OT: Power Rankings (2013-14 NBA)

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Pre-season:

July:

Spoiler

30. Philadelphia
29. Charlotte
28. Sacramento
27. Orlando
26. Phoenix
25. Utah
24. Milwaukee
23. Boston
22. Toronto
21. Washington
20. Detroit (e-8)
19. L.A. Lakers (*)
18. New Orleans (*)
17. Cleveland
16. Atlanta
15. Portland (*)
14. Dallas (*)
13. Minnesota (w-8)
12. Houston
11. New York
10. Denver
9. Memphis
8. L.A. Clippers
7. Golden State
6. Indiana
5. Brooklyn
4. Chicago
3. San Antonio
2. Oklahoma City (w-1)
1. Miami (e-1)

(* miss West playoffs / better than 8th seed in East)

August:

Spoiler

30. Philadelphia
29. Orlando
28. Phoenix
27. Sacramento
26. Charlotte
25. Utah
24. Milwaukee
23. Boston
22. Toronto
21. L.A. Lakers
20. Washington
19. Atlanta (e-8)
18. New Orleans (*)
17. Detroit
16. Cleveland
15. Portland (*)
14. Dallas (*)
13. Minnesota (w-8)
12. New York
11. Houston
10. Denver
9. Memphis
8. L.A. Clippers
7. Golden State
6. Indiana
5. Brooklyn
4. Chicago
3. San Antonio
2. Oklahoma City (w-1)
1. Miami (e-1)

 

[nwfisch]

Not a bad order, I'd bump Houston ahead of Denver though.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Not a bad order, I'd bump Houston ahead of Denver though.

I think Denver is far too loaded for Houston. Head-to-head, the match-ups favor Denver. Houston may have Howard and Asik, but Denver has J.J. Hickson and JaVale McGee. Kenneth Faried is far too solid for Motiejunas who is untested.

For wings, Denver has Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Randy Foye, and Evan Fournier. Houston has Harden and Chandler Parsons.

And don't get me started on Ty Lawson vs. Jeremy Lin.

 

[nwfisch]

Houston also has Parsons too :shrug:

I just think coaching and "star level" talent will win out in Houston. I think Howard will turn the corner and will hopefully take McHale's advice and become one of the most dominant post players of all time.

 

[nwfisch]

I think your Bulls ranking also depends on if Rose returns at 100% away.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

Houston also has Parsons too :shrug:

I just think coaching and "star level" talent will win out in Houston. I think Howard will turn the corner and will hopefully take McHale's advice and become one of the most dominant post players of all time.

I just don't think Howard is disciplined enough to develop a back-to-the-basket game. Expecting Howard to re-tool in his late 20's is almost like expecting Joakim Noah to. I don't see either of them becoming dominant in that area.

As for "star talent," Denver doesn't have a star the caliber of Dwight or Harden, but they have at least 3 borderline all-stars (Lawson, Danilo, Faried). Don't sleep on Brian Shaw either; he will mix in some triangle offense in along with the natural run-and-gun mentality of the Nuggets. I wouldn't be surprised if Denver overtakes Miami and OKC as the best offense in the league next season.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

I think your Bulls ranking also depends on if Rose returns at 100% away.

I think Rose will be the superstar player he was right away. He will get in game shape and go through pre-season like every other player in the league. The Bulls being ranked anywhere between #2 and #5 is fair to me. I can see them being a better overall team than the Harden-less Thunder or the Spurs with their aging core stars. I could also see Brooklyn beating them out next season. Yes, the Bulls beat them in 7 last year without Rose (and, essentially, without Deng). But KG is a huge step up from Humphries and Pierce is a huge step up from Gerald Wallace.

 

[inactiveuser1]

I think Denver is far too loaded for Houston. Head-to-head, the match-ups favor Denver. Houston may have Howard and Asik, but Denver has J.J. Hickson and JaVale McGee. Kenneth Faried is far too solid for Motiejunas who is untested.

For wings, Denver has Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Randy Foye, and Evan Fournier. Houston has Harden and Chandler Parsons.

And don't get me started on Ty Lawson vs. Jeremy Lin.

:depaul:

 

[clonetrooper264]

I think Rose will be the superstar player he was right away. He will get in game shape and go through pre-season like every other player in the league. The Bulls being ranked anywhere between #2 and #5 is fair to me. I can see them being a better overall team than the Harden-less Thunder or the Spurs with their aging core stars. I could also see Brooklyn beating them out next season. Yes, the Bulls beat them in 7 last year without Rose (and, essentially, without Deng). But KG is a huge step up from Humphries and Pierce is a huge step up from Gerald Wallace.

Did Humphries even play that much in that series? I was under the impression that we were seeing a lot of Reggie Evans. And as far as I know they still have him as well. Nevertheless, KG is a huge upgrade offensively and defensively over both, even if he does just have a year or two left in him.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

I'd like to see how Kidd is going to manage the rotation(i.e. playing some of the older guys a little more sparingly, especially on long road trips and such). For the record, I think Brooklyn is going to be a pretty darn good team next year. KG and Pierce are huge acquisitions and upgrades, and you can't forget about Terry off the bench. There's still the matter of having a new head coach and having new players adjusting to the team though and that will take some time.

 

[PolarBear]

I think Denver is far too loaded for Houston. Head-to-head, the match-ups favor Denver. Houston may have Howard and Asik, but Denver has J.J. Hickson and JaVale McGee. Kenneth Faried is far too solid for Motiejunas who is untested.

For wings, Denver has Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Randy Foye, and Evan Fournier. Houston has Harden and Chandler Parsons.

And don't get me started on Ty Lawson vs. Jeremy Lin.

Hickson and Mcgee are scrubs man. Asik is better than both of them. McGee is so overrated because of his athleticism.

Harden and Parsons are far and away better than any wing combination Denver can throw their way.

Houston > Denver

 

[JosMin]

I think Denver is far too loaded for Houston. Head-to-head, the match-ups favor Denver. Houston may have Howard and Asik, but Denver has J.J. Hickson and JaVale McGee. Kenneth Faried is far too solid for Motiejunas who is untested.

For wings, Denver has Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Randy Foye, and Evan Fournier. Houston has Harden and Chandler Parsons.

And don't get me started on Ty Lawson vs. Jeremy Lin.

Houston has a better coach (Brian Shaw has zero head coaching experience). Houston has the two best players, hands-down, and to be honest, Asik and Parsons compared to Gallinari and Faried is a push, especially with Gallinari coming off an ACL injury. Motiejunas had some nice games offensively down the stretch and will certainly benefit from having Howard on the floor. Houston has solid depth at point guard, quality veterans coming off the bench and a sleeper second rounder in Isaiah Cannan coming off the bench. He fits the Damian Lillard/CJ McCollum mould as a scoring point guard with deep range -- he shot 42% from beyond the arc in college.

I wouldn't sleep on Houston. They've mad sound improvements to their roster from top to bottom. And they still have the cap flexibility to continue to improve. Unbelievable.

 

[FirstTimer]

Saw the Bulls at 4.

:andruw::andruw::andruw::andruw:

 

[Scoot26]

Saw the Bulls at 4.

:andruw::andruw::andruw::andruw:

I know its an outrage they arent #1.

Sent from the interwebz using ancient technology

 

[JosMin]

Saw the Bulls at 4.

:andruw::andruw::andruw::andruw:

I think they meant #4 in the East

 

[Axl Rose]

houston is too low

 

[JosMin]

As for the Bulls, I think #4 is best case scenario for them -- this would suggest they're #2 in the East, which is certainly possible if Rose comes back full tilt and Jimmy Butler continues his ascension. The nickel and dime injuries for guys like Deng, Boozer and Noah scare me a bit. Our bench has taken a drastic hit over the last two years and whether we like it or not, we're going to miss Robinson's spark off the bench. I'm interested to see what kind of role Dunleavy is going to have. His length will be valuable as a swing by between the two and three. Hopefully he's able to give us similar production to what we got from Korver.

 

[Axl Rose]

And don't get me started on Ty Lawson vs. Jeremy Lin.

go head get started on it, i double dog dare you

and gallo will be out for awhile...remember he torn his ACL

 

[clonetrooper264]

And don't get me started on Ty Lawson vs. Jeremy Lin.

Don't be hating on Linsanity

 

[clonetrooper264]

Saw the Bulls at 4.

:andruw::andruw::andruw::andruw:

They should be the 4th worst team right? TANK FOR WIGGINS