NY Power Rankings, 5-3:
5) Raymond Felton: Insert obligatory reference to Jeremy Lin here. OK, now that that’s out of the way, Raymond Felton has played Linspired (sorry) basketball this season. Even before his “put a three on it!” performance in Miami, the former Portlandia buffet all-star was putting up solid numbers, including scoring 16 points and dishing out nearly seven dimes a game, rekindling his pick-and-roll love affair with Tyson Chandler. There was that little 3-19 snafu in Brooklyn, but that only endears me more to him.
4) Brook Lopez: So the Magic wanted a poor man’s Andre Iguodala over Brook Lopez? Interesting. If Brook’s value was at all in question, the Nets woeful 0-4 run since he has been sidelined should settle that debate. It would be nice to see the seven footer play a little closer to the rim sometimes (because, you know, he’s seven feet tall), but for a guy that scores 18.5 points per game on 53% shooting, that’s just picking nits. Besides, he’ll get more points once refs start to give him continuation on the rip move. Lopez’s defense and rebounding will always leave something to be desired, but his rebounding isn’t as atrocious as it has been in the past few seasons and he is top five in the league in blocks (2.5 per game). In summation, GET BACK ON THE COURT.
3) Tyson Chandler: Nate Silver has a tattoo of him on his chest. He once fired Donald Trump. He doesn’t grow beards, beards grow him. He is…the most efficient offensive player in the world. But seriously, Tyson is shooting (err…dunking/laying in) at a torrid, league best 69.8% field goal percentage. The reigning defensive player of the league and former Bobcats also-ran will never be an offensive juggernaut, but now he is a legit two-way player because of his efficiency. Chandler also gets a bump for playing on the Olympic team, and if you don’t agree, you hate America, commie.
Check the rankings: 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-3 | 2-1
