Playoff Power Rankings

[BigDaddyd8720]

Playoff Power rankings

I have decided to put together what I think are the power rankings for the teams heading into the playoffs. I looked at a lot of different data to come up with these rankings but this is mainly based off the opinions that I have about each team. You may agree, you may disagree, but one thing is for sure, nothing that I say in this article matters. So let’s get on with the show. (Barring something crazy like the celtics winning out and the Bulls losing out, and the celtics winning the tiebreaker, the playoff teams are set so that’s why I’m doing this now).

#12 Chicago Bulls:
I have the Bulls at #12 not because they have the worst record, but more because they seem to be falling into the playoffs as opposed to proving to be a playoff team (currently 3-7 in their last 10 games). The celtics seemed like a better team at the start of the season but their long losing streak helped to keep the bulls in the playoffs. While they do have a really good defense (#2 overall and the best of all the playoff teams), they also have the worst offense of any playoff team. A solid home record but 5 games below .500 road record sure is going to make their playoff run very difficult. Add on to the fact they are only one game above .500 against same conference opponents. We all love a cinderella story so maybe they can pull off every upset on their way to a championship. (probably not, but I have been known to be wrong many, many times)

#11 Utah Jazz: You wanna talk about being consistently middle of the pack? That’s the Utah Jazz. They never seemed to get any real momentum during the season, but they also never really fell behind either (longrest win streak was 4 games, longest losing streak was 3 games). 17-23 against playoff teams (8-12 in the last 20 games against playoff teams). They also have the third worst defense, in terms of points given up per game, amongst all playoff teams. Their offense isn’t too much better so this is yet another team that is going to need to find some extra luck along the way in order to make a title run.

#10 Washington Bullets: This Bullets team has been quite a fun ride to watch. One minute they looked like a middle of the pack team, then they looked like one of the best teams, then they looked like they may be on their way out of the playoff race, then they came back and solidified themselves in the playoffs. I truly had no idea where this team was going to finish each sim (although, if I’m being honest, I wish they wouldn’t have made the playoffs but this isn’t about me). It’s a good thing this team doesn’t have to play the teams in other conference because that 11-11 record sure would have me nervous for them. But 33-21 in their own conference gives this team plenty of hop to make a nice run to the title game.

#9 Phoenix Suns: Magic Johnson. There’s not much else to say about this team. As long as Magic stays healthy, this team will always have a chance to win it all. I would have liked to see them be more active in trades this year so they could have gotten more help for Magic, but to each their own. I can definitely see this team stealing a 1st round series. They’re really good at home and only 2 games below .500 on the road. Don’t be surprised if they come out swinging and take a game 1 or 2 against the Kings/Nuggets. This team may not be the flashiest, but they know how to get the job done (at least during the regular season). Hopefully they make some moves this offseason and we can really see them take that next step to becoming a contender.

#8 Golden State Warriors: This is another team that while they do have a winning record on the road, it’s only 2 games above .500. They have a good chance to win their 1st round series but after that, it’s going to be really difficult for them. Just like the Jazz, this team never really seemed to look dominant at any point during the season. They would string together 3 or 4 wins and then lose 1 or 2, then rinse and repeat. They are above average in many categories but somehow this team just doesn’t have the feel of a championship contender. Moses Malone is an obvious MVP candidate but he can’t do it all alone. This team has some pieces around him that are playing really well but somebody is going to have to take it to another level if they want go after that title. Not saying they don’t stand a chance, just wouldn’t be surprised if this was one of the favored teams to lose in the first round. Prove me wrong!

#7 Cleveland Cavaliers: Man, if not for this last sim, this would probably be the hottest team in the league right now. They started off 6-12 and then went 42-17 the rest of the way. Talk about turning your season around. The wildest part is that they aren’t really dominant in any category. In fact, they are pretty mediocre everywhere except rebounds and steals, but even those they aren’t top 5. So how is this team doing this? They don’t have a single player who is even top 25 in scoring. And yet, I look at this team and think to myself “If I had to pick any non-bye team to win it all, I may pick them” I’m not saying I would, just saying that if they did make a deep run, I wouldn’t be all that surprised. This is definitely a team I don’t want to see before the conference finals (thankfully, I don’t have to worry about that)

#6 Kansas City Kings: I know what you’re thinking “BigdaddyD, how can you have a team that could very well win their division be so far down in the rankings”? Well, I’ll tell you how. While this team is fantastic at home (32-6), they are just not that good on the road (19-19). Which likely means they need to be perfect at home AND hope the trailblazers and bucks somehow lose before the conference finals/finals if they want to be really confident they can win it all. Even though they have a top 10 scoring offense, that may be a product of them taking a lot of shots. If a team finds a way to slow them down, they could really be in trouble because their FG% is one of the worst in the league at 48%. They had a really good regular season, 50+ wins is not easy in this league, but can they find a way to overcome their deficiencies to make a deep playoff run?

#5 New York Knicks: First, I just want to say Bravo to the Knicks GM. 3rd season in the league and this guy went from being a lottery draft pick team (Buck Williams is already living up to the #1 overall hype) to getting 50+ wins, winning the division, and having an All-Star on the team. I mean who could have seen this type of turn around coming? You could argue that Buck Williams should have made the All-star team. He’s almost averaging a double double AS A ROOKIE!! This team started off incredible (remember that 13-0 run at the start of the season?). But then they really stumbled and went 15-18 afterwards. They did get back on track but one thing you seem from the real championship contenders is that they stay consistent throughout the season. If they stumble like they did earlier in the season, they will have a hard time in the playoffs. Plus, winning it all in your first trip to the playoffs is even more difficult. Gameplanning is very different in the playoffs (from what I’ve heard, not from experience). But, this team has shown it can be labeled as one of the best in the league so I’m gonna enjoy watching this team make a run this postseason.

#4 Indiana Pacers: The Pacers are probably the one team that I see really poised to take on the Bucks. They tied the regular season series with them at 3-3 and they had just finished an 11 game win streak. It’s very unlikely they jump the Bucks for the division but they seem like they are right on track to meet each other in the conference finals. This offense is firing on all cylinders. They are shooting above 50% and this team knows how to draw fouls. 2nd in the league in FTM and FTAis always going to help boost those offensive numbers. My only knock on them is they really need to hope the injury bug doesn’t get to their starters. If they stay healthy, be very afraid if you have to play them.

#3 Denver Nuggets: Death, taxes, Nuggets in the playoffs. Seems like every year this team finds a way to make it back to the postseason. While they did hit a few bumps in the road in the middle of the season, we can easily attribute that to them missing Alex English for an extended period. Which would put them in a similar category with the Pacers that if they stay healthy, watch out. But if English doesn’t get hurt, one could easily make the argument that the Nuggets could have locked up the division already, or be very close to locking it up. They’ve got two great scorers in English and Roundfield. John Lucas is fantastic at getting the ball to players while they have scoring chances. They could use some more rebounding but that could also be a product of the fact that they are really good at shooting the ball. If you don’t miss, you can’t get the rebound (it’s scientifically proven). Also, have you seen that road record? 24-14. If I’m the trailblazers, I’m hoping the Nuggets don’t get the bye and have to go through two series instead of one before facing them.

#2 Milwaukee Bucks: The only real negative things I can say about the Bucks is that their non-conference record is not that great (12-10 so far) and they turn the ball over too much. Luckily, they don’t have to worry about non-conference opponents until the finals so they can focus on the series within the conference. But they will need to figure out how to not turn the ball over so much if they want to keep winning games. Any team that figures out how to capitalize on their mistakes could send them home early. But even with that, they have 6 players who are averaging double digit points. That’s always great news when you know you can plug in bench players and still be able to score. The Bucks are gonna be tough to compete against and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they make it to the Finals. (I may secretly be rooting for Parish but I assure you that did not factor in to my ranking of the Bucks)

#1 Portland Trailblazers: If you want to know what the epitome of having depth is, just look no further than the Portland Trailblazers. 9 players averaging double digits, 3 averaging 7 rebounds, and the only players with a negative +/- are the two players they traded for from the SuperSonics (way to ruin it for them, BigDaddyD). If you can find a weakness, I would love to hear about it. Best offense (by over 5 PPG), best home team, best point differential. If they hold on to the best record, then all this team needs to do is take care of business at home and they will win the championship. They got to the big dance last season and fell short but they made some really good moves this offseason, as well as during the regular season, and they look poised to get back to the dance again. All other teams should be afraid of the Trailblazers


First round prediction (if seeding stays as is. If it changes, I will amend the post to reflect it after Sim 12)

Eastern Conference:
Pacers beat Bulls
Cavaliers beat Bullets

Western Conference:
Nuggets beat Jazz
Warriors beat Suns

2nd round prediction:

Eastern Conference:
Bucks beat Cavaliers
Pacers beat Knicks

Western Conference:
Trailblazers beat Warriors
Nuggets beat Kings

3rd round Prediction:

Eastern Conference:
Bucks beat Pacers

Western Conference:
Trailblazers beat Nuggets

Finals Prediction:
Trailblazers beat Buck in 5 games

Let me know what you think in the comments. Tell me where I went right, tell me where I went wrong, tell me I’m dumb and don’t know anything about sim league. Would love to hear what everyone else has to say about this.

[greepleairport]

I'm not gonna lie - I've missed longer form media entries. Since the point delivery for media has been re-configured, I was wondering who would be the first to cross even 1500 words, let alone 2000 for max pointage, when the new system has fully disincentivized doing so.

So thanks, boss, for going there. +6pts for the 2000+ word article, +2 more for crossing not 1 but 2 new word count thresholds in the modern 1980s era of NPBSL.