horford) mature, Bibby will be great mentor. The Hawks could be this year's Golden State and make a run at an upset in the first round of the playoffs.
18. Washington Wizards (25-28): Yikes, the Wizards have only one win this month and have lost nine of their last ten games. Freaky stat: Washington scores the exact same amount of points per game as they give up per game.
19. Sacramento Kings (24-28): The Bibby trade gives Sacramento exactly what they want -- young players, small contracts, draft picks.
20. Philadelphia 76ers (23-31): Philadelphia's five game win streak was ended last night by the Timberwolves. With Atlanta making the move to get Mike Bibby, Philadelphia's hope for the eighth and final playoff spot is fading with every should win loss.
21. Charlotte Bobcats (19-36): Granted it is the Spurs, but the Bobcats only scored 65 points in a 20 point beat down last night in a game that revealed one thing: Jeff McInnis is not Adam Morrison.
22. Indiana Pacers (21-32): Indiana is in no hurry to get Jermaine O'Neal (13 straight games) and Jamaal Tinsley (four straight) back, they are playing for the lottery now. Mike Dunleavy is enjoying a career year that only improves the more time O'Neal misses.
23. Milwaukee Bucks (25-57): The Bucks are leading the race to the bottom of the Central division and it doesn't help that they'll feed the top with two games this week against the Pistons.
24. New Jersey Nets (23-30): New Jersey will have to wait to see what they have with Devin Harris. Harris missed his last ten games for the Mavericks and is out for at least another week with a bone bruise on his left ankle.
25. New York Knicks (16-37): New York ranks fifth worst in point per game differential (-5.9) and is third highest in turnover differential.
26. Los Angeles Clippers (17-33): Tuesday the Los Angeles Times reported that Elton Brand participated in non-contact drills and told the media that he definitely plans on playing this season.
27. Minnesota Timberwolves (11-41): Minnesota is the only NBA team that hasn't played an overtime game this season. But it's not like we need more time to watch the Wolves lose. Minnesota ranks dead last in the NBA in point differential (-7.7).
28. Seattle Sonics (14-39): After winning last night against Memphis, Seattle might get their next win on the 29th of February when the Sonics host Miami.
29. Memphis Grizzlies (14-39): Memphis has a chance of losing the rest of the games this year, Minnesota will determine that (three games before the season are over are against the Timberwolves).
30. Miami Heat (9-42): It's hard to judge what Miami is capable of doing with this roster, but the team still hasn't won 10 games.
HOT HOT HOT
1. Deron Williams - Williams has been on my HOT list before, but he deserves a second helping. Not only did Williams win the Skills Challenge this past week (breaking the record), but his play this season has him in MVP conversations. Williams is shooting 51.4% from the floor, scoring 19.1 points per game and adding 9.7 assist per game this season (all career highs).
2. LeBron James - James nearly had a triple double in the All-Star game on his way to MVP. In his first game back from the break his triple double wasn't good enough for a win. But look out for James to make his run for season MVP, he's averaging close to 30, 8 and 8.
3. Hakim Warrick - Good-bye Pau Gasol, hello Hakim Warrick. Hakim doesn't mind seeing thirty minutes of action. His last three games have been 24 points, 13 rebounds, 23 points, 8 rebounds and 22 points, 6 rebounds.
NOT NOT NOT
2. Mike James - The Rockets guard has been a pretty big dud, he's clocked about 18 minutes since playing 21 minutes January 11. It was just two years ago that James had four consecutive games of 30 plus points for the Raptors.
3. Jamaal Magloire - The Nets center was watching the NBA All-Star game this weekend thinking about the time that he spent in the 2003-04 All-Star Game. Not long ago Magloire was an Eastern Conference All-Star, but he hasn't played since January 29. It might be a good thing that he isn't playing because when he has played he's averaging just 1.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per appearance.
No comments:
Post a Comment