Please Vote! Power Rankings Week 3, The most interesting season ever?

We all knew this was going to be a wild season, owners skill was at a good place, bidding put the majority of rosters at a really good skill level and everything was looking peachy. Then the season started and my lord if you say this hasn't been the most entertaining season so far you're lying.

A few fun facts about the first half of the season,

1- The two largest contracts out of bidding have both been waived
2- I've moved teams positions in the rankings more times this season on average than ever before
3- 7 teams so far this season have had a positive week and 4 different teams have had 5-1 weeks
4- no team has ever gone an entire season without winning a game

I feel like I can just skip the first team because its just obvious at this point

#1- Boston Celtics 16-2 (6-0)

This team is a bear, Snype and his 35 cubs (I've lost track of how many TC's they've used). Cleveland learned not to poke the bear.

Seriously tho its hard to write about a team that's dominating, Snype is still continuing to get every single TC on earth, Venom is still dropping unbelievable stats, this team is a lock for the playoffs.







#2- Phoenix Suns 13-5 (4-2)

Another solid week from a team that has at this point locked themselves into the 2nd seed. Witt is a very respectable 7-2 on the season after dropping his first game of the season, a loss to Denver tho? We'll call that a hiccup for now. Though big news this week as after a 88-44 loss to Boston they made a trade bringing Slime over from LA, the 2nd leading scorer this season is 1-3 so it'll be interesting to see how they use him. The big question for the playoff lock teams now shifts to making improvements in the next week before the trade deadline hits to give them a chance against Boston when the games start to really count. Phoenix seems to have made their move.

#3- Brooklyn Nets 12-6 (4-2)

One of the Nets lines really came into their own this week, they went 3-0 beating all three teams by an average of 27.7 points. Their other line struggled (just a little bit) going 1-2 dropping games to Venom (by 5 in a game I heard they had a lag out and didn't know that you could quit out at half) and to a Juiced up Atlanta superline (also just by 4 points). If they can get both of these lines rolling to their potential they have a real chance at making a run for that Chip, this is a team not to be underestimated. They also made their big move this week trading Spot Jr to Denver for Comeup and RPS Shooter (another fun fact that is the 9th time Spot has been traded in his LG career). Brooklyn may now have the two strongest TC's in Mac and Comeup but we all know that wont mean much come playoffs so it'll be interesting to see if they offload them to a playoff push team to sure up their roster come playoffs.

#4- Portland Trailblazers 11-7 (3-3)

A step back week for a team that was on fire to start the season, 3-3 is no reason to panic, especially when you drop close games to Venom (9 points) and the Ando PDQ line (5 points). Their first line got their asses handed to them in a 29 loss to Brooklyn's Tee line but won the 3 games they needed to win this week to keep their feet firmly planted in a playoff position. Their team reminds me a lot of the old 76'ers teams that Squid use to run for my long timers, they don't have a superstar PG but instead rely on solid team D and multiple scoring options. I just wonder if they're starting to run into the same types of issues that those teams had once more teams get some chemistry and you saw them start hot then fall off slowly before losing in the playoffs to a strong team. or maybe this 3-3 was just a fluke idk. As for the trade watch they did make the biggest splash of the season when they traded for Ching but it'll be interesting to see if they decide to shake things up again.

#5- Atlanta Hawks 10-8 (5-1)

No you don't need glasses, yes that is correct the Hawks went 5-1 this week knocking off teams like the Nets, Blazers, Grizzles and Bulls, that's 4 teams that were ranked higher than they were last week. Their only loss of the week came against the Suns 2nd unit or it would have been a perfect week that they so desperately needed, its so rare to see a team double their wins on the season especially after starting 5-7. They made some big changes to their lines this week really stacking their first line and letting Ando go to work, then giving STG a line to himself with Kryss and their rest of their roster. And it worked, Ando swept Wednesday dropping off Portland and Brooklyn, then Thursday many, most even thought that their second line would get dropped off as they played 3 good teams and after dropping their 9pm game to Phoenix there were a lot of doubters in the chat. Then they went out and beat a pretty talented Bulls 2nd line, they played some solid defense but their biggest test was going to be their 11pm against Memphis, they held Ayz to 17 points on 8/15 shooting and STG dropped an impressive 28 & 11 in a massive win for Atlanta. They were also part of the trades that took place this week, picking up Spot Jr from Denver for Sniper and KRM, after a 5-1 week I don't expect Kryss to keep wheeling and dealing but I guess we'll see how this next week goes.

#6- Memphis Grizzles 10-8 (3-3)

Every week for Memphis seems to be the same story, their roster looks really good but they just cant seem to put it together, they're getting the wins that they need to get but then dropping games to teams that would help them stand out, instead they hover around that .500% mark. Phoenix. Brooklyn and Atlanta were their 3 losses this week and it just goes to show you that 1 win can really change the look of a team, 11-7 puts Memphis 1 game behind the Nets, probably in the #4 or 5 spot, instead they sit at #6 and 10-8 going into a really tough looking week. This coming week is going to be a big test for them, they play 4 playoff teams and if they cant get success against those teams they may look to make some changes before the trade deadline next Wednesday. Other than that there's not much to say about the Grizzles, on paper they have have two solid PG's, two solid Locks, great role players and some solid C's, it'll be interesting to see if they do go the route of making some moves or if they keep the core together and try and figure things out. Regardless of whether they have that pop off week in the regular season, they should make the playoffs and could easily make an upset run.

#7- Chicago Bulls 10-8 (1-5)

The hottest team from last week drops a wild 4 spots to #7, 1-5 is a rough week and when your only win comes against the Cavs there's not much to celebrate. This is a team that's been carried pretty heavily by their first line, they slotted in this week against the Suns & Celtics and got dropped off in both games, rebounded well against the Cavs but their second line had a rough night and dropped all 3. This could be a case of your best line losing against the best two PG's in the league which wouldn't be cause for alarm but you're gonna need to be able to beat those lines in the playoffs if you want a chance at a chip. Their second line is also a disaster without RAHBALLA running the point, and even with him would their second line be able to match up with lines like the Boston or Brooklyn's 2nd line, and if their first line can't sweep a series they wont have much success in the playoffs. That being said they did have a lot of success after making the Ching trade so it'll be interesting to see if they decide to make any big moves before the deadline to give them a chance at making a run for the chip. If they do continue to slide like they have they'll have to hold off the Lakers and Nuggets for that last playoff spot.

#8- Los Angeles Lakers 6-12 (2-4)

This may actually be the biggest surprise of the season, the LA Lakers who started the season with extremely high hopes and a solid looking roster are struggling heavily and after the changes that they made are looking like a completely different team moving into the back half of the season. Hxndoutz has been waived and claimed by the Nugs, Slime has been traded to the Suns, Jdiz is gone and there's a solid chance that they're not done making moves just yet. The Lakers are a solid example of why bidding on players purely based on their skill and not the relationships you have with them or drafting players they know and can play well with can derail a season, we are only half way through the season though so if Hurl and Boren can make a miracle happen they still have time to make the playoffs. The Slime trade gave them a handful of active players from the Suns including Nurtec who they look like they'll be calling up to fill one of the void PG spots, the upside now is that they're going to be getting a lot of second line looks as a bottom 3 team so if they can pull off some upsets and string together some good weeks playoffs are far from out of the equation. 2-4 this past week also does help, their second line carried by now Cav CTwicee pulled off two big wins against the Bulls and Cavs while almost pulling off a comeback upset against the Suns, 2 wins on the week keeps them in an opportune spot with how the Bulls struggled, just goes to show you how important any game can be come the end of the season.

#9- Denver Nuggets 4-14 (2-4)

Denver realistically has 1 more shot. If they can't put together a solid week this week their chances of coming back and stealing that last playoff spot will be gone, if they didn't go 2-4 this week with a huge 1 point win against the Suns that would have probably been it. But with that win and the gift of Hxndoutz from the Lakers they could actually have a shot at the last playoff spot, if the Lakers cant pull anything together and the Bulls continue to struggle as much as they have they could realistically steal that last spot if they can pull out some 4-2 or 3-3 weeks in the back half of the season. The thing is were only at the halfway point, this season is far from over for a lot of teams, playoff spots have not been locked in yet, no one has been eliminated, Denver is a team with some very talented players and if they CAN get into that last playoff spot they actually pose a good shot at an upset. Now for the trade talks, Skizzo absolutely finessed the Hawks and Nets, they had close to no business being involved in the moving of Spot Jr but managed to wiggle their way in and get Sniper & KRM for him, the loss of comeup could hurt them if they were looking to use him come playoff push time but they still won this trade for sure. With the way their Cap is structured after picking up Hxndoutz its almost set in stone that they'll have to move or waive Savage but that's a small price to pay for a PG of that level.

#10- Cleveland Cavaliers 0-18 (0-6)

The longest season of their lives continues in Cleveland, half way through the season and they are yet to snif a win, this week was not an easy one either, the closest they came to a win was a 17 point loss to the Blazers. There's one massive thing to still praise this team for though, they didn't FF a single game this past week and other than the 2 games when DDL quit they have not FF'd a game this season, I get that its fun to kick a guy when he's down but we should all be appreciative for a team that's going to field a lineup and play rain or shine. Elite has also continued to make trades and moves and with the acquisition of CTwicee and some of the other pieces they've brought in they could look to get a lot more competitive in the back half of the season. As per usual there's no where to go but up from here.

 

Well done as usual brother

 

The "grizzles" , well written tho

 

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