NBA Power Poll: Cavs Stay on Top
Sean Deveney - SportingNews.com
Feb 25, 2010
This season, obviously, didn't quite go the way that Wizards coach Flip Saunders expected. He entered the year talking about a championship, but injuries and general knuckle-headedness quickly ended that. And, last week, the Wizards officially threw in the towel on this year by dealing Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and Antawn Jamison.
Saunders, though, was at least able to handle it. When you're a coach who cut his teeth in the CBA, you know a bit about roster turnover.
"If I hadn't been in the CBA and gone through that I probably would have gone crazy," Saunders said. "I told the guys beforehand, ‘This doesn't change going through games.' I plan to stick around to compete and win. Everyone in the NBA is a good player. There are bad teams, but even bad teams have good players. What has to happen is you have to learn to play well together and sometimes the whole can be better than the parts and that has to be our marching orders on how we have to play."
In other words, there isn't much talent left in Washington, and Saunders is keeping his fingers crossed that his players somehow surprise him. Best of luck on that.
And, speaking of luck, we nearly had a new team atop the poll, thanks to a couple of losses by the Cavaliers. But a Lakers loss ensured that Cleveland would retain the No. 1 spot.
1. Cavaliers (Previous poll: 1). Antawn Jamison bounced back nicely after a very rough Cleveland debut. Of course, it'd be nice if the team won a game with him aboard.
2. Lakers (2). Kobe Bryant says he will be back Tuesday against Memphis. Not that they were missing him or anything.
3. Magic (3). In five seasons before Stan Van Gundy arrived, the Magic had a road winning percentage of (.307). They've gone 70-41 (.631) on the road under Van Gundy, though.
4. Jazz (4). Utah was never really close to trading Carlos Boozer, and considering they had a 17-2 stretch heading into Monday, that was a pretty good idea.
5. Nuggets (5). Carmelo Anthony needs just one point to reach 12,000 in his career and become the third-youngest player to reach that plateau. The bet here is he'll get it.
6. Celtics (7). Think Ray Allen was a little tired about hearing that trade talk? In three games after the deadline passed he has averaged 23.3 points.
7. Thunder (9). They had a couple of close calls -- two-point wins over the Timberwolves and Knicks -- but the nine-game streak remains intact.
8. Hawks (6). When Zydrunas Ilgauskas gets his buyout from the Wizards, expect the Hawks to come calling with a contract.
9. Raptors (12). They haven't been playing the stiffest competition, but still, a stretch of 10 wins in 12 games has been impressive.
10. Mavericks (10). In the end, Brendan Haywood (10.8 points, 8.8 rebounds) could be more important than his trademate, Caron Butler.
11. Suns (8). Amare Stoudemire is still in Phoenix and that might not be a bad thing -- the Suns won their first two games after the trade deadline.
12. Spurs (11). In years past, the February rodeo road trip has been a Spurs rallying point. But they went just 4-4 on the trip, and finished with losses to Detroit and Philadelphia.
13. Blazers (13). New center Marcus Camby was not happy about being dealt to Portland because he wanted to stay with the Clippers. Which doesn't happen often.
14. Hornets (16). With both Chris Paul and Darius Songaila out with injuries, New Orleans is stuck with a seven-player rotation.
15. Bulls (14). Not only did the Bulls manage to clear out cap space for this summer at the trade deadline, but they also improved their depth across the board.
16. Bucks (18). They came up with a big win over Charlotte on Saturday to help boost their playoff possibilities.
17. Bobcats (19). When healthy, the very athletic front line of Tyson Chandler, Tyrus Thomas and Gerald Wallace could block a lot of shots.
18. Rockets (15). Over his last five games, rookie guard/forward Chase Budinger has averaged 12.2 points and 4.2 rebounds.
19. Grizzlies (17). Just when the Grizzlies finally get a piece to help out their deficient bench -- Ronnie Brewer -- he goes down with a hamstring injury.
20. Heat (20). They weren't able to pull off the blockbuster that they hoped for, but they're better off hanging on to Michael Beasley anyway.
21. Sixers (21). Allen Iverson has not been around much, dealing with medical issues involving his daughter. The team might ask him to simply stay away.
22. Clippers (22). LeBron James to the Clippers? Not bloody likely. Amare Stoudemire? Hmm. Now that is a possibility.
23. Pistons (26). The Pistons have the second-fewest road wins in the Eastern Conference (six) and they're looking at a four-game trip out West that starts Tuesday.
24. Wizards (23). The rebuilding begins. But the biggest question the franchise has to address still lingers -- what to do about G Gilbert Arenas.
25. Pacers (24). No deal for Troy Murphy. No deal for T.J. Ford. No deal for anyone. It was a rough week for team president Larry Bird.
26. Knicks (25). Well. Turns out that Tracy McGrady can still play a little, after all. Knicks fans certainly seem to think he is a keeper.
27. Warriors (29). Rookie wall? Since January 1, Stephen Curry has averaged 19.6 points and 5.9 assists, shooting 43.3 percent from the 3-point line.
28. Kings (27). Carl Landry was making a good case for getting some votes in the Sixth Man of the Year balloting. But if he stays a starter with the Kings, he'll be out.
29. Timberwolves (28). That four-game winning streak a few weeks back was fun while it lasted, but the Wolves have now dropped six in a row.
30. Nets (30). He might not be the prize of the free-agent class, but at least Rudy Gay said he'd be willing to sign with New Jersey this summer.
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