Post by SPL on May 1, 2017 20:44:06 GMT -6
Going to do an article where I do a team breakdown and provide them with a label of
contender vs pretender
ATLANTIC
Miami (17-9)
Miami is the defending champions and they return most of their lineup from last season. The
big thing for them is Theus, he is a big difference maker with his scoring efficency and his
defense. I like the his top 3 players of Theus, Simmons and Stoudemire, Simmons efficency
is down a little right now as opposed to previous seasons, I think he will bounce back in the
last 3/4s of the season.
Label - Contender
Boston (13-6)
In the off season I thought losing Josh Jackson was really going to hurt dump however his
team is still hanging around and he has one of the better defensive teams in the league. His
point differential is better than Miami currently at +10 (Miami is 7.4). The trio of wings
(Phegley, Wallace and Robinson) are scoring effiently while playing very good defense. I am
not sure if their performance right now is sustainable.
Label - Contender
New York (11-8)
When you look at how the team is constructed, so far are blocking a ton of shots (14.7 per
game) however the rebounding is not where you would want to see it at 57.4 per game and
when you look at the advanced stats they are in the bottom 10 of the league in rebounding
%. A portion of this has to do with Jesse Epstein playing out of position at SG where he is
pulling down 4.3 rebounds per game. I feel he could get away with this if he had a better
rebounding SF but Ellie is only pulling down 5.9 rebounds at the SF. Ultimately I think that
will be his teams downfall.
Label - Pretender
Toronto (11-9)
In the first 30 games of the year this team is in a tough stretch, when you look at the team
on paper they have a town of fire power in Arenas, Fultz, Jones and McGrady but the scoring
efficency is just not where you would want it in the first 30 days. The good news is that
Arenas and Jones over the last 3/4 of the season have the potential to become better. He has
some of the same issues as New York with the rebounding but Jones is a full 2 rebounds
under his career average, I am thinking that will change and get this team to more of the
middle of the pack rebounding team.
Label - Contender
Washington (10-11)
KN just obtained Baby Jordan in a deal with the clippers, which will help fill a roster hole for
him. KN has a roster of tremendous young talent in Duncan, Yao and Thunder Dan. I am just
not sure that with what he has at PG if he is going to be able to advance far in the playoffs,
he might be able to steal a round but that is a big hole at PG.
Label - Pretender
Buffalo (9-10)
He has a great 1-2 punch in Hughes and Robinson and Griffin is a real nice big to have on
the roster. Jackson is starting to show his age but still scoring at a good clip. So far in the
first 30 days they are the worst rebounding team in the league. That is probably one of the
biggest reasons his point differential is at .5 right now. With the way the team is playing
right now unless he improves his rebounding, I don't see a way that he wins a series. With
that 30M Jackson contract, I am not sure I can see a way for him to add to the team.
Label - Pretender
Orlando (2-17)
This is a team that is tanking with two interesting good pieces for the future in Manning and
Sharman but they are not in a position to make moves this year.
Label - Pretender
CENTRAL
Indiana (19-5)
Almost a +9 PPG difference, plays great defense 13.3 bpg and is in the upper 1/2 in
rebounding. He also has one of the best PGs in the league in Lue and one of the better bigs
in Ewing. Tskshits is looking like a real good scoring wing in limited time, it will be interesting
to see if his role becomes bigger and what this team can become.
Label - Contender
St. Louis (13-6)
Frank is a bad man with his 29.7 ppg, 2.6 SPG and 1.0 BPG. His point differential right now is
only at 2.4 PPG at the moment which is confusing when you look at his roster of players and
some of the performances thus far like Frank. I think he has the rebounding and defense to
be a top tier team but the scoring efficency is really down for him in the first 30 days (2nd
worst in the league). I think when Bynum returns to his career average that will help.
Label - Contender
Cleveland (11-6)
This is an interesting team to look at and try and figure out. They are at +6.6 in PPG differential, looking at the pure statistics they have done a lot of thing around or slightly above the league average. You then look at the players and I am trying to figure it out. Mourning at 37 is having a great start to the season, Prince is playing well above his average as well. However, I feel Shaun is more of looking to sell than buy.
Label - Pretender
Charlotte (9-6)
This is a team one season removed from being the champion that still has most of its championship core together. Right now he is at a 5 ppg differential. This is with Detlef not playing anywhere near his previous 4 seasons and Rudd playing slightly under his previous few seasons as well. If he can get Detlef to return back to form he will make this interesting and Rudd either stays where he is or increases his production slightly, this could be a very interesting team.
Label - Contender
Chicago (9-15)
Fort Wayne (8-15)
Milwaukee (4-16)
Memphis (1-19)
This is a combination of teams that are either tanking or not doing too well
Label - Pretenders
Midwest
Utah (16-5)
They currently have a 13.7 ppg differential and look very solid all around from a pure number view point. The big weak link in the armor of Utah is on the wing. They have a very good core of young PGs. They have a good looking set of bigs but the wings are a concern. Can Jaylen Brown keep up the scoring and rebounding? Is AC Green able to play with some of the other wings in the midwest?
** After the Granger acquisition and the GM of the Jazz actually investing SC and RC into Jaylen Brown to get his outside scoring up to a B+ have made the wing position of the Jazz more stable. Thus I am switching my prediciton
Label - Borderline Contender
Houston (14-5)
The recent acquisition of Terrence Jones has made this team look a lot better. There were some concerns over the bigs and the rebounding/defensive numbers. Houston might have the best PG/SG/SF combination in the league with Paul, Brooks and Lewis. I am really surprised at the progress Brooks has made this season, in this past offseason he was a player I looked at and contemplated the max offer, it was obviously the right call for w2d and he is looking to reap the benefits.
Label - Contender
San Antonio (12-6)
When you look at the numbers than look at the production of Ball it is pretty impressive. They are sitting at a 10 ppg differential with one of the leagues best players under performing. They adding another scoring punch in the recent trade for Ellis from the Bucks. I would think he is going to become the starting SG, the ppg and defensive numbers from the SG will improve with a slight increase of the turnovers. I really liked this move for the Spurs and think this was a move they needed to make.
Label - Contender
Kansas City (13-8)
2 poor has probably the most complete player in the league and one of the best 2 way bigs in the game. The team is slightly under performing in the first 1/4 of the season but his point differential is on the rise and he has a deep and good roster. About the only weakness that I can find on this team is having a PG that can take over the game.
Label - Contender
Dallas - (12-10)
There are some things to like about this team, however, there are some issues. Rebounding is lacking, defense is slightly below league average and they do not have that elite scorer on the wing. They do have a very good PG in Henderson and a solid wing in Chet and a very good young big in sim soup. The assets to acquire the missing pieces are just not there.
Label - Pretender
Minnesota (9-10)
I feel going into this season this was the pre-season favorite by many and so far they have under performed as a group. I think the biggest issue for this team is Zeller and Jackson getting meaningful minutes as his 2nd and 3rd big. With a combo of Lillard, Long and Bird, I really don't think this is a team that you can count out. They have too many players that can take over and dominate a game at anytime.
Label - Contender
New Orleans (4-18)
A couple decent wings in OG and Tim Thomas but not much outside of that.
Label - Pretender
Pacific
Seattle (13-3)
This is a team that has just about all of it, great rebounding, great team defense, great scoring and the stats back it up, +13 PPG differential. This team will be facing Houston I feel in the WCF. Scary part about where they are at is that Ridnour should have an uptick in his FG and 3 point % by the end of the season.
Label - Contender
Los Angeles (13-6)
Randoph being down for another 25 days is huge for this team in where it will finish in the standings. With that said, I still really like this roster of players. Billups, Tatum and Williams are a very strong scoring combination. He has real good rebounding and defensive numbers. I see this team staying in that 3-4 seed range and being a team you will not want to face come the post season.
Label - Contender
San Diego (11-11)
Yawn is selling parts off and his record will fall off.
Label - Pretender
Golden State (10-10)
Another team looking to sell parts off
Label - Pretender
Vancouver (10-12)
Looking at this team I am surprised they are this far back, I really like the combination of Alston, Wade and Granger. The weak part of this team however is in their bigs, they only have 1 big (Devonta Davis) that is averaging over 10 rpg. If he can sure up the rebounding I think this might end up being a 4-6 seed with some interesting upset potential.
** After moving Granger they lost a big part of what I liked about this team. With their rebounding issues and lack of another scoring wing, I am switching my label
Label - Pretender
Portland (11-14)
There are a lot of good young players to like on this team. However, there are a lot of holes on this team that have to be filled as well. In a few seasons I feel this could be a real good core and a contending team but they are a year or two away from that.
Label - Pretender
Pheonix (0-19)
Ank is doing his tank thing and that is where he wants to be at the moment.
Label - Pretender
