Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Golden Sim League. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
NBA Power Rankings [5-1]
Topic Started: Aug 14 2013, 12:44 AM (204 Views)
Donny
Member Avatar


[5] Los Angeles Clippers
Projected Starting 5:
C: DeAndre Jordan
PF: Blake Griffin
SF: Jared Dudley
SG: J.J. Redick
PG: Chris Paul
Acquiring Doc Rivers put this team into the top 5, with ease. Lob City did alot over the offseason, acquiring Darren Collison, J.J. Redick, Jared Dudley, and Byron Mullens, and catapulting themselves into being one of the best in the western conference that will fight vs Kevin Durant to get into the Finals. I've always talked about depth being extremely important, but the Clippers will thrive off of their depth and ability to have fresh players who are all very solid quality on the court at all times, with previously mentioned names Collison and Mullens, along with Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford, Willie Green, and Ryan Hollins. Jared Dudley's extremely underrated in the NBA, being one of the better defenders at the 3, with a decent scoring ability. Having Chris Paul, one of the best PG's in the league never hurts, especially when he's got two very strong bigmen down low in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, both of which are very capable scorers. However, the issue is defense. Blake's always been looked at as a very capable scorer but many people rag on him for his poor defense, which he's spent all off-season working with coaches who he says have made a breakthrough in how he plays the game of basketball. This team could definitely be a contender, as I feel they are stronger than any other team except the Spurs and the Thunder.

[4] San Antonio Spurs
Projected Starting 5:
C: Tiago Splitter
PF: Tim Duncan
SF: Kawhi Leonard
SG: Danny Green
PG: Tony Parker
Before you say, "Didn't the Spurs just sign Marco Belinelli?" hear me out. Danny Green is a young player with tremendous amounts of upside. He's a solid defender, great outside shooter, and a decent rebounder for his size and brings more to the table than Belinelli does. Now, onto the rest of the team. The reason the Spurs landed at 4 instead of the top 2 is simply the age factor. Duncan's going to be playing under 30 MPG likely this season, Parker's minutes will slowly decrease, "passing the torch" to players like Kawhi Leonard, who in particular will need to shine as an integral part of the team, offensively and defensively, if they plan to get back to the Finals. Ginobili and Belinelli look to get significant minutes off the bench, as well as Boris Diaw, Cory Joseph, and Patty Mills. I'm not sure how this team consistently does it but you can never count out a team with Tim Duncan.

[3] Indiana Pacers
Projected Starting 5:
C: Roy Hibbert
PF: David West
SF: Danny Granger
SG: Paul George
PG: George Hill
A certain someone in GSL says a team can't win without a superstar... the Pacers definitely can. A star studded roster that will compete with the Heat and ultimately, in my opinion, will be the Eastern Conference competitor for the Finals this season, as long as they stay healthy. This starting 5 looks good and then you add on Scola, Stephenson, Copeland, and C.J. Watson? There is no way this team loses any non-finals series unless it's in 7 and to the Heat. Many people have speculated that Granger may come off the bench but in my opinion, if Granger's healthy, the Pacers will have a much better chance of winning if Granger starts. West and Hibbert is an extremely underrated 4/5 duo that scores and rebounds and George Hill can facilitate well, but the real stars are Paul George and Danny Granger. Paul George could make the step from star to superstar this season, depending upon how good Granger is as the #2 option. I personally think they are better than the Heat, but LeBron is the greatest player in the league currently and no one can contain LeBron.

[2] Oklahoma City Thunder
C: Kendrick Perkins
PF: Serge Ibaka
SF: Kevin Durant
SG: Thabo Sefolosha
PG: Russell Westbrook
Losing Kevin Martin is tough for this team, but when one door closes, another one opens, and this door opening will be for one of two people. One will be Jeremy Lamb. Lamb got very minuscule play time but was efficient when he did play. Another is Reggie Jackson. Reggie Jackson shined in Summer League play, looking like the PG of the future that will finally let Westbrook shift to the SG position. Is he ready yet, is the big question. All signs point to no, neither of them are actually ready to be a big part of the OKC offense. Having Durant and Westbrook means they will contend and they will be the top team to beat in the West, as long as they both stay healthy. Truthfully, I think that if one of the two guys I listed above steps up along with Ibaka scoring a tad more efficiently, this team could win the ring. If not, it could be the last time we see these 5 together on the same court.

[1] Miami Heat
Projected Starting 5:
C: Chris Bosh
PF: Udonis Haslem
SF: LeBron James
SG: Dwyane Wade
PG: Mario Chalmers
This squad sucks, they are so overrated... just joking. The reigning champions look to complete the 3 peat, but it won't be easy. However, the Heat are ready, signing Greg Oden and resigning Chris Andersen to sure up their backup bigmen. Ray Allen and Shane Battier return once again and look to be big parts of the team. Now, onto the starting 5. As they get older, the Big 3 begins to shift into being the Big 1, LeBron James. Wade and Bosh are still solid role players, just not nearly as good as prime Wade/Bosh. Haslem is a consistent contributor at the 4 and Mario Chalmers showed us that he's more than just someone who has to be there, he's got talent and potential. Remember, never discount Bosh and Wade. Both of them had their moments throughout the playoffs and with LeBron, who makes everyone else better, they can play bad one night and the next go off. They will contend for the title yet again, in search for the 3 peat.

Here is the end result:

30. 76ers
29. Magic
28. Jazz
27. Bucks
26. Suns
25. Bobcats
24. Celtics
23. Kings
22. Wizards
21. Raptors
20. Lakers
19. Cavaliers
18. Mavericks
17. Pelicans
16. Timberwolves
15. Trail Blazers
14. Hawks
13. Pistons
12. Nuggets
11. Knicks
10. Rockets
9. Grizzlies
8. Bulls
7. Nets
6. Warriors
5. Clippers
4. Spurs
3. Pacers
2. Thunder
1. Heat

Thanks for all the critique, all in all it helps me become a better writer.
Edited by Donny, Aug 14 2013, 12:45 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Charle$
Member Avatar
Stock Rising

East: Heat, Pacers, Nets, Bulls, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks, Cavs.
West: Thunder, Spurs, Clippers, Warriors, Grizz, Rockets, Nuggets, Blazers.

[expletive deleted] it, actually, it's not that bad. Good job Donny.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Vic
Member Avatar
yuugh.

Not bad
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Rog
Member Avatar
:-?

Charles
Aug 14 2013, 01:09 AM
East: Heat, Pacers, Nets, Bulls, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks, Cavs.
West: Thunder, Spurs, Clippers, Warriors, Grizz, Rockets, Nuggets, Blazers.

[expletive deleted] it, actually, it's not that bad. Good job Donny.
Other than the Rockets/Hawks it seems prety in order with what I see.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Rog
Member Avatar
:-?

Oh and Grade: 1.5k
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dash
Member Avatar
Tanking

Good series but can't say I agree with Indiana being ahead of San Antonio. I'd even go as far as to say that I prefer the Spurs over the Thunder but in a 7 game series between the two teams, the latter would likely come out on top.

Houston being 6th in the West is where I expected us to be without Dwight Howard. With Dwight, I think our absolute FLOOR is the 4th seed with the likelihood being us coming away with the 3rd seed. I really think we can go toe to toe with OKC (and lose in the end) and I'm not that worried about the Clippers, we matched up pretty well with them last year although its true both sides have changed their makeup quite a bit. Regardless I wouldn't call the Clippers a better team than the Rockets unless Blake Griffin takes a big step forward or Dwight reverts to pre-ASB form last year.

San Antonio would run circles around Houston. I wouldn't be comfortable going against a team that runs a similar system to ours but runs it more effectively on top of arguably the best coach of all time gameplanning against two flawed superstars (Harden is a poor in between scorer although he's said to be working on that the most this summer, and while Dwight is actually underrated in the post its true he's not great and he's got that issue with free throws too).
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Dr. Wolf
Member Avatar


No Wolves, no respect for Donny ijs
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
MCMuslim
Member Avatar
If Y'all Don't Like Me, Good

Dr. Wolf
Aug 14 2013, 10:10 PM
No Wolves, no respect for Donny ijs
Tell um
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · NBA Articles · Next Topic »
Add Reply