USA Today Pre-season power rankings

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/power-rankings.htm

I think Chris Colston must only have a passing interest in the NBA. Portland is pretty overrated, I would agree. I’m equally surprised at how highly he views Philadelphia.

I really think the Cavs will nosedive….they are very thin in the post. Big Z is 33 and has had a history of injuries—that he’s been very injury free the past few years makes me think something’s coming…..Wallace is 34 and looked like a cracked eggshell of his former self last season, and I can only imagine what’ll happen next season. Varejao is a nice energy guy who really should start ahead of Wallace these days (As the younger, more agreessive and taller Ben—not close to Ben’s peak, but better than modern Ben), but on all the rest of the teams in the league Varejao would be a nice 6th man big guy.

They are putting a LOT of minutes on the backs of those 3. The rotating big man combinations they had in the past will go away, and they really should have worked hard to get some more big bodies down low.

Cavs folks say, we can play Lebron at the 4 at times and run teams out of the gym, that might work against the Bulls (although if Tyrus improves like many say he has, that’s no slam dunk either and Noah’s athleticism will cause Ilgauskas fits too), but no chance is that working against the best bigs in the East (KG, Brand, Sheed, etc)…..and it will come at the detriment of Lebron’s overall game.

I see an injury or two happening to Big Z and Big B and the Cavs plummeting next year. They are trying to burden upper 30 minutes a night on an ancient backcourt that has slipped drastically the last few years.

I know they added Mo Williams and fully anticipate that will help them in a few years when they fix their old frontcourt with a youth movement, but I see them taking a slide next year especially after they moved a very solid 25MPG guy in Joe Smith and didn’t replace him with any size. That’s a tough task for 3 guys to manage….

One of the reasons the Cavs have been solid despite on paper being so poorly put together besides Lebron, has been that they’ve had a series of big 4’s and 5’s that while not great individually were solid enough to control the paint and slow the tempo down (keep the games close until the 4th where Lebron time can put the Cavs over the top).

They’ve made themselves weaker at the PG defensively, and thinner in the frontcourt (and older) and I think they will take a big step back next year as a bottom of the barrel playoff team only because Lebron will be the best player in the league.

… they play as the underdogs. The team has had a slight upgrade in talent and is only one season removed from a winning season. Think Miami the season before Dwayne Wade was added…Miami started at 5-15 but finished 42-40 and made it to the conference semifinals. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but there are some good young players on this team, and almost all have tasted college or international success (Gordon and Noah have won it all, Hinrich and Rose have been to the dance, and Noc has won in Europe and at the Olympics.)

do best when not givin’ a second look during the preseason.

the problem with the bulls is last year you didn’t show a lot and with the Gordon problem I could see chemistry issues affecting the team. All that in consideration the Bulls are still pretty low.