JANUARY 2011 NBA Power RANKINGS..........the CELTS lead the SPURS and HEAT barely......Who belongs in the rest of the TOP 10?

The USUAL Suspects are at the top of the BLUEDUDE'S NBA Power Rankings for January 2011. The GREEN TEAM in BEANTOWN have not disappointed as they lost in the last seconds in the FINALS to the LAKESHOW.

The real surprise thus far is the sudden fall of the LAKERS in the last few weeks. The LAKESHOW is just 14 games over .500 and a recent heated argument in practice between RON RON ARTEST and Coach PHIL is just what the ZEN Master ordered.

The SPURS, who the BLUEDUDE thought was just riding an early wave, are for real and with PARKER and GINOBLI playing at a high level an injury free thus far....watch out for the SPURS.

JANUARY 8th 2011 NBA Power Rankings( records to date)

1. SPURS (29-6): POPS and company look to be real threat to the LAKERS Reign in the West. Playing sound SPURS Basketball and a no-name supporting cast led by 2nd -year Power Forward DeJAUN BLAIR, the SPURS are positioning themselves early for Home court PLAYOFF Advantage throughout.

2. GREEN TEAM (27-7) A scare last week of the BIG TICKET'S (Kevin GARNETT) injury went from serious to mild and he will be back in no time soon. PIERCE and ALLEN have picked up the slack and the one guy the CELTS can ill-afford to be injured for a long stretch is RAJON RONDO aka "DOUBLE R". If the CELTS lose him for a nice stretch they will lose the hold on the EAST.

3. HEAT (28-9) Remember when these guys came out the gate 8-8 and everyone was hoping LeBRON would fall into the ATLANTIC and BOSH was a piece that was not fitting......FAST FORWARD to JANUARY.........the HEAT are a runaway train that has figured out on a nightly basis how its dynamic parts should fit. I was thinking All-STAR Break when we see a dominant team but they could get to low 60's in the WIN column......that's how explosive this bunch is.......and Mike MILLER is help on the way.

4. BULLS (23-11) Point GOD Derrick "POOH" ROSE is getting early MVP consideration and the BULLS, without JAOKIM Noah, seemed to have settled in with all of its new parts (Carlos BOOZER to name a few) to be the 3rd team in the EAST. THIBS has got them buying in and the BULLS look like they are headed for mid to high 50-win season.

5. MAVS (26-8) Bad NEWS just got worse....first DIRK goes out for an extended period of time...now 2G/SF Caron BUTLER has knee surgery and is done for the SEASON. this is not what CUBAN and the MAVS brass needed to see after getting out the gate 20 games over .500. The MAVS might be and should be active by the NBA Trade Deadline in February. They still have KIDD, the MATRIX, TERRY, and CHANDLER to hold down the fort until DIRK gets back.

6. LAKESHOW (25-11) The LAKERS are what?....STRUGGLING.....HOW is that?.....The CHAMPS have a bad case of CHAMPIONSHIP Hangover and the SPURS and MAVS in the WEST and the MAGIC, HEAT, CELTICS, BULLS, and HAWKS in the EAST could care less. KOBE can't pull them out of bad games ;like he used to. He can only maybe pull the LAKERS out of bad Quarters and possibly halves. They will be right in the thick of things come WINNING Time......but they need to get it in order for at least a #2 Seed in the WEST.

7. MAGIC (23-12) O-TOWN is getting a feel for the new parts the GM Otis SMITH has brought in. It will take some time but the MAGIC have some firepower for the PLAYOFFS in AGENT 0, HEDO what he do, J RICH of SAGINAW and SPARTY Fame, and add that to Jameer NELSON, DWIGHT HOWARD aka not SUPERMAN, and a top 5 NBA Coach in STAN Van GUNDY.......they will be there when it counts...trust me.

8. HAWKS (24-14) These three guys as the core.....Joe JOHNSON, Josh SMITH, and Al HORFORD....the HAWKS will be alright and then throw in a two-headed out with the old and in with the new Point Guard system in Mike BIBBY and Jeff TEAGUE, they will be right there at the end. New Head Coach Larry DREW was spinning his wheels there for a second after a hot start but regained some stability led by JJ to get back 10 over .500...they will be tough out in the EAST come WINNING TIME.

9. THUNDER (23-13) Led by Kevin DURANT and Russell WESTBROOK they will make another run in the WEST Playoffs and will be hanging around in the upper half of the WEST during the regular season. Coach Scotty BROOKS has a real good feel for his team which is stacked with youth, talent, leadership, and Brooks' play every possession like it's your last attitude. They will continue to get better and whoever faces them early in the PLAYOFFS......Lookout.

10. KNICKS (20-14) AMARE......AMARE....AMARE.....I can see MSG now.......as #1 in your program and #1 in Knicks FANS' Heart explodes to the BUCKET time and time again for those in your MUG DUNKS. STAT has been a one-man horror show and surprisingly has gotten help from Ray FELTON, GALLANARI, and Wilson CHANDLER. The KNICKS still need a few other pieces to go with the #1 piece....but they are in a lot better shape than they were last year at this time.

Best of the REST

BLAZERS (19-17)
NUGGETS (20-14)
HORNETS (20-15)
GRIZZLIES (16-19)