http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking We're behind LA, Boston and Cleveland. Higher than I would have thought. How good do you think we are?
Not really. Seeing as the Magic have had a home-heavy schedule with an SOS (strength of schedule) of .407 while Portland has had a road heavy schedule with a SOS of .543, it seems logical that they are ranked higher in Hollinger's ranks.
We've played the leagues toughest schedule so far and done pretty well. After this five game road trip is where it gets interesting, because 8 out of the next 11 games will be at home, where we are so far unbeaten.
8 out of 11 at home sounds good. As much as I would like to remain perfect at home, the chances of that are pretty remote. laws of nature would say that we have to lose at home sometime. But we should be able to come out of the home stand easily 6-2 or even 7-1. Granted if we got 8-0 I wouldn't complain about it at all!
what's even more amazing is that we've been 4th for 6 days now and this is at least the 3rd thread pointing it out.
What's even more crazy is DaRizzle PM'd me and claimed that the clock doesn't stop when a foul is called.
To bad we don't catch the knick on the second night of a back to back like Cleveland does. On Wednesday the Cavs should mop them up after we're through with them on Tuesday. Keep winning and good things happen, a loss and we fall a couple of spaces. Crazy thought that we're though so highly off huh?
It's all well and good I suppose, but it's a well documented fact that playoff quality teams don't start playing their best basketball until the second half of the season, so I take this ranking with a fat grain of salt. I didn't put a whole lot of stock in Hollinger's rankings when the Blazers were habitually underestimated last year, and I won't put a whole lot of faith in it now that the Blazers are overrated.
Geez, you people insult Hollinger when his ratings don't favor us, but now that they do, you flaunt it. What's up with that?
This is why you need to look at more than just stats when making these rankings. As great as the Blazers are playing, there is no way any sane person puts them ahead of the Celtics right now. Record: Celtics 16 - 2 Blazers 12 -6 Margin: Celtics +8.11 Blazers +5.39 Record Last 10: Celtics 9-1 Blazers 7-3 SOS Last 10 Celtics 0.490 Blazers 0.457 Streak: Celtics Won 8 Blazers Won 4 The Blazers have played a tougher overall schedule (SOS = 0.533 vs. 0.502), and thanks to a couple recent blow outs, have a better margin in the last 10 games (11.30 vs. 9.30), but they have lost 4 more games than the Celtics and have lost more times in the last 10 games than the Celtics have all season. And, it's not just about who has been hot lately. The Celtics have played a tougher schedule over the last 10 games, and have a better record over that span. So, the Celtics are better for the season, and better over the last 10 games. Yet, Hollinger's system has the Blazers ranked higher. Any system that places a 12-6 team that's 7-3 in their last 10 games above a 16-2 team that's 9-1 over the last 10 games, is highly flawed. BNM
Hollinger also has the 8 - 8 Mavericks (Last 10 games: 6 - 4) ranked two spots higher than the 12-6 Nuggets (Last 10 games: 8 - 2) even though SOS and Margin are very similar for both teams. BNM
