Week 6 Power Rankings

1. Merlness - He's ruling the league with an iron fist. No one comes close to his numbers.  Past fantasy dictum used to be that big men ruled - they gave you great FG%, PTS, REBs, BLKS, and had low TOs.  Merlness has turned that on its head as have most of the best teams in the league.  This year seems to be all about the guards who can take it to the hole and still be prototypical point guards.  Tony Parker may have started the recent trend, but it seems Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook have perfected it.  But Merlness is no one trick pony - for security he has Andrew Bogut and Al Jefferson, with Robin Lopez waiting in the wings.  Deron Williams numbers were expected. We all knew the number one fantasy player was in Oklahoma City, but no one on this planet, including Merlness, expected that to be Russell Westbrook.  His recent numbers have been absolutely monstrous, but one has to wonder if this is a blip of a trend we're going to continue to see.  If the latter, we could see Merlness come back down to earth. Until then, long live the king.

2. Dark Horse - A seven-one romp has catapulted this perennial up-and-down player to front runner status.  Dark Horse showed his teeth and this time the bite was as big as the bark. He has amassed 15 points in the last two weeks alone and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon.  His numbers were the closest to Merlness last week of any other team.  Everything seems to be clicking for him right now.  Kevin Love's recent play seems to be the catalyst. He's been around the league long enough to be called a veteran, but he hasn't been at the top long enough to be called a winner.  It'll be interesting to see what DH does if the ground starts moving.

3. Cocaine Convicts - He had the toughest matchup in dealing with Merlness and put up a worthy fight for someone in the top 3. A 5-4 loss is nothing to hang your head about, but as of now, the gap between CC and Merlness is larger than the 5-4 showed last week. The return of Boozer was a good sign. His play of late, however, is not.  How long can this loosely knit group of improbables continue to be a dominant force? The rise of Beasley and the Bosh's play having turned around is a good sign.  But who else is on this team? I fear that the balloon may be losing air and the slim loss last week is a sign of things to come.

4. DreamTeam - His first loss and none other to his perennial Achilles's Heel: Pohn Wall.  It seems that regardless how improbable a victory may seem for him, Pohn Wall will find a way to pull it out when facing DreamTeam.  That is how their history has been since this league was started.  The most startling victory was in the spring of 2008 when Pohn Wall did the impossible and beat DreamTeam, whose team looked poised to finally win at the big show.  Pohn pulled out all the stops and did everything in his power to prevent that from happening, which came at the detriment of his own team in the next round.  This last match was not as dramatic, but highlighted how Pohn may always have Dream Team's number.  A surprising twist in this battle was the mid-week trade between the two.  In the short term it's an obvious good deal for Pohn and in the long term it has the potential to pay off dividends to DT.  However, if Johnson plays like he did for Pohn on his return it may end up being the dumbest move of the season.  DreamTeam's overconfidence may have caused him to make a rash, short-sighted move.  I liken it to Dr. Elsa Schneider at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade who tries to grab the Holy Grail. You know what happens next.








5. Repeatabull - Well he's not going down without a fight.  A five point victory has Repeatabull smiling for the time being.  The problem is that Cliphairs is no longer a contender. And a bigger problem is he is playing Dark Horse, who is looking to solidify his position atop the league.  Lamar is soon moving to the bench permanently and will see a minute drop.  His team in inundated with centers - brad miller, chris kaman, roy hibbert, and mehmet okur.  My prognosis is still not good for this team.

6. Cliphair - He hasn't completely disappeared, but the problems that we foresaw are coming to fruition.  It is good that Baron Davis is back for him, but trading Baron before he came back may have been a better decision.  Granger is still playing well as is Ginobili.  But there are just too many scrubs on this team.  It's a miracle they are where they are.  Only five guys scoring over 10 points a game isn't going to cut it.

7. DNP-Coach's Decision - If there is a dividing line in this league of where the better half of the league are it rests between DNP and Where's Leon.  DNP may want to change his name since most of his guys are, in fact, playing.  Not only that, but they are playing relatively well.  The problem is that no one, recently, is playing great which can only get you polite applause in this league.

8. Where's Leon - I'm not sure sure where Leon is, but I think the bigger question you need to be asking is, 'Where is my game?' Things just haven't been the same for this team and I suspect much of it has to do with the up-and-down nature of the players he picked.  Jennings, Kobe, AI2, and David West on any given night can go off, but statistically they can all have bad nights, fantasy-wise, for various reasons.  Jennings, AI2, and DW are just plain inconsistent. Kobe's numbers drop when his team is pounding their opponents. Not sure what the remedy to this will be, but he's gotta find it.

9. Pohn Wall - This isn't a courtesy bump from an upset. Pohn made the first trade of the season and if things pan out (ie Joe Johnson returning in 6 weeks in his crappy form) it will have been a major one.  Now the key for PW is continuing the trending of Ws and rising back up in the rankings.  It's not going to be easy, given that his team is still quite shallow - but if last week proved anything it was: you can't count out this fantasy veteran.

10. Pippen Ain't Easy - It wasn't a resounding victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.  Pippen Ain't Easy started the year off hot, but has since cooled off.  The numbers he put up last week were respectable, so Tykes should get some credit for putting up a fight.  Dwayne Wade's resurgence as well as Derrick Rose's play have been key for him.  It also doesn't hurt that Rudy Gay is turning his season around as well.  Amazing that a team full of guards wasn't able to flip FT% though.

11. Big Country - This is a big step up for Big Country, who not too long ago was the laughingstock of the league.  He has since won two weeks in a row and is looking to keep his numbers respectable.  No doubt Tayshaun Prince, a FA pickup, is a big reason he won last week.  With Where's Leon struggling, this may be the opportune time to move up big in a tightly packed standings.

12. Team Canada - Not sure what happened to Team Canada last week. But this week if he brings what he brought the week before, he's going to be staring at the bottom of the league soon. This team has the foundation for a great season, but just can't seem to put it together.

13. Tykes for Tyreke - Tykes fought hard last week, but ended up just a little short. His add/drop strategy is the only reason the loss wasn't bigger. At least Roy is back? Right?