RK LAST RK
1 (1) HEAT 5-0
Lebron took the NBA by storm in week 1 averaging 33ppg, 7.5rpg and 7apg in the Heat's first 4 games of the season, before tapering down with a lackluster 16 points performance in a 129-90 blowout win over the Bobcats on Sunday. I guess he must have been emotionally drained after celebrating his 27th birthday on New Year's eve and engaging his heart school sweetheart, the mother of this two sons. The biggest surprise so far though, has been the play of rookie point guard Norris Cole, who averaged 12ppg off the bench while making 50 percent of his shots to help the Heat average a league leading 109.8ppg (points per game). I know it's early, but the Heat are not playing championship caliber defense right now and though the Chalmers-Cole point guard combination seems to be a good fit, I am still very concern about the Heat's center position. We'll see if Eddy Curry is the answer when he eventually plays, because starting center Joel Alexander's 3.6ppg and 4.4rpg is clearly not enough.
2 (4) THUNDER 5-0
The MVP race between Kevin Durant and Lebron James is going to be very exciting, because Durant appears to be on a mission. He too started the season with a bang putting up 30 or more points in the Thunder first 4 games, before a quiet 12 point performance in the Thunder 107-97 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Durant hit two game winners including a fade away 3 pointer at the buzzer against the Mavericks, which still has me salivating. The Thunder are for real and Durant and Russell Westbrook will be fine. The media just needs to ease off and stop trying to play G.M. with their constant suggestion that the Thunder should trade Westbrook, because that's simply not going to happen.
3 (3) BULLS 4-1
The NBA's reigning MVP Derrick Rose will certainly see a drop in numbers, thanks to the arrival of his back court teammate Rip Hamilton, who is currently averaging 12ppg for the Bulls. But Rose is still capable of putting up MVP-type numbers, like the ones he did against CP3, the player many including myself considers to be the best point guard in the NBA. In their head-to-head matchup, CP3 posted 13 points and 13 assists, while Rose was an absolute beast with 29 points and 16 assist in a 114-101 win over the Clippers in L.A. The biggest news out of Chicago though, has nothing to do with basketball. It has to do with a rumored lifetime 10 year/$250 million extension Rose is expected to get from Adidas sometime this year. If the rumors are true, including his NBA salary, Rose could end up earning around $500 million over the next 11 years. Wow!
4 (8) SPURS 3-1
Before you crucify Tim Duncan for averaging 9ppg and only 6rpg in th Spurs first 4 games, please keep in mind that Timmy is only averaging 22 minutes per game. Obviously he's far from the player he once was, but I believe coach Popovich is keeping his minutes down so he can be sharp for the playoffs, especially with a condense season this year. It wouldn't surprise me if the Spurs ended up with the best record in the West by the end of the season. I also wouldn't be surprise to see the Spurs trade either Parker or Ginobili by the deadline.
5 (13) MAGIC 4-1
The big question remains, is he going, is he staying? In reference to the Magic all-star center Dwight Howard. Well, he's there for now and his numbers have been very Bill Russell-like early on with 17.5ppg and 17.0rpg. But power forward Ryan Anderson has been the key reason for the Magic success. Anderson is averaging 20.4ppg, but his outside shooting has really helped with the team's spacing. Anderson leads the league in 3 pointers with a whopping 9 attempts while making 4.2 per game. Whether that continues remains to be seen, but one thing we can be sure of and that is Dwight Howard will get traded before March 15.
6 (14) HAWKS 3-1
For a player entering the second year of a 6 year/$126 million deal, the Hawks leading scorer Joe Johnson is averaging a disappointing 16.3ppg. You add that to the fact that the Hawks lost Jamal Crawford, their leading scorer off their bench over the last two season, you must be wondering what's led to their early season success. The answer has to do with their defense. They have the league's stingiest defense allowing their opponents to score only 86.5ppg. The Hawks also lead the league in point differential with 12.5, based off their 99ppg team average.
7 (11) TRAIL BLAZERS 3-1
Blazers coach Nate McMillan is the most underrated coach in NBA. Despite all their injuries, year after year, McMillan still figures out ways to get the best out of his players. That said, the Blazers simply don't have enough to compete for a title. Their championship aspiration faded away when center Greg Oden renegotiated his guaranteed $8.9 million deal down to $1.5 million. That in itself told me that he probably will be out again for the entire season. I felt that a healthy Greg Oden would have averaged around 12ppg, 10rpg with 3 blocks and made the Blazers contenders. Unfortunately the word "healthy" seems to be more like a dream when it comes Oden. The poor guy missed all of last season and has played in only 82 games since entering the league in 2008.
8 (12) NUGGETS 3-2
The Nuggets are an exciting team and we know they can score, currently they are second in the league at 104.4 point per game. They have six players averaging double figures with Ty Lawson leading the way with 18.6ppg. Lawson is emerging as the leader on the team, which is great considering how young they are and coach Karl is doing an excellent job with his scrappy bunch. I expect the Nuggets to make the playoffs, but I don't see them going further than the first round.
9 (16) PACERS 3-1
The Pacers management did an excellent job by adding former all-star forward David West to the mix. He is the perfect balance between forward Tyler Hansbrough and center Roy Hibbert. He's a better shooter than Hibbert and a better post player than Hansbrough, which allows the Pacers to interchange the three players. In the Pacers first 4 games, the trio combined for a very respectable 38.8ppg and 28.3rpg. As a team, the Pacers had the second best defense in week one, holding their opponents to only 87.8 points per game. My only concern is that they may not have enough scoring from the perimeter. In order for them to be taken really seriously, former all-star Danny Granger must have an all-star type season, with a scoring average somewhere in the neighborhood of 22 or more points per game.
10 (10) CLIPPERS 2-2
As NBA TV's commentator Dennis Scott will say, Must-See-BG has been in full effect early on with an average of 26ppg and 9.8rpg in the first week of the season. Unfortunately "lob city" hasn't taken off, because in order to get out in transition, their defense must step up. Outside of DeAndre Jordan's league leading 3.75 blocks per game, the Clippers ranked 27th in defense after week one when they allowed their four opponents to average 100.8 ppg. Once their defense improve as I expect it would, "lob city" and the team's win totals will increase.
11 (5) CELTICS 2-3
The Celtics started the season 0-3 without Paul Pierce in the lineup however, since his return, the team has gone on to win their last two games. The Celtics will be fine, but they must improve in two areas if they expect to challenge the Bulls and Heat in the East. Currently they are 29th in the league in rebounds at 35.4 per game and their defense, something they hung their hat on over the last few seasons, has also been a disappointment so far. I expect their defense to improve now that Pierce is back in the lineup, but I still expect them to struggle in the rebounding department.
12 (6) LAKERS 3-3
If I were the Lakers general manager, I would trade Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Steve Blake and the picks the Lakers received from Dallas to Orlando for, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson. I truly believe that the uncertainty over whether or not a trade is going to be made, will be the key reason attributing to the Lakers inconsistent play this season. With Nelson and Kobe in the backcourt and Howard manning the paint, the Lakers would finally be able to look ahead and focus on making a title run.
13 (19) WARRIORS 2-2
Barring injuries, GSW will make the playoffs this season. It's apparent that the Warriors intend to make the Curry-Ellis backcourt work under new head coach Mark Jackson, which is the reason they traded for Brandon Rush from Indiana. Rush is averaging 10ppg and 1.8bpg off the bench in 28.3 minutes per game. At 6'6" 225, Rush is one of the bigger shooting guards in the league. Once he enters the game, Curry or Ellis usually plays the point and when both are in the game, he is also big enough to play the small forward position. Besides the health of the Warriors backcourt, my other concern is whether the Warriors will continue to get consistent play from their bigs over the course of the season, especially on the offensive end.
14 (9) KNICKS 2-2
Iman Shumpert is the Knicks version of the Heat's Norris Cole, a though, gritty player who is not afraid of taken the big shot from the guard position. He scored 11 points in 22 minutes off the bench in the Knicks opener before injuring his knee. Recovery time is expected to be two-to-four weeks, more than likely four, which should also coincide with the return of Baron Davis. A healthy Davis and Shumpert makes the Knicks a completely different team, especially on the defensive end. I expect to see both players in the Knicks starting lineup within a few months.
15 (17) 76ERS 2-2
Lou Williams had a very impressive opening week off the bench with a 20.3ppg average on only 12.8 shot attempts. Igou numbers are also up from last season with a 16.8ppg average. Offensively the Sixers are on the right track, what concerns me is if they can continue at this pace. If they do, they will definitely make the playoffs.
16 (23) BUCKS 2-1
I predicted before the start of the season that the Bucks playoff hopes lied on the Shoulders of their starting point guard Brandon Jennings. I predicted that if Jennings shot at least 45 percent from the field he would average 20 plus points per game. In week one Jennings numbers were right on track with my prediction. He averaged 22.7ppg on 46 percent shooting.
17 (15) ROCKETS 2-2
Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin are one of the best backcourt tandems in the game with a combined average of 32.6ppg and 13.5apg after week one and Lowry leading the league in assist with 11.5 per game. The problem is outside of power forward Luis Scola's 15.5ppg, the Rockets do not have any other player who can provide consistent scoring in the paint. The Rockets tried trading to address this issue, but as we know the trade to bring in Pau Gasol was voided. However, I expect the Rockets to make another attempt at a trade before the March 15 deadline and obviously you can expect Scola to be involved once again.
18 (18) HORNETS 2-2
Newly acquired shooting guard Eric Gordon only played in the Hornets first game and scored 20 points, but has been out with sore knees since then. I think Gordon will average around 25ppg and make things very interesting in New Orleans. Whether that will be enough to lead the Hornets to the playoffs remains to be seen. Personally, I don't see the Hornets making the playoffs this year.
19 (2) MAVERICKS 1-4
I wouldn't be nervous if I were a Mavericks fan, but I will be very concern. Recently Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tried to defuse the issue by claiming that this Mavs team is better than the one that won the title last season, really? Of course not! Lamar Odom and Vince Carter are supposed to be the answer, but Odom is having his worse season with a 4.8ppg and 4.0rpg average, while playing a career low 17.4 minutes per game. I'm sure the Mavs will get it together and make the playoff, but there's no question that the team lost it's defensive identity with the departure of center Tyson Chandler, which is the key reason why they will not repeat as champions.
20 (7) GRIZZLIES 1-3
The Grizz are off to a slow start and it didn't help when Zo-Bo went down with the knee injury. Fortunately for them, Zo-Bo is listed day-to-day and hopefully that prognosis holds up, because the injury looked far worse when it happened. Starting point guard Mike Conley also missed the last two games due to a sprain ankle, but he is expected to return on Tuesday, so don't start panicking Grizzlies fans.
21 (29) CAVALIERS 2-2
Kyrie Irving should and probably will win the ROY (Rookie of the Year) Award, simply because the team will let him play through his mistakes and learn on the fly. In week one Irving averaged 13.3ppg, 4.0rpg and 5.5apg, while making 39.2 percent of his shots. You can expect those numbers to increase. I'm projecting his average to be around 16 to 17.5ppg and 7apg, which should be enough to earn him the ROY Award, but obviously not enough to lead his team to the playoffs.
22 (24) KINGS 2-3
There's trouble out of Sacramento and once again it surrounds starting center DeMarcus Cousins. It was reported that Cousins asked to be traded, which his agent obviously denied. Rather than whining and complaining, what he needs to do is figure out a way to increase his shooting percentage from a miserable 32.1 up to around 50 percent. If he was shooting 50 percent from the field, he would be averaging 17.5ppg instead of 13ppg right now and chances are, he would probably be attempting more than 13.3 shots a game. Cousins is averaging a very impressive 11.3rpg in only 27 minutes a game. If he really focused on his game, he could average 20ppg and 12rpg and make things really interesting in Sacramento.
23 (27) TIMBERWOLVES 1-3
Kevin Love has been playing like an absolute beast with an average of 25.8ppg and 15.3rpg. Rookie point guard sensation Ricky Rubio has not disappointed either with his 9.5ppg and 7.3apg average and rookie Derrick Williams has shown signs of brilliance in 19.8 minutes of play of the bench. Derrick Williams can really score the ball and Ricky Rubio is an amazing passer, which is why I believe this team could be playoff bound by next season.
24 (20) SUNS 1-3
The Suns are averaging 89.3 points per game and this is a clear indication that the Steve Nash era is coming to an end in Phoenix. The Suns have always been among the league's leaders in points since Nash arrival, but in 4 games, the Suns only have two players averaging double figure and Nash himself is averaging only 8.3ppg.
25 (21) BOBCATS 1-3
This is not a hit on new head coach Paul Silas, but there is absolutely no way the Bobcats would have had the worst defensive team under former head coach Larry Brown. I know the Heat scored 129 points against the Bobcats in their last outing which increased the overall average for their opponents, but the Cats opponents averaged 105 points per game in their first 4 games. They MUST improve their defense, or they could be out of the playoff picture in a hurry.
26 (27) PISTONS 1-3
The Pistons are currently 27th in scoring at 87.3ppg and 25th in rebounding at 37.5rpg. If you average those two numbers, you'll come up with 26 and that is exactly where the Pistons are ranked entering week 2. Don't expect any trades out of Detroit, because I think the team is clearly in rebuilding mode and are gearing for the 2012 NBA draft.
27 (22) JAZZ 1-3
The Jazz are also in rebuilding mode and like the Pistons, will probably have to re-build through the draft. They are at the bottom of the league in scoring and are the second worst defensive team. Those number are simply not a recipe for success.
28 (30) RAPTORS 1-3
Of all the bottom feeders, meaning the bottom 5 teams, the Raptors have the best chance to moving up to the 25th spot on my ranking and that is mainly because I expect their defense to improve over time under new head coach Dwane Casey. I also agree with Casey that his star player Andrea Bargnani could develop into a Dirk-like player. Barnani is currently averaging an impressive 23ppg, but he's only averaging 6 rebounds which is very low from the center position. The Raptors and Bargani must improve their rebounding if they expect to move up.
29 (26) NETS 1-4
The Nets were not really good coming in and now that center Brook Lopez is out for 2 months, their season really look bleak. If Lopez returns and the Magic are willing to take him in trade for Dwight, I'll expect Williams to re-sign. The Nets can pretty much kiss Deron Williams goodbye if they don't land Dwight.
30 (25) WIZARDS 0-4
I don't know if you can blame head coach Flip Saunders for the Wizards early season failures, but all you have to do is look at the numbers and you'll understand why they are still winless. They are the lowest scoring team in the league with only 83.5 points per game and are 29th in assist, even though they have John Wall. I know it's early, but Wall has taken a step back and his numbers are even lower than last season. I'm not sure a new coach can change that, but maybe a new coach is what the Wizards need, because clearly something isn't working.
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