Friday Suck 5

Start your weekend off early with a look at the 5 NBA teams that had the roughest week!  New to Love Boat Sports, the Friday Suck 5 will be a power ranking of the worst NBA teams of the week.  There will surely be some perennial inclusions, although there will also be teams that just had a rough week or a major injury.  Here’s this week’s suck 5!

Note: Since this is the first edition, the entire season will be included in the rankings.

5. Dallas Mavericks- The Mavericks have rebounded from an awful start to climb within two games of .500.  They have sorely missed Tyson Chandler in the middle, as Brendan Haywood has not been able to provide serviceable low post play.  Lamar Odom has played very poorly, and the penetration of JJ Barea has been a huge loss for the defending champs.  The Mavs have seen success when playing Dirk at the five and going with a smaller lineup.  Look for the Mavs to employ this lineup more as the season progresses, unless early season surprise Ian Mahinmi can continue to develop into a presence in the post.  

4. New York Knicks- The Knicks have gone 1-4 since their Christmas Day win over the Celtics, with their only win coming over the Kings.  Even with the addition of Tyson Chandler, the Knicks rank 29^th in rebounding and 27^th in points allowed.  Perhaps more importantly, they rank 25^th in assists.  Carmelo and Amare are getting their points, but they are not creating opportunities for the whole team to get involved.  The Knicks must share the ball better if they want to get off this list.  Hopefully Baron Davis will help out in that regard when he returns from injury.

3. Sacramento Kings- The Kings have already fired a coach and had one of their star players maybe or maybe not demand a trade.  The Kings are a talented, young, team, who will hopefully realize their potential this season.  While a playoff berth seems unlikely, I would not be shocked to see this team win 30 games and have a respectable season if DeMarcus matures and Jimmer becomes a solid playmaker and scorer for them.

2. New Jersey Nets- The Nets have won only one game, which was against the next team on this list, the lowly Wizards.  Derron Williams has gotten virtually no help, and the team has leaned on rookie MarShon Brooks to play second fiddle to their All-Star, and it has not worked out.  The Nets must improve soon, or Williams will become disgruntled and possibly demand another trade.  Once Brook Lopez returns from injury, look for the Nets to continue their pursuit of Dwight Howard. 

1. Washington Wizards- I would be shocked to see the Wizkids win double digit games this season.  They really haven’t had a close game yet, including an opener where they went up 19 in the first half to the lowly Nets.  There is already turmoil in the locker room, mostly centering around resident idiot Andray Blatche.  The lone bright spot for the Wizards has been the improved play of Nick Young, who looks like he might actually be a serviceable player instead of a rival for biggest fool on the team with Blatche and Javale McGee.