Updated Power Rankings

[Coolbreeze44]

Here is Stein's latest:

http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings

Interesting that he kept us ahead of some teams. At least someone is paying attention to us.

[m4gor [enjin:6667447]]

yeah it is weird even for me to put us 3rd, i guess we have to see more from this years wolves to justify such a high rank .. current W-L ratio is there, but our bench is dead quiet and you cant play 81 matches using 5 people

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I agree with m4gor. I would also question our strength of schedule so far. While none of the teams we've played are pushovers, Golden State was the only upper echelon squad and they man-handled us pretty easily.....at home....without Curry for half the game. That loss shook my confidence. It will be interesting to see if we can give the Clips a good run tonight.

That being said, it's hard to be upset with our start. I'm very happy, but I still haven't seen enough to say that I think we can win 50+ games. I think the 40-49 win range is still a reasonable estimate, with injuries (or lack thereof) being the main determinant of where we end up in that range.

I just like the fact that this is an entertaining team that can field a competitive product night in and night out. We had a similar makeup last season, but just got hit by too many injuries. Let's just enjoy the moment for now!

[60WinTim]

I hesitate to point this out, but last we were also sitting at 5-2 at this time. Roy had seen his last game, we just lost Bud, Barea was out with a foot sprain, and of course, Rubio and Love were still out as well. We proceeded to lose our next 5 in a row...

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

. We had a similar makeup last season, but just got hit by too many injuries.

Q, you seem to be stretching a bit here. We know that you were very critical before the season but 2/5ths of our starting lineup was not on roster. And, currently, Brewer and Martin are our 2nd and 3rd leading scorers. Not to mention how differently we play with our potential of outside shooting, fast break capabilities, and a wing defender that can legitimately impact opposing high end SFs. The make-up and skill sets seem pretty drastically different to me. I have a very hard time to see how you call that a "similar make-up".


I mean, how many above average teams changed more starters than us? I can't think of one. So our "team make-up", on a relative scale, has undergone "significant changes".

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

It seems like Stein is more sold on the Wolves than most on this board are. On the other hand, is he going to put OKC, who we beat, above us? And aside from OKC, who has really played better than us? (speaking specifically of the teams that Stein put behind us)

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

It seems like Stein is more sold on the Wolves than most on this board are. On the other hand, Is he going to put OKC who we beat above us? And aside from OKC, who has really played better than us?

The Spurs and the Pacers. That's it. OKC hasn't played better. They've barely squeaked past the Jazz and Wizards (playoff team I believe, but still a close win regardless) while beating the Suns who most would agree aren't that good. I'll take our wins, including one against OKC, over their's.

[TAFKASP]

It seems like Stein is more sold on the Wolves than most on this board are. On the other hand, is he going to put OKC, who we beat, above us?

I think most Power Rankings this early in the season are going to be primarily record based because there simply isn't enough data to work with. As the season progresses and teams have more of a track record then it becomes easier and more realistic to project power rankings even when a team is on a hot or cold streak. In the end Power Rankings are fun but 100% meaningless.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

. We had a similar makeup last season, but just got hit by too many injuries.

Q, you seem to be stretching a bit here. We know that you were very critical before the season but 2/5ths of our starting lineup was not on roster. And, currently, Brewer and Martin are our 2nd and 3rd leading scorers. Not to mention how differently we play with our potential of outside shooting, fast break capabilities, and a wing defender that can legitimately impact opposing high end SFs. The make-up and skill sets seem pretty drastically different to me. I have a very hard time to see how you call that a "similar make-up".


I mean, how many above average teams changed more starters than us? I can't think of one. So our "team make-up", on a relative scale, has undergone "significant changes".

Make-up is a poor choice of words. I meant that I felt as good of our roster strength going into last season as I did this season. I think we were all very bullish on last year's team and then things immediately started to go downhill once Love hurt himself in pre-season. The fact we were able to win 32 games, our best year since KG left, is a testament to the grit of the guys that fought through it. True, stylistically, a guy like Brewer is way different than AK47.

The Clippers, just like us, completely changed out their starting wing positions.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Top three teams in terms of point differential: Pacers, Wolves and Spurs...same three teams Stein has in the top three.