I am loving the condensed season so far. I have been watching probably 5 or 6 games a week and the competition is outstanding this year.

The big surprises for me so far have been how good the THunder are, how well the Bulls play without Rose, and the Heat not being the dominant force of destruction we all though they would be. Also how well the Blazers have come together as a team with the loss of Roy.

The Magic are doing fine even with Howard whining for a trade. the Howard thing wouldn't bug me if he didn't say things like "I want to go to a team that I can build a future with," if he just told the truth and said "I want to go to a team that I can win with this year because what they did in Miami and Boston looks like fun," it wouldn't bug me so much. The Magic are a team that he can build a future with, with a mix of young up-and-comers like Reddick and Anderson, and solid workers like Hedo and Richardson.

I am also a bit surprised at the so-so record of the Clippers, although as they gel and get healthy i think that will change.

A few things that are not surprising:
The Nuggets are better without Carmelo. The Knicks are starting to realize that they might be better if he plays less as well, as he is getting sat a lot more in favour of guys that actually pass the ball around.

Kobe is getting his points at the expense of the Lakers. Yes they are doing fine but if they don't get guys like Gasol into the game this isn't going to last very far into the playoffs.

The Raptors are still awful. Not only are they terrible but they don't even seem to be rebuilding. They are just in a holding pattern of suck.

While I had hopes that my beloved Warriors would shock some people this year, it seems that missing out on signing Deandre Jordan or Tyson Chandler has hurt them. They really do need a big man to free up David Lee to do his thing. Also no Curry has been hard to deal with even with the solid play of Ellis.

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. It seems like we'll see a lot more lingering injuries this year that will be caused by lack of proper rest. I love to have so much basketball to watch everyday, but this regular season will definitely benefit teams that can go 9-10 deep.

I admit to being pleasantly surprised by the Jazz. I like what they are doing this year.

I'm usually not a doom and gloom guy, but without an improvement in guard play the Knicks are toast this season.

As soon as they signed Anthony the Knicks were toast. I think the Nuggets are proving that teams are better without him then with him. He might get a lot of points but he does it selfishly like Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady used to, and just like those guys proved, you can't get far relying on that kind of player (unless he is insanely good like Wilt or Jordan).

The few times I have watched the Knicks play this season they have been at their best with Melo on the bench, the ball movement is obviously better, but it also seems like everyone hustles a bit more because they know they are part of the offence.

As for the guards letting Chauncey go is biting them in the butt. It turns out that Fields was not quite ready to do it on his own, and as much as I love Baron Davis (mostly for getting the Warriors their only decent playoff run in the past decade) even when he is cleared to play he is never going to be back at even 80 per cent of what he was, and Bibby is equally past it.

That leaves Shumpert who I think shows a lot of promise in the backcourt, but he is a rookie and still has a long way to go.

So I guess long story short. I agree with you and also Melo is awful.

Shumpert has defensive potential, but he's an SG that can pass, not a PG. Fields is what he is a SF masquerading as a SG, but his game is coming into focus now. Bibby wasn't expected to do anything but be a back up PG anyway and is being asked to do too much. The real disappointment is Toney Douglas. He's gone from solid last year to easily the worst guard to get minutes in the game.

Ranking the top 16 NBA teams a third(ish) of the way through the season

1. Chicago: They proved to be deeper than anyone thought. Deng may be the most underrated player in the league and Rose is proving that he deserved his MVP.

2. Miami: they had a rocky start and probably won't do it if James meltsdown again, and definitely won't if Wade can't stay healthy. But with this much talent I would be silly not to rank them in the top 3.

3. Clippers: I know their W-L isn't that impressive but none of these starters played together last year so they need a bit of a grace period for growing pains. Now that they are coming together and Paul is back on the court they look awesome. They dominated OKC the other night, Griffin is living up to the hype, DJ may be the best big man in the game right now, Butler is almost back to all-star form, and you can not beat that backcourt.

4. Oklahoma City: They are good and they are exciting but they rely too much on Westbrook and Durant, and I'm still not convinced they are all the way there yet.

5. Philadephia: The big surprise in the east is getting it done on both ends with solid coaching and team play.

6. Denver: The big surprise in the west is getting it done on both ends with solid coaching and team play.

7. Atlanta: Smith and Johnson have proven that they can get it done without the big man, but just think how good they will be when Horford returns.

8. indiana: I guess Granger is a franchise player after all, and now he has a supporting cast.

9. Dallas: Even if they are a bit long in the tooth, you can't count out the champs. Although this team is not as good as last year's team, I am looking at you Carter.

10. Orlando: Howard is a bit of an occasionally dark cloud, but he is also a solid player and as much as he wants to play with another huge star he is underselling his supporting cast.

11. Lakers: Even without a quality point guard if Kobe can get his teammates involved and create a situation that can still exist without him on the court they may have something. Spoiler alert: He won't.

12. Portland: They lost their best player to early retirement and came together as a team. That kind of character can go a long way.

13. San Antonio: I know you can't ever count out this wily group of vets but with Manu on the shelf things don't look good.

14. Boston: The big 3 passed the big 30 too long ago.

15. Utah: They are better than anyone expected by a long shot but I think this is the peak of their overachieving.

16. Milwaukee: The only team on the list with a losing record. My love for Dunleavy and Jennings can almost get me over the fact that they have Jackson on the roster but let's be honest they are still the Bucks.

And when I say this, I mean for any team in the league.

It is somewhat telling that I completely forgot to even mention him.

I've never seen a pro player on the floor as much as he is and just know bad things are going to happen.

Like last night game. With him on the floor tons of turnovers, missed open shots. It's getting to the point where I think his confidence is gone and he'd be better served going down to the D-League and giving...*sigh* Lin those minutes. Lin, honestly, could not do worse than TD right now.

Holy hell! I should've had more faith in Lin! I know he can't keep this up but damn it's good to see an actual PG playing in a Knicks uniform.

Sorry Mal.

Well, I think Marc Stein now has an excuse to rank the Jazz like, 40th or something.

(Seriously, any opportunity he gets, he kills them in his "power rankings")

I'm euphoric right now. This is exciting.

Bumping this up with rep for my Indiana Pacers!!! 4 wins away from the 3 spot in the east. Granger is proving critics wrong. I succumbed to the Granger hating early in the season when the Eric Gordon rumors began circulating. But Granger has turned into a legit fourth quarter guy and has done a good job closing these past several games.

The athleticism of this team is going to scare teams in the east. A few bounces in different directions last year and they could have ousted the Bulls in the first round.

Also, they finally have a man in the middle!

yeah congrats to ur Pacers being consistently good all year... unfortunately my Sixers couldn't stay as consist as the Pacers