108 replies to this topic

[Iggy]

Herodotus, on 11 September 2012 - 08:26 PM, said:

I wouldn't worry about this weakening their brand. They've already got folks like Mike and Mike and Skip Bayless repping them on a daily basis, their college sports coverage is just a shill for the BCS, and for the major sports they've basically worked out joint-marketing agreements that make
no pretense of journalism. I'm not sure they can really do much more harm.

I meant ESPN NBA, which is pretty good in my view, at least the web version.

[Herodotus]

Alright, ya'll. Today's the day. I've got a feeling. Today's the day we find out OJ Mayo went up in NBA Rank.

[GrizzedByBluffCity]

I really like the ESPN player rankings. Especially now with 2 years of data you can see how people misjudged players like Brandon Roy and Jason Kidd who dropped over 100 spots in a year. And guys like Marshon Brooks + Isaiah Thomas jumped 300 spots. It's hard to argue with the results since it's a poll with so many "expert" contributors, most biases average out. and the Grizzlies look good. Marc gasol might be higher than Pau this year - that would be awesome. He should be!

[new_skool91]

OJ #90. I guess he moved up because Cuban thinks he can be a star.

[GrizzedByBluffCity]

considering how badly he flamed out in the postseason the move to Dallas definitely raised his stock. Now he is on the TIPPING POINT. Either from here he slides way down out of the top100 or moves up into star status. I don't see him likely standing here at 90 another year.

It's interesting how Jason Terry slid though even going to Boston you'd think he'd be exactly where he was at last year becasue his stats are still good. All the Dallas players took a hit on their rankings due to their poor team record last season. I don't think ray Allen has come up yet. They have definitely overrated him.

Just keep in mind these rankings are 20% "name recognition" and "popularity" based. DeAndre Jordan is not really belonging in the top300 but he makes the top100 since he plays in Los Angeles.

[used _to_be_zippy]

Quote

are the Grizz the only team with all starters in the top 70?

[GrizzedByBluffCity]

used _to_be_zippy, on 13 September 2012 - 05:14 PM, said:

are the Grizz the only team with all starters in the top 70?

yes!
but it's scary how high the NEtS starting 5 is. Humphries is the weakest link and he just came up yesterday with Crash.
Nuggets also very high w Faried and Magoo just being called. No sign of the Rooster, Lawson, and Iggy yet.
also the pacers got a lot of top100 guys. upandcomers.

[T.O.]

Tony comes in at 66, Conley at 65.

[Iggy]

T.O., on 14 September 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

Tony comes in at 66, Conley at 65.

A little low for Conley, and a little high for TA. On the other hand, maybe TA has more value in case we need to do a mid-season trade.

[Grizz Glory]

Iggy, on 14 September 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

A little low for Conley, and a little high for TA. On the other hand, maybe TA has more value in case we need to do a mid-season trade.

Agreed. Conley had a solid year. Should at least be higher than his rank from last season. TA, best perimeter defender in the NBA. I think he's definitely in the 60's

[Iggy]

I thought TA had a better year and a bigger impact 2 seasons ago.

[Herodotus]

Looks like we'll be coming up on Zach soon, then Rudy, then Marc. Tough to guess where they'll be. I'd guess a pretty significant drop for Zach, a slight drop for Rudy, and a slight rise for Marc.

[Dwash]

Iggy, on 14 September 2012 - 11:02 PM, said:

I thought TA had a better year and a bigger impact 2 seasons ago.

Yep. He was the glue that bought the Grizzlies together 2 years ago, but today Insert any good defender in TA's spot (like Pondexter) and we still play good team defense. And hopefully that guy will shoot better.

[new_skool91]

Dwash, on 17 September 2012 - 01:35 PM, said:

Yep. He was the glue that bought the Grizzlies together 2 years ago, but today Insert any good defender in TA's spot (like Pondexter) and we still play good team defense. And hopefully that guy will shoot better.

Apparently the knee was still bothering him if the report about the surgery that he just had was true.

[GrizzedByBluffCity]

Kyle Lowry officially jumps Mike Conley. Lowry 51, to Conley's 65. bogus. That's what difference is when you put a good player on a bad team versus a good player on a good team. The one looks better.

[Herodotus]

GrizzedByDeath, on 18 September 2012 - 06:28 AM, said:

Kyle Lowry officially jumps Mike Conley. Lowry 51, to Conley's 65. bogus. That's what difference is when you put a good player on a bad team versus a good player on a good team. The one looks better.

We've said all along that the two guys are different kinds of players. Lowry is a score-first point guard, Conley is pass first. Plenty of folks around here get really agitated that Conley isn't more of an attacker, doesn't finish at the rim spectacularly, and isn't a shooter, doesn't create his own shot and score with the clock winding down. I can say much of those frustrations are legitimate. And Lowry has come along better than I think most people expected, really being able to light it up at times, and he's turned into a very, very good player, which I, for one, absolutely did not expect. But, Conley has done well too.

[Herodotus]

What's interesting is that the point guards Conley is around are Lowry, John Wall, Brandon Jennings, Conley, then Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday and Jeremy Lin. I'm not sure we'd want any of those guys straight up for Conley right now other than maybe John Wall.

[GrizzedByBluffCity]

and don't forget Rubio

[BHZMAFIA]

Interesting.

Monta Ellis at 46
Bogut at 45
Jefferson at 44
Stoudemire at 43

ZBO was ahead of all 4. Rubio, Lawson, Monroe and Ryan Anderson also fall below ZBO.

41 and 42 still have yet to be announced.

[GrizzedByBluffCity]

ZBO was a top 20 player so sliding all the way to 40s would be harsh. just because of injury. Brook Lopez only played 5 games last season and was Extremely overrated and yet his ranking stayed about the same this year. therefore ZBO's ranking will likely again be in the top25. but that's not factoring in the bias of brooklyn compared to memphis so don't be surprised if he gets dissed and put somewhere in the 30s this year.

Keep in mind they had Blake Griffin as #10 on this list last year. ZBO has always been a significantly better player than Griffin. I don't think Griffin will be as good as ZBO in his prime but that's just me. it's partially a popularity contest keep that in mind. But If girffin is #10 ZBO is going to be right behind him somewhere a few spots down.

Monroe and Anderson did not "fall below ZBO" they have never been anywhere near his plane of existence. Those are low-level ninjas as Shaquille O'Neal would say.