FanPost

ESPN Fantasy Rankings: Who's Wrong?

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?