Dang, you are right they do like the Rockets. They ranked us 8th overall ahead of the Sixers, Blazers, Jazz, Wolves, and Suns. Wow. They are also assuming we have Marc Jackson.
Im shocked!! We were rated number one? I think we are a little bit too high unless they finally play as a team. I don't think Griffen will add that much. This is the time for Andersn to show how valuable he was.
I agree with our ranking, I think team chemistry won't be an issue, plus the team is deeper and more athletic. The Nuggets are ranked far to low, I think it's the media thinking of "Rider will destroy team chemistry and screw up the Nuggets", even though Rider has been on a winning team since leaving Minnesota, minus his run on an already horrendous Hawks team. I agree the Rockets are better then the Jazz, Wolves and Suns, and the Blazers are a question mark right now. Usually I would give the 76ers the benefit of the doubt, they made the Finals, but they are the Eastern Conference Champions and the Rockets trashed that conference, the 76ers are banged up (McKey and Iverson are recovering from surgery), and the Rockets had success against the 76ers so I agree with that. The Nuggets may have made the playoffs if Van Exel and McDyess hadn't go injured, they were right there with the Rockets. I don't think the Suns are all that good, they gave up chemistry, a pure PG who sets guys up perfectly, and a lot of frontcourt help for Marbury, John Wallace and Jud Buechler. I think the Hornets are far better then #16, they should be one of the Top 3 or 4 teams in the East, and I would put the Nuggets where the Suns are, and I think they're better and deeper then the Wolves, especially if they get Ceballos. What everyone is expecting from the Suns is what the Nuggets are going to do, surprise the league and get in as an 8 seed. If their seedings for us hold up, they have the Rockets as a 5 seed, I'll take that!
According to the ESPN story: Cato, who signed a six-year, $42 million contract two years ago, also says he's ready to earn his salary: "I'm not going to be limited. I am going to give 110 percent this year. I'm trying to prove to a lot of people that say I don't deserve or that I got too much." Like most people who use this cliche, I don't think he knows this means 11 freaking percent.
Unfortunately, this only serves to further undermine ESPN's Power Rankings credibility. There are no questions on this team? I think we've got a question at every position except our starting backcourt.
Think baseball for a second. If a player hits .110, it is based on 1.000, right? Since you cannot have more than 100 percent of something, 110 percent is impossible. Therefore, it goes to the next factor series as in baseball. When broken down, 110% is really 11%. That's why you should never trust anyone who tells you he or she is going to give 110%!
Geez Behad you're right, and I responded to that thread to, I forgot already. I think they will get in the playoffs anyway because they improved their bench, but if Rider contibutes like he should they are close to a lock. *Sigh* Rider is a headcase.
Don't forget JV, they also signed Tyronne Lue. In all seriousness, Kwame Brown, Lue and Jordan do improve the Wizards.. I think any 'expert' faces a serious problem when ranking the Wizards. You'd feel like a fool putting them in the top 15... but do you seriously want to completely dismiss them? Jordan takes away from the pressure of everyone on that team. All of those kids just have to focus on their select roles now. The coach and management don't have the mentality of "let 'em play" (i.e. next year's pick is sweeeeet) just b/c they can't waste his time. I would say 18-21 is fair for now. I assume in a few months we may be saying 15-18 is fair.
So where are all of the crybabies that constantly complained about the east coast bias of ESPN's rankings last season?
If someone on the CC.net posted these rankings I would say Homey use your head not your heart. I really can't see any objective analysis having us ahead of the 6ers, Blazers, Jazz, Wolves or Hornets at this point. We have way too many questions, though Marc J would really, really help our overall evaluation. If we get Mar J and resign Moochie, I would put us as probably 8th best in the West and 13th best in the league. Now IF say 2 of the 3 plauasible things happen: 1) Rice is back to his old self, 2) Griffin produces now enough to put him as a top 1-3 rookie, 3) we get additional consistent play by big people in addition to MJ (Collier, Cato surprise), I could see us cracking the top 10. IF all 3 of those things happen, we might deserve the above power ranking and would be a high seeded teams worst nightmare in the 1st round or maybe even second round of the playoffs. But those are still a lot of big IFs, even for me the optimist.
by enbehay's logic of comparing to baseball stats, a 1.050 slugging percentage is really .105 hehe! btw: if I my salary changes by 150%, does that really mean I'm being paid 15% of my current salary? goddammit...so I shouldn't take the deal...'eh?
