OKC Thunder week 5 power rankings – Continued progress and TI’s top 10

Milwaukee Bucks:

Hard not to move these Bucks to the top of the list given their prowess on both sides of the hardwood.

Coach Mike Budenholzer’s system is working to perfection and Giannis Antetokounmpo leads most polls to win MVP.

That said, something is nagging at me about this squad. They seem to rely far too much on their 3-point shooting and if it grows cold how will that translate in the post season? With teams now dialed into the Bucks, they are starting to get opponent’s best efforts which is also offering a concerning side effect where Milwaukee is either forced to battle back or require pushes to win games in which they should easily handle. The Bulls game is a perfect example.

Next week’s ranking will cite the same factor as the Bucks took the Suns for granted and it cost them the game.

Factors:

Offensive Rating: 1st
Defensive Rating:  5th
Net Differential: 1st
Offensive field goal efficiency:  49.1 percent (2nd)
Opponent field goal efficiency: 43.7 percent (2nd)
Win/Loss 1-1: A quiet week for the Bucks with just two games on tap. They lost to the Grizzlies and beat the Bulls though it took a huge comeback to garner the latter.
Record: 11-4
Injuries: John Henson required surgery on his wrist and will be out until mid-February. A slew of other little injuries to reserve players may affect the Bucks depth, but for now, their starting five are all healthy and reaping the rewards of their cohesion.

Here’s where the national media and top sites rated the OKC Thunder in week five of action.