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The playoff pictures are slowly starting to take shape in that it's becoming clear that some teams are serious and going to compete whilst others are pretending to do so. Those not even pretending are the teams already out of the race and starting to think about who they should move if they get the #1 pick and take John Wall.
Let's give them the ultimate grading system, the "Universal Sean Marks". Even 1 Sean Marks is pretty damn good.
So who's what?
 Cleveland 27/8: 5 Sean Marks. And coming good at the right time too. LeBron is doing a lot but I can't for the life of me work out how teams can't stop that open cut for the thunder dunk he gets EVERY GAME. It's so obvious I wonder how much David Stern is paying them to double-team Varajaeo. Either way, Cleveland will be there at the business end of the Eastern Conference.
Boston 24/8: 5 Sean Marks.
After a small skid where certain players were doing too much, Boston went to their depth and reminded us why they're a scary proposition for any opposition. In dismantling the "no Marks" Raptors today down 3 of their big 4, they showed that they indeed have what it takes to be there come April.
 Orlando 24/9: 4 Sean Marks. But mostly because of their silly spending. With Carter going down today I'm interested to see how this team will gel in his absence. Lewis is easy to cover for but Carter gives a bit of everything so it should require a well balanced effort to cover him for how ever long he is out.
Atlanta 21/11: 4 Sean Marks.
You know it was only 2 seasons ago I picked this team as a top 4. I may have been one season premature, but Atlanta are legit and if it wasn't for Stern rigging LeBron's birthday we'd be talking them up in a big way. Alas they look set for another round 2 showdown with Cleveland and this year, I think 7 games could go either way.
 Miami 16/15: 2 Sean Marks. There's a big drop off from Atlanta to Miami. In fact if the series were played now I'd expect a sweep in Atlanta's favor. The upside is it looks like Wade will stay, Beasley/O'Neal will go, and a new addition will come next season to south beach. Should be fun again!!!!
 Toronto 16/18: No Marks. They're the biggest under-achievers in the league and that's not even a controversial statement!!!!
Turkey-glue is - for the money paid - a bust, DeRozan needs time, and defense is Canadian slang for "the fence". This team will implode before seasons end, sending a certain someone to south beach in my honest opinion.
Chicago 14/17: 2 Sean Marks . The pieces are there.
Shame Del Negro is in charge though because they have the potential for being the best defensive team in the league if they want. Can't wait for them to trade Rose and get either a real PG or a real SG. Either that, or get another combo guard ala OJ Mayo and hope they feed off of each other because watching Rose is painful.
 Charlotte 13/18: 1 Sean Marks. Lets be honest - they aren't so bad, and they happen to be coached well. And when good teams play scrappy teams, it tends to bring out their worst which is how Charlotte get over the line against quality so often. Playoffs? Out 4-1 if it was on now...
 Milwaukee 13/18: 3 Sean Marks. No that wasn't a typo - this team's for real. I'm on the bandwagon here and know a good thing when I see one. Milwaukee have every chance of making the playoffs this season and doing some damage once there. They've already beaten the Cavs and pushed the Lakers to overtime. They have 3 awesome rookies, Bogut playing decently, a couple of sophs who chip in, and the wildcards in Ridnour and Redd. Oh, and Redd is worth a bundle to teams trying to clear space for next season too so they could easily acquire more talent before the season is out. T-Mac anyone?????
The rest of the east are a bunch of girls so I'm not even going to bother. Props to NYK though - they may just get McGrady yet in a genius move by front office.
Hypothetical question: How do you ship a stupid contract like Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries out of NYK, lose minimal talent, make the trade partner think they're getting talent, and acquire an All-Star? Bench Nate for 20 games, then let him erupt and bump his stock up. Now you can trade Hill, Nate, Jeffries to Houston and get back T-Mac.
Simple.
What's worse is Houston will realise later that they'll be waiving Nate so they may as well have kept T-Mac and waived him...
Lakers 26/6: 5 Sean Marks.
Make no mistake, Kobe Bryant is the Black Knight from Monty Pythons "Quest for the Holy Grail". We could chop his arms and legs off and he'd be trash talking us still... And probably still hitting game winners too!!! Western Conference Finals lock.
Dallas 22/10: 4 Sean Marks.
The silent achievers with the loudest owner. Dallas can potentially take any team on their given night - problem is they're a bit hot/cold and injury-plagued. Worry not though - better this happen now that later in the season ala 2006.
Once everyone on this team works out their role, Dallas are going to make some serious noise.
San Antonio 20/11: 4 Sean Marks. Simply because they have to be.
3 weeks ago threads were being written about San Antonio being a lottery team and trading Jefferson. Amazing how the team of the decade can be forgotten so quickly amidst the hype and excitement abuzz other teams. Now San Antonio are 8-2 since then and a re well above .500. They're also doing it with TD playing under 30 mpg, yet averaging 20 ppg. Just remember to never rule this mob out.
Denver 21/12: 2 Sean Marks.
Sorry guys, but the Denver from this season is a far cry from the Denver of last season. Melo is better yes, but it reminds me more of the "pre-Chauncey" era when Melo was awesome, but the team sucked. This team has the potential, but for me the writing is already on the wall.
Portland 21/13: 1 Sean Marks. Talk about bad luck - these guys deserve to be cut a break. It's actually a credit to their management that after all the injuries they can still be competitive and have Howard et al come in and hold the fort down.
Oh well, lets look ahead to next season shall we? And yes, that does mean trading Miller. What's that? Not over yet? Correct but you said yourself you don't want to trade Outlaw for Ty Thomas... I know Outlaw is INJURED, but Thomas could give the defense you need and post presence to get through a round of the playoffs...
Phoenix 21/13: 3 Sean Marks.
This team will create racket come April because the best teams in the west are defensive teams. If anyone saw Memphis smash them today (again) you'll know any half decent running team can beat them, but in the West, they only exist in the bottom 8.
Houston 20/14: 2 Sean Marks. But pretty damn good at that. Adelman has done an amazing job making something out of nothing as well as making the Ariza move look moderately sane. What concerns me now though, is with all these pieces does it actually make a puzzle????
Methinks more changes are needed still.
OKC 18/16: 1 Sean Marks. I wanted to write give more, but this team reminds me of the 86 Bulls. They have a superstar who can win games by himself. They have a Pippen type player in Green, and they have a modern version of Paxson in Westbrook, even though he can't shoot as well. But they're lacking a Krause who can bring in the right talent needed to get the best out of the team. 2 more years and they'll be knocking on the door but until then, they're still finding their way.
The rest of the West are pretenders with one exception: LAC. If Griffin gets healthy, lives up the the hype, then they are a shot of sneaking in but otherwise I think the 8 is set and Minni can start dreaming of what to do with ANOTHER point guard...
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