Is it too early to give up on the 2006 NBA Season???? Well Marc Stein from ESPN sure helped me answer that question with his first week power rankings. I have my takes below.
2006-07 Power Rankings: Week 1
|
RANK (LAST WK) |
TEAM |
REC. |
COMMENT |
|
1 (3) |
Spurs |
2-1 |
Winning in Big D and signing an athletic wing prospect (Flight White) so late gives SA plenty to offset what LeBron did to Duncan (and everyone else) Friday night. |
|
2 (9) |
Hornets |
3-0 |
At least one Western Conference upstart out there had shoulders broad enough to handle lofty expectations from the committee. Take notes, Warriors. |
|
3 (14) |
Jazz |
3-0 |
This should be fun: Jazz swept Pistons last season as a non-playoff team and play host to them Monday after a start that had made them darlings of scouts everywhere. |
|
4 (8) |
Cavaliers |
2-1 |
Honestly? The sight of Sean May rejecting LeBron at the rim -- and then looking down at him with a dismissive glare -- shocked me more than LBJ posterizing Duncan. |
|
5 (5) |
Pistons |
2-1 |
The only consolation for Pistons after their opening-night debacle -- a small one, granted -- is that all four of last season's final four teams lost their first game. |
|
6 (2) |
Mavericks |
0-2 |
A few folks in Mavsland warned the committee to expect a slow start from the reigning West champs. Guess they knew what they were talking about. |
|
7 (1) |
Heat |
1-2 |
Didn't expect them to stay up here long, not after winning it all without ever reaching No. 1. But I didn't expect Heat to lose interest by halftime on Opening Night. |
|
8 (7) |
Clippers |
2-1 |
More evidence it's a new day in Clipperland: Dunleavy's lads suffered one understandable loss in three games and folks are still asking What's wrong? |
|
9 (19) |
Lakers |
3-1 |
After a nightmarish preseason, who saw this coming? They're 1-1 with Kobe playing and 2-0 with Odom, Bynum, Turiaf and Walton running the operation. |
|
10 (11) |
Nets |
1-1 |
Nets' start is best summed up by two words: Weird scheduling. They'll play only four games in the season's first 11 days . . . with two of those against Miami. |
|
11 (4) |
Suns |
1-3 |
Opening up 4-5 last season, that was a bad start. Blowing big leads on the road (Lakers) and at home (Utah) adds up to a full-fledged worrying start. |
|
12 (6) |
Bulls |
1-2 |
After torching Miami, Bulls should have flown in Kareem to give the same speech he gave Magic after his first NBA game: Stop celebrating. There are 81 more of these. |
|
13 (18) |
Bucks |
2-1 |
You know us. Winning in Detroit on Opening Night was a big team step . . . but all we really care about is our man Redd shredding Pistons for 37. |
|
14 (12) |
Rockets |
1-2 |
Rockets are 1-1 in their division after going 1-15 vs. Southwest last season. But just when T-Mac's back seems fine, his new problem (free throws) persists. |
|
15 (15) |
Wizards |
1-1 |
Arenas told us he's ''going to do a documentary on myself . . . just to see how quirky I really am.'' Isn't wearing a boxing robe to the home opener a decent hint? |
|
16 (26) |
76ers |
3-0 |
Guess this also isn't the season that Iverson, now 31, slows down. AI and new sixth man Korver have been deadly in one of the most surprising starts anywhere. |
|
17 (17) |
Pacers |
2-1 |
The impact newcomer in Indy is . . . Darrell Armstrong? Our man DA just posted back-to-back, double-digit scoring games after registering two all season in '05-06. |
|
18 (20) |
Timberwolves |
2-1 |
Told you Wolves had a great rookie. What we didn't tell you is that his name, in Week 1, would be second-rounder Craig Smith (who?) and not Randy Foye. |
|
19 (13) |
Nuggets |
0-2 |
'Melo apologized for his opening night ejection and took the blame for both losses. I wouldn't worry about him, in other words. I'd be worried about Utah. |
|
20 (10) |
Warriors |
1-2 |
It's too early in the game to say Sports Guy was right and we were wrong about these guys. A deserved drop, but no panic buttons pressed here . . . yet. |
|
21 (16) |
Magic |
1-2 |
First they pounded Chicago. Then Magic pulled a Chicago and lost their focus after hearing everyone gush about how good they looked in their first game. |
|
22 (22) |
Kings |
1-2 |
We can't help but root for Ron-Ron, but we say this for his own good: Stop shooting. Eighteen hoists a game, three more than Kev Martin, when he's at 28.3 percent? |
|
23 (28) |
Hawks |
2-1 |
The story, for once, is not that they passed up Chris Paul. The story is that Hawks, like Paul's Hornets, are a first-place team. Someone photocopy the standings. |
|
24 (29) |
Bobcats |
1-2 |
Beating Cavs was a big moment, but the most encouraging development is Okafor's fine start (13.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.3 bpg) after a worrying preseason (7.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg). |
|
25 (30) |
Trail Blazers |
2-1 |
A rare mistake from the committee: Roy is wowing folks already and will remain the ROY favorite in a lot of precincts even if Blazers don't win two out of every three. |
|
26 (21) |
Raptors |
1-2 |
No shame in losing two out of three given Raps' schedule so far. The distressing part is hearing about Bosh and Tim Duncan trading plantar fasciitis stories. |
|
27 (27) |
SuperSonics |
1-2 |
If this really is Sonics' last season in Seattle, the minimum requirement is beating out Portland in the Pacific NW standings. Yet somehow they're already playing catch-up. |
|
28 (23) |
Grizzlies |
1-2 |
Little Kyle Lowry's 10 rebounds in his first NBA game. Rudy Gay's 21-point debut. Hakim Warrick's coming-out party. Pau-less Grizz ain't laying down, that's for sure. |
|
29 (25) |
Knicks |
1-2 |
For a couple nights at least, Knicks were over .500 for the first time since early January 2005. Of course, Isiah easily could be 0-3 right now. |
|
30 (24) |
Celtics |
0-3 |
If you're tempted to say Celts never would have started 0-3 under Red, be advised that it did happen . . . once. In '50-51, Red's first season in Boston. |
