So with the offseason pretty much at a standstill (other than the Garnett trade, most free agents are already signed), I thought it would be interesting to rank and see where the Rockets rank in comparison to all thirty teams. The following is my opinion of how the thirty teams rank. Please post if you disagree with anything I say. 1. Spurs: They are the defending champs and have been a powerhouse for the past ten years. They will probably start of slow and then get stronger in the second half like always. 2. Suns: I just love their style of play and feel that they were the best last year and were screwed over by the league. they havent lost much and actually added Hill which should help. 3. Celtics: Three all-stars whom I could see getting along. Garnett doesnt mind sharing the spotlight, neither does Allen. Best team in the East hands down. 4. Rockets: I think we all know what this offseason did for us. 5. Mavericks: They havent really done much after their collapse last year. Got to wonder if that debacle will be on their mind this year. 6. Pistons: they stayed intact and signed Billups which is huge. Obviously, they have underachieved because they have been the best in the east the last two years. 7. Bulls: this team was pretty inconsistent when it came to the playoffs last year. Most of it was youth and inexperience, so I see them doing much better this second time around. 8. Jazz: the team was good, but I think we made them look better than they were in the playoffs. Losing Fisher will hurt them more than people think. 9. Magic: the reshard lewis trade will help in the short term. It will def. hurt in the long run. 10. Nuggets: Given time, the Iverson/Carmelo can work. Iverson needs to realize its Anthony's team though. Iverson's shot selection hurt against the spurs. 11. Cavaliers: Last year, to me, was a fluke. They were not the best in the East. And they really didnt do much to improve themselves this off season. 12. Wizards: They are a good team when Gilbert and Butler are not hurt 13. Heat: they are just old and haven't done much to improve but still have one of the best in Wade. 14. Knicks: Much improved with addition of Randolph, but their frontline still can't rebound and they still overpay for the quality of their talent. 15. Nets: Not a very strong team, but in the East they can contend. 16. Raptors: Play great season ball last year, but lost horribly in the playoffs. Jury is still out on them. 17. Lakers: They arguably have the best player in Kobe, but how much will they do with their star unhappy? 18. Warriors: they are ranked here only if they resign Barnes which is a big reason they made it far in the playoffs. I think the trade of Richardson does not help them in the short term. 19. Blazers: Much improved, and have some of the best young talent in the league in Oden, Brandon Roy, and Aldridge, but they are still a few years removed from playoffs. 20. Bucks: they were riddled by injuries last year. If Redd plays alongside an improved Mo Williams they can do some damage. Yi can also add some offense and talent. 21. Hornets: Paul is a rising star but doesnt have much around him. 22. 76ers: They played five hundred ball after the trade of Iverson. Iguodala should be better this year since this is officially his team. 23. Bobcats: With Richardson and Gerald Wallace, they have one of the most athletic wings in the league. 24.Clippers: Cassell is getting old and Livingston is still a year away from coming back from the knee injury that still makes me cringe. 25. Kings: Their best player is a headcase. Enough said. 26. Sonics: same as blazers. Good talent. Durant will probably average 22 points a game and win ROY but they wont win much. 27. Pacers: They just seem to be a whipped dog ever since they infamous fight. O'neal doesnt want to be their and will probably be traded to Lakers this summer in my opinion. 28. Hawks: This team probably has the same amount of quality of young talent as Blazers, but so far it hasnt worked. Should have drafted Conley Jr. in the draft even though I like Acie Law (but not as an NBA guard) 29. Wolves: I like Al Jefferson, but even though his numbers were nice last year he was inconsistent (and injured). Green could have a bust out year. 30. Grizzlies: They haven't added much and they sucked last year. They will probably lose Pau in the middle of the year.
Someone's a drank a little too much of the Celtic kool-aid. They have 3 legit All-Stars paired with cheerleaders/teammates. I don't think that they can be considered 3rd best team in league just yet.
you're out of your mind if you think the celtics are as good as the mavericks or the rockets. heck the jazz too.
haha...well the only reason that I ranked them so high is because I think that if you put just one superstar with Garnett then they can contend. Plus, I just felt they they are the best in the East and are better than the Mavs, and the mavs, Rockets, Spurs, and Suns are the best in the West.
i think the celtics could easily end up with the 3rd or 4th best record. so i dont see that ranking that far off. you guys are underestimating how good those 3 players are. i think they are easily better then the suns 3. or spurs 3. just my opinion.
You gotta ask yourself, did Hakeem, Pippen, and Barkley make the Rockets a top #3 team in the NBA? Seeing as they lost in the first round, I think the answer is self-evident. The Celtics will be good in the east...but who cares, the east sucks. Even if they end up with a great record in the east, I wouldn't rank them above any of the 5 top teams in the West. Even though the Pistons had the 4th best record in the leauge last year - before the playoff I would've only "power ranked" them as 6th...at best. With a grand total of 9 players on the Celtics roster - I think its ridiculous to put them in the top 3 in the leauge (especially given that they were second from the bottom last year!)
Celtics are way too high. For a team with zero bench and still with question marks in the starting lineup and coaching staff ... you really knocked yourself out with that koolaid my man. Also Raptors are way too low. Otherwise I can't find much fault with the rest.
yeah, Im pretty sure that Tmac and Yao played together last year with Shane and Chuck and Rafer and...should I continue?
I kinda agree with your list, here is mine 1. Suns - Shoulda won last year, for now I'd take them over SA 2. Spurs - Won't win this year, age, boringness will take its toll 3. Rockets - Added more than anyone else in the offseason 4. Mavericks - Added Fazekas and a Cuban whiney lawsuit to the lineup.. 5. Jazz - D.Williams will only get better, and Utah got another white guy in the draft. They never surpass my expectations! 6. Pistons - Billups resigning saves them 7. Nuggets - AI and Carmelo will make it work this year 8. Bulls - Young nucleus gets older, and better 9. Celtics - 3 stars with bad w/l records unite for the ultimate 3 on 5 team 10. Warriors - Soo they can beat Dallas, who else can they beat? 11. Wizards - They can beat the Cavs with a healthy team, so they can get to the ECF easily.. 12. Lakers - Kobe counts as 4 people, so sometimes they are decent 13. Nets - They are getting old, and VCarter's shooting is too. 14. Clippers - Injury-free, they can hurt some teams. In the EConf. they could do damage. 15. Raptors - Could be a lot better this year. 16. Heat - Could be a lot worse this year. 17. Magic - Say goodbye to signing anyone of value for the next 7 years! Rashard isn't and never will be a franchise player. 18. Cavaliers - While everyone else is getting better in the NBA, the Cavs did nothing, and after watching the g*ngbang in the finals, I honestly think most East teams could have done better. 19. Knicks - Rainbow Randolph won't save them from the idiocracy known as the Knicks organization. 20. Hornets - They will be pretty good, when someone besides Chris Paul decides to play at the NBA level. 21. Bobcats - Drafting a guy with the worst mustache in the world will forever be their downfall, and they will never succeed as long as he is on their team. 22. 76ers - Andre Miller and Iguodala are pretty good, Dalembert is decent, the rest are projects, or have been projects for the past 10 yrs? 23. Hawks - They are so young that they might almost possibly with a chance maybe win 35 games. 24. Trailblazers - Haven't proved anything besides that they are lucky, and have the next David Robinson or a guy that grows 3x faster than most humans. Arthritis is a factor. 25. Bucks - Could do some damage, but won't. Ever. 26. Kings - A playoff contender in the East, a bottom feeder in the West. 27. Pacers - Bird ravaged them last year, time to rebuild..minus the..Dunleavy and Murphy... 28. Twolves - Replaced KG with the 2006 Celtics. 29. Sonics - Might be good in 5 years! That's if all their projects develop. Good luck with Saer Sene! I hear he learned how to shoot a layup yesterday. 30. Grizzlies - How can you suck this bad? Even the czar couldn't help their sorry asses last year.
no, thats true. But Drexler, Hakeem, and Barkley did make it very far. Two wins away from the Championship. And they were the third best team in the league that year.
The Grizzlies are way too low. They were good 2 years ago (49-33). They added Mike Connelly Jr and Darko. Plus Gasol will be healthy and Rudy Gay is getting better. I think they will be above 500.
Top Tier - 3 consistent high-level teams 1. Spurs - champs. nuff said 2. Suns - possibly robbed last year after Horry's forearm shiver 3. Mavs - always been a great regular season team... can never get over the hump in the playoffs Second Tier 4. Pistons - almost in the top tier, but they benefit from being in the East. IMO more consistent than the Rockets 5. Rockets - off season moves look VERY promising, but let's not get ahead of us as nothing is proven YET. we were toe-to-toe with the Jazz last year. their strengths were our weaknesses so they pulled out the game7 win, though I think our acquisitions have put us ahead of them, but still not quite in the top tier YET. I believe we will move way up if things work out, and if things don't work out accordingly, I still think we're at least here 6. Jazz - consistent but no super-duper-star Third Tier - I won't number these because to me, right now, you really don't know what you will get from them, but they are worth mentioning Celtics - trio Bulls - trio Nuggets -trio Cavs - LeBron Heat - Dwade & Shaq Probably not worth mentioning the other teams....
I don't know if they would be above .500, but I also wouldn't rank them last. If the Grizz finish over .500 that would be fantastically amazing.
I agree with you, but there are a few fundamental differences between the Rockets of 97 and the Celtics of 08. First off, unlike any of the super stars on the Celtics, in 97 Hakeem and Drexler had already played together for a year - not to mention that they managed to win a championship together and they had played with each other in college. Secondly, you had other players on that roster who played key roles from the year before - Mario Ellie and Matt Bullard. Couple that with some veteran play from Eddie Johnson and Kevin Willis and you can see that the Rocket's of 97 were far deeper then the Celtics in their current state. I think the only comparison aside from the big 3 on both of those teams is Rondo for the Celtics and Maloney for the Rockets. Overall, the edge easily goes to the Rockets of 97.
