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Western Conference Fanalyst Rankings: Week 9

Dec
27

There are two sides to every NBA Power Ranking: the Fanalytical and the Fanatical. As a Miami HEAT blogger living on the east coast, MHI plays the fan for the Western Conference. As a Denver Nuggets fan living west of the Mississippi River, Mrs. NBA plays the fanalyst. The roles are reversed for the Eastern Conference.

1. OKC Thunder (21-5; Previously #1): OKC Thunder ended their double-digit winning steak on the second leg of a back-to-back losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Even having tired legs, the Thunder kept it interesting, but the real reason to their loss (besides the schedule) was being without Kevin Martin that game.

MHI: Kevin Martin ranks 12th in the NBA with 91% of his three-pointers from assists, but the Thunder rank 22nd in assist-to-turnover ratio as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook average career-highs in assists to keep the OKC offense running without James Harden. Luckily, the Mavericks and Rockets only rank 15th and 23rd in opponents’ assist-to-turnover ratio this season while the HEAT ranked 5th, so the Thunder should go 2-1 this week.
2. L.A. Clippers (21-6; Previously #2): People are clamoring about the Clippers with their record and their productive bench, but it’s fair to note that the bench will become close to meaningless when the playoffs roll around. On the other hand, they are the dominant team in Los Angeles. After all, they have 14 consecutive wins to the Lakers 14 total wins.

MHI: Lob City ranks 6th in the NBA with 57% of the buckets at the rim coming off assists. As a result, they rank 2nd in the NBA at points in the paint per game. Their remaining opponents this week, the Celtics (23rd) and the Jazz (30th), are terrible at protecting the paint. The Clippers should finish the week 3-1.

3. San Antonio Spurs (21-8; Previously #3): San Antonio went 2-2 this week just as Mosi predicted and the “bitchass” Nuggets took care of business on that front.

MHI: I called the Spurs “bitchasses” not the Nuggets, Tammeh. Because the roster’s filled with bitchass players scared to shoot, the Spurs lead the league in assisted shots. They should go 3-0 this week against teams that don’t crack the top 10 defending the pass: Raptors (21st), Rockets (11th) and @Mavs (18th).
 
4. Memphis Grizzlies (18-7; Previously #4): They went 3-1 this week, and perhaps they should be ahead of San Antonio in the rankings given they had a more fruitful week, but I keep on waffling on the Grizzlies.

MHI: The Grizz went 3-1 as predicted. They rank 6th in the NBA with 51% of their jumpers from 10-15 feet coming from assists and most of those jumpers were taken by Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay. Their 2 opponents this week, the Sixers and the Nuggets, rank 30th and 24th in opponent assists on 10-15 feet jumpers. The Grizz should be able to use that ball movement for midrange jumpers to go 2-0 this week.

5. Golden State Warriors (18-10; Previously #5): They went 2-2 this week, but really should have went 3-1. Easily. They gave away a game when they lost to the Lakers as they performed an ultimate choke job. Perhaps, their current record is just mere “fluff” to their actual winning mentality.

MHI: The Warriors rank 3rd in buckets off assists at the rim and 3-9 feet which helps them rank 9th in fastbreak efficiency. They may struggle this week against 2 of their 3 opponents that rank top 10 in slowing down opponents’ fastbreaks: @Jazz (7th), Sixers (20th) and Celtics (6th). Looks like a 1-2 week for GSW.
 
6. Utah Jazz (15-14; Previously not ranked): Erroneously, I didn’t put them in the rankings last week, and although they have a weaker winning percentage than the Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets, I believe more in their level of production.

MHI: Too busy dickriding the Blazers to put the Jazz in last week’s rankings, Tammeh? The Jazz rank 6th in assisted three-pointers while their opponents this week aren’t very good at defending the 3-point line: the Warriors (24th) and Clippers (15th) give the Jazz a good chance to go 2-1 this week.

7. Denver Nuggets (15-13; Previously #7): Denver was able to go 2-1 this week, but looked historically horrific against the Portland Trail Blazers (0-of-22 from the perimeter). Despite that, they were able to stay in the game, but lost a winnable game.

MHI: Know what you get when you put together a team with perimeter players that can’t shoot? A squad that ranks 30th and 29th in assisted jumpers from 10-15 feet and 16-23 feet. The Nuggets rank 1st in points in the paint per game and get to face 3 opponents that are average in defending the paint after that loss to the Clippers: Lakers (18th), @Mavs (16th) and @Grizzlies (12th). Looks like another 2-2 week for the 0.500 Nuggets.
8. Houston Rockets (14-12; Previously not ranked): It was a tossup between Minnesota or Houston this week, with Houston having the better win-loss percentage and the better week. Not to mention, they exposed New York (LinSanity), demolished Philadelphia, and obliterated the Grizzlies. 

MHI: The Rockets rank 10th in the NBA with 60% of their shots coming from assists. The Bulls rank 1st in limiting opponents’ assisted shots but the Rockets blew them out by 23. The rest of this week’s schedule is also against teams that are above average defending the pass: @Timberwolves (9th), @Spurs (3rd) and Thunder (13th). I think the rest of their opponents will fare better than the Bulls and the Rockets will finish 1-3 this week.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2012 at 9:15 am and is filed under Fanalyst Rankings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

 

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