Power Rankings: Slippage In Week 8 Rankings

power rankings
The Trail Blazers did finish the week 3-1, but all three wins were by a combined eight points, which has prompted the players and coaches point out that they need to be a better team defensively if they’re to keep up with the top teams in the Western Conference.
“It’s a lot of the little things,” said Terry Stotts on what the team needed to work on defensively. “For us, giving up easy points is a priority. We have to minimize the easy points, meaning transition and offensive putbacks, limiting the shots at the rim and contesting the shots at the rim that they do get, contest the shots at the perimeter, be solid on our pick and roll defense, help post players when they have a matchup one-on-one — we have to give more down to that post player — pursue penetration, not give up penetration. There’s a lot of things that we need to shore up.”
Given that, it’s not a surprise to see the Trail Blazers dip in a few of this week’s Power Rankings. Then again, they made up ground in a few of the rankings as well, proving that wins do still matter in today’s more analytical NBA landscape.
· Marc Stein of ESPN.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 2 this week, unchanged from their position last week …

Clippers at home Thursday night. Heat at home Saturday night. OKC away on New Year’s Eve. If any Blazermaniacs out there are peeved about being excluded from Christmas Day festivities, what’s left on the schedule for the rest of 2013 will take care of the national attention they crave.
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You can count me as one of those who is not at all upset that the Trail Blazers aren’t playing on Christmas, or even Christmas Eve. While those games may be great for fans, they’re hard on those of us who have to work during games.
Stein ranks the Trail Blazers behind the Thunder at No. 1 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 3.
· David Aldridge of NBA.com and TNT puts the Trail Blazers at No. 3 this week, also unchanged from last week and went short on his reasoning …

Coffee is for Damian.
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Why write 1,000 words when a video does such a better job of summing up Portland’s last week? Kudos for Aldridge for jumping on the content bandwagon.
Aldridge ranks the Blazers behind the Thunder at No. 2 and ahead of the Clippers, their opponent on Thursday, at No. 4.
Aldridge also put his “cousin,” LaMarcus Aldridge, at No. 3 on his MVP rankings this week …

Already won three Western Conference Player of the Week Awards, including last week’s.
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LaMarcus is ranked behind LeBron James and Kevin Durant in DA’s MVP rankings.
· Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports saw enough to put the Trail Blazers at No. 1 this week, one spot better than last week …

Point guard Damian Lillard is averaging 23.8 points and 5.9 assists in December. Too bad the Blazers aren’t playing on Christmas.
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Not, too GREAT the Blazers aren’t playing in Christmas, but I agree with everything else Spears is saying here.
Spears ranks the Trail Blazers ahead of the Thunder at No. 2.
· Jon Schuhmann of NBA.com ranks the Blazers at No. 2 this week, one spot worse than last week …

Pace: 97.1 (13), OffRtg: 110.5 (1), DefRtg: 104.5 (22), NetRtg: +6.0 (6)
Damian Lillard is unreal. He followed up his game-winner in Detroit with a better one in Cleveland. Then he hit this ridiculous shot to put the Blazers ahead for good in Saturday’s win over the Pelicans. He shot 19-for-36 from 3-point range last week and has been the best pull-up jump-shooter in the league this season. You just wonder when the Blazers are going to pay for their bottom-10 defense.
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I think that’s more of an “if” than a “when,” but that’s just me. Some times there’s a little too much Nostradamus out of the analytics crowd for my taste, but again, one man’s opinion here, which is no more reliable than any advanced stat.
Schuhmann put the Trail Blazers behind the Thunder at No. 1 and ahead of the Heat at No. 3.
· Matt Moore of CBSSports.com put the Trail Blazers at No. 5 this week, a three-spot drop from last week …

In the past week they’ve won by two, won by three, lost by eleven, won by three. Look, they’re still really great, but style points matter here.
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I’d be supportive of Moore’s argument if he didn’t have the Pacers, a team that lost last week at home to the Pistons, at No. 2 and the Thunder, a team that lost at home to the Raptors on Sunday, at No. 3. Let’s try to keep some logical consistency. These rankings are important!
Moore ranks the Blazers behind the Spurs at No. 4 and ahead of the Clippers at No. 6.
· Matt Dollinger of SI.com ranks the Trail Blazers at No. 2 this week, a one spot drop from last week. Dollinger gives out his gifts for each NBA team in this week’s rankings …

Five golden rings. We couldn’t leave any of Portland’s starters out, who are the only five-man group to have started every game this season. We won’t speculate whether they’ll be receiving any other rings this year, but this group deserves something shiny for powering the Blazers’ sensational start.
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Rings are a great gift for any NBA team. Unfortunately, you don’t get them in December.
Dollinger ranks the Trail Blazers behind the Thunder at No. 1 and ahead of the Heat at No. 3
· USA Today’s panel of voters put the Trail Blazers at No. 3 this week, one spot worse than last week …

Damian Lillard got tired of LaMarcus Aldridge hogging the spotlight, so he started hitting game-winners.
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USA Today’s joke consistency is impeccable. Right on target every week.
USA Today has the Trail Blazers behind the Pacers at No. 2 and ahead of the Spurs at No. 4
Jason Patt of SBNation.com puts the Trail Blazers at No. 4 this week, a one-spot drop from last week …

Damian Lillard has been doing some really cool things this year. After knocking down a game-winner two Sundays ago, the second-year man did it again in the Blazers’ next game.
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Despite that, Lillard lost out to Blake Griffin of the Clippers in the Western Conference Player of the Week voting. You’ll get ‘em next time, Dame.


http://forwardcenter.net/power-rankings-slippage-in-week-8-rankings/

 

You're better than this. You know as well as I do that "style points" is generally best translated "margin of victory". The Blazers are winning, but their wins are closer (hence point differential being the lowest of the top 5 teams). Basically, he's saying that they don't win easily enough for him to truly believe that they're elite.

 

My wife would not approve.