Celts should top the power rankings this week

[Greenbean]

LA has a better record and they're the defending champions. They've won 11 straight games. What possible leg do we have to stand on?

  Better efficiency differential and probably 7-8 more road games. I can wait until mid-late June to get to the top of the rankings, though.

The only thing we can say is that LA has been at home all season. In their 11 game winning streak thyre ourscoring opponents by an average of 16 points. They are playing dominant basketball right now.This is not to say that we are not but they are a little further along than we are at this point.

[KJ33]

LA has a better record and they're the defending champions. They've won 11 straight games. What possible leg do we have to stand on?

  Better efficiency differential and probably 7-8 more road games. I can wait until mid-late June to get to the top of the rankings, though.

The only thing we can say is that LA has been at home all season. In their 11 game winning streak thyre ourscoring opponents by an average of 16 points. They are playing dominant basketball right now.This is not to say that we are not but they are a little further along than we are at this point.

Only thing we can say?  I think 17 of 21 at home is very significant actually.  Who cares how many they are outscoring their opponents by, Reggie Miller amongst others said they should easily be 20-1 with this favorable early schedule, so by that standard they have underachieved.  Let's revisit after the Lakers have road trips of 5, 8 and 5 again. If they are still dominating at that point, I will give them their due.

[indeedproceed]

LA has a better record and they're the defending champions. They've won 11 straight games. What possible leg do we have to stand on?

  Better efficiency differential and probably 7-8 more road games. I can wait until mid-late June to get to the top of the rankings, though.

The only thing we can say is that LA has been at home all season. In their 11 game winning streak thyre ourscoring opponents by an average of 16 points. They are playing dominant basketball right now.This is not to say that we are not but they are a little further along than we are at this point.

Only thing we can say?  I think 17 of 21 at home is very significant actually.  Who cares how many they are outscoring their opponents by, Reggie Miller amongst others said they should easily be 20-1 with this favorable early schedule, so by that standard they have underachieved.  Let's revisit after the Lakers have road trips of 5, 8 and 5 again. If they are still dominating at that point, I will give them their due.

I see what you're saying, I just don't see though how you can have a team not be the #1 in the power rankingings if they have the best record and they're the defending champs..Margin for victory, home games vs away....number of shoes thrown, none of that matters. If you are the defending champ and you've got the best record in the league, no other team can really claim to be better than you.

[Greenbean]

LA has a better record and they're the defending champions. They've won 11 straight games. What possible leg do we have to stand on?

  Better efficiency differential and probably 7-8 more road games. I can wait until mid-late June to get to the top of the rankings, though.

The only thing we can say is that LA has been at home all season. In their 11 game winning streak thyre ourscoring opponents by an average of 16 points. They are playing dominant basketball right now.This is not to say that we are not but they are a little further along than we are at this point.

Only thing we can say?  I think 17 of 21 at home is very significant actually.  Who cares how many they are outscoring their opponents by, Reggie Miller amongst others said they should easily be 20-1 with this favorable early schedule, so by that standard they have underachieved.  Let's revisit after the Lakers have road trips of 5, 8 and 5 again. If they are still dominating at that point, I will give them their due.

Fair enough. I was going to argue but I any more arguing for the Lakers would and my head would explode. I wont let it happen again.

[dark_lord]

LA has a better record and they're the defending champions. They've won 11 straight games. What possible leg do we have to stand on?

the only argument i could make is that the lakers have only played 4 away games this season, where as we have the best road record in the league and of our 9 game winning streak, 6 have been road games.

i still think the lakers will be ranked 1, but i think we are closer than the national critics would think or give us credit.

DL, I was about to type the exact same thing.  Everytime the Lakers are playing on League Pass, even my wife notices that they are always at home early in this season.

Although I think the power rankings are a little stupid, I still like the discussions of what one team as really accomplished as opposed to another team.  That best road record for the C's despite a few slip ups at home (to good teams mind you) is impressive.

TP for DL for great minds thinking alike.   

thx racker, tp backatchya

[Drucci]

Well, with the Lakers loss in Utah and our 10th straight victory last night, while Orlando and Cleveland both lost two consecutive games this week, I just don't see how we couldn't be #1.

I still don't care about the power rankings but I'm wondering if they will still find a way to rank us lower than where we should be.

[Bahku]

I agree with Drucci, that there is obvious bias at times, but I also agree that I could not care less about the power rankings ... it's just another press tool, and not one that indicates anything other than record ... and record does not always indicate the best teams.

[Drucci]

I agree with Drucci, that there is obvious bias at times, but I also agree that I could not care less about the power rankings ... it's just another press tool, and not one that indicates anything other than record ... and record does not always indicate the best teams.

Yep, my only interest in the power rankings is to see how biased they are or what silly arguments they use to put team A in front of team B, while it should be the contrary, etc.

But I must admit what I like with these power rankings or "expert predictions", it's that at the end you can prove how wrong they were. Like when all ESPN "experts" picked the Lackers to win the 2008 Finals (except for Tim Legler) and that the C's won.

[Surferdad]

Well, with the Lakers loss in Utah and our 10th straight victory last night, while Orlando and Cleveland both lost two consecutive games this week, I just don't see how we couldn't be #1.

I still don't care about the power rankings but I'm wondering if they will still find a way to rank us lower than where we should be.

Beat me to it.  C's have to grab the top spot this week.  Also, Garnett should be Player of the Week, yes?

[PosImpos]

we currently have the best record in the NBA and the best road record.

tell me how that doesn't make us the best team

[houseonfire09]

I'd rather be a fan of the first team ever to win 60-70 games without being noticed.

[JHTruth]

I have to admit I do read the ESPN power rankings every Monday, I find it entertaining. It certainly doesn't mean anything but it is fun to see how things shake out..

[Fafnir]

LA has a better record and they're the defending champions. They've won 11 straight games. What possible leg do we have to stand on?

  Better efficiency differential and probably 7-8 more road games. I can wait until mid-late June to get to the top of the rankings, though.

The only thing we can say is that LA has been at home all season. In their 11 game winning streak thyre ourscoring opponents by an average of 16 points. They are playing dominant basketball right now.This is not to say that we are not but they are a little further along than we are at this point.

Only thing we can say?  I think 17 of 21 at home is very significant actually.  Who cares how many they are outscoring their opponents by, Reggie Miller amongst others said they should easily be 20-1 with this favorable early schedule, so by that standard they have underachieved.  Let's revisit after the Lakers have road trips of 5, 8 and 5 again. If they are still dominating at that point, I will give them their due.

I see what you're saying, I just don't see though how you can have a team not be the #1 in the power rankingings if they have the best record and they're the defending champs..Margin for victory, home games vs away....number of shoes thrown, none of that matters. If you are the defending champ and you've got the best record in the league, no other team can really claim to be better than you.

Unless a team has beaten the Lakers head to head and had a similar record you're right IP.

I try not to get worked up over the power rankings in and of themselves. I mainily use them as a barometer from someone who doesn't wear green tinted glasses on how the C's are currently playing.

[Drucci]

Well, as expected we are back on top of the ESPN Power Rankings, and even the Lakers got fairly criticized : http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2010&week=7

Celtics #1

   It's true that the list of victims during Boston's 10-game win streak won't blow you away. Yet it's also true that seven of the 10 wins were roadies, which always says something. Especially given L.A.'s soft schedule.

Lakers #2

We nearly gave the champs a one-loss road grace period, but there's just enough uncertainty about Kobe's freshly broken finger -- combined with L.A.'s poor start to an overdue stretch of road games -- to merit this drop.