NBA Team Rankings  

I got my information from basic knowledge about the game, player statistics, and various other sporting sites and based my opinion off of that. I'd have to say I myself was almost sold on the magic to put them hire. To me though I have to many questions about the team to put them ahead of the Denver Nuggets. First of all the abscence of Rashard Lewis due to his suspension. When he comes back will he be in shape and play at a high level or will the suspension effect his play for a while? Another question I have is the chemistry level with Vince Carter. Will they be able to quickly be on the same page and both be able to distribute in a positive way together? Vince Carter is a question of mine as well. Throughout his career he has been able to score, but production value has begun to drop over the last few seasons. If he can get back into the form he was in three years ago I have no doubt that Orlando would move ahead of Denver. Denver doesn't have the questions that Orlando has though. Denver already showed great chemistry especially with Billups and Anthony. Even when the trade went down last year they quickly hit it off and had instant success. I expect that to continue right from the season start.

I love how you put "barring injury" for the Clippers. The injury bug alright struck with Black Griffen. I will give them some credit though that they hung in there with the Lakers, however as the Clippers had an injury in Blake Griffen so did the Lakers with Gasol out. The Lakers showed their depth last night by always providing an answer when the Clippers made any type of run. I just think you gave the Clippers a little too much credit by putting them in the top 10.

With the line-up that they have, they are indeed that strong (at least on paper). Maybe they can duplicate the feat the Clippers team that had Elton Brand and Sam Cassell which made it to the second round of the playoffs (I think that was 2006). I just hope that they can finally get over the injury jinx (they have the same fate as the Houston Rockets). Anyway, back to back loses for the Clippers in their first two games (Lakers and Suns). Blake Griffin probably have made a difference in those games.

yea, I'm sure he could have made a difference. Even 14 pts and 10 rebounds would be a productive start. Kind of like what Blair has done for the Spurs in the first game. I didn't check out the game game stats for tonight, but from what I saw for the five minutes in the game he seemed like he did well.

Griffin actually didn't play for the Clippers in their first game against the Lakers and the second against the Suns, kinda a bad debut for him, his debut was on the bench in street clothes. Griffin will be out for about 6 weeks due to an injury but pretty sure when he comes back, he'll make an immediate impact for the Clippers. 14 points and 10 rebounds a game for his rookie season is kinda realistic for him considering that the Clippers have Baron Davis and Eric Gordon but I'm optimistic that he can average more than that. Probably 17 points and 11 rebounds a game?

Ya I was aware the Griffen didn't play. I was refering to blair. Honestly Griffen is going to be one of those guys who is either really dominant or is a flop. He has the potential to get at least 17 and 11 a game. His agressiveness is key to his succes. Don't know how he would fair up against a team like the Cavs who have very big interior players. A team like the Suns I wouldn't be surprised if he could put 24 plus on. All depends how agressive he stays. Games I am definitely interested in seeing him play if he returns for them are Dec 8th against the Magic, Dec 13th against the Spurs, Dec 27th against the Celtics, and January 6th against the Lakers. First off you will have a great matchup between Dwight and Griffen and it will really give you a chance to see Griffens true talents against one of the better defenders in the leauge as well as a strong presence down in the paint. Duncan could form a problem for Griffen. While I would expect Griffen to get his points I am more curious how he does defensively against a finess player like Duncan. Celtics are pretty much the same thing as with Dwight. How will Griffen handle strong defense from Garnett (if Garnett stays healthy)? Then finally the Lakers are by far the biggest test due to their deep bench. Griffen is going to have to handle Gasol, Andrew B, and Odom. Your always looking at a fresh set of legs when having to deal with those three. If he doesn't tire in that game I won't tire on believing he can be a dominante player. 17 and 11 isn't out of the question, but look at those games definitely to see what type of impact he rally has on his team.

How did you like the Nuggets by the way? Melo has looked pretty impressive thus far. They beat one of my favorite up and coming teams last night and Melo dropped 40 points. Looking forward to them having to play the Lakers and Spurs to get a feel how good this team is. Plus they got some depth now in the point guard position with Ty Lawson. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from him, but he dropped 17 in the first game and had a solid 7 pts in only 17 minutes last night. Looking forward to what else he can bring to that team. Also too got to give a shout out to my Bulls last night for winning their opener against the Spurs. Very surprising to me since I thought they were going to lose by at least 13.

With his inexperience, I don't see Mike Dunleavy putting Blake Griffin on the likes of Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, and Dwight Howard defensively. The Clippers have Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman to do that job. With the line-up the Clippers have, Griffin has the potential to become the go-to-guy of the Clippers. In their first three games, Baron Davis' scoring average took a skid while Kaman led the team in scoring. Davis is playing more point guard role and when Griffin returns, that gives Davis more options.

Regarding the Nuggets, the emergence of Carmelo Anthony and the presence of Chauncey Billups makes them remain as one of the elites in the West. A strong season coming from Nene and JR Smith could ice another bid in the Western Conference Finals.

Hey I am definitely getting ready to hop on the Nuggets band wagon. They are lookign good even without JR Smith especially with great play from Ty Lawson. I love their line-up and they are much deeper than I expected they would be especially since they didn't make any big off season moves. Instead they so far took the best player in the draft and easily front runner for Rookie of the Year.