There really is nothing better than when your favorite team exceeds expectations during the regular season.
Teams such as the Atlanta Hawks and the Phoenix Suns have absolutely shined thus far, ranking at the cream of the crop in both conferences.
But with such great success rises a crucial question, will these teams be able to extend their hot streak throughout the entire season?

Brandon Ribak breaks down the Top Three Contenders and Pretenders in the NBA and explains why three organizations will ultimately continue their scorching tear on the season and why the other three will fizzle down within the next few weeks.

Top Three Contenders

1. Atlanta Hawks (11-3, .786)- 1st in East

Atlanta is clearly the hottest team in the league right now with an 11-3 overall record on the season.
With big victories against the Celtics (in Boston), the Nuggets, and the Blazers (twice), the Hawks are obviously a legitamite team this season.

Point-guard Mike Bibby fell to an ankle injury during the teams last game, but with the offseason acquiring of Jamal Crawford, Hawks fans can rely on the sharp-shooter to contribute in loads in replace of the veteran.

The Hawks are averaging 108 PPG, ranking third in the league in scoring. If the starting core can continue to produce at the high level that they are, there is no doubt that Atlanta will rank amongst the elite in the East all season long.

2. Dallas Mavericks (10-3, .769)- T-1st in West

Similar to Atlanta, the Mavericks are off to a teriffic start in the early stages of the NBA season.
Dallas’ roster continues to fill up the stat sheet each and every night with forward Dirk Nowitzki leading the way, averaging 26.9 PPG (8th in NBA).

With Josh Howard still sidelined, the Mavericks bench has managed to step up and help contribute to the teams success.
If Dallas can keep racking up the W’s it is blatanly obvious that they will remain as one of the teams on top of the Western conference standings.

3. Denver Nuggets (9-4, .692)- 4th in West

Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets have shown early on this season that they have the mindset capable of making it far into the postseason this year.
Melo currently leads the league in scoring dropping 30.5 PPG on 47.9 percent shooting in 13 games.

Anthony is a top candidate in the early MVP talks thus far and is undoubtedly playing his best basketball since first entering the league.
With a supporting cast consisting of Billups, Lawson, Smith, Nene, Martin, and Anderson, all Melo needs to do is keep up the production and his team will receive the respect that they deserve.

The Top Three Pretenders

1. Phoenix Suns (10-3, .769)- T-1st in West

While the Suns do indeed rank on top in the West, we expect a quick drop in their overall standings within the next few weeks as they will face up against the Lakers (twice), Cavaliers (twice), Magic, Mavericks, Spurs, Blazers, Celtics, and Nuggets next month.

In addition, in 13 games played thus far the Suns have compiled 10 wins, with five of the ten coming from teams under .500.

Teams with easy schedules during the first month of the season tend to have an inflated record and with an extremely difficult schedule in the month of December, the Suns will struggle to hold their first place record.

2. Milwaukee Bucks (8-3, .727)- 4th in East

While the Bucks have been the biggest surprise team so far with rookie Brandon Jennings leading the way, Milwaukees luck will soon run out in the month of December.
Similar to Phoenix, the Bucks have seven of their eight wins to extremely unimpressive teams with winning percentages under .385.

Although they have looked great in the early start to the season it is safe to say that Milwaukee won’t be anywhere close to playoff contention near seasons end.

3. Miami Heat (7-5, .583)- 6th in East

After winning six of their first seven games many believed that the Heat were the real deal this season.
Since then the heat has already ran out, losing four of their past five games.

With a pretty stacked schedule ahead of themselves (Lakers, Nuggets, Blazers (twice), Spurs, Magic, Dallas) Miami is destined to lose even more games in the month of December unless Dwyane Wade can pull out a miracle for his team.

by Brandon Ribak

The NBA Contenders and Pretenders is a post from: AroDrive

So it’s not a fluke. This Brandon Jennings fella can play. Let’s get ready to go overboard here. You couldn’t possibly have been in the Bradley Center here on Saturday and not felt that you were seeing something utterly different.

Jennings is not just working on becoming a very good player, a solid rookie in a very solid rookie class. He is rising above all that. He’s becoming a star. Rookie of the Year? Pshaw. We may soon be thinking of him as a possible All-Star.

If his numbers through the first six games of the season weren’t evidence enough — he averaged 20.7 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds — what he did to the Warriors on Saturday night should pretty much solidify the kid’s status. He shook off a 4-for-13 first half (10 points) to light up Golden State for 29 points in the third quarter, the most points a player has ever scored against the Warriors in a quarter.

He finished with 55 points, using that 12-for-13 third quarter to vault the Bucks to a come-from-behind win. The 55 are a rookie franchise record, beating the old mark of 51 held by Lew Alcindor. They also are the most points scored by an NBA rookie since Earl Monroe in 1968.

“I was standing there in perfect offensive rebounding position every time,” center Andrew Bogut said. “But they kept going through the net.”

Jennings, of course, sent a minor shockwave through basketball by skipping out on a commitment to Arizona and instead playing pro ball in Italy last year, then joining the draft in 2009. He put up pedestrian numbers in Italy, struggling to earn playing time among the Euro pros, and in doing so managed to slip to No. 10 in the draft. He wasn’t even sure he was going to go that high — remember, he declined to go to the green room at Madison Square Garden on draft night because he wasn’t sure where he’d land and he did not want to wind up on camera as teams passed over him.

There will be much made of Jennings’ path to the NBA, and whether other players can thrive the way he has by going overseas. But that’s not really the point. Fact is, Jennings is unique, his game is uniquely styled to thrive in the NBA. “I learned a lot by playing overseas,” Jennings said. “But here, there is a little more one-on-one, I can do the things I do better.”

And it’s clear that the Bucks will reap the rewards of the things Jennings can do, for a long time. He has proven to be a much better shooter than scouts thought, and his ability to run a team is comparable to that of a 10-year veteran. The Bucks are 5-2 now, currently holding the No. 4 slot in the East. Jennings still considers himself a point guard before a scorer, and coach Scott Skiles was quick to point out that, even in Jennings’ unconscious third quarter, Jennings was still just doing his job. “He wasn’t forcing anything, even considering he is a rookie,” Skiles said. “It’s hard to say this when he has 29 points in a quarter, but it’s not him being greedy. He was just playing basketball out there.”

Jennings is still a rookie, and it’s pretty clear that he has seized the lead — with emphasis — in the Rookie of the Year race. Sure, it is early, and Jennings seems more aware of that than the giddy media and teammates who have been covering him. When I brought up to him after the game that he had passed Lew Alcindor, that his 55 points put him in the rookie company of the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan, he quickly shook his head and said, “I am not trying to get any individual accomplishments here. I am just trying to help the Bucks win games.”

Still, Jennings said something else after the game that has to make you think this guy is going to be different. When he was talking about the roll he has been on, not just in Saturday’s game but in the first three weeks of the season in general, Jennings brought up high school. “Sometimes it feels like Oak Hill (Academy) out there,” he said.

For Jennings, the NBA is already akin to high school. Rookie dominance seems assured. Stardom is the next stop.
By Sean Deveney

Fantasy owners meet Brandon Jennings, Let the the Hype Machine begin is a post from: AroDrive