2021-2022 AROUND the NBA: GSW Champs [ARCHIVED]

[ItsGoTime]

https://theathletic.com/3128535/2022/02/...-30-teams/

This guy takes a bit of a different approach to power rankings and uses net rating as a big part of his measuring stick. A blurb and then his post on the Mavs.

Back in Week 9 of the Power Rankings, we took a look at the quarter-by-quarter net rating breakdowns, including some clutch-game situation information. We checked out how teams were in net rating in the first, second, third and fourth quarters individually, and how that game flow might affect some of the ways they’ve managed to dig themselves out of holes or put themselves even deeper into it. I also included the clutch-situation net ratings, those rankings around the league and their respective records in those clutch games.
Let’s check in on how much progress or regression has happened for these teams, then I’ll put them in an order of power, almost a ranking of it, for each team.

Just a reminder, the Power Rankings this season don’t just rank the 30 teams. We’ve divided these teams up into tiers, which any of the teams can move in and out of all season long. Here are the six tiers that teams can fall into:

• Rebuilding franchise – Self-explanatory.
  
• Tired of rebuilding franchise – They’re not trying to keep rebuilding but they’re just not good enough to avoid it.
  
• Play-In Tournament gives them life – Normally, this team would be headed toward Tank-a-palooza, but the Play-In Tournament is keeping them alive.
  
• Playoff hopefuls – Too good to be firmly considered a Play-In Tournament team, but not good enough to really make noise in the postseason.
  
• On the brink of contention – A piece away from believing they can win the title.
  
• Contender – Self-explanatory.
  
  

As always, I am sure we will all agree on the placement of all 30 teams, especially your favorite team.

Here’s how the Power Rankings work:

• It’s up to my discretion how the rankings shake out each week. For some teams, they’ll be hit in the short term. Others will be given the benefit for the long term. Yes, it is entirely subjective.
  
• I do not believe in the transitive property with these teams. If Team X beats Team Y and Team Y beats Team Z, it doesn’t mean Team X is automatically better than Team Z. 
  
• If I have a team ahead of another team, there’s no reason to ask why they’re ranked above the team you like. The answer is pretty simple: I think that team is set up better for success.
  
• Yes, I watch the games. And yes, I watch your favorite team.
  
• Only 15 teams will be deemed worthy of a GIF or video each week. That’s to limit how much we eat up your data and computer’s processor.
  
• This is supposed to be fun, so let’s have fun with it. 
  

He puts the Mavs in the "On the brink of contention" group at #10 and ahead of such teams as the Nuggets (11), Celtics (12) and Nets (13 and start of the Playoff Hopefuls group). We are behind the Cavs (9), Jazz (8) and 76ers (7). There are only 3 teams in the Contenders group: The Bucks (3), Heat (2) and Suns (1). Here is as much of the writeup as I can copy/paste as he has a table imbedded into the article for the net rating stats:

10. Dallas Mavericks (Previously 12th), 35-24, +3.6 net rating

Weekly slate: Win at Heat, Win at Pelicans

Takeaway: The fourth quarters and the clutch situations are still issues for the Dallas Mavericks. They haven’t been able to improve that over the last 10 weeks, and their having the worst net rating in the clutch seems almost bewildering. We tend to think of Luka Dončić as a guy who can pull teams through the tight moments. The silver lining is even though they are the worst in the clutch with their net rating, they still have a 14-15 record on the season. It just hilariously doesn’t work out for them when the clutch goes bad. But look at the progress in the first three quarters of the games. Those are significant turnarounds in each of the first three quarters, and a big part of their dominance now in the first quarter is coming out to establish themselves on both ends of the court, especially as their defense continues to improve on the season. The Mavs aren’t going away, and with Luka in good shape now, we’ll probably see him with a full head of steam at the end of clutch games to help change that for Dallas.