New Rankings

Here are the most updated rankings (through games played on 12/20)...

CLE...........214.24
BOS...........211.49
LAL...........207.36
NOH...........205.39
ORL...........205.16
POR...........205.11
DEN...........203.99
HOU...........203.33
ATL...........203.36
SAS...........202.88
DAL...........202.07
PHO...........201.89
UTA...........201.40
CHI...........199.87
IND...........199.31
DET...........199.06
MIA...........198.63
TOR...........198.12
CHA...........197.60
PHI...........197.59
MIL...........197.35
NJN...........197.33
NYK...........196.98
MEM...........195.50
LAC...........195.05
GSW...........194.37
WAS...........193.47
SAC...........191.85
MIN...........191.72
OKC...........190.36

Given their most recent performances, it is remarkable that the Nuggets are still 7th. This can probably be atrributed to the fact that there are only about five teams playing well so far (with Utah and San Antonio to join them soon). The bad news is that they play a really good Portland team twice next. They will be lucky to win one of those games.

Boston projects to be better than they were last year. The crazy thing is that it appears that Cleveland is significantly better than the defending champs. It looks like we are headed for one heck of an Eastern Conference Finals. I don't expect Cleveland's performance to continue, but if it does, they will be the best team in NBA history (numbers-wise). So, the Nuggets shouldn't be too embarassed by their home defeat the other night.

The Lakers have lost their defense. In their first few games, they were the best defensive team in the NBA, but in their last ten games they are playing at 97% of the level of an NBA average team. That is not the stuff of the juggernaut people (including myself) were making them out to be. The Lakers numbers for the last ten games give them a rating of 200.43, making them an NBA average team. Since they are immensely talented, I do not expect this to continue.

I was not the biggest AI or Camby fan when they were on the Nuggets. Camby because he brought nothing to the table offensively and AI because he was bad on defense and was incredibly inefficient on offense. Well, the Nuggets got rid of both of them and seem to be better, while both the Clippers and the Pistons (AI and Camby's new teams) are worse than expected.

I will post a wagering update later today...