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My opinions on those likely to start on the top 9 WC teams.

PF:
1. Duncan, SA
2. Stoudemire, PHO
3. Boozer, UTA
4. West, NO
5. Nowitzki, DAL
6. Odom, LAL
7. Scola, HOU
8. Harrington, GS
9. Martin, DEN

SF:
1. Anthony, DEN
2. Jackson, GS
3. Howard, DAL
4. Kirilenko, UTA
5. Battier, HOU
6. Hill, PHO
7. Stojakovic, NO
8. Bowen, SA
9. Radmanovich, LAL

C:
1. Gasol, LAL
2. Camby, DEN
3. Chandler, NO
4. O'Neal, PHO
5. Okur, UTA
6. Biedrins, GS
7. Dampier, DAL
8. Mutumbo, HOU
9. Oberto, SA

PG:
1. Paul, NO
2. Nash, PHO
3. Davis, GS
4. Williams, UTA
5. Parker, SA
6. Kidd, DAL
7. Alston, HOU
8. Fisher, LA
9. Carter, DEN

SG:
1. Bryant, LAL
2. Iverson, DEN
3. McGrady, HOU
4. Ellis, GS
5. Bell, PHO
6. Finley, SA
7. Stackhouse, DAL
8. Brewer, UTA
9. Petersen, NO

TOTALS
1. Phoenix (2+6+4+2+5 = 19)
2. Denver (9+1+2+9+2 = 23)
2. Golden State (8+2+6+3+4 = 23)
4. New Orleans (4+7+3+1+9 = 24)
4. Utah (3+4+5+4+8 = 24)
6. Lakers (6+9+1+8+1=25)
7. Dallas (5+3+7+6+7 = 28)
8. San Antonio (1+8+9+5+6 = 29)
9. Houston (7+5+8+7+3 = 30)

Don't know what happens when Bynum comes back, if Odom moves to SF and Pau to PF or Andrew off the bench?

It's not about the individuals, it's about the team.

The fact that San Antonio is so low yet wins so much should tell you that the best teams are more than the sum of their parts.

PF:
1. Duncan, SA
2. Stoudemire, PHO
3. Nowitzki, DAL
4. Boozer, UTA
5. Gasol, LAL
6. West, NO
7. Scola, HOU
8. Harrington, GS
9. Martin, DEN

SF:
1. Anthony, DEN
2. Odom, LAL
3. Howard, DAL
4. Jackson, GS
5. Kirilenko, UTA
6. Battier, HOU
7. Hill, PHO
8. Stojakovic, NO
9. Bowen, SA

C:
1. O'Neal, PHO
2. Camby, DEN
3. Chandler, NO
4. Bynum, LAL
5. Okur, UTA
6. Biedrins, GS
7. Dampier, DAL
8. Mutumbo, HOU
9. Oberto, SA

PG:
1. Paul, NO
2. Nash, PHO
3. Davis, GS
4. Williams, UTA
5. Parker, SA
6. Kidd, DAL
7. Alston, HOU
8. Fisher, LA
9. Carter, DEN

SG:
1. Bryant, LAL
2. McGrady, HOU
3. Iverson, DEN
4. Ellis, GS
5. Bell, PHO
6. Stackhouse, DAL
7. Finley, SA
8. Brewer, UTA
9. Petersen, NO

I would rather use Net PER rating in http://www.82games.com/BYPOS12.HTM to rank them (rather than pure opinion based) as Net PER rating also cover the bench support for each position.

PF:
1. Mavs
2. Hornets
3. Jazz
4. Suns
5. Rockets
6. Warriors
7. Lakers
8. Nuggets
9. Spurs (Duncan is playing more C rather than PF)

SF:
1. Nuggets
2. Jazz
3. Warriors
4. Mavs
5. Lakers
6. Rockets
7. Hornets
8. Suns
9. Spurs

C:
1. Spurs (Duncan is playing more C rather than PF)
2. Suns
3. Lakers
4. Jazz
5. Nuggets
6. Mavs
7. Hornets
8. Warriors
9. Rockets (Rockets have #2 Net PER rating in West but that is due to Yao)

PG:
1. Hornets
2. Jazz
3. Warriors
4. Nuggets
5. Suns
6. Mavs
7. Spurs
8. Lakers
9. Rockets

SG:
1. Lakers
2. Spurs
3. Nuggets
4. Rockets
5. Warriors
6. Suns
7. Jazz
8. Mavs
9. Hornets

It is ok to look at individual position and rank them but it would not be correct to just simply sum up the ranks of each individual positions as you are assuming that the 9th ranks is 9 times worse than 1st rank which is mostly not the case.

There is also the chemistry factor that result in the actual team strength being greater than the sum of the positions.

Teckon wrote:I would rather use Net PER rating in http://www.82games.com/BYPOS12.HTM to rank them (rather than pure opinion based) as Net PER rating also cover the bench support for each position.

Not a bad idea, but you must consider the fact that there are players who elevate their game during the playoffs and there are also others who are less effective then they were during the regular season.

Teckon wrote:It is ok to look at individual position and rank them but it would not be correct to just simply sum up the ranks of each individual positions as you are assuming that the 9th ranks is 9 times worse than 1st rank which is mostly not the case.

There is also the chemistry factor that result in the actual team strength being greater than the sum of the positions.

Yeah I wasn't trying to say the Rockets are the worst team in the western 9 just that they won't be favored too much in those match-ups in the paper where they compare each position and give an advantage to one team or the other. DEN and GSW are tied for 2nd and probably one of them won't even make the playoffs.

PER ratings are nice but can't factor in defensive and hustle plays.
Just a subjective list here.

texasholdem wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Yeah I wasn't trying to say the Rockets are the worst team in the western 9 just that they won't be favored too much in those match-ups in the paper where they compare each position and give an advantage to one team or the other. DEN and GSW are tied for 2nd and probably one of them won't even make the playoffs.

PER ratings are nice but can't factor in defensive and hustle plays.
Just a subjective list here.

He's using Net PER, the differential between two opposing players playing the same position. Therefore, it is reasonable.

We play better TEAM BALL than any other team besides the Suns and Spurs in the west. That is what matter, not talent. As Jordan likes to say "Teamwork wins championships, not talent."

Nice

Texas Longhorns wrote:We play better TEAM BALL than any other team besides the Suns and Spurs in the west. That is what matter, not talent. As Jordan likes to say "Teamwork wins championships, not talent."

Texas Longhorns wrote:We play better TEAM BALL than any other team besides the Suns and Spurs in the west. That is what matter, not talent. As Jordan likes to say "Teamwork wins championships, not talent."

You realize lots of teams average more assists than Houston, right? This includes Utah

Assists have NOTHING to do with it. You guys always like to jump on stats. I'm talking about the things that don't show up on the stat sheet. If you don't get what I'm saying, you don't know what team basketball is.

Texas Longhorns wrote:We play better TEAM BALL than any other team besides the Suns and Spurs in the west. That is what matter, not talent. As Jordan likes to say "Teamwork wins championships, not talent."