Sports Guy North

1 Dallas This team is hot right now, 19-3 since Christmas and unbeaten in 13. Even Eric Dampier had 14 rebounds in one of the games during this streak. That's a lot better than the game against Utah where Diop led them in rebound with only 6, yet they still went on to slaughter the streaking Jazz by 14 anyway. This force just can't be stopped right now. These guys haven't been the underdog in the line since a December 9th game in Memphis, which they won. That alone says they are the team to beat right now.

2 San Antonio Call this team "Mr. Consistent", they've been second all year, sometimes to Detroit, others to Dallas. Day in an day out you can expect the same from these guys. Even sidelining Duncan won't result in a loss anymore (although the Raptors were close). I really can't stand Ginobli, though, in any way. So I'm done talking about the Spurs. Enjoy your number two spot boys, you're not getting any higher in my books.

3 Detroit In a mini "slump" of late, having lost 3 of 5 to weaker teams in New Jersey (10th rank), Indiana (17th rank) and Atlanta (27th rank), the Pistons came back strong against the Clippers with a big win. Tayshaun is hot lately, and the Pistons never slump for long, so no doubt they'll move up from the number 3 spot shortly.

4 Phoenix 32-17 at this point, and they've done it without Amare in the lineup. Now he's practicing with increased activity and will be coming back in a month or two. First place without the best big man in league, who is almost ready to get back. Scary. Hopefully they'll draw Ginobli in the second round so they can save my playoff viewing for me.

5 LA Clippers The Clippers are the fifth best team in the league, and it's pretty hard to find any arguments against it. This still doesn't register in my brain, so I'm still not prepared to comment on it. It's the Clippers, man. The Clippers.

6 Miami Wade and Shaq playing in a division with Washington, Atlanta, Charlotte and Orlando. I'm kind of surprised they've managed to lost one divisional game at this point. 13-14 on the road, yet in basketball that means they have the 6th best road record. There are some things i'll just never understand about basketball.

7 Cleveland 6 straight losses, then 7 straight wins. This team is good, but I'm not really sure how confident I'd be in them in any playoff series. LeBron even averaged 30 points over that 6 game skid. Having personally witnessed Z phone in an entire season and cost the team a trip to the playoffs, I know that this team is capable of anything and there is nothing LeBron can do about it. I really can't picture them putting up enough effort to win 4 straight playoff series. As good as this team is, they really need to build something different around LeBron, on a whole this mix just isn't working.

8 The New Orleans Hornets of Oklahoma City In the last 6 games, Claxton, Mason, Paul, West and Butler have each lead the team in scoring. This team is unbelievably balanced, and everyone is buying into the team ideal. I'll admit, never in my wildest dreams did I see the Hornets putting together a season like they have. Chris Paul may have been the best draft pick since LeBron, and is certainly the hands down rookie of the year this year.

9 Washington Coming on strong since Christmas through the leadership of Arenas, who is just on fire of late. 4th in points per game, 16th in assists, 9th in steals and 3rd in three-pointers, Arenas has developed into arguably one of the top 3 all around players in the league, and his team is benefiting from his generous play. Reliable players who are fun to watch and put up solid numbers all around are hard to find, and definitely key in fantasy leagues. Arenas is the real deal, and now so are the Bullets (yes, I said the Bullets. Deal with it).

10 New Jersey Can 3 players make an entire team? Vince, Kidd, RJ and some guys. When is the last time one of them didn't lead the team in scoring? When's the last time one of them didn't lead in assists. Heck, one of them even leads the team in rebounds more than half the time. Is anyone else on this roster? It may be the best 1-2-3 punch in the league, which is good enough to make the playoffs in the East, but they'll will never be one of the elite with 3 guys. It just can't happen.



11 Milwaukee Magloire was a great fit with this team. He is averaging a double double, and has put up 74 rebounds in his last 6 games. With Ford dishing and Simmons and Redd putting it home these guys are hard to beat, especially against teams outside of their division.

12 Utah After a slow start, the Jazz are coming on strong with 13 wins since Christmas. They are also very strong on the road... at 11-13. Really, someone explain this to me. Are the balloons really that effective? Can someone find me a statistic on teams free throw percentages at home versus on the road? I really want to understand this.

13 Denver This is a mediocre team without Melo, and barely over mediocre with him. Taking advantage of the weakest division in basketball, the Nuggets would have the #3 rank right now with a record that if the Jazz catch them (which them appear to be setting up to do) they will miss the playoffs instead.

14 Memphis 3-11 in their last 14. How long will the slide last? How long can their 23-11 start keep them in the running? I really don't like this team, and haven't ever actually thought they belonged in the playoffs. This could the the year that they miss again, and I for one am hoping it is.

15 LA Lakers Kobe got 81 points in a single game. That kind of selfishness should drop this team out of the top 20. Just ask Vince.

16 Houston Faded due to injuries with 7 straight losses, recovering with a solid 4-1 in their last 5. Hard to tell exactly where this team will be in a couple months. It's tough having to rely on injury prone guys to lead your team.

17 Indiana Peja is starting to fit in, and has helped the Pacers to three straight wins, including 2 against Detroit and the Lakers. Not too shabby.

18 Philadelphia A big win in Cleveland, followed by a couple disappointing losses to Houston and Charlotte. I love watching Iverson play, but something tells me that Webber needs to see a few more shots than he is, The other AI too. Shame.

19 Chicago Lost 5 of 6 lately, with a very tough schedule. The rest of February will tell whether the playoffs can still be a goal for the Bulls, or if they should concentrate on staying ahead of the Raptors by seasons end. At least they don't have to worry about Boston any longer.

20 Golden State Of all the teams in the 4 to 13 seeds right now in the West, this team is by far the most exciting and the one I most want to see in the playoffs (except maybe Sacramento if they pull it together). J Rich and Baron are great together, and despite being 3-7 in the last ten, they are only a couple games out of the playoffs. Hopefully a Memphis fall will open a spot for the W's.




21 Sacramento Love these guys with Artest in the lineup. Expect this ranking to shoot up to the 10 spot before too long. This should be a team to contend with again, if Ron can stay happy. Big if? I guess time will tell.

22 Toronto These guys, believe it or not, may be one of the three most entertaining teams in the league to watch. They are leading the East in scoring with 100.5 points per game, and are third to only Seattle and Phoenix overall. I bet most people don't know that about the Raptors. Most people also likely don't know that. After their 1-15 start they had a good enough for the playoffs record before the Jalen trade. Antonio is going to be a big help inside, and acquiring a real Center over the summer could make these guys a surprising contender again next year. Things aren't really as desperate in Raptor land as the media might make out... yet.

23 Orlando

24 Minnesota Nice pickups in the Boston trade, but this team was too much of a mess to be able to fix it with Ricky and Blount. I'm also scared by a trade where you pick up 3 guys and everyone is talking about 2 of them like they were bad team players.... and they weren't refering to Ricky. Damn.

25 Portland Portland's in the league. I guess. Man, whatever.

26 Seattle Fall from grace, but really you could see this coming a mile away. I remember last year even, the JF would constantly say they are just a 3-point shooting team, and the percentages can't keep up all year. Took until the playoffs last year before it finally, and inevitably happened. And I really don't think anyone should be surprised by the outcome this year. Just really not a good team. Teams like that find success in Seattle randomly, sometimes. Remember the Mariners team that set the record for wins? Now go back and look at that roster. That is not even a 90 win team. It made no sense. Brett Boone hit like .330. Nothing made sense that year. The Sonics last year were the same thing, but the magic has run out like we all knew it would.

27 Atlanta

28 Boston I think I'm as surprised as you are that I haven't sunk these guys down to the number 30 spot as a result of the Uber Trade. But the thing is, Charlotte and New York are still in the league, and there is nothing a trade can do to counter that.

29 Charlotte Worst record, worst road record, worst outside their division, and even worst in the league since Christmas. How can they not be in last in the rankings? It would almost take a team losing 14 of 15 games to make that happen.

30 New York Lucky for Charlotte, 13 of 14 games IS almost 14 of 15. Jalen Rose was a great addition, but the words "Too Little, Too Late" can't help but come to mind. I was a Pacers fan in the 90's to a certain degree, so all I have to say to Knicks fans is "hahahahahahahaha". Enjoy yourselves, Knicks fans. Reggie must be loving this.