RIDICULOUS!

Marc Stein of ESPN came out with his predictions for this year's NBA season today. I have serious problems with this list.

Rank (Last Wk)		Team	Rec.	Comment
	1 (3)	Pistons	54-28	You know by now the treatment defending champs get here. Especially when their roster looks better, with Dice and Delfino, than it did in June.
	2 (1)	Spurs	57-25	Pop says he 'hated' the Shaq trade because beating the three-peaters was the ultimate challenge. The bet here is he'll get over it once these Spurs start rolling.
	3 (2)	Timberwolves	58-24	No one doubts them in the playoffs any more. The doubts of note are attached to Cassell's hip, because Sam I Am absolutely has to be healthy for Minny to stay up here.
	4 (14)	Heat	42-40	The committee has always found South Beach to be a bit overrated. But that was before it became Shaq-apulco.
	5 (4)	Pacers	61-21	Yup. That really is three teams from the East in the top five. And, yes, Pacer People: Your arguably underrated squad has to start out third after what Detroit and Miami did.
	6 (9)	Nuggets	43-39	It's a big jump up here, true, but Nuggets' frontcourt rotation really is one of the biggest and best. K-Mart, Camby, Nene . . . before you even get to Melo? Solid.
	7 (12)	Rockets	45-37	As with Denver, some will say this is too steep a climb, especially since Rockets have PG issues. But we like the T-Mac move that much, along with the Juwan throw-in.
	8 (6)	Kings	55-27	Maybe no team is harder to assess at this stage. Kings still have C-Webb, Peja, Bibby, Bobby Jax and Brad Miller . . . but start anew with more tension and doubt than they've seen in years.
	9 (10)	Jazz	42-40	Joining Jerry Sloan's overachieving kids this week: Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and the rehabbed Matt Harpring. Three boosts for a team no one liked playing before.
	10 (7)	Mavericks	52-30	There's still too much there to drop Dallas out of the top 10 sans Nash. That said, looks like Mavs still have too many scorers and not enough passers, even if they do improve on D.
	11 (21)	Suns	29-53	Yet Nash is rated highly here, which is why Suns have risen so dramatically. The glut of swingmen, mind you, could be a trouble spot unless one of them (Marion most likely) is moved.
	12 (8)	Grizzlies	50-32	Hubie's back and Grizz might be even deeper than they were, but the surprise factor is gone. Memphis won't sneak up on anyone any more, which makes that next step even tougher.
	13 (5)	Lakers	56-26	It's only out of respect for Kobe's prodigious talents and Rudy T's ability to connect with stars that LA is this high. Seriously: LA's smallish roster is no lock for a playoff spot.
	14 (13)	Trail Blazers	41-41	West is so ridiculously deep that Portland is hardly mentioned anywhere as a playoff contender, even after landing Van Exel to join Zach, Theo and Reef.
	15 (16)	Warriors	37-45	This really isn't a top-15 team, but Warriors had a better summer than most clubs in this vicinity, just by hiring Mully and empowering him to start changing the culture up there.
	16 (15)	Bucks	41-41	Milwaukee can handle not being able to sneak up on folks now. The bigger problem is replacing the guard play of T.J. Ford, a quietly huge factor in last season's breakout.
	17 (22)	Cavaliers	35-47	You would have expected a steeper PR drop after Boozergate, but that's the state of the East outside of Detroit-Miami-Indiana. With LBJ, a playoff spot is forthcoming even without Booze.
	18 (20)	Celtics	36-46	We might be shortchanging Boston. Doc Rivers has lots to do, but the volatility (GP/Ricky Ricky) is talented, and joined by Paul Pierce and a good frontline by East standards (Blount/Raef).
	19 (11)	Nets	47-35	Like its opponents in the '02 Finals, Jersey lost a lot of its soul since the spring. And with Kidd unlikely to rush back from knee surgery, the first six weeks could empty out what's left at the Meadowlands.
	20 (17)	Hornets	41-41	They have moved to the West. They have a franchise player (Baron) who wants to relocate. They have lost Mash for the season already. Summers don't get much worse.
	21 (18)	Knicks	39-43	Instead of capitalizing on NJ's disintegration, look for NY to go the other way. That means a Lenny Watch, Steph passing sparingly and the usual logjam of undersized PFs.
	22 (29)	Magic	21-61	The names sound somewhat appealing: Stevie Franchise, Cuttino, Hedo, Dwight Howard . . . maybe even a Grant Hill sighting. Of course, they're just names 'til we see some games.
	23 (23)	76ers	33-49	With Iverson, Dalembert and Coach Obie, you have to give Philly a chance to grab the eighth spot. But that's really all we can give.
	24 (24)	Hawks	28-54	In talent and ticket-selling terms, Atlanta isn't any better off than it was. But just enough happened in the offseason ('Toine, Harrington, Woodson) to make us curious, if no one else.
	25 (26)	Bulls	23-59	Kirk Hinrich is worth watching, and so is Andres Nocioni, but we're not going to be gullible again. Baby Bulls can expect little to zero slack from the committee.
	26 (27)	Raptors	33-49	Vince is another guy who has exhausted our patience, which explains why a team that added two committee favorites -- new coach Sam Mitchell and Cal State Fullerton draftee Pape Sow -- is lower than it probably should be.
	27 (25)	Wizards	25-57	Antawn Jamison will help, but only so much. It's tough to do well in the Power Rankings when you look so thin at the power positions.
	28 (28)	Clippers	28-54	Last time Lakers cratered, after Magic Johnson's HIV-forced retirement, LA actually became a Clips town ever-so-briefly. Don't expect that miracle again.
	29 (19)	SuperSonics	37-45	Only two teams in the West have no shot at the playoffs, and this is No. 1 on that list. The return of Nick Collison will help, but it was another way-too-quiet summer in Seattle.
	30	Bobcats	-	Emeka Okafor is a nice kid and a decent prospect . . . but that's probably the most positive thing we'll be able to say about these guys for a while.

I normally respect Marc Stein, but this is a joke! I'll agree with the first three... hey, I know talent when I see it. The Pistons, Spurs and T-Wolves didn't alter their rosters too much over the summer. Why change a good thing, right? But come on, ranking the Heat at number 4?!?! Shaq's good, but not THAT good! The players that helped the Heat get so far last season are now all on the Lakers, with the exception of their phenom point guard, Dwyane Wade. And please, we give number 5 to the Pacers? The Pacers are starting to look like an old team, with Reggie Miller still trying to lead them to victory. I'll admit, they may be able to rely on Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal, but seriously, they never really had a chance at the championships, and they haven't changed much since.

Rankings 6 to 10 are a bunch of Western Conference teams. I'll agree with some, though I honestly believe that the Lakers deserve to be up in the mix. And no, I'm not just speaking from a biased perspective... here's why. The Nuggets have a lot of potential, though Kenyon Martin isn't always the most consistent player. He couldn't perform very well with the Nets and always buckled under pressure in the finals with Kidd. Maybe a change of scenery might be good for him, though. We'll have to wait and see.

The Rockets think that their newest addition of T-Mac will improve their chances. HA! They are so wrong! I would venture to argue that the greatest duo to play basketball after the John Stockton/Karl Malone pair would be the Stevie Francis/Yao Ming combo. What were they thinking when they broke up the lethal 1-2 punch??? Yao's learning to become more dominant... let him continue to learn with Francis. But NOOOO, the Rockets decide to bring in T-Mac, who's probably gonna ball-hog, and lead them to Orlando Magic status... which is last place in the NBA.

The Kings are playing like sh.t.... and no, that's not more biased commentary. Even Sac fans realize that once they gave up Vlade Divac to the Lakers, the dynamic within the Kings team changed. Furthermore, Peja's dying to get traded. Hmmm... may that be because he doesn't like his team??? (Peja, you can come to LA and join your comrade, Vlade.) That leaves Mike Bibby (Kermit the Frog) and C Web. Maybe if they actually used Bobby Jackson as a starter, they may have a chance. Duh!

The Jazz was never a big threat in the playoffs... I've yet to be convinced that their new additions of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur will affect much change. And lastly, the Mavs... never had any much defense, only offense. And now Dirk must do it without Steve Nash. Maybe Erick Dampier will help a bit.

Nash has been moved out to Phoenix, who ranks at number 11. Okay, this is the Phoenix Suns we're talking about. The same team that sold tickets so cheap that Caroline, Elaine and I flew THERE to watch a Lakers game. And now even they're ranked above the Lakers???

Hahha, Grizzlies, what a joke. And finally... number 13 goes to the Lakers. I think the Lakers will, in the end, surprise everybody. The team is filled with a lot of raw talent. No longer is this a team full of superstars, a complete 180 from last year. This is a big reason why people are so skeptical of the Lakers' future. We no longer have 4 future Hall of Famers, we have like 1.5 (.5 being Malone, depending if he comes back). But what we have now may be better! Kobe may still need to drop a good 30 points every night, but we can also depend on our role players. Like I mentioned already, we picked up a good portion of last year's Heat team (Odom, Butler and GRant) AND the heart of the Kings team (Vlade). No word on who the Lakers will eventually keep on their roster, but I see a lot of promise in newbies like Tony Bobbitt, Tierre Brown and Sasha Vujacic. We're gonna to have a really good running team once everybody is healthy, mainly Kareem, Slava, and Vlade (all the veterans!). They almost remind me of the Pistons team that won last season... no big superstars, just a bunch of good, solid players that knew the roles they were supposed to fill. So yeah... don't count out the Lakers just yet!

In my book, the teams ranked 20-30 don't matter. I say disband half of them and combine all the players to make better teams... it'll do wonders to the sport of basketball. But no, let's create ANOTHER losing team, have Nelly be a partial owner, and call them the Charlotte Bobcats!!! Stupid.