2018 Analysis
|
Team |
Average Ranking |
#1 Rankings |
Highest Ranking |
Lowest Ranking |
Standard Deviation |
Commentary |
|
The Favourites |
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| Houston Rockets | 2.33 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1.25 | The Rockets are the favourites, which is not surprising given that they finished first in the league, but they do have some playoff ghosts to exorcise... |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 2.56 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1.42 | Despite only finishing fourth in the east, Lebron & company are our collective highest-rated team in the east... |
| Golden State Warriors | 3.22 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 2.25 | The Warriors are understandably highly rated, with three entries picking them to repeat as champions, although with a relatively high standard deviation, they could have something to say about how the pool turns out, either way... |
|
The
Dark Horses |
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| Philadelphia 76ers | 4.11 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1.29 | Philadelphia are widely expected to do well, with Roel even calling them to win it all... |
| Toronto Raptors | 5.22 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2.35 | Given the home-town advantage and the fact that they finished first in the east, I'm actually a bit surprised that the Raptors are ranked this low, and that no one ranked them first, but they haven't exactly overachieved in the playoffs in previous years, so I suppose that's the explanation... |
| Boston Celtics | 6.00 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1.33 | The Celtics are very tightly clustered in the second quartile, with everyone picking them over the Bucks, but only two entries just barely picking them to go any further... |
|
The
Longshots |
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| Oklahoma City Thunder | 6.89 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2.08 | The Thunder don't get a whole lot of respect overall, but Jazzy does have them winning the west... |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 7.11 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 2.08 | The Blazers are the lowest-ranked of the first round favourites... |
| Utah Jazz | 9.33 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 2.26 | The Jazz are the highest-ranked of the first round underdogs... |
|
The
Faint Hopes |
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| New Orleans Pelicans | 11.67 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 2.05 | The Pelicans have just one pick (me) to upset the Blazers... |
| Miami Heat | 11.89 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 2.23 | The Heat don't have any picks to upset the Sixers, but are among the highest-ranked first round underdogs... |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 12.11 | 0 | 10 | 14 | 1.45 | An unusually tight clustering in the third quartile means the Bucks probably won't have too much impact on the pool... |
| Indiana Pacers | 12.22 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 1.87 | The fact that they face the Cavaliers in the first round artificially depresses the Pacers' ranking, unusually low for a fifth seed... |
| San Antonio Spurs | 13.00 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 2.05 | Squaring off with the defending champion Warriors in the first round, the Spurs are unsurprisingly low in average ranking, although it does seem like a few entries are hedging with them a little higher... |
| Washington Wizards | 13.22 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 3.26 | Facing our Raptors in the opening round, the Wizards have only one champion (Roel) but with the highest standard deviation in this year's pool, they will have an impact on the outcome of the pool... |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 15.11 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 1.29 | Dead last in a majority of entries, and no higher than 12th on any entry, the T-Wolves appear to have only the faintest of hopes... |