For
Parts one and two of our NBA rundown, in case you missed them click here (one) and here (two). I noticed that in part two I
forgot to post the points that the teams accumulated from our ranking
system. Better late then never right? Here they are for those of you who are
curious: Kings-27, Suns-37, Bucks-37, Cavs-40, Warriors-41, Jazz-47. Yes, I do
realize that the Warriors are going to be ranked higher even though
they received fewer points, but it is a small price to pay for a
quality report. Anyways, here are teams 19 to 14.
19.
The Golden State Warriors (41 points)
Heading into the season the Warriors had failed at getting DeAndre
Jordan, settled for gifting Kwame Brown 9 million for the year (if decent big
men weren’t so scarce this guy would never have a job in the NBA unless it was
a locker room bouncer…and even then he’s probably too soft), were uncertain if
their back court could co-exist, and brought in rookie head coach Mark Jackson.
This obviously was not a recipe for success, so as a fan I wasn’t expecting
much this year except some fun up-tempo Warriors’ basketball. Unfortunately,
early on in the year the team seemed to have lost their flair on offense while
still being mediocre on defense which really concerned me (c’mon Mark you’re
better than that). However, in the last few weeks the team has really turned it
around and started playing that fun to watch basketball again. With a
relatively easy schedule the rest of the way (really doesn’t mean much since
they could lose to a d-league team but beat the ‘96 Bulls on any given night)
they could sneak into the playoffs as an 8th seed…and we all know what happened
last time they were 8th. Monta Ellis has been his usual self, hitting
ridiculous shots and making some spectacular plays, but the other half of their
back court really worries me. Stephen Curry keeps re-injuring his ankle and unless
he takes a larger amount of time off and heals fully, I could see this keep
happening throughout his career (knock on wood that this does not happen). As
for the other players, David Lee is showing why the Warriors signed him a few
years ago (no flesh eating elbow disease this year thankfully), Ekpe Udoh is a
solid center but probably not one I would start, Dorell Wright has gone from
one of the most improved players to one of the biggest busts this year and
needs to be benched or traded ASAP. The bench has been playing well and is
packed with scorers (Robinson and Thomspon) and good defenders (Rush and
McGuire) which is always a luxury to have. Apparently the front office is
interested in making a move for Bogut which I wouldn’t mind, even though he comes
with a huge injury risk. Many moves need to be made to improve this team for
the future, the first one being to acquire a good center, but for now I’m happy
to enjoy these fast paced late night games.
-Igor
18. The Boston Celtics (53 points)
The already old Celtics are getting older, yet Pierce and Garnett are
having very solid seasons. However, the Celtics aren’t playing as well this
year, which can be seen by their sub-par record (at just over .500), putting
them currently near the bottom of Eastern conference playoff teams. The Celtics
have had injuries all season, especially with Rondo and Jermaine O’Neal, and
their play has been inconsistent as a result. It also doesn’t help that Rondo
has been inconsistent himself, who followed the best statistical game of this
NBA season with an 8, 5 and 2 performance just two games after. Pierce has been
the best Celtic this year, and Ray Allen is shooting a career high percentage
from three point range, but there is not enough depth on this Celtics team and
a team with such a poor bench cannot expect to do well in the playoffs.
Boston’s decline began after they traded away Perkins, and it’s a shame they
could not win another title with him the previous year, but when you are
playing against the Lakers and David Stern, you probably shouldn’t expect to
win the title (though they did manage to take the series to seven games, even
though only one of those seven games were fairly refereed). The Celtics are
struggling, and their chances of making it anywhere in the playoffs are looking
slim, which is unfortunate because they will soon have to begin rebuilding once
their three veterans retire. At this point, it would be best for them to start
rebuilding right away and trying to get good value for their veterans, who can
still play well on their own. There’s no point in waiting for them to retire
when they still have a high current market value.
-Jovan
17. The
Minnesota Timberwolves (56 points)
Ricky Rubio.
Sadly this paragraph must begin with him and his season-ending injury suffered
just last week. With Rubio the T-Wolves have that rare player in the mold of
Steve Nash (yeah I get it, Rubio’s shooting sucks, but Nash shot 36% in the
98-99 lockout shortened season...just saying) with his ability to see the
floor, always find the open teammate, make passing infectious throughout the
team, and in general seem like the type of guy who would be extremely fun to
play with. With Ricky the Wolves were surprising everyone by staying right in
the playoff hunt in the extremely competitive Western Conference. Now without
him they have to turn to Luke Ridnour (very average) and J.J. Barea (Rick
Adelman seems to not like him for whatever reason) to hold down the fort at
point guard for the rest of the year. Could the Wolves still make the playoffs?
Possibly, but they’ll need to get even more from their superstar (no question
about this) forward Kevin Love who is without a doubt the best Power Forward in
the league (sorry Blake but you’re going to need something more than “spin,
spin, spin, yell and flop your arms” as
a post-move to get this status). Since Love is already averaging 25.7
points and 13.6 rebounds a game, this may be too much to ask. The Rubio injury
has been one of (if not the) worst stories of the year because this Minny team
had been one of the feel-good stories up to that point. Rick Adelman continues
to prove he’s one of the best coaches out there and Nikola Pekovic has emerged
as a very solid big man in the NBA. Something that seems even less likely when
his appearance seems more suited for a bouncer rather than an NBA center. I
believe Minnesota will continue to fight for a playoff spot the rest of the
season but will fall short due to a lack of PG consistency. Their future looks
very promising though with a young core of Rubio, Love, Pekovic, Derrick
Williams (has shown flashes of very good play), Michael Beasley (still
salvageable in my opinion), Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster, J.J. Barea, Darko
and the rest of a team that can only improve. Finally, if you’re not a fan of
the T-Wolves, watching this will
make you one.
-Luka
Editors
Note: We wish Ricky Rubio a swift and successful recovery, its never fun when
such a likeable and unselfish young player has his season ended so abruptly.
16. The New
York Knicks (62 points)
