Rating the October Power Rankings

Most in-season rankings read a lot like the standings, which is boring, I'm gonna try something a little different and look at the rankings from over a month ago and see how right or how wrong I was.

W-L Record in parentheses.

1. L.A. Lakers (13-4) - This still seems about right, you could probably put the Spurs at 1, but I'd take the Lakers over them.
2. Miami (10-8) - Not looking like the second best team in the league, but have lost what little depth they had. Despite their apparent mediocrity now, I think they'll be among the best teams in the league around playoff time, even if their record isn't.
3. Orlando (12-4) - Howard is better offensively, but hasn't looked like as dominant defensively. I'm willing to bet he starts to. Right now they're the best team in the east and I think they'll get better.
4. Utah (14-5) - 14 and 5 with one of the toughest records in the league? Doesn't seem so optimistic now, does it? I'm still a little worried that they've needed to come from behind in all these games, but it's very promising, not to mention exciting that they have.
5. Dallas (13-4) - Who was right about Tyson Chandler? I was. They should only get better when Roderick Bubois or however you spell french gets back.
6. Oklahoma City (12-6) - Russell Westbrook has been amazing. If he can keep it up the Thunder will be making noise in the playoffs.
7. Boston (12-4) - Here's what I said about Boston "Still old, but KG looks healthier than last two years. Will climb if they stay healthy." They were healthy, then Rondo went down, then Rondo came back and Delonte West went down. Jermaine O'Neal hasn't been healthy since he was a Pacer. . . this team is still good, but still looks fragile.
8. Houston (5-12) - My first real whiff. Yes, I probably should have expected Yao to get hurt, but Aaron Brooks too? Their best player and PG going down is a big deal, imagine if the Jazz lost D-Will. That might just be a cop-out, they were losing before Brooks got hurt. In any event, they've been much worse than I expected.
9. Atlanta (11-7) - Have looked very good and very bad, but this is about where I expected them to be.
10. Portland (8-8) - It seems like being a blazer fan is like inviting repeated punches to the gut. Maybe it seems fun at first, but you end up dying from a burst appendix. This Portland team can still be good, not deep into the playoffs good, but make the playoffs good. But, (cue blazer rant)

the new lineup is further evidence that McMillan doesn’t know what he’s doing.

The problem with the Blazers offense for the last couple of seasons has been that everyone except Roy would be better off in an up-tempo offense. But, Roy is the best player on the team, so they force this purple drank pace on Aldridge and Miller and Batum and nobody can really get going. Then you have a second unit that doesn’t have anyone who can create.

Now that Roy needs his minutes limited you’ve got a perfect opportunity to kill both these birds. Miller, Matthews, Batum, Aldridge, Camby is a pretty damn good starting lineup, I’d say they could hang with most teams. Johnson, Roy, Fernandez, Cunningham, Przybilla is a pretty frightening second team too. Obviously you have Roy in there to finish close games, and he should always get the minutes he can handle, sort of like a Ginobili situation.

McMillan is so overrated. Remember this is the guy who was starting Steve Blake over Andre Miller until the FO was like, “enough! we’re trading blake.”

sorry, just me going off on McMillan.
11. Milwaukee (6-11) - Another team with injury issues that hasn't looked good. Looks like we have to temper expectations on Bogut and therefore the bucks for a while.
12. Chicago (9-6) - Have performed admirably without Boozer. They will likely cruise to a division title, although Indiana has looked good. . . .
13. Denver (10-6) - Denver is a tough team for me to figure out, they have had some good wins, but have never really looked great getting them.
14. Phoenix (8-9) - Turns out I was right, They are asking a lot of a Canadian who's closer to 40 than 30.
15. San Antonio (14-2) - Yes, a big miss on my part. Here's what I said about the Spurs, "They'll probably prove me wrong. It will still be boring." They are proving me wrong, and I am still bored by the team.
16. Memphis (7-10) - This team is going nowhere.
17. L.A. Clippers (3-15) - What I said about Clippers, "Blake Griffin has looked like a force, if he stays healthy. . . well, it's still the Clippers." They're still the Clippers even more than I thought they were.
18. New Orleans (12-5) - The Hornets are better than I thought they were, but their 11-1 start was a mirage.
19. Philadelphia (4-13) - Doug Collins is terrible. This team is better than their record, but they're still worse than I thought they'd be.
20. Washington (5-11) - The good news is that all their key players have played well. The bad news is that they've never done it in the same game.
21. Charlotte (6-11) - Blech.
22. Cleveland (7-9) - Crazy thing is that right now, Cleveland's the 8 seed in the east.
23. Sacramento (4-11) - Tyreke Evans does not look right. Sadly he is still Sacramento's best player by a large margin.
24. Indiana (8-7) - Ok, so I ranked Indiana low. In my defense I did say this, "I think they'll be ahead of Cleveland and Charlotte soon. Collison's the real deal and Hibbert will take a step forward. A lot to like here." The promising thing about Indiana is that Collison has been hurt and hasn't looked very good yet, yet they've been getting quality wins.
25. New York (9-9) - Ok, so I ranked New York low. In my defense I did say this, "I could see them making a jump similar to Indiana's." To D'Antoni's credit, he has adjusted his offense to fit Felton's strengths. I didn't know he could do that.
26. New Jersey (6-11) - Yep.
27. Detroit (6-11) - Uh huh.
28. Golden State (8-9) - After a quick 6-2 start they are 2-7 in their last 9. I guess I should reserve judgment until Lee gets back into the swing, but I'm pretty sure they're more 2-7 than 6-2.
29. Toronto (6-11) - Well, they're not quite as bad as I thought. But they're pretty bad. Reggie Evans broke his foot and Joey Dorsey is now starting, yep, Joey Dorsey.
30. Minnesota (4-13) - Darko Milicic and Michael Beasley have looked pretty good and yet the wolves have only won four games. Once Darko and Beasley (Is it just me or do they sound like Harry Potter characters?) remember they aren't very good things will get even worse for them.