NBA POWER RANKINGS - WEEK 4

And we're back with our fourth installment of our NBA power rankings. For the 2009-10 season, we here at Docksquad Sports will be doing a weekly power rankings in collaboration with our friends over at Cavalier Attitude.

We'll give you our take on all 30 teams in the NBA, and we will rank them every week as decided by our very own NBA committee.

The committee consists of myself (Vik Chokshi), Suman Vellanki (also from DSS), as well as Amar Panchmatia and Rahul Phanindra from Cavalier Attitude. Teams will be ranked for their performance through last Sunday, and the previous week's ranking will be listed after these initial rankings.

Tip-Off:

1. (9) Orlando Magic (11-3)

• The Magic are playing good, consistent basketball right now, which is pretty much what all of us expected before the season began. Loosing Jameer with a knee injury does hurt them, but White Chocolate is filling in nicely in the meantime. Also, getting Shard back is a huge boost for this Magic squad. (VC)

2. (3) Lakers (10-3)

• Gasolina back in the game. Sorry players. The champs are rolllllllllin'. (RP)

3. (2) Phoenix (11-3)

• The NBA's top rated offensive team is shooting the 3-ball at an amazing 44% thus far. They have an inexplicable loss to the Hornets to go along with losses to the top 2 teams in this week's poll. A nice start for Amar'e but how is he only averaging 7.6 rebounds per game? Questions remain about how this team will fare against the elite. (SV)

4. (1) Atlanta Hawks (11-3)

• Didn't really do much to deserve getting hammered in the power rankings (although fourth is still pretty freaking good), but they were Orlando's you-know-what last season. The Magic's sudden resurgence just shows that the Hawks still have to beat D-Howard's crew before sitting pretty atop the entire league for more than a week. (AP)

5. (3) Dallas Mavs (10-3)

• I don't think a lot of us expected the Mavs to be this good, at least I didn't. But Dirk is flat out BOC(ballin' on cats) right now, JKidd and the JET are doing their thing, and the team seems to be playing a lot better on the defensive side of the ball this year. BTW, who is this Beaubois kid? Got to give the kid some props, as he is playing solid basketball right now. (VC)

6. (7) Cleveland (10-4)

• Bound to rip off a 10-11 game streak at some point. Did Shaq really juke the Wiz because of Gilbert? (RP)

7. (4) Boston (10-4)

• A tough team to figure out this season as they have looked incredible yet also vulnerable (losses to Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando and nearly the Knicks in the last 12 days). Will be interesting to see if there is any lingering affect to Rajon Rondo being benched for nearly the entire 4th quarter against the Hawks. With Rasheed struggling thus far the C's desperately need Big Baby back as they rank 29th in the league in rebounding. (SV)

8. (6) Denver Nuggets (9-4)

• The Nuggets were riding high after spanking the Lakers in the face two Fridays ago, but they fell in this week's rankings after an embarrassing loss to L.A.'s other team, the Clippers. The Clips have some talent, but if you're a team looking to make the jump like Denver, you can't lose to these guys despite 37 points from Carmelo Anthony. (AP)

9. (11) Milwaukee Bucks (8-3)

• The Bucks seem to be proving all the haters wrong so far, including myself. They continue to win even despite two of their best players in Bogut and Redd being injured. Don't look now, but Coach Skiles is working his magic with another young team, AGAIN. Skiles is a legitimate COY canidate right now. (VC)

10.(8) Portland (10-5)

• Unexciting wins against three garbage (Pistons,Bulls and Warriors) teams. Why are they even ranked this high? (RP)

11. (10) Miami (8-5)

• Terrible week for the Heat ended on a bright note with a 1 point victory against the Hornets. Injuries hurt, especially D-Wade's finger, and they just looked lifeless until a strong 2nd half against the Raptors. They lost the game, but regained some confidence and beat the Hornets the next game. Michael Beasley logging some quality minutes, but is still marred by inconsistency. (SV)

12. (12) Houston Rockets (8-6)

• Talk about a stranglehold -- the Rox are 12 in our rankings for a third consecutive week. This team is just so hard to gauge, as last-second losses like the one to Atlanta and "good" losses like the one to Phoenix last week make it hard for this team to make the leap. Now T-Mac once back in, but if the Rockets are wise, they'll keep him as far away from this inspiring group as possible. (AP)

13. (20) Utah Jazz (7-6)

• The Jazz finally look like they are getting back on track, after a couple of nice wins last week. Getting DWill back healthy,and playing at home definitely helped. They also won at San Antonio for the first time in ten years. Now comes the hard part, let's see if they can stay injury free. (VC)

14. (15) Oklahoma City (7-7)

• Does KD still have a wack PER and/or +/-? Westbrook is more fun to watch. (RP)

15. (16) Chicago (6-6)

• A 1-2 start on the Circus Trip low lighted by blowout losses to the Lakers and Nuggets. Derrick Rose doesn't look like the ROY he was last year, but is still rounding into shape after his ankle injury. Joakim Noah is quietly putting together a potentially All-Star type of season. (SV)

16. (18) San Antonio Spurs (6-6)

• Such a colossal disappointment. Everyone pegged them as an elite team going into this season, but they have so many question marks now. Dallas has blown by them as the class of the division, and the Mavericks' overtime win last Wednesday put the hurt on San Antonio. This is also a team that never ever lost to Utah and has now lost to the Jazz twice this season. (AP)

17. (13) Indiana Pacers (5-6)

• They drop 4 spots from last week. This is a young team, and it is showing in streaks. They started off the year terribly, but then went on a nice run, all to have it come crumbling down with a recent losing streak. They do have some talent on this squad, led by Granger, so I look for this team to make some noise. The only problem is, I don't see that happening until next year. Until then, get ready for some growing pains. (VC)

18. (14) Sacramento (5-7)

• Ew, 0-3 last week. Who put them this high? (RP)

19. (17) Toronto (6-8)

• Same old story with the Raps....an exciting offense and a porous defense. At this point I have to ask...is Chris Bosh elite enough to carry a team or will he bail ship to join forces with a superstar who can? (SV)

20. (26) New Orleans Hornets (6-9)

• Possible Ewing Theory situation here? Chris Paul goes down, and the Hornets suddenly start beating teams they have no business beating. Dropped juggernauts Phoenix and Atlanta last week and came within a point of upending Miami. (AP)

21. (19) Detroit Pistons (5-9)

• After starting out a respectable 5-5, the Pistons seem to have hit a wall, losing their last four games. I know they played some tough teams, and are short handed, so that may be the cause for their recent skid. I still think they have too many of the same players,and no bigs, but GWS(guess we'll see). (VC)

22. (22) Philadelphia (5-8)

• Most jacked team in the league. Brand finally starting to do something after Speights went down. (RP)

23. (21) Los Angeles Clippers (5-9)

• Did you catch the Clippers/Nuggets game on ESPN last Friday? That team that dominated the Nuggets was the same one that lost back-to-back to the Hornets and Grizzlies right before that win. When Blake Griffin comes back he will team up with DeAndre Jordan and Chris Kaman to form one of the better front courts in basketball. It's also time Kaman gets some All-Star pub (averaging 21 a game!) (SV)

24. (24) Charlotte Bobcats (4-9)

• I have no idea where this wayward squad is headed. The only reason they're not ranked lower (and 24th is low enough) is because they drilled a Pacers team on Sunday night to snap a seven-game losing streak. (AP)

25. (25) Washington Wizards (3-9)

• I think we all thought the Wizards would bounce back this year with the return of Agent 0. There's just one problem with that thought though, who kidnapped GILBERT ARENAS? The Hibachi has been put out, as Arenas is struggling with his shooting. Can him and the Whiz turn it around? Jamison did just get back, so let's see if Hibachi can heat up, and Butler and Jamison can do their thing. (VC)

26. (23) Golden State (4-8)

• Salvaged an 0-2 week with a win against the Blazers. No clue where Nellie and this team are headed. (RP)

27. (27) Memphis (4-9)

• The Grizz don't deserve comments this week. I mean I'm all for racist jokes when its done in jest, but come on man. (SV)

28. (29) New York Knicks (3-10)

• The Knicks move up a spot from 29th to 28th by proving on the court that they're better than the Nets. But not by much, frighteningly. Pretty ironic that the NBA schedules Knicks/Nets on the same weekend the NFL has Browns/Lions. (AP)

29. (28) Minnesota TWolves (1-12)

• Unfortunately there isn't much I can say about this squad right now, as they are getting waxed in pretty much every game. Hopefully this young team can get healthy again and just stick with it, so that they can at least be respectable when they get on the court. (VC)

30. (30) New Jersey (0-13)

• "I'm slippin', I'm fallin, I can't get up." Sorry about pulling a New Jersey and mailing this rankings column in. I'm half-dead. Again, like the Nets. (RP)

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