ESPN Power Ranking - Wiz 15th

[closg00]

Even as a longtime Flip Saunders fan, I have to temper my optimism here. The Arenas/Butler/Jamison core had a limited ceiling even at its youthful and healthy best. It's a playoff team again, but that's as far as we go.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerrank ... 10&week=-1

No love from Stein, he's got these Eastern teams ranked above us:

Hawks - 9
Bulls - 13
Raptors - 14

[newslowsad]

In my opinion, we should be 9th or 10th. We will be right there with the Hawks, maybe better if everything pans out for once. We are so much deeper than the Suns, Hornets, Jazz, and Bulls.

[FreeBalling]

In my opinion, we should be 9th or 10th. We will be right there with the Hawks, maybe better if everything pans out for once. We are so much deeper than the Suns, Hornets, Jazz, and Bulls.

I'd say the same, 10th or 11th. Who knows, we were on top of the East last time I checked when all were health. I love it, nothing but an eye opener for some writers. Time will tell all.

Bodog.com has us @ 60-1 so a $20 bet = 1200

The homer in me says were a top 7 team, the realist in me says I have to see Gil play ball.

[tkunit]

I am fine for now with that ranking, we did only win 19 games last year.

[montestewart]

ESPN Preseason Wizards rankings by year (previous season's record in parens)
2004-05: 27 (25-57)
2005-06: 14 (45-37)
2006-07: 18 (42-40)
2007-08: 15 (41-41)
2008-09: 15 (43-39)
2009-10: 15 (19-63)


Only that first year’s record is comparable to last year, and the preseason ranking is near the bottom. This year’s preseason ranking is comparable with all the others, acknowledging that this team is at least equivalent to those prior to last year—healthy and with many weapons. The rest remains to be seen. The Wizards surely have a lot to prove.

[MJG]

I think that is a fine ranking. Last year, the 15th best team went .500, and that's a pretty realistic floor for us. So, if someone doesn't really love our team, but still thinks we'll be relatively healthy and back to our usual form, that's about where they should put us.

And really, now that I look at it, I see the 13th best team last year won 46 games, and that's probably a fairly solid general prediction for us, so being 15th really isn't that big of a drop from there. I'd say if you didn't want to go out on a limb either way, 12-13th is a good spot for us.

If you do love our team though, then that's when you can start talking 9-10 range. That's basically saying 50-52 wins, assuming the league holds true to the past couple of years. These are probably the same guys that will name us as their preseason dark horse or team to watch. There likely won't be a ton of them, but even just a few is better than in years past, so no complaining about that.