February Power Rankings (20-11)
Apr 5, 2019 14:10:49 GMT
Ian Noble, Walt Frazier, and 1 more like this
Post by Jerry West on Apr 5, 2019 14:10:49 GMT
20 – Utah Jazz (+2) Elton Brand (22-34) (4-6)
Another average month in the average season of the average Jazz. That being said, when you’re so young being average is good. Take away Tyler Zeller and all the other 8 players who average the most minutes for the Jazz are all under 25 years old.
19 – Indiana Pacers (+2) Larry Bird (22-31) (6-4)
Big month for the Pacers of Indiana that after trading their star player in Danilo Gallinari for younger players still managed to be above .500 for the month. Maybe that’s a good sign of things to come for the future. Despite that, the current Pacers team is all over the place and with constant injuries during the season they currently have 12 players averaging more than 10 minutes per game. It’s insane how well balanced this team is, the problem is they won’t go anywhere until some of these pieces develop into star players.
There was never a team in history who had 12 players averaging double-digit minutes for the reason, and it was only made possible due to said injuries and trades. The Pacers remain on the market for a young PG to add to their core.
18 – Cleveland Cavaliers (-5) Hanamichi Sakuragi (29-28) (6-8)
With the passing of the months the Power Rankings have been getting steadier, with teams not taking big leaps from month to month, but the Cavaliers refuse to be part of the norm. Dropping 5 places after last month moving up 4 spots.
Anyway, not only did the Cavs dropped out of the playoffs this month, they also find themselves 2.5 half games back from the Knicks almost 60 games into the season. Sure, there are still 25 games left to play, but the Cavs can’t afford to make more mistakes if they are serious about making the playoffs.
17 – San Antonio Spurs (+2) George Gervin (29-27) (8-4)
Despite trading away Danny Green long contracts for worse players on short contracts, the Spurs managed to go 8-4 in the month of February and climb again above .500 for the season.
Now being only half a game back from the Los Angeles Lakers, the Spurs are in a great position to make the playoffs, even though they are paying a combined 64 million to JR Smith, Wade, Motiejunas and Kilpatrick. That’s more than half the cap space teams have available.
The future will be bright for the Spurs when the 2021 offseason arrives.
16 – LA Lakers (-2) Mark Price (30-27) (7-6)
The Lakers are still in crossroads after GM Mark Price let the league know that their top players were available for trade. But that doesn’t look to have offset the mindset of the players that keep winning and are on pace to what people expected them to be, a 45-win team.
15 – New York Knicks (0) Billy King (31-25) (7-5)
Ricky Rubio is still on the Knicks, Ricky Rubio is still 2nd in the league in assists. His God-sent mission of destroying Billy King’s life continues by not letting the Knicks tank.
14 – Sacramento Kings (-5) Ghazny Dimalen (32-24) (5-6)
If I have had to vote for the most disappointing team in the league this season it would be the Kings. A team with a Top 15 player in the league and the league’s leading rebounder, surrounded by solid players like Covington, Favors and Collison is sitting at 7th in the West, only 3 games ahead of the 9th place Spurs, and behind teams with far less talent like the Thunder.
Something needs to change for the Kings to reach their potential.
13 – Oklahoma City Thunder (-5) Kevin Hollis (35-23) (9-5)
The Thunder join the Kings taking a big drop this month, but unlike the Kings it’s not due to their demerit, but rather due to the merit of the teams above them getting back into form. The Thunder simply did their job this month beating every team under .500 they met along the way, while scrapping some marginal wins against the teams above .500 including one against the Wolves who meanwhile upgraded their roster acquiring star forward Danilo Gallinari.
Going 9-5 is always good, but you can’t call it great when you put some context into it.
12 – Houston Rockets (-1) Charles Barkley (35-22) (7-6)
The Rockets keep struggling after Kevin Love came back from injury, and GM Charles Barkley decided to change the lineup at the end of the month moving MVP candidate Giannis to the Center spot and Kevin Love to Power Forward position in a month where they disappointed and were one of the few teams above .500 to lose to the Thunder.
They’re almost at the same level as the Kings when you’re talking about having a disappointing season, but due to the quality at the top of the West it’s hard to break into the Top 4, and the Rockets rank right below that in the standings at 5th.
11 – Orlando Magic (+6) Blake Bowman (34-23) (11-3)
The Magic are the biggest risers of the month (after the Pistons) after managing to have a Top 3 record in February despite the injury to Oladipo and their lack of depth, our anything resembling of a decent bench. The Magic were so good this month that you can almost say they locked in a playoff spot.
Did they have some easy games? Of course, but they also beat Boston twice, the Heat and the Cavs. Teams that they can possibly meet in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Another average month in the average season of the average Jazz. That being said, when you’re so young being average is good. Take away Tyler Zeller and all the other 8 players who average the most minutes for the Jazz are all under 25 years old.
19 – Indiana Pacers (+2) Larry Bird (22-31) (6-4)
Big month for the Pacers of Indiana that after trading their star player in Danilo Gallinari for younger players still managed to be above .500 for the month. Maybe that’s a good sign of things to come for the future. Despite that, the current Pacers team is all over the place and with constant injuries during the season they currently have 12 players averaging more than 10 minutes per game. It’s insane how well balanced this team is, the problem is they won’t go anywhere until some of these pieces develop into star players.
There was never a team in history who had 12 players averaging double-digit minutes for the reason, and it was only made possible due to said injuries and trades. The Pacers remain on the market for a young PG to add to their core.
18 – Cleveland Cavaliers (-5) Hanamichi Sakuragi (29-28) (6-8)
With the passing of the months the Power Rankings have been getting steadier, with teams not taking big leaps from month to month, but the Cavaliers refuse to be part of the norm. Dropping 5 places after last month moving up 4 spots.
Anyway, not only did the Cavs dropped out of the playoffs this month, they also find themselves 2.5 half games back from the Knicks almost 60 games into the season. Sure, there are still 25 games left to play, but the Cavs can’t afford to make more mistakes if they are serious about making the playoffs.
17 – San Antonio Spurs (+2) George Gervin (29-27) (8-4)
Despite trading away Danny Green long contracts for worse players on short contracts, the Spurs managed to go 8-4 in the month of February and climb again above .500 for the season.
Now being only half a game back from the Los Angeles Lakers, the Spurs are in a great position to make the playoffs, even though they are paying a combined 64 million to JR Smith, Wade, Motiejunas and Kilpatrick. That’s more than half the cap space teams have available.
The future will be bright for the Spurs when the 2021 offseason arrives.
16 – LA Lakers (-2) Mark Price (30-27) (7-6)
The Lakers are still in crossroads after GM Mark Price let the league know that their top players were available for trade. But that doesn’t look to have offset the mindset of the players that keep winning and are on pace to what people expected them to be, a 45-win team.
15 – New York Knicks (0) Billy King (31-25) (7-5)
Ricky Rubio is still on the Knicks, Ricky Rubio is still 2nd in the league in assists. His God-sent mission of destroying Billy King’s life continues by not letting the Knicks tank.
14 – Sacramento Kings (-5) Ghazny Dimalen (32-24) (5-6)
If I have had to vote for the most disappointing team in the league this season it would be the Kings. A team with a Top 15 player in the league and the league’s leading rebounder, surrounded by solid players like Covington, Favors and Collison is sitting at 7th in the West, only 3 games ahead of the 9th place Spurs, and behind teams with far less talent like the Thunder.
Something needs to change for the Kings to reach their potential.
13 – Oklahoma City Thunder (-5) Kevin Hollis (35-23) (9-5)
The Thunder join the Kings taking a big drop this month, but unlike the Kings it’s not due to their demerit, but rather due to the merit of the teams above them getting back into form. The Thunder simply did their job this month beating every team under .500 they met along the way, while scrapping some marginal wins against the teams above .500 including one against the Wolves who meanwhile upgraded their roster acquiring star forward Danilo Gallinari.
Going 9-5 is always good, but you can’t call it great when you put some context into it.
12 – Houston Rockets (-1) Charles Barkley (35-22) (7-6)
The Rockets keep struggling after Kevin Love came back from injury, and GM Charles Barkley decided to change the lineup at the end of the month moving MVP candidate Giannis to the Center spot and Kevin Love to Power Forward position in a month where they disappointed and were one of the few teams above .500 to lose to the Thunder.
They’re almost at the same level as the Kings when you’re talking about having a disappointing season, but due to the quality at the top of the West it’s hard to break into the Top 4, and the Rockets rank right below that in the standings at 5th.
11 – Orlando Magic (+6) Blake Bowman (34-23) (11-3)
The Magic are the biggest risers of the month (after the Pistons) after managing to have a Top 3 record in February despite the injury to Oladipo and their lack of depth, our anything resembling of a decent bench. The Magic were so good this month that you can almost say they locked in a playoff spot.
Did they have some easy games? Of course, but they also beat Boston twice, the Heat and the Cavs. Teams that they can possibly meet in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.