http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2005-02-06-court-coverage_x.htm#topten USA TODAY Top 10 (Through Saturday's games; last week's ranking in parentheses) 1. San Antonio (1): Spurs last home game was Jan. 29, next one isn't until Feb. 23. 2. Phoenix (2): Suns' swarming defense is underrated. 3. Miami (3): Heat are in the Karl Malone sweepstakes. 4. Seattle (4): Sonics are winning with very little scoring from their post players. 5. Detroit (6): Rasheed Wallace isn't providing much at the offensive end yet. 6. Sacramento (5): Mike Bibby is making a strong case to be an All-Star reserve. 7. Dallas (7): Jerry Stackhouse's 15.9 points off the bench make him one of the NBA's best sixth men. 8. Houston (10): Trading for David Wesley and Jon Barry is paying big dividends. 9. Cleveland (8): Cavaliers are in dire need of another outside shooter with the trade deadline approaching (Feb. 24). 10. Memphis (—): Grizzlies could be the most balanced team in the NBA with their no-superstars approach.
I think Detroit is a little overrated in this ranking. I think the position of the rockets is about right...
I'm actually not surprised...We should be up within the next month as long as we keep winning...easier said than done...
The good news: this is gonna be a super-tough month for Dallas. They play both Sacramento and Phoenix two times each this month as well as a game against Seattle and four other games. This may be a good time for us to make a run for their spot at 5th best in the west. The bad news: The teams that Dallas may lose to are all Western teams (San Antonio, Phoenix, Seattle), and, though Dallas' loss would allow us to pass them, it would also allow those others to pull farther away from us. -- droxford
Not that I'm against the Rockets moving up in the standings, but right now they're in the same playoff bracket as Seattle, Phoenix, and Memphis. I'd much rather face any of those three teams in the postseason than Dallas, Sacramento, or San Antonio. So Houston ending up with the 6th seed(assuming the rest of the playoff teams remain the same) wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
