I'll give the Nets credit, they are straight up ballin' right now, but let's not forget that they play 10 of their 14 games on the road in January... this is when we see if they are for real.
Arenas is playing better than Kidd this season. Jefferson and Jamison are a wash. Butler, Daniels, Haywood, Jeffries, and Hayes are better than the combination of Carter, Jackson, Kristic, Vaughn, Planinic and Robinson.
First statement is true, but Arenas is a scoring two guard at the one spot, Kidd is a pass-first point guard. While Jamison has better range, Jefferson's more athletic, and is a better defender. I do somewhat agree with your third statement though, as NJ lacks a bit of depth. Individual matchups don't mean anything. And who has more wins? The Wiz are 12-17, the Nets are 17-12. Stop hatin.
One more time, I'm not hating. I don't dislike the Nets. Just trying to logically defend them as a top 8 team in the league this year, just ridiculous.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Purple Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">Arenas is playing better than Kidd this season. Jefferson and Jamison are a wash. Butler, Daniels, Haywood, Jeffries, and Hayes are better than the combination of Carter, Jackson, Kristic, Vaughn, Planinic and Robinson.</div> What does all of their depth matter if the Nets have a better record than them? There are many more teams in the league that have more depth than the Nets, but does that mean that they're better?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">noting that no team has a winning streak even close to the Nets' 8-gamer</div> Cool, but Phoenix had a nine game winning streak and the Pistons just had like a nine or ten game winning streak. Then again, the Nets could keep on their winning streak. Now I bet Shareef Abdul-Rahim is thinking he should have signed with the Nets, where he might not even have broke a jaw. I sure hope Stromile Swift isn't thinking the same.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Now I bet Shareef Abdul-Rahim is thinking he should have signed with the Nets,</div> He didn't really have a choice. The Nets didn't sign him because he failed the physical.
These power rankings are not for the entire season that is why they come out every week or two..so how New Jersey played in say November has little impact on what these rankings indicate....anyway. I do agree that Detroit is better, in my opinion Miami is questionable even with Shaq. In my opinion until Shaq gets into shape his pressence isnt as big of a factor as many people want to believe...over a 7-game series of course Shaq is too much to deal with for a team like the Nets. But the Heat are very beatable by a team with a decent inside pressence, it doesnt even have to be great anymore like years past. A couple of years ago you could have only named two teams with enough inside presence to deal with Shaq...that was Detroit with the Wallace Boys and Ducan out in San Antionio...but with the condition that Shaq is in now..I honeslty beleive more teams can contend with him down low... Now to the teams that people are saying are better then New Jersey...Memphis, I dont know, I think losing Damon Stoudamire ends a chance of that...he is there best playmaker and a strong shooter in the clutch. Washington...ummm no. Washington doesnt not have the ball movement or team play to be better then us. that team is way too much one on one with Arenas to be taken serious. Cleveland I dont know, you can say by the way we have played them not only this year but last year that we are clearly better. But in a seven game series, I think they would be a hear out for the Nets. The reason why the Nets play well against Cleveland is because of the job Jefferson does on Lebron, he seems to find way to make things just unconfortable enough for Lebron, for New Jersey to get the win. But in a seven game series playing the same team game in and game out, you would think a guy like Lebron would adjust to away a guy plays him. And then that means strong # across the board for Lebron. And once that happens and you factor in that the Nets dont have the type of frontcourt Cleveland does, thats a hard out. The Clippers, like Memphis play in a different conference then us..so its hard to compare causethey are buit for victory alot different then we are...they play in the West with alot of run & gun jumpshooting especially in their division with Sacro, Golden State and Phoenix. And the Clippers are built pretty much like them for that style. We on the other hand run & gun, but we factor more on our wing guys getting into the paint. And I think the edge goes to the team that looks to do that, oppose to a team that takes 18 footers all night. But when Maggette finally gets into their lineup consistently. And adds that penetrating, slashing factor, then you might can say the Clippers are as good. But even then it will be hard to say better. They dont have any winning expereince on that roster besides Cassell and a little bit with Mobley, while New Jersey has it up & down the roster with Kidd, Jefferson, Collins, Robinson. Winng expereince is a facotr in my opinion on how good a team is...the expereince of knowing what it takes to end a skid is the reason we have been able to turn around our season. After Detroit and San Antonio the league is really paired off in my opionion...from about teams 4-10 you cant really say one team is clearly better then the other. I remember saying it was going to be like this during the offseason.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bryce40ww:</div><div class="quote_post">The nets are 17-12 while the Cavs are 18-10. Their only higher in the standings because they play in the Atlanitc. Consistency counts when naming a better team, and while the Nets are on a big streak now, you can't just forget about the beginning of the season. And power rankings aren't lists of the best teams, they are somebody's opinion about who is playing the best at that point in time. So while there might very well be 9 better teams, they aren't going to necessarily be higher on the rankings. Just thought I'd throw this in too. NBA.com has them at 9 , with new rankings coming out Wednesday.</div> New rankings have them at 5, behind Cleveland, but I think the ESPN rankings are more accurate in this case. Cleveland just lost Hughes, and NJ has beaten them pretty handily in both meetings this season. While Cleveland has a slightly better record because of our poor start, an 0-2 record against NJ proves that the Nets are a better team. period.
great post Henacy, a lot of those team don't have answers to the way Vince is playing right now. Lebron's defense on VC? Good try Vince would smoke him or Hughes for that matter the way he is playing this year. LA with Brand would give us a good run but again if you wanna put Cuttino Mobely on Vince go right ahead. Memphis??? Don't even start with that. Indiana won't get any better this year losing Artest. They've proven they can beat the Heat with Shaq even though I think it was more Miami losing that game than the Nets. Phoenix is better I agree, they've proven it this year by beating us. Washington...are you serious? What have they done this year. Arenas handles the ball way to much and JKidd's defense would really frustrate him, and again no answer for Vince Carter, he is what's making this team so good right now. Milwaukee??? Maybe...not, they won't be able to defend us. Vince would kill Redd, but RJ is they key there. SA, Miami, Detroit, Dallas, and Phoenix are all better but other than them the Nets are the team.
