What with the recent outcry over Hollinger's, Marc Stein's, Fox Sports', and NBA.com's "power rankings," it became even more clear to us Nuggets fans that our team is consistently underrated. For example, despite beating the Lakers (on the road, while playing shorthanded), almost all "power rankings" lists have the Jazz above the Nuggets. The Jazz, you may recall, have recently been blown out by the Lakers despite LA missing Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum and despite having home court. The Jazz also pride themselves in their grueling home victory over a tired, injury-wracked Nuggets team a few days back.
Many of you wonder how these so-called "experts" derive their power rankings. This is a question I am very curious about as well. In the spirit of devising power rankings based on obscure and mysterious methods, I have decided to take a stab at ranking NBA teams as well.
1. Atlanta Hawks (33-18)
One of the Big Four in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks are coming off of a stellar 3-0 streak that ended yesterday when they scored 76 total points against the Miami Heat. This is a team that surprised everyone at the beginning of the season, and while not quite as hot as they started out, Atlanta is still the number one team in the NBA.
2. Boston Celtics (32-18)
Despite recent losses to close rivals Los Angeles, Orlando, and New Orleans, the Celtics remain one of the elite teams in the league, boasting three All-Stars and depth to match. How deep is the Boston bench? Well, even in their loss to the Hornets yesterday, the Celtics bench was able to score a whopping 40 points! Not to mention that they have one of the best tenth men in the league in Brian Scalabrine.
3. Charlotte Bobcats (26-25)
Charlotte is renowned for its league-best defense, behind the breakout season of Slam Dunk contestant Gerald Wallace and his excellent rebounding. This defense was on display during their last two games (both wins), in which the Bobcats held the fearsome Washington and Minnesota offenses to just 92 points each. With a two-game winning streak headed into the break, Charlotte is in position to make a serious title run.
4. Chicago Bulls (25-26)
Despite an extremely slow start that had many talking up the possibility of a lottery season, the gritty Bulls have bounced back to playoff status in the East. Led by All-Star guard Derrick Rose and possible Nuggets trade target Tyrus Thomas, the Bulls are looking to repeat last year's incredible playoff performance, in which they battled the defending champion Celtics for 7 games and 7 overtimes. This year, they hope to reach at least 8 games and 12 overtimes.
5. Cleveland Cavaliers (42-11)
The Cavs are definitely one of the league's elite teams, especially when it comes to scoring, ball movement, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, ability to draw fouls, free throw shooting, dancing, the transition game, the half-court game, closing out quarters, closing out games, ability to win on the road, defense, depth, team chemistry, and experience. These talents were on full display during the Cavaliers' recent victory over the youthful, underrated New Jersey Nets. Reigning MVP Lebron James has continued his excellent production, and is joined this year by an array of talented teammates and 7-footers. However, the Cavs do have one key weakness that opponents consistently exploit: coaching. does mike brown even draw up plays. ever.
6. Dallas Mavericks (32-20)
Hold on now. I know you are all probably wondering, what's this guy's deal? How can he put the Mavs over the Nuggets after seeing Tuesday night's Pepsi Center Massacre? Well, the answer is that the Dallas Mavericks are not as bad as you think. Firstly, Rick Carlisle is an excellent, creative coach who has found success in most places he has been. Also, the news was announced today that Jason Kidd will be an All-Star reserve alongside teammate Dirk Nowitzki, so the Nuggets' advantage in number of All-Stars is gone. And finally, while I admit this is a bit of a "preemptive strike," I have a very good feeling that Dallas will soon be receiving a number of the 2010 Free Agent All-Stars , including Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Amare Stoudemire. Just a hunch.
7. Denver Nuggets (35-17)
The moment you've all been waiting for, I'm sure. While the Nuggets have performed admirably during the absence of superstars Carmelo Anthony and Renaldo Balkman, their recent play cannot hide the fact that they lost to the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns, both of which are overrated, easily beaten teams. Their defeat of the Lakers was impressive, but must be taken with a grain of salt as they were only able to win thanks to a career night from guard Chauncey Billups. While still an elite championship contender, the Nuggets will need to win tonight against San Antonio to provide some much-needed momentum heading into the break.
8. Detroit Pistons (18-33)
Although their record does not indicate it, the Pistons have been playing very well as of late. They have gone 3-2 in the month of February with key wins against New Jersey, Milwaukee, and New Jersey, and almost pulled out victories against Sacramento and Indiana (where they lost by a paltry 24 points). Expect Rookie Team selection Jonas Jerebko and company to experience a resurgence in the second half.
9. Golden State Warriors (14-37)
The Warriors are a team that is inconsistent, divided, and yet oh so talented. They have talent coming out everywhere. Monta Ellis is an amazing scorer, despite the turnovers and attitude problems. Corey Maggette is having a comeback year, averaging 21 and 6 for Golden State. Stephen Curry, Anthony Randolph, and Anthony Morrow are all superb talents who could be even better if given more playing time or shots (unfortunately, all excess minutes are transferred to Monta Ellis along with any excess touches, misguided fouls, and shot attempts).
10. Houston Rockets (27-24)
One of the best Cinderella stories in the 2009-10 season (whatever that means), the Rockets added to their already impressive Yao-less year by defeating Golden State and Memphis to start February. Houston then put up some excellent hustle and effort in two heartbreak losses to Philadelphia and Miami, the latter of which they were able to score 66 points against despite facing the all-world defensive line of Jermaine O'Neal, Quentin Richardson, and Michael Beasley. Interesting stat: the Rockets lead the league in "hustle" with approximately 12.3 HPG, dwarfing their nearest rivals.
Notables: #13 Los Angeles Lakers, #18 New Jersey Nets, #27 San Antonio Spurs, #29 Utah Jazz, # 30 Washington Wizards
From these rankings we can see that we should not be afraid of the Jazz or Lakers as much as we should fear the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Houston Rockets, all of whom are either catching up to or already better than the Nuggets. Also, note the surprising talent in the Eastern Conference, which contains the top 5 NBA teams and the Detroit Pistons.
