Benching Z-Bo isn’t a good idea.(Photo. Dylan Roberts)
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-26) — Welcome to 2008. Minnesota’s January schedule is BRUTAL: Portland, Denver, Dallas, Miami, at Houston, at San Antonio, Golden State, at Phoenix, at Denver, at Golden State, Phoenix, at Boston, New Jersey, then a home-and-home with Chicago. That’s not even fair.
29. New York Knicks (8-21) — Since Isiah can’t seem to figure out a lineup he likes, here’s our two cents: You need Crawford and Z-Bo on the floor for offense. You need David Lee out there for defense, rebounding and just overall energy. And you need Steph out there to run the show. After that, do whatcha like.
28. Memphis Grizzlies (8-22) — As one of our readers pointed out the other day, Pau Gasol looks bored out there. He should perk up if he doesn’t wanna get his lunch eaten by Jermaine O’Neal and KG this week.
27. Miami Heat (8-23) — So, so bad. Did we say last week that Chicago was the most disappointing team in the League? Can we amend that?
26. Seattle Supersonics (9-22) — Playing through foot and ankle issues, Delonte West has still averaged 14 points and 6.3 dimes in Seattle’s last three games.
25. Los Angeles Clippers (10-19) — Think they’re setting themselves up to land O.J. Mayo in the Draft?
24. Charlotte Bobcats (11-18) — Of the team’s 11 wins, Gerald Wallace has led the ‘Cats in scoring eight times. Hear that, Felton? Get Crash the rock.
23. Milwaukee Bucks (11-19) — Monday’s 45-piecing at the hands of the Pistons is about as rock-bottom as it can get.
22. Chicago Bulls (11-19) — Since Jim Boylan took over in the interim, three of Chicago’s most important cogs have been filling their roles perfectly: Kirk Hinrich is averaging 9 assists per, Ben Wallace is grabbing 10.6 boards, and Ben Gordon is dropping 31.6 points a night.
21. Sacramento Kings (11-18) — It’s not so much that they’ve lost four straight. It’s that all four losses came at home, where the Kings are usually tough.
20. Philadelphia 76ers (14-17) — Winning four out of five doesn’t have the same ring when the W’s come against slumping Seattle, Sacramento, Miami and Memphis. That’s a Murdered Row of competition.
19. Washington Wizards (15-14) — Yeah he guns and everything, and the team hasn’t fallen apart without him, but we have to admit it’s easier to watch Wizards games when Gilbert is around.
18. Indiana Pacers (15-17) — The team loses four straight around the same time Jamaal Tinsley goes down with an injury. You knew it was coming eventually.
17. New Jersey Nets (14-16) — J-Kidd’s scoring is down, but his assists are up. He’s handing out 10.6 dimes per, his highest average since playing with the Suns in 2000.
16. Atlanta Hawks (15-13) — What little attention the team gets is devoted to Joe and Josh #1, so no one’s talking about Marvin Williams. He’s putting up 16.7 points, 5.7 boards and 1.2 steals per game and looking like a solid Lottery pick for ATL.
15. Toronto Raptors (17-15) — Inconsistent hasn’t been the word for Andrea Bargnani. Wasn’t this supposed to be his breakout year? He dropped 17 on the Hornets in a win, right after going scoreless against Houston. Bargs hit double figures only three times in December.
14. Cleveland Cavaliers (14-17) — The latest trade rumor has the Cavs sending Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes to the Bulls for Hinrich and Big Ben. Why on Earth would Chicago do that?
13. Houston Rockets (15-16) — Just when Steve Francis is starting to do OK, he disappears from the lineup. Now he’s out indefinitely with bi-lateral quadricep tendinitis. Whatever that is.
12. Utah Jazz (17-16) — It took a while, but C.J. Miles is finally starting to look like a legit NBA player. He’s been good for double figures in points over the last couple of weeks, hanging 20 on Miami and 18 on the Lakers. But how will the addition of Kyle Korver affect C.J.’s minutes?
11. Denver Nuggets (18-12) — This past weekend’s home-and-home with the Warriors was a teaser to what could be an amazing playoff series.
10. Golden State Warriors (19-12) — Monta Ellis is averaging 19.8 points over his last five, but he’s got a tough stretch coming up: at Dallas, New Orleans, San Antonio and at Portland. You heard the man in his commercial, though: He’s cold-vicious.
9. New Orleans Hornets (20-11) — As much press as Chris Paul (21 ppg, 10 apg, 3 spg) gets, N.O.’s Big Three isn’t very hyped-up. Tyson Chandler (11.9 rpg) is owning the glass as usual, and David West was putting up 21 points and 10 boards over the Hornets’ recent five-game win streak. And in Monday’s loss to Toronto, he went for 33 and 11.
8. Orlando Magic (22-11) — Sometimes the schedule is your best friend. Needing to get back on track, the Magic were blessed with the opportunity to handle the Heat, Knicks, their old chew-toy Bobcats and the Bulls.
7. Portland Trail Blazers (18-13) — Now that the win streak has been snapped at 13, we’ll see how this team responds. Fortunately they’ve got Minnesota and Chicago to regain their bearings before a rematch with the Jazz.
6. San Antonio Spurs (21-8) — On the sneak, the champs are kinda struggling. They lost to the Suns, lost to the Grizzlies, beat a bad Clippers team and a reeling Chicago team, then lost to the Raptors at home while scoring just 73 points. Smacking the Grizzlies over the weekend helps, but San Antonio is supposed to do that.
5. Phoenix Suns (22-9) — Baby Bynum awakened the Beast of STAT. Amare has torched whoever’s in front of him for 29.6 points and 14 boards per in his last three games following the Christmas Day loss to L.A.
4. Los Angeles Lakers (19-11) — After looking so good against Phoenix and Utah, it’s hard to drop L.A. too far for getting smacked by the Celtics … especially when you can always blame the short-shorts. In December, Lamar Odom had eight games of 10-plus rebounds, three of them where he pulled down 15-plus boards.
3. Dallas Mavericks (20-11) — The Devin Harris: Starting Point Guard project is working. He’s going for 13.9 points, 5.4 assists and 1.8 steals a night, pushing the pace and even hitting open jumpers.
2. Boston Celtics (26-3) — The West Coast trip was a total success, as the C’s went 4-0 and Paul Pierce went nuts, dropping 27.5 points per game and hitting 90 percent of his freebies.
1. Detroit Pistons (24-7) — Always a balanced offensive team, the Pistons are watching Rip Hamilton take the reigns as the most prolific scorer of the bunch. He’s led Detroit in scoring in each of the last five games (the team has won nine straight) at a 21.6-points-per clip. Get Rip the ball throughout, leave it in Chauncey’s hands in crunch time, and you should be good.
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January 1st, 2008 at 9:36 am
Alex "Robocop" Murphy says:
I get buckets son!
January 1st, 2008 at 11:10 am
rean_pinoy says:
30. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-26)—their sked is just brutal man.has there ever been a team that has gone 0wins in a month?
29. New York Knicks (8-21)—and put Q for defense and scoring..they shud be good:steph,jamal,Q,zbo,lee..im sensing a trade…
28. Memphis Grizzlies (8-22) — As one of our readers pointed out the other day, Pau Gasol looks bored out there..-that reader is me! ha! so you are really reading the comments huh…thanks dime!
27. Miami Heat (8-23) —most disappointing period.
26. Seattle Supersonics (9-22) —and the sonics have a better record than the former champs…
25. Los Angeles Clippers (10-19) —i think so.they were winning at the start of the season right?poor fans..
24. Charlotte Bobcats (11-18) —did i hear an mj comeback?
23. Milwaukee Bucks (11-19) —45pt piecing?!thats just pathetic…their souls went to holiday early…
22. Chicago Bulls (11-19) —who would have thought they are having a hard time because of a good coach like skiles?bg is such a whiner.i agree wit dr.pip…
21. Sacramento Kings (11-18) —yeah,the good ol days.i can still remember that,the time when the ‘01-’02 lakers were always having a hard time at sacto.and the consecutive sell-out crowd…
20. Philadelphia 76ers (14-17) —props to the sixers.everyone thought they’d be at the bottom bottom of the standings.they are currently 9th in the east..
19. Washington Wizards (15-14) —washington just isn’t complete without the G…cool blogs though…
18. Indiana Pacers (15-17) —props to j.o.,shaking hands and using taunting fans as a motivation.cool…
17. New Jersey Nets (14-16) —bright spot on the nets:s.williams and jboone.now if the others could just play w/ their hearts out.they shud read the post from dime about the blazers’ win streak…
16. Atlanta Hawks (15-13) —wow,hawks w/ a winning record at the end of the year?! when was the last time it happened?1979?
15. Toronto Raptors (17-15) —same for j-moon…
14. Cleveland Cavaliers (14-17) —Why on Earth would Chicago do that?two words:john paxson.
13. Houston Rockets (15-16) —bi-lateral quadricep tendinitis,toe injury,rockets must have the weirdest injuries in sports history..
12. Utah Jazz (17-16) —ended the blazers win streak?good enough.can’t wait for the rematch…
11. Denver Nuggets (18-12) —look out for the nugs:nene’s back,ai dishing 7dimes per and cambyman is getting trip-doub and hitting threes.scary.(no pun intended)
10. Golden State Warriors (19-12) —interesting week for the warriors.we’ll see how they fair w/ west’s elite.im guessing they’d still be in the top ten on next week’s rankings…
9. New Orleans Hornets (20-11) —one of the better teams this season.tyson shud have predicted 21-10…
8. Orlando Magic (22-11) — their old chew-toy Bobcats and the Bulls. -i am so gonna use that line.
7. Portland Trail Blazers (18-13) —they should be back on the w column in no time,given their schedule,they will lambaste their old chew-toy minny and new chew-toy bulls.told you so…
6. San Antonio Spurs (21-8) —losing to raps,at home?! just unforgivable.and they got killed by humphries..
5. Phoenix Suns (22-9) —im still not buying mr.d’antoni’s mismanaging of minutes of gh and nash.dudes are averaging 34.4 minutes per,while stat averages 31.3…when will he ever learn…
4. Los Angeles Lakers (19-11) —i must say they have pulled-off a cool stunt by wearing short-shorts.i hope they won’t be penalized for doing such.remember when the league office penalized steph and kg for wearing long shorts?
3. Dallas Mavericks (20-11) —i like the mavs taking it easy.playing like they are just enjoying out there.look out for the mavs come june…
2. Boston Celtics (26-3) —told yah,the truth still the man…
1. Detroit Pistons (24-7) —detroit looks more focus than ever.last year they were playing like they ought to prove something…mavs and pistons on 08 finals (mavs winning in 7.ha!)
January 1st, 2008 at 11:27 am
Alex "Robocop" Murphy says:
pinoy pride
January 1st, 2008 at 11:50 am
kowtz says:
For real? PINOY???? Damn… and I thought there was only like two of us here…
DIME! listen up, and throw some love towards us… shoutout on pinoys on your next issue or something!!!!
Anyway… can’t believe LA went fourth… thought they would fall off the top5… although I’m not complaining…
And Yeah… hehe, the Celts can’t crack the top yet… hahaha…
January 1st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
pistola says:
one more pinoy here! yeh!
January 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
bucketz says:
i feel like portland plays utah all the time…isnt this guna b like ther 8th time playin em in the past 2 weeks??plus they ALWAYS showin lakers vs suns on abc..it gets kind of annoying..i swear i seen em run like 10 times last season on abc on sunday
January 1st, 2008 at 12:25 pm
rean_pinoy says:
whoa…heard that dime? and pinoys are very much into bball.we have the first ever pro ball in asia. for real. you might want to check it out.i’ll be glad to give you info you need,for free!sounds nice ha?
happy new year everyone!
January 1st, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Gregg says:
one more pinoy here.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 am
jamesinva says:
flips taking over dime.
im korean so i guess its an asian thing? jokes aside…
portland has been playing utah alot, 3 times already with the last one jan 18? i think? having been a blazers fan all my life, its FINALLY great to read people actually talking good about them. ive been bombarded with hate talk with my blazers. i hope the young guys will really gel and become a contending team soon..
im surprised no one is complaining about the celts not being #1. i understand detroit is on a roll and yes i was a hater when kg went to boston saying the big 3 cant do it with a weak bench but was i wrong. id have to say boston should be #1 especially after going undefeated on the road.
sucks for heat fans, seriously…its just not fair…
i laughed when zbo went to knicks and yelled out finally. told you DIME that hed clog the middle. the knicks do need a new coach, new management, and maybe like 8 trades. but seriously what a SAD Situation over there. a rich and proud franchise just going up in flames.
nba is LACKING rivalries. yea odom throwing down ray allen was some staged shit i bet to make things interesting. but come on, i miss the days of bulls knicks, knicks heat, bulls pistons , sacto LA , portland LA just to name some. thers just no more of that….and its a shame
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 am
kowtz says:
agree…
Local League here (PBA) went up in flames because rivalries died down… (For those who know, TOY-CRIS, GIN-SMB, TNT-GIN)…
They seriously need to prep up a rivalry for this two teams… Do a special where like, who’s the better HS Phenom? KB or KG? Answer… KWAME! LOLZ!
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
teegee says:
I’m assuming this was just a typo, but I saw at least one team whose record is wrong in this ower rankings list. The Bulls are 11-18…not 11-19. 11-18 is bad enough…don’t make it worse!
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Celts Fan says:
I’m calling Shenanigans. #2 just ain’t right…