I have lost count of the ridiculous number of threads on this board about where we stand in this or that site's/commentator's power rankings. When we're ranked low, we whine; when we're ranked high, we strut around as though we've won something. Power rankings means NOTHING. Zilch. Nada. An empty bag of chips. Tonight: #1 ranked Heat destroyed by a 42-point margin at the hands of the Bulls. For those of you keeping track at home, that's a bigger margin than our Game 7 blowout loss to the Mavs, which was trumpeted as one of the worst humiliations in NBA playoff history. Suns, ranked anywhere from #1 to #5, go into the 2nd quarter with a 15-point lead and proceed to be outscored over the final three frames by a 23-point margin. By whom? #19-ranked Lakers, WITHOUT Kobe. Power rankings are completely derivative. They consist of pundits interpreting game results. The results drive the rankings. The rankings do not influence the results, except when they work AGAINST the high-ranked team by motivating the low-ranked team to knock them off their pedestal. End of rant.
So what if power rankings mean nothing? They are fun to make and fun to talk about. Every comment on this forum also essentially means nothing but we still post because we're all fans and we just want to hear others opinions. Power rankings just show us how notable writers view the Rockets and other teams from a different perspective. Also, even if Marc Stein has us #1 on his power rankings, I'll be happy but I dont strut around like we've won anything.
He is right. Power rankings mean NOTHING. The real complaint is in college preseason rankings, thats life or death man...
but...but...NBA.com is never wrong. Just look at their Power Ranking comment for Miami. LOL. Yes, tonight really cleared things up. Really explained why they're ranked #1.
You're right, power rankings mean nothing, at least those written by Espn, Sporting News etc. As said before, they are written for entertainment purposes and nothing else and are usually made by idiots, who don't even necessarily have seen all teams' play. The most common fault is that usually these "power rankings" overvalue recent few games so it's not rare to see teams jumping up ten spots in a week, when their true power is much lower. However, there ARE power rankings that are very accurate and thoughtful, they just aren't published. Why? Because they are made by sportsbooks or high-stakes sports bettors. And they are not publishing those because they make money with the fact, that most of the people are blind and not capable to measure the factors that lead to success.
A partially agree. Right NOW Power Rankings mean nothing. But a few weeks from now it'll be fun for the fans to check it out. I love reading the power rankings for the NBA and MLB during the season.
I have been saying that forever.....it just gives people a reason to bicker over something. It is a bunch of sound and fury. DD
pure business purposes advocate those who should be advocated and diss those that should be dissed without knowing the underlying truth Oh yeah
It's just for the fans that follow the league...means nothing but bragging rights to see your team as #1. Heat got their jocks handed to them and it's going to be fun watching the league as they run this old team down all year...D Wade will be really "tired" from dragging these clowns night in and night out. Yeah, I hope the Rocks play very well and then the so-called experts will take notice...who can tell me the last time the Rocks were ranked in the top 5?
Power rankings, unless compiled by someone you know, are a joke. So, you might as well look at the Power Rankings that have many jokes within them. The season preview isn't all that funny, but the weekly power rankings are. The only slightly bad thing is that the guy who makes the power rankings is slightly racist against white people, but it's OK because he - along with most of us - has a deep hatred for Dirk Nowitzki. ::EDIT:: He's also a big supporter of Yao Ming
Will you are so right! It possibly behooves the Rockets to be the underdog, so that they might strive like the bulls to knock off all the top ranked big dogs.
Will, glad to see you've started off the season in fine form, and our first game isn't until tonight! For all those excited about how the Rocks did in preseason, along with how well some of our new guys played, (and how decidedly average a couple of our stars played, namely, 111) Will's call to wakeup applies here, as well. Do we start off with a bang? Or do we stumble around, finding our way now that the games count. Tonight Will tell the tale. Like everyone else, I can't wait!
