Looks like we are ranked 11th to me. With that said, absoultley no reason Houston should be ahead of us currently. Blazers "if healthy" are dangerous. Same goes with Houston and besides, both teams fully healthy, I think we are better. Could be a homer, but that is what I think.
The thing that stands out to me are the teams at the bottom. Those teams improved. i think the days of eight 50 win teams in the west are over. It should go back to normal.
Why did OKC jump from 11 (Finals week) to 5 (last week)? What great picks or moves did they make? http://www.hoopsworld.com/Teams/TeamRankingsArchives.asp?TEAM_ID=20 (scroll to bottom)
OKC added Cole Aldrich and all get a year older. Almost all their young players should improve, mainly Ibaka.
We shouldn't improve or at least be in the top 10 (the very least)? Yes, health is an issue, but if we can get past that hurdle we are at least better than Houston and possibly OKC, who we tied with last year with a depleted team...
Last year's team was weaker than the season before, and this year's team looks to be much weaker than last year's team. We should be about 18-20, with only an outside chance of seeing the playoffs. It's going to be a brutally disappointing season.
Houston is actually pretty stacked if you looked at their roster right now and Yao should improve their team. Oklahoma City is also actually pretty good and gave the Lakers a run for their money, so watch out for Russell Westbrook and Ibaka to have "breakout" seasons. Blazers are good but they haven't exactly made any jaw dropping moves that are going to improve them, while there's a good chance Pryz and Oden might still be getting their legs under them after their horrific injuries. Cole Aldrich is a decent Center that should be a nice player. Size is something they didn't have up front, and by adding a efficient big like Aldrich, they should be improved. They also took an athletic 7-footer named B.J. Mullens last year that has looked much improved in summer league, so keep an eye out for him to emerge too.
I guess Cole Aldrich is jaw dropping then? Sure it could pay off, but that is ridiculous to call it jaw dropping at this point and leaps them to top 5. Yes, they have tons of improvent, Blazers do to. No way they should be much higher than us.
Not only did we overcome a horrific slate of injuries to finish above them in the standings, but we still beat them 3-1 head-to-head. Their only improvement was drafting a stiff center from Kansas and getting a year older, and somehow that translates into a contender? Am I missing something? Did our young team not just become a year older as well? Bunch of nonsense. They add Cole Aldrich, we add Greg Oden - advantage, Portland.
Miller and Roy didn't play together much last season. Miller played well when Roy was out, and Roy played well when Miller was on the 2nd unit. This season, they will be expected to start together. It may not work--it didn't last season. The only other PGs available to play with Roy have a combined 1/2 year of experience, Mills and Johnson.
I didn't even say Aldrich was a jaw dropping. Oklahoma City has younger products than the Blazers at this point, and should improve much more than the Blazer's players at this point. Blazers are a year or so ahead of OKC in the building process, which is why they should improve. Also they don't have so many key players coming off major injuries. When you look at OKC, you should expect great leaps in improvement from Westbrook, Ibaka, Mullens, and then an NBA ready prospect like Aldrich is coming in.
Okay... How exactly does that make us a "weaker" team and should drop us to 18th-20th as far as rankings go again?
OKC might be a little bit better than they were last year. But, Cole Aldrich certainly won't be the reason for it.
