NBA Power Rankings Vol 1 – November 17 2005

Surprise is a word most basketball fans are accustomed to by now. After a couple of weeks of the 2005-06 season, most of the standings are a surprise. There are a few teams that fans had huge expectations for along with a few teams that fans had no hope for. The Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks and the Seattle Sonics are a few of those teams that already find themselves at the bottom of the standings and whoever would’ve thought the Clippers would be 4 games over .500? Let’s check out the first week of power rankings powered by Courtside Magazine in order to see which teams are rising and which teams are sinking faster than the Titanic.

Rank(Pv)	Team	Record	Comments
1(1)		7-0	Flip Saunders must be really happy he left Minnesota and that Larry Brown wanted to coach the Knicks so bad.
2(2)		6-2	Timmy D is finally sinking his free throws. Could be one of the Spurs best seasons yet.
3(3)		6-2	Don’t get so excited, its still very early. But Sam I Am must be just as excited as former coach Flip is about leaving Minnesota.
4(4)		6-2	Can King James finally make it to the playoffs? He will thanks to the great offseason moves made by the Cavs front office.
5(5)		5-2	The Mavericks always had a great core of players starting and coming off the bench. But Dirk will always be the glue holding this core together.
6(6)		5-2	Even with Shaq out the Heat show they are a powerful team. But will to many egos on one team hurt them in the end?
7(7)		5-2	Gilbert Arenas is already on his way to another All Star game.
8(8)		5-3	If C-Webb and AI continue to play nice together they will find themselves in the playoffs. Korver’s shots need to start falling before he finds himself benched.
9(9)		5-3	Warriors have their best team since the days of Timmy H and Chris Mullin. Baron Davis is keeping this team going.
10(10)		5-3	And we will say it again, Memphis got the best of this offseasons big blockbuster deal.
11(11)		4-4	If J-Kidd and RJ stay healthy this team will find themselves going for the Eastern Conference Title.
12(12)		4-5	Andrei Kirilenko is a beast! But this team needs him and a healthy Carlos Boozer in order for Coach Sloan to find his way back to the playoffs.
13(13)		4-2	Michael Redd is worth every penny he was resigned for.
14(14)		4-2	Indiana needs Ron Artest in order to compete in the playoffs. So please, stay away from The Palace.
15(15)		3-3	Amare Stoudemire went down to early. If he didn’t the Suns would be undefeated. All 3 losses came down to the wire.
16(16)		3-4	You need a legit point guard in order to bring the ball up the court. Rockets need to remember that.
17(17)		3-4	Kobe can’t do it all by himself, and he will fold eventually.
18(18)		3-3	Last year will turn out to be a fluke unless Coach Skiles has some magic up his sleeve.
19(19)		3-4	Orlando fans, prepare yourself for another losing season.
20(20)		3-5	Nene is gone for the season. K-Mart is already flirting with an injury plagued season. Carmelo can’t do it alone.
21(21)		2-5	They finally won a pair after losing five straight. When Coach Brown plays Malik Rose the opposing offense has trouble scoring.
22(22)		3-5	Signing Shareef cannot make up for losing Divac, Webber and Bobby Jackson the last two years.
23(23)		3-4	When your team has to depend on Ricky Davis you know your in for a long season.
24(24)		2-5	Unload Radmanovic for a decent center or power forward. He doesn’t want to be there and its dragging the team down.
25(25)		2-3	Another losing season but they are playing with heart.
26(26)		3-4	Disappointing already. KG is great, but he can’t carry a team on his shoulders.
27(27)		2-6	It’s their second year. What more can be said.
28(28)		2-4	Byron Scott must be happy. They aren’t the worst team in the league right now.
29(29)		0-7	Now we know Joe Johnson wanted to be a star of his own team, but do you think he rather be in Phoenix right now? They could both use each other.
30(30)		0-7	They won’t win anytime soon.

Jonathan Ragus is the Co-Editor, Courtside Magazine www.courtsidemag.com.