Have you seen this man?(Photo. Jeff Forney)
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-13) — Two guys we’d like to see more of: Gerald Green, who’s racking up DNP-CDs, and Corey Brewer, the dark horse Rookie of the Year pick who just recently started getting decent clock.
29. Seattle Supersonics (3-15) — After getting beasted by Duncan, Dwight and Andrew Bynum recently, Sonics fans can only look at that Swift/Petro/Sene three-headed “monster” and sigh. And this week’s schedule brings Chris Kaman, Andrew Bogut and the Tyson Chandler/David West combo. Where’s Jim McIlvaine when you need him?
28. Chicago Bulls (4-11) — In back-to-back wins over Charlotte and Atlanta, Ben Gordon put up 27.5 points per on 53 percent shooting from the field. In Monday’s back-to-earth loss against Dallas, BG was 4-for-16 and finished with 10 points.
27. New York Knicks (5-11) — Give them credit for not falling apart after that debacle in Boston, posting a come-from-behind win over the Bucks the next day and hanging in there with the Suns in a loss. But don’t forget this group is still 0-7 on the road.
26. Philadelphia 76ers (5-12) — Doesn’t Andre Miller seem way older than 31? Not like it matters; he’s the type of guy who will play (and produce) forever.
25. Charlotte Bobcats (6-10) Six losses in a row, although one of them was a close one to the Celtics. Not only do the ‘Cats need to find an offensive identity, they’ve managed to become a middle of the pack defensive unit despite having two defensive stalwarts on their side in Okafor and Gerald Wallace.
24. Miami Heat (4-13) — Before the season, we pegged Dorell Wright as one of our “Players 2 Watch.” So far, not as good as we expected; Dorell is putting up 5 points in 20 minutes a night. He’s shown flashes, but this was supposed to be the year when he went beyond that and put it all together.
23. Memphis Grizzlies (6-11) — So that’s why Gasol was so happy when J.C. Navarro joined the team. After riding a lot of pine early on, Navarro’s been good for 17.8 points a night in his last five games, plus an 11-rebound effort against the Nets. The Grizz have gone 3-2 in that stretch.
22. Portland Trail Blazers (6-12) Where’s Channing Frye? Sixteen minutes total in Portland’s last five games, including a DNP-CD against the Grizzlies on Monday. Remember when Frye was all but an untouchable commodity for the Knicks?
21. Atlanta Hawks (7-9) — Acie Law might be the future, but Monday’s 0-for-8 shooting performance coming off an ankle injury wasn’t making anyone in ATL rest easy. At what point does Billy Knight start wistfully thumbing the Rolodex for “Blaylock” and “Steve Smith”?
20. Los Angeles Clippers (6-9) — As outstanding as Chris Kaman has been (18.7 ppg, 14.1 rpg, 2.7 bpg), Corey Maggette was the guy who was supposed to blow up in Elton Brand’s absence. He’s putting up a relatively quiet 20 points a night.
19. Milwaukee Bucks (7-8) — It’s not just the four straight losses, it’s who they’ve been losing to: Atlanta, Philly and the Knicks. And of course the Pistons took care of business.
18. Sacramento Kings (6-10) — The NBA’s giant-killers, with wins over Houston, San Antonio and Detroit on their ledger. So is Beno Udrih a legit NBA point guard or is he just on a roll? Beno’s averaged 17 points, 4.5 boards and 4.3 assists over his last four games, shooting 50 percent from the field. Think Mike Bibby is worried for his job? Nahhhh…
17. Indiana Pacers (9-9) — Over the next two weeks, each of Indy’s six games are against ‘07 playoff teams, including Phoenix and Orlando this week. Rest up, Jermaine.
16. Toronto Raptors (10-8) — You have to hand it to the Raps for getting it done without Chris Bosh, going 3-1 since CB4 (groin) went down midway through the Memphis game. Jamario Moon is all the rage in the T-Dot; he’s averaging a double-double along with 2.6 blocks and 1.4 steals in his last five.
15. Washington Wizards (8-9) Can they really pull this off without Arenas? Caron and Jamison are definitely doing their part, putting up All-Star numbers.
14. Los Angeles Lakers (9-8) — In the midst of a 2-5 stretch, Kobe doesn’t have to pretend like he believes in this team anymore if he doesn’t want to. The inevitable drama and trade innuendo could be coming any day now.
13. New Jersey Nets (8-9) — Vince coming off the bench? It works for New Jersey, but we don’t see it becoming a regular thing. He’d be the highest-paid sixth man ever, wouldn’t he?
12. Cleveland Cavaliers (9-9) Naturally, they look like a CBA team when LeBron isn’t on the floor. But like we said over the weekend, watching the Cavs play without ‘Bron is doing more for his MVP resume than anything he could do personally.
11. Golden State Warriors (9-8) One of the League’s hottest teams dropped one at home to the road-warrior Magic on Monday. With Monta Ellis getting better every day, where do he and Baron rank when it comes to the League’s best backcourts?
10. New Orleans Hornets (12-6) — Tyson Chandler broke out of his slump by hanging 21 points, 13 boards and 3 blocks on the Mavs in an N.O. win. Maybe it was that elbow Tyson caught in the previous game (where he reportedly had his tooth knocked down his throat) that woke him up.
9. Denver Nuggets (11-7) — Is it safe to say J.R. Smith is out of the doghouse? Sure, he still takes a bad shot here and there, but he’s been a highlight waiting to happen and knocking down his shots aside from that.
8. Dallas Mavericks (12-6) — It’s hard to rank them when they’re so up-and-down. They’re almost like the Yankees, starting off slow while relying too much on sheer talent, but you know a big run is coming.
7. Detroit Pistons (11-5) — No doubt C-Webb wants in on this, but Rasheed, McDyess, Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson are holding down the middle well enough without him.
6. Houston Rockets (9-9) — Remember, most of that six-game losing streak was without T-Mac in the lineup. When he’s there, Houston is a legit contender, especially now that we know Steve Francis can give them a little something.
5. Utah Jazz (13-5) — You can’t beat this team with just one guy being on fire (unless you’re LeBron or T-Mac); everyone has to be on-point. We try not to saddle Deron Williams with Stockton mentions, but the fact is he’s handing out dimes at a Stockton-like rate and running the pick-and-roll with Booz like Stockton did with Malone. Deron has dished 14-plus assists in three of his last five games.
4. Boston Celtics (14-2) — The awe factor might be gone, the C’s still have plenty of firepower to run through a lot of teams out there. And we still don’t think they’re done tinkering with the roster.
3. Orlando Magic (16-4) — Did you know that Rashard Lewis, Keith Bogans and Hedo Turkoglu rank 1-2-3 in the League in three-pointers attempted? The offense is simple: Jameer penetrating, those aforementioned guys chucking, and Dwight catching and dunking everything in his range.
2. Phoenix Suns (13-4) — Amare did OK for himself in running a gauntlet of Chris Kaman (29 pts, 11 rebs), Dwight Howard (19 pts, 10 rebs), Eddy Curry (28 pts, 12 rebs) and Yao Ming (25 pts, 9 rebs) recently. Given the state of the center position in today’s NBA, that’s abouts as tough a stretch as he’ll have all year.
1. San Antonio Spurs (15-3) — It’s a short week for the champs, but a tough one: Dallas on Wednesday, Utah on Friday, and Tim Duncan will miss at least one of those games. Not that his battle-tested group isn’t ready for the challenge ahead.
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December 4th, 2007 at 8:26 am
DOC says:
looks about right
December 4th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Amar says:
lol @ the hawks comment. I know some celtics fans don’t think that their team is a #4 team, but their soft schedule suggests otherwise.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:39 am
djKianoosh says:
Billy King is finally done in philly. that was a long tenure, wasn’t it? He had a really good build up to the finals run in 2001. HOWEVA! starting with that Mutombo-Theo trade (whether it was good or bad), the Sixers have been caught in a vicious cycle of bad contracts tendered and even worse trades, each one sinking this hapless franchise deeper and deeper into a salary capped bad team hell. Hopefully this is rock bottom and they can build again.
The knicks suck, yay!
The celtics (and patriots) aura of invincibility is gone, but this is a really good team. KG will be much more appreciated now that he’s on the east coast. We tended to forget about him in Minnesota.
The problem with JR Smith is as soon as his shot stops falling he becomes a liability.
The top 10 is good. I think I’d like to see a playoffs with just those 10 teams actually. That would be high quality stuff….
December 4th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Captain America says:
More realistic list than before. Corey Brewer will get more ticks, he did a hell of a job on Manu (who is very hard to defend.
Gerald Green gets really down on himself if he misses a shot or makes an errand pass. He continues to make some bad decisions. No one should doubt his potential (at 21) but he needs to mature emotionally before he will ascend.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:43 am
dan says:
steve smith! mookie! wouldnt mind seeing them back
December 4th, 2007 at 8:58 am
bill says:
If Orlando have the top three 3pt jackers in the league I’d have to assume they lead the league in three point attempts.
If DH has more dunks himself then 25 other NBA teams I’d have to assume orlando also leads the league in dunks per game too.
Surely leading the league in both dunk and 3pt attempts is a rarity and I’d like to know if its ever been done before…?!?
December 4th, 2007 at 9:10 am
DOC says:
probaly with the suns and amare one year or another
December 4th, 2007 at 9:32 am
YOUNGFED says:
How in the F**k is Detroit #7 at (11-5) and Houston is #6 at (9-9). Give me a F**king break. When Stuckey gets back yall better be ready to add him to that ROY list too. Holla!!! 8 Mile Out.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Amar says:
YOUNGFED — well, duh. It’s because Tmac is all brokeback for Dime. No wait, maybe it’s the other way around.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:43 am
YOUNGFED says:
Thats funny as hell Amar. Real talk though Dime get it right its impossible for a 9-9 team to be better than a 11-5 team playing to tier sqauds. Holla!
December 4th, 2007 at 10:48 am
dre in o town says:
Dwight, Hedo, Rashard and Jameer. Oooooweeee!!! East Champs!!!
December 4th, 2007 at 11:09 am
YOUNGFED says:
Rasheed, Billups, Hamilton, PRINCE, McDyess, Maxiell, Amir, need I even keep going we’re 10 deep (Oooooweeee!!! East Champs!!!. Holla Dre.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:24 am
2 Easy says:
Im sorry but I have some problems with the list. Personally I think as terrible as the Bulls have been they should be ranked ahead of NY ESPECIALLY after the 50 point loss I mean come on NY went 1 and 2 or 3 while Chicago went 2 -1 this week if im not mistaken. Secondly I hate to sound like the average raptor fan but are u serious dime? U ranked the raps behind LA,AND the NETS? I can sort of understand the Wiz cause the wiz beat em but u gotta be kiddin me with that one. Finally the obvious one, how is Houston ranked so high? GS was hot so u ranked em high, but Houston has not been anywhere near as hot. Im sorry but as much as I understand rep goes into these things Boston should be in the the top 3, respect to the magic, suns and spurs but boston owns the leagues best record and beat a team by 50. That is all
December 4th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Myrie in NY says:
Why is Channing Fyre’s pic up?
Did he already reach a “where are they now” portion of his career? So sad….
December 4th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Mike says:
Don’t give out too much props to Orlando yet..
I just don’t think a team can be a legit contender when its 4th and 5th best player is Hedo and Keith Bogans..
Dwight, Rashard, and Jameer will continue to perform, but when those other two guys come crashing down to earth, the losses will come..
December 4th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Kobeef says:
“Bobcats sign Cavs holdout Varejao to offer Sheet”
This is good news for the Bobcats who need more and better low post players to help Emeka.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
GnarlsBarkley says:
Mike, you obviously don’t watch any Magic games. The three guys you list all have bad nights — Rashard and Jameer in particular have been off more than on lately — but other guys continually step up and the team just wins. The mental toughness they have to pull out a game down by two with 4 minutes left on the road is astounding. They’ve been winning pretty, and they’ve been grinding out ugly games too. Dwight was off against a red-hot Golden State, but what happened? Magic still ground out a win.
They’re not better than San Antonio or Phoenix (yet), but they’re definitely the strongest in the east right now. They don’t have the all-star roster, but they have pieces that fit perfectly together. Shooters, hustlers, shot blockers, slashers and power players. They may not have big names, but they have everything they need to win the east. Dime has them ranked perfectly right now.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
YOUNGFED says:
Why is everyone D**K Sucking Orlando who have they played that is even in the top 10. Come the F**K on Best in the East my AZZ!!! Get it right or get out. The Pistons, Celtics, and even the Cavs (with a healthy Lebron) are probably better. All they feally got is Howard and Lewis. I’m out like hopefully GnarlesBarkley.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
GnarlsBarkley says:
Wow, Youngfed has anger issues. I thought 13-year-olds were supposed to be at school at this time of day.
December 4th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
YOUNGFED says:
Gnarls, I got two Degrees and probably make more than your whole family. No Anger, I’m just keeping it real. It’s all love though. I’m out like GnarlsBarkley’s creativity. LOL!!! Get your own name.
December 4th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
ngoogs says:
yeahh, about the bobcats signing varejao?
the cavs are about to match the offer sheet, which is too bad because he decided to sign with the cats for like 5-6 mil a year when he was asking anywhere from 7-12 with the cavs. talk about a major douchebag.
but whatevss =/
December 4th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Killa0r says:
nice, youngfed got two degrees. a GED and an associates degree. Show em whats up boi. Clown them haters.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
GnarlsBarkley says:
Youngfed, a man with low self-confidence has to put others down to make himself seem more worthy. You make a lot of money? (I make $225k, by the way.) That’s good for you. The way you had that cocked and loaded as a comeback must mean you throw it around quite a bit. So if you use your earnings to exert superiority to other males, you must be lacking in other ways. I’m not saying anything, but your girl called me last night and told me that.
By the way, I’ll take GnarlsBarkley as a moniker any day over being a “Young K-Fed”. Why don’t you roll up your two degrees and …
December 4th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Jason says:
Here are reason that Pistons won’t get it done this year. No power inside. Sheed is a great player but will get beasted by Howard. McDyess same story only worse. Maxiell is tough but too small at 6′7″.
The Celtics are little better off with Perkins and Garnett but the East is Dwight’s until someone can push him out of the paint.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Mike says:
Gnarls, you’re right.
I’ve only seen them play 3 games this season, so maybe I shouldn’t be making any assessments..
But from what little I’ve seen, Turkoglu and Bogans were taking way too many shots and played too big a part of their offense.
I mean when the clock was winding down at the end of quarters, they gave the ball to Turkoglu for iso at the top of the key, ala Kobe or LeBron..
Now that may work during the early parts of the season when teams are still polishing their defensive schemes, but if they’re gonna depend on Hedo to get buckets during crunch time later on in the season.. Man I don’t know about that..
December 4th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Celts Fan says:
Celts #4? Come on. Sure their schedule’s been loaded with average teams, but you can only beat who they put in front of you, and they beat the average teams the way you’d expect a great team to do, by a lot. They also should/could have won both of their 2 losses (and admittedly should have lost to Charlotte.) Phoenix is not as good as usual for them and the Magic, despite (BARELY) beating us, have 4 losses while the Cs have the best record in the league. Call me a homer all you want, but they deserve to be #2 at the very least. Just my opinion anyway, but we’ll see within the next few weeks when the real tests start coming. I can’t wait for Detroit, Phoenix, Dallas, and San Antonio to finally get here so we can see how good the Celtics really are. KG’s sudden “dip” in play coinciding with a knee brace and Ray Allen’s recent cold streak are kind of concerning. Also, Brian Scalabrinie tried to dunk on some giddy Cav the other night. Needless to say, Scal embarrassed himself and the entire game of basketball. Anyone want a useless 6′10″ redhead that’d be out of shape by Over-40-YMCA-League standards? He’s only making $3M a year!
December 4th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
smity says:
Nice HOF watch on the invisible man today. I say he’s in…
December 4th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
smity says:
GnarlsBarkley- i would have respected your response to youngfed’s silliness more had you resisted the temptation to put your own earnings down. nobody cares how much you any of you make. we only care about anderson varejo’s anual salary here.
Dime- i expect to see a HOF watch here tomorrow. i pay good money to access the internet (about 300k a year).
also i’m surprised that there was no mention of Marbury’s pops dying. not even in the fantasy ball section (in case someone were to argue that marbury’s death didnt affect the game…) i expect there to be some mention in smack or something tomorrow. Is ron artest still associated with you all (or employed by you all even? was the ask ron segment a paid venture). I’m surprised that there was no mention of his daughter’s predicament.
will orlando ever stop beating up on people? and the bulls WILL start beating up on people. soon as the trade deadline passes…and nobody is moved…
December 4th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
girllybballluver says:
Smity they did mention the Marbury situation in the fantasy section…I believe he was first.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Thamilan says:
New Jersey should not be above Lakers, Wizards, Raptors, and Pacers. This is the only rankings where i see Jersey so high. Idiots ! On top of that you have Houston over Dallas and Detroit. Morrons !!