I don't think this has been discussed anywhere, but the ESPN annual FANTASY basketball rankings are out, here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/basketball/fba/story?page=nbadk2k9_top190
I took a look at 3 team's player rankings, and found the following:
Blazers World Champs Fakers
42 BRoy 9 KG 3 K0bIe
59 Greg Oden 23 Pierce 30 Pau Gasol ???
69 LAMA 64 Allen 45 Odom
116 Rudy 85 Rondo 55 Bynum
139 Bayless 164 Perkins 160 Fisher
146 Blake 169 Tony Allen?? 170 Farmer
148 Outlaw
Some comments:
1) Yes, these are FANTASY rankings, so except for blocked shots, defense doesn’t matter (why KG is probably #9). Team defense, heart, etc. don’t factor in.
2) Forever, you’ve needed 3 superstars to win in the NBA. We’re certainly in the mix with our top 3, although you have to give the nod to the other two teams, at least based on these ratings..
3) Who here would rather have Pau Gasol over anybody on the Blazers? Me neither…
4) We have DEPTH. (Duh) Our second unit should destroy the opposition on a nightly basis, at least in the regular season. Both the C’s and Fakers have a noticeable drop off after #4, and in fact we have 7 guys better than their 5th.
5) Other notables: Rose #95, Beasley #65, which would make Oden their projected ROY, with the Blazers having (as I’ve been saying all along) 3 of the top 5 rookies this year!
6) Whither Martell?
But what I really want to hear your thoughts on is the answer to this question: Who’s Wrong?
Are our “homer” expectations REALLY out of line?
Or, even given high praise in the national press, is the rest of the country still sleeping on this potential juggernaut?
Because if you were to give me these rankings without the team names on them, I’d say that team “A” is deep, but needs true superstars (at least one top 10 guy, and 3 top 50) to make a run…
So, who’s wrong? Us, or ESPN?