NBA Power Rankings week 10- Pundits jump on OKC Thunder band wagon
Week ten the NBA power rankings lists find the OKC Thunder almost unanimously ranked 7th though one dissenter marked them as low as 10th.
It was inevitable with the December the OKC Thunder were amassing the pundits would eventually line up to side with the team winning. With the month and year almost at an end, the power ranking lists reflect the team’s solid recent efforts.
Still, there will be those who question if the current winning is a simply one of the natural ebbs and flows of the season. Others who’ve been waiting for this to occur all season will gladly vault the team up their lists.
The following showcases how the National scribes ranked the OKC Thunder in week ten. This week scribes based their lists on games played versus the Jazz (times two), Hawks, Memphis and most will include the Rockets Christmas game. Bleacher Report power ranking list is the lone list which runs on a different schedule concluding prior to the weekend.
With that, let’s take a look at each of the lists and where the OKC Thunder were placed on each.
NBA.com – John Schuhmann
John Schuhmann pays homage to Russell Westbrook early in his weekly missive:
"Plus-minus stud: Russell Westbrook (OKC) was a plus-78 in five games over the last eight days."
This of course opened the door for Schuhmann to move the OKC Thunder up from their previous rank in week nine of 16. Schuhmann doesn’t disappoint vaulting the team all the way up to 7th.
"Offense! The Thunder have scored more than 110 points per 100 possessions in four straight games for the first time this season, with Russell Westbrook shooting 58 percent from the field and both Carmelo Anthony and Paul George shooting 48 percent from 3-point range over the four games. Westbrook hit the game-winning three against Atlanta on Friday, but he’s been otherwise reticent to shoot from beyond the arc."
Click on the link to see the rest of Schuhmann’s comments about Westbrook and the Thunder.
More from Thunderous Intentions
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- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
ESPN – Panel
The panel haven’t been keen to reward the OKC Thunder overtly seeming to favor the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors in the west.
Likewise this panel has been equally fixated on the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers in the east.
Sure will be fun to see where the panel ranks the reeling Celtics (and referee added no less), 3-game losing Cavaliers and 5-game losing Rockets next week.
For now, Thunder Nation will have to suffice with the panel moving OKC up four spots to 8th on this week’s list.
ESPN’s panel:
ESPN: Kevin Arnovitz | Amin Elhassan |Ramona Shelburne
The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears | FiveThirtyEight: Chris Herring
"During OKC’s Christmas Day win, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony combined for 75 points while making 54.9 percent of their field goal attempts. According to Elias, in no other game this season have Westbrook, George and Anthony combined to score as many points while also hitting as high a percentage of their shots. — Jim Merritt"
Sports Illustrated – The Crossover:
Kenny Ducey continues his yo-yo OKC Thunder habit. This week it’s the uprise of the yo-yo with OKC climbing 6 spots into 7th.
I’m a little confused by his statement of “actually playing defense” since the Thunder have been stellar on defense the entire season.
Perhaps I’m missing the point, meaning they are doing so (as well as) moving the ball. Either way the Thunder climb up Ducey’s listings.
Can week 11 break a trend for the SI scribe and find back to back solid weeks for OKC on his listings? Tune in next week to find out.
"Oklahoma City is actually playing defense now—AND sharing the ball—which is just a beautiful thing. I never thought a team with post-Nuggets Carmelo Anthony was capable of this."
CBS Sports:
Chris Barnewell continues chose to do things a little differently in week ten of his ranking. Barnewell provides a Christmas gift idea for each squad. In addition he ranks the squads and air lifts the Thunder up to 10th from his previous rank of 17th.
"The Thunder really want Carmelo Anthony and Paul George to re-sign in the offseason. For Christmas, they want an NBA bonus round where you play with two balls instead of one."
Bleacher Report:
Grant Hughes gets the nod for the scribe who has been on board all season with the OKC Thunder. So, we’ll cut him a little slack for only jumping the squad from 10th to 7th. He’s envisioned this team being top ten most of the season and stuck to his guns.
"This will feel a little high for a team defined all season by disappointment relative to expectations, but Basketball Reference‘s simple rating system (which factors in strength of schedule and margin of victory) has the Oklahoma City Thunder ranked seventh overall, immediately ahead of Washington and Indy. And it’s a lot easier to envision another gear from OKC than it is for those other two squads."
See the rest of Hughes comments above via the link.
Next: 3 specific games changed OKC Thunder season
Week 11 of power ranking lists will encompass games played through to the New Year including the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks.