Woohoo, the Rockets and fellow Texas State alum Jeff Foster mentioned in the same article! Life is good.
The Rockets are last in the league in offensive rebounding. Of course, the last time we had that distinction, we won the championship...
espn power ranking has us at 7 from 13 last week. the main site ranking hasnt been updated, but the Rockets site has. week 2, houston#7(4-1), last week#13 "If first five games are true reading, Van Gundy has made immediate impact, especially defensively. Problem is, Houston has only played one sure playoff team so far."
Well, I see LeGrouper watched the game on Saturday... Actually, I never knew about that stat until he said it.
I love the ranking Spurs and Pheonix get, 22 and 23! NBA Power Rankings By ***********.com Our select crew of NBA analysts rank the entire NBA from top to bottom. ***********.com power rankings are based partially on how teams are doing right now, but mostly on how strong we feel teams really are. In other words, if we think team X is definitely better than team Y, we're going to keep team X higher tham team Y on our rankings, even if team Y just beat team X. Note that power rankings during the first few weeks of the season are very volatile and extremely prone to change. Enjoy. Updated Nov. 10, 2003 1) LA Lakers (5-1) - The squad of future hall of famers is living up to expectations. Good luck dealing with the Lakers in the playoffs. Have fun with it! 2) Indiana (6-1) - New coach Rick Carlisle has a great grip on this team, and Larry Bird is looking smart for acquiring him. Kenny Anderson has taken over the point guard spot. Ron Artest is a defensive demon and doing a lot on offense. Jermaine O'Neal keeps emerging. A very solid, deep, balanced team that should be taken very seriously. 3) Detroit (5-1) - Chauncey Billups is scoring 21 per game. Ben Wallace is getting 15 rebounds and four blocks per game. Richard Hamilton is scoring. Everything is working. The Pistons are dominating the offensive boards, hitting threes at a high percentage, and blocking tons of shots. 4) Houston (4-1) - All hail Jeff Van Gundy. He's doing great thing with this team. Yao Ming isn't leading the team in any statistical category, but having an excellent season. Kelvin Cato has flourished with his new role and is grabbing almost nine rebounds per game. The Rockets are almost best in the league at FG% and 3FG%. 5) New Orleans (5-2) - Leading the league in steals, pouring in points and getting tons of assists. Baron Davis is having a big season. The team is surviving without Jamal Mashburn (out with injury). 6) Dallas (4-3) - Ridiculously talented team is still learning how to play together as efficiently as possible. Here's the key stat ***********.com's crack staff found: not including Sunday's games, the Mavs are only 10th in the league in scoring. Also, their three-point percentage is weak, and they barely block any shots. But this team is way too stacked to not improve pretty soon. 7) Minnesota (4-3) - They shoot well, but are still learning how to play together. Kevin Garnett is absurdly good. The team isn't rebounding too well, and gets very few steals. 8) Sacramento (3-3) - Scoring hoards of points, hitting a very high FG%, and nailing threes at a high rate, dishing tons of assists and barely committing turnovers. All this without Chris Webber, yet they're just 3-3? We don't take the record too seriously. This is an extremely good team. 9) Seattle (3-1) - Ronald Murray is opening eyes. Check our league leaders page for scoring to see why. As a team, the Sonics are scoring like crazy (leading the league, in fact), second in the league in FG%, committing less fouls per game than anyone, and not committing turnovers. If the Sonics keep winning we'll be forced to bump them up higher. Sorry, we're not putting them above the Kings or Timberwolves just yet. 10) Utah (4-2) - All hail Jerry Sloan. Coach of the year candidate if the team even goes .500 this season, let alone finishes with a winning record. Kudos to the Deseret News for pointing out that ***********.com (despite being the best basketball site on the planet), underrated the Jazz just like everyone else. 11) Toronto (4-2) - Will this last? The Raptors actually aren't doing particularly well when it comes to league stat rankings, but they're pounding out wins. Shoutout to Jerome Williams, who visits ***********.com as often as possible. We recognize your effort, dog. 12) New Jersey (3-4) - The Nets need Kenyon Martin back. Once he returns, and the team remembers they're actually really good, everything will be fine. 13) Portland (3-3) - As expected, Zach Randolph is emerging as a true star in this league. 14) Golden State (3-2) - Erick Dampier is having a breakout season. He's benefitted from Foyle being out healing from injury. But this year, Dampier looks better than ever, so perhaps his great play will last all season. He's rebounding like a lunatic. 15) Milwaukee (4-3) - Michael Redd rocks. The Bucks are hitting the boards, not committing turnovers, barely committing fouls, dishing tons of assists, and putting up points. Thus, the solid record. 16) Washington (3-3) - The Wizards so far are average in almost every way, both statistically and record-wise. 17) Boston (3-3) - The Celtics are near the top of the league in FG%, yet almost at the bottom in 3FG%. They commit tons of fouls and throw the ball away a lot. Paul Pierce rules as usual, and the newly fit Vin Baker is the early ***********.com candidate for the season's Most Improved Player. True, he was an all-star in the past, but was lousy for several years in a row, so we'll name him our top candidate. 18) Philadelphia (3-4) - Getting tons of steals. Still Allen Iverson's team. You know the drill. 19) Chicago (3-4) - Inner problems could result in a trade soon. A solid record considering it seems like everyone on the Bulls is unhappy right now. 20) Denver (3-4) - Melo. 21) San Antonio (3-4) - They're without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Manu Ginobili has taken his game to another level. Anyway, this ranking is silly, as the Spurs will be a totally different team once their two best players return. 22) Phoenix (2-3) - They barely commit turnovers. That's about the only stat that really stands out in favor of the Suns so far. 23) New York (2-4) - Keith Van Horn is doing fine. His shooting percentage is horrible, but it should improve reasonably soon. Allan Houston keeps becoming harder to guard. But no one here can really take the Knicks to anyplace special. Other than Antonio McDyess, of course. We will say that Madison Square Garden is still the best basketball arena on the planet. New York leads the league in FT%, and now hits the defensive boards very hard. 24) LA Clippers (1-2) - Elton Brand rules. Unfortunately, he's out for another month or so. 25) Memphis (2-4) - Having to fight hard to scrap out some wins. 26) Atlanta (2-5) - We forgot the Hawks were still in the league and therefore don't know what to say about them. Congrats on still being in the NBA and stuff. 27) Cleveland (1-5) - LeBron James rules. But as a team, the Cavs do not. Not yet, at least. Success in the near future isn't out of reach. The team is last in the league in getting steals, don't hit the offensive boards, and miss lots of free throws. 28) Orlando (1-6) - What's going on here? Well, the Magic are low in so many team stat categories that your computer may not have enough memory to load the info. They are almost last in the league in scoring, shooting percentage, rebounds, assists and steals. Snap out of it! Play basketball! 29) Miami (0-6) - Might as well boot everyone off the team other than Rafer Alston and sign up some Rucker Park and And 1 streetballers. Put ***********.com main man Bone Collector on the team and let him run with Skip. They'd keep right on losing but be the most fun team in the league to watch. http://www.***********.com/power-rankings.shtml
#4 on the DIME HIT LIST. http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=1831276 7. New Orleans Hornets (Last week #5) -- Baron Davis is playing like the league MVP through the season's opening weeks. He's taken it upon himself to carry the H-Nuts until Jamal Mashburn is ready to ball again. 6. Detroit Pistons (Last week #10) -- After dropping the opener, the League's premier blue collar team has reeled off five straight Ws -- all against conference foes. 5. Indiana Pacers (Last week #3) -- Considered the starting guard heading into the preseason, Jamaal Tinsley is now the last man off the bench, if he even gets off the pine at all. Judging by their 6-1 record thus far, it doesn't look like they miss his playground game. 4. Houston Rockets (Last week #14) -- The Year of Yao has gotten off to a slower start than expected. Maybe Yao just isn't as good without all the eyes of the world on him. Nah, he'll flip the script like a Tarantino flick soon enough. 3. Seattle Sonics (Last week #19) -- Ray-Ray indicated this past weekend that he plans to return to action after only 5 weeks instead of the 6-8 weeks doctors have estimated. Take your time, Ray, because Flip Murray is filling your Brand Jordans with relative ease. Before losing last night's game, the Sonics were the L's lone remaining unbeaten team. 2. San Antonio Spurs (Last week #2) -- Malik Rose is doing his damnedest to fill Tim Duncan's impossibly large kicks on the low block, but it's Manu Ginobili who's becoming a star in Timmy's absence. 1. L.A. Lakers (Last week #1) -- Our philosophy on the whole Shaq and Kobe mini-feud is that what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. If the Lakers hadn't dropped their last game against the Hornets, more than a few people were convinced the team could run the table this year.
kindu funny in al these comments, that they are not mentioning francis at all, but he is the real reason why we are 4-1.
Yeah but we are missing: Maurice Taylor (all games but 4 or 5) Eddie Griffin Pike AdrianG A major part of our team depth but hey no one is complaining
All this early success is scaring me. Regardless of how many wins we have, the next time we lose, all hell will break loose on this board with tons of trade proposals, "I told you so's," and "the so and so doesn't "get it" posts."
I'm with you, Oski. It's going to get real ugly; I figure I'll let the bbs quiet down for a week or so after we lose again before I come back.
