THE MISERS POWER RANKINGS (WEEK 4)

Three weeks in and things are really starting to heat up! Although not much has changed in the Power Rankings from last week except that Mikey’s Roofies took a tumble, as did MAMA LOOCH while TheBurningSensation and Best Team Ever started to hit their strides. I was wrong, however, about Mighty Mullets as they continued to struggle. I went 3-3 in my predications last week. Turns out T-Mac got injured, as did Vince and Chauncey and MAMA LOOCH just sucks. I provided some extensive comments this week to shut up my only critic so I hope you enjoy them.

Here are the Power Rankings after Week 3 as well as my predictions for the Week 4 winners.

Power Rankings:

#1 – The Flux (2)

I’ll be the first to admit…I think I underestimated The Flux. I didn’t realize that Rashard was this good or that Kaman would fill this much of a void in the absence of Brand. With that said, he needs Billups to remain healthy and Vince to come back soon to stay on top. And while Sammy D needs to shoot better than he has (only 46.5% for the season vs. 54% last year) having Damien “muther fucking” Wilkins dropping 41 should help ease the pain. Flux also needs to pray that Brand doesn’t make a comeback this season, otherwise expect Mr. ADD, along with The Flux, to eventually come back down to earth.

#2 – The Misers (3)

AUCTION ERA no longer! Despite having enormous doubters such as mikey’s roofies, Best Team Ever and Mighty Mullets post auction, The Misers appear to be the real deal. While Chris Paul has been amazing, it’s been the play of AK47 that’s gotten me off to a fast start. Yao, however, needs to be more consistent, Brandon Roy has to start playing like the player I thought he was capable of being and I need something out of my 11^th and 12^th spots. On a side note, Big Ben made his first appearance of the season on Friday night, which caused the migraines to cease for a day.

#3 – Loser’s Row (4)

Wow. Loser’s Row! What can I say? Josh Smith has been on fire! The great thing about J Smoove is that he could just as easily make his first all-star appearance this season as he could face a season ending suspension for pulling a Ron Artest on Tyronn Lue. Manu has picked off where he left off last season and continues to haunt the Mighty Mullets from last season when he was traded for the now irrelevant Charlie Villanueva. On the bleak side, Steph Marbury continues to terrorize his fantasy owners and Ray Felton can’t shoot for shit. But if Amare comes back strong, it won’t matter because this team could easily propel to number 1 in the standings. MAMA LOOCH, getting nervous yet?

#4 – mikey’s roofies (1)

Well the same man who continued to just flat out dogg The Misers, Loser’s Row and Best Team Ever for weeks has started to show his true colors. And unless pride continues to cloud his judgment, I anticipate that those teams will be ranked much higher this week. Mikey’s Roofies had an abysmal week and should have lost 7-2 to The Misers had Chris Paul not sprained his ankle. Instead he lost 5-4 and is starting to show signs of the team we thought he was -- a 3 headed monster featuring Nash, Camby, Lebron and little else. With the production of $1 steals such as Marvin Williams and Nick Collison starting to decline, I suspect that mikey’s roofies may eventually drop out of the top 6.

#5 – Moop Resurrected (6)

It’s about time I start paying Moop the proper respect he deserves. We all questioned his “patience is a virtue” strategy, but I’m starting to realize that maybe it does make sense to be a little fiscally conservative at the auction after all. Kevin Martin is the real deal…can we agree not to fall asleep on him again next year? Mike Redd and Richard Jefferson have returned to form after coming off injuries last season and Dwight Howard has been a beast. On the downside Mo Williams, Memo Okur and Zach Randolph have been major disappointments. But it’s time to give credit where credit’s due and acknowledge that Moop’s a real player this year and probably shouldn’t be kicked out of the league quite yet.

#6 – Best Team Ever (8)

I’ve been high on BTE since the beginning, putting him #2 in the power rankings before the season began. Barbosa is a god who doesn’t seem to miss, Joe Johnson looks like the real deal, KG is KG, Biedrins had the week of his goddamn life and Jameer Nelson is playing every game as if it were his last in honor of his late father. Alternatively, while Aldridge has been fantastic, he needs to improve his shot blocking and rebounds (I suspect he will) and Iggy needs to start playing like a real 2^nd rounder before this team can move up in the charts. Had Joe Dumars known that Darko would take six years to develop, maybe he would’ve drafted Melo instead. Channing Frye makes me not want to be a basketball fan and Grant Hill looked circa 1995 last week.

#7 – TheBurningSensation (10)

I know TBS didn’t have a stellar week, but D Wade is back and albeit not quite healthy will be a huge difference maker for this team. Josh Howard has been great, Al Jefferson has been big and Caron Butler has been playing as expected. Zydrunas must’ve taken some youth pills cause I know TBS didn’t anticipate the lines he’s been putting up thus far. Bogut is starting to come around as well and Peja has been quietly solid. Kirk Hinrich has been god-awful so far, but like Ben Wallace, I anticipate that these guys will turn it around sometime soon. However, don’t’ expect Rasheed Wallace, a career 34% three point shooter, to sustain his incredible percentage going forward (41% so far for the year).

#8 – Cardiff Giant (9)

I know. I know. T-Mac is hurt and that’s why you lost to Yom Kippur at Joel’s. Regardless, there are holes on Cardiff’s team that needs to be addressed asap, namely blocks and rebounds, before he can be considered a top 6 team. Cardiff’s Big 5 should help alleviate some of those concerns as they really are carrying the load (all five are currently ranked above 30 based on yahoo’s averages). On the flip side, Dyess, Fat Man, Diaw, Nocioni and McCants are all struggling to produce enough to push Cardiff up to that next tier. Haywood’s play has been inspiring, which just confirms how excited he must’ve been to hear the news that Etan Thomas went down with a season ending injury and Sean Williams is starting to look like the annual “free agent pickup of the year”.

#9 – Mighty Mullets (7)

The Mighty Mullets are starting to proclaim that it’s a rebuilding year for them, but no one’s buying into it or shedding any tears for him. Dirk has obviously been subpar this season and so has Deron and Gasol, but don’t buy into the Mullet’s sorrow; this team still has tremendous potential and with the likes of Granger and Gay looking like the major auction steals, expect big things from this squad in the near future once the rest of his players start firing on all cylinders. On a side note, Scola is a reach of desperation and Krstic’s play would keep me up at night.

#10 - MAMA LOOCH (5)

MAMA LOOCH is either off to a very slow start or I was dead wrong on this one. I originally pegged his squad to be one of the best-drafted teams in the league this year. With a 3 anchor, “Go Big or Go Home”, Mighty Mulletsesque strategy adopted, I thought the Looch would dominate in rebounds, fg% and blocks every week. That hasn’t been the case as he’s ranked only 6^th in FG%, 5^th in rebounds and 6^th in blocks; and he’s just atrocious in the other categories. Duncan’s best days are behind him, Bosh has been horrific, Mike Miller and Ricky Davis were so last year and Andre Miller and Bargnani just fucking suck. Thank god for Jason Terry though.

#11 – Blue Balls (11)

I have hope for Blue Balls yet (did I just say that?). While his team has been in the gutter for most of the season, supposed stars like Jermaine O’neal, Gilbert Arenas and Gerald Wallace have underperformed. It’s time to buy low on these guys already if you correctly assume that Blue Balls probably doesn’t read this blog. Let’s give this team another week or two though to see if those players start to turn it around before we start completely hatin’ his team. On the bright side, Al Harrington, Ronnie Brewer and Chris Wilcox have been much better than expected. But that again is the bright side.

#12 – Yom Kippur at Joel's (12)

I hate everything about this team to the point I’d prefer not to even write a comment. YKJ does not prepare for the auction and his mediocrity in fantasy basketball has finally come to a head. You can’t show up and shout some numbers and expect to be competitive anymore. It just doesn’t work. With that said, Kobe’s been great (hard to imagine I know), Ron Artest might not go psycho this year and Jason Kidd doesn’t age. Durant was a huge overpay though and was defined by his coach recently as a “volume shooter”. Don’t expect good percentages or stellar weeks when your 3^rd highest player is shooting 38% from the floor and 28% from 3pt line. Do some research already!

Week 4 Winners:

The Misers vs. Best Team Ever (BTE) – Will be hard without CP3
mikey’s roofies vs. Loser’s Row (Loser’s Row)
TheBurningSensation vs. MAMA LOOCH (TheBurningSensation)
Moop Resurrected vs. Mighty Mullets (Mighty Mullets)* - I’m expecting an upset
Cardiff Giant vs. The Flux (The Flux) – Will be interesting w/o Vince vs. T-Mac but Flux should come thru.
Blue Balls vs. Yom Kippur at Joel’s (Blue Balls)*

*Pay close attention to this week's key match up. #11 vs. #12. Who will prevail?