Power Rankings, Week of 12/29

[Spike]

So, we lost to a team we already beat, and we let a team that couldn't find a bucket in a Home Depot store score close to infinity points (granted, it was overtime.)
If this is a transitional period, to what are we transitioning? On to the rankings!

Sports Illustrated
#17 (+1)
DeMarcus Cousins can beat you in so many ways — ask the Knicks, who had a season-high 39 hung on them Saturday -- but maybe the most improbable way is at the stripe. Unlike other dominant centers who we won’t name, Cousins makes you pay when he’s fouled. He’s shooting a career-high 80.5 percent and attempting 8.9 freebies per game, fourth-most in the league.

USA TODAY
#19 (NC)
Organize. Michael Malone was fired for not adhering to the plan, but that plan needs to be more clear.

NBA.COM
#18 (NC)
With or without DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings' only wins in their last 16 games have come against the Pacers, Jazz, Lakers and Knicks. The last one required overtime, because their defense was pretty bad last week. So, though Cousins scored 39 points and sealed the game with this ferocious drive, he expressed some frustration after the game.
This week: @ BKN, @ BOS, @ MIN, @ DET

CBSSports.com
#18 (+1)
On Saturday night, DeMarcus Cousins scored a season-high 39 points, and the Kings beat the Knicks in overtime. It's the Knicks, but they won. And all Cousins would talk about is how disappointed he was, particularly in his own play defensively. The guy is becoming the leader you want.

Yahoo! Sports
#17 (NC)
Lost in the attention given to cavalier owner Vivek Ranadivé is an All-Star-worthy season by DeMarcus Cousins, who is averaging 24.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.

ESPN.COM
#18 (-1)
Don't think DeMarcus Cousins is buying the notion that his 11-game absence caused by that scary bout with viral meningitis has snuffed out his All-Star chances. He's averaged a beastly 29.3 points, 11.0 boards and 4.3 assists in his first four games and has likewise lifted the play of teammate Rudy Gay.

Hollinger Daily Rankings
#21
Rating: 96.644

What I Had For Lunch Today:

A Reuben paired with Drake's Jolly Rodger 2014 Imperial Stout. Stop by The Handle Bar next time you're in Chico.

Mean Rankings: 18.29

 

[Spike]

AHA! That's one mystery solved.

Things go a little slower on my phone. Moreso when the in-laws live in an almond orchard on the "No G" network.

 

[VF21]

AHA! That's one mystery solved.

 

[VF21]

Heheheh. I changed my post so you'd know which mystery I was referring to.

 

[IfAt1st]

The national media isn't watching the Kings very closely if they didn't drop the Kings significant places, into the 20's.

The way the team is playing right now, I wouldn't put them any higher than 24th. It doesn't matter what stats Boogie, Rudy, Collison put up - on the court, it is quite apparent they can't keep up with most teams, and middling talents are now enough to derail the Kings.

 

[swisshh]

mmm reubens

Cousins getting a lot of props. In regards to the all-star game, I found this article interesting because I had noticed the same thing when voting:

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/12/30/nba-all-star-voting-lebron-james-stephen-curry-anthony-davis

hen a fan initially clicks on the official ballot website, a list of names is automatically displayed. That list is not organized alphabetically; instead, it auto-populates by the player’s Player Impact Estimate (PIE), a catch-all statistic used by NBA.com to measure a player’s overall value.


As it turns out, Wall ranks No. 1 among East backcourt players in PIE, Davis ranks No. 1 among West frontcourt players in PIE, and Gasol ranks No. 2 among West frontcourt players in PIE. In other words, their names are among the first that a voter sees when he or she logs onto the ballot website. Just check out the image below. Even if New Orleans and Memphis don't play very often on national television, it's impossible to miss Davis and Gasol on the ballot.

You have to plug in Cousins name to find him. Same with Durant.

 

[VF21]

You have to plug in Cousins name to find him. Same with Durant.

Change the sort to PPG instead of PIE and you'll find Cousins at #3.

 

[Bricklayer]

mmm reubens

Cousins getting a lot of props. In regards to the all-star game, I found this article interesting because I had noticed the same thing when voting:

http://www.si.com/nba/2014/12/30/nba-all-star-voting-lebron-james-stephen-curry-anthony-davis



You have to plug in Cousins name to find him. Same with Durant.

Yes, highly annoying as PIE does not go per minute. hence Cousins' illness automatically shoots him down the list. its liek Yahoo's annoying tendency to default to "Totals" rather than Per Game in its fantasy stats.

Anwyay, as VF21 noted, you can just resort by any of the columns. Points, rebs, whatever, will bring him up. Just makes we wonder how many votes he may have lost from casual thoughtless fans due to nba.com's decisions to front and center its mush stat garbage.