My NBA Rankings

Yea, that's crazy.

I had problems putting HOU at 10...

houston plays as tough defense as anyone. They were competitive last year without yao. They pushed the lakers to 7 games 2 years ago without yao or tmac. They are deep inside now with hill, patterson, scola and yao. Martin, ariza and the development of buddinger will be huge for the perimter. And Brooks is a legit borderline all-star pg.

Yup, there are alot of big "ifs"...but I have faith that Yao will finally stay healthy and the Rockets will make a big run. Anything can happen though. But, from te way their lineup looks now I really really think they are gong to succeed.

They definitely have the talent, I'm not doubting that, there's just too many "ifs" for me to think there the 5th best team in the league...

Not saying ya'll wrong, this is my opinon.

Houston is good not great. I just feel that they lack the idea of a Championship team in my eyes. To call them a Championship team is terrible. I think Dallas, Los Angeles, Utah, Oklahoma City and San Antonio could beat them in a 7 game series.

Yao will be playing 25-30 min and Brad Miller was TERRIBLE last season. Kevin Martin is good but he's not a great defender. Battier and Ariza are good players. Battier is slowing down and I saw some games where he is not as quick. Ariza is a good number 3 piece. Aaron Brooks cannot defend a Russell Westbrook type, he would struggle IMO.

I think there a classic 50 win team, early exit in the playoffs.

they showed with even less tlaent 2 years ago they could win in the playoffs. Defense and an inside game is what wins in the playoffs. Houston has that. And how do you know for sure yao will only play 25-30 minutes? Even if he does, i think they are right on par with teams like san antonio and okc, so for you to say its terrible to call them a championship caliber team, i really disagree. Depth all day long.

I guess they have depth but depth is overrated if the players don't have playoff experience.

yao, brooks, miller, ariza, battier, scola all have playoff experience. You bring up playoff experiecne but then say okc should be ahead whne they have much less playoff experience

brooks, martin, ariza, scola, yao as starters

lowry, buddinger, bmiller, patterson, hill, battier all off the bench. And they play defense and have a proven playoff tested coach.

Yeah, exactly what llperez said. They have *proven* they can already win undermanned and undersized and overmatched. This year their lineup looks great so I don't see why they can't exceed everything they did when they weren't even close to healthy.

I didn't say they SHOULD be ahead, I said OKC could beat them in 7 games.

You also have to remember that 9/10 times, a team's rotation get smaller once the playoffs come around. So those 11 players you name could go down to 8-9 players. It's a wait and see approach for me when it comes to Houston. I just feel that- Is a 31 year old Yao coming off of 2 leg injures the difference between the 9th seed and the 5th seed?

There no more talented than Utah has been the past couple seasons. A very solid regular season team, I just don't see them getting much done in the playoffs. Not to say they can't, I just don't see it. And yes, they pushed the Lakers to 7 games, but Atlanta pushed Boston to 7 games a couple years back too, until they actually BEAT those teams, the proof is not there...

Yao is 29 and I'd like to see anyone on OKC's roster even attempt to guard him

Yao is 29 with 2 leg injuries. He's gonna be super slow.

Go look at Big Z before the leg injury and after it. He went from a post player to a mid range big.

you don't have to be fast when our 7'5. Your that tall you can shoot right over anyone no problem.

We will see.

I'm just not ranking Houston high. If they prove me wrong, they prove me wrong.

I agree, Big Z was a completely different player after injuries...and Yao has the same kind of game he did. I don't see them as a top 5 team at all, but if they prove me wrong, so be it.

You guys are seriously underestimating some teams. For example, Utah. Big time. Al Jefferson was a big addition to the team. He's younger, plays better D than Booz. Not a great defender but he is better than Booz. He's taller, and I think he weighs more too. The fact that he will be along side a great PG is huge. He will love it and he will be an Allstar because of it. He might even be named one this year. Dwill has promised him that he will be an allstar. They have all the tools necessary to win in this league. A great PG, a good PF, and a great coach. I personally guarantee they will be better than the Rockets. They have depth but so does Utah , and they have been in the playoffs forever, much longer than the Rockets and probably longer than Rick Adelman has with the Kings. The Rockets are getting older, Yes Yao will be healthy but he wont be nearly as good with those injured legs. I don't care how tall you are, injured legs do hurt your game. I also think Utah will be better than OKC. The series would be tough but I think they could be beat them because of their playoff experience.
In the end the west order would look something like this I think
LAL
Denver
Dallas
Portland
Utah
OKC
Houston
Memphis
Spurs
Phoenix
Sacramento
Hornets
LAC
Warriors
Minny

East
Heat
Magic
Celtics
Bulls
Hawks
Bucks
Knicks
Bobcats
Nets
Sixers
Wizards
Pacers
Pistons
Raptors
Cavs

I had Utah like 8th I believe....

I got Utah above Houston, so I'm right with you DWill...

Houston can be a great team but there are so many question marks they are tough to call.

I'm thinking of Starting my 30 for 30 either this friday or next week monday

The last i checked boston is still the east champs

I cant wait for next years NBA playoffs... The Thunder v Lakers is the match up im most excited to see..

ECF: 1. Heat v 4. Celtics
WCF:1. Lakers v 4. Thunder

Clippers actually have some solid talent with Davis Griffin Kama Gordon the Bulls are too high and Cleavand will not be that bad Kings are too high same with New Orleans

How about this as the new rankings?

30. Minnesota Timberwolves
29. Cleveland Cavaliers
28. Charlotte Bobcats
27. Golden State Warriors
26. Toronto Raptors

25. New Jersey Nets
24. Sacramento Kings
23. Detroit Pistons
22. Indiana Pacers
21. Washington Wizards

20. Los Angeles Clippers
19. Philadelphia 76ers
18. Memphis Grizzlies
17. New York Knicks
16. New Orleans Hornets

15. Atlanta Hawks
14. Phoenix Suns
13. Houston Rockets
12. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Utah Jazz

10. Oklahoma City Thunder
9. Denver Nuggets
8. Portland Trail Blazers
7. San Antonio Spurs
6. Dallas Mavericks

5. Chicago Bulls
4. Boston Celtics
3. Miami Heat
2. Orlando Magic
1. Los Angeles Lakers

People really liking the Knicks. LOL. I don't see it, they didn't make that much of an upgrade. They had all the same players, minus Stoudemire (who will have similar stats to Lee) and Felton (similar to Duhon)...and still failed to have a successful season...anywhere from 20-25 for the Knicks IMO.

If you had the Kings and Bobcats ahead of the Wizards, I would agree with that ranking KnicksBoy, don't be mad about the Knicks thing either...

Hey, I'm not mad about the Knicks. I could push them down a peg.

I think Washington could move down a bit. Even though they have John Wall, they lack a good 3 man and the Blatche/McGee thing is a mystery still.

^^ AGREED

All the Bobcats lost essentially was Chandler, who was hurt most of last season, and they were pretty good. Wallace and S. Jackson make that team a tough out against anyone....

Oh yeah, and Felton, my bad, but Augustine played well when he got minutes...

The issue with Charlotte is Felton was the coach on the court.

All I heard from Charlotte is that Larry Brown doesn't believe Augustine was the man because he's had issues running the team in spot minutes.

Yeah, it will interesting, I think Augustine is a little under sized as well. Either way, Gerald Wallace and S. Jax run that team...

the number 1 and number 4 seeds would need in the conference SEMI finals not finals