Jared provided us with fodder for making fun of him (which we do well) for trying to trade 90s NBA flash-in-the-pan Dee Brown instead of properly advertising his long-suspended second baseman Dee Gordon. This gave Jason the good idea of doing an All-Star Break power rankings version with a theme of obscure (meaning not the most famous) 90s NBA players. The rankings based solely on run differential, which is why the top two teams feasting on the lackluster IBC NL are atop. Your authors are Pat Gillespie and Jason Gudim.
So, here we go:
1. Philadelphia Phillies - Scottie Pippen - Just ahead of Pittsburgh in run differential, Philly is often be overlooked as Nick is overshadowed by JP's sustained success, but his team is really, really good. Scottie Pippen famously played second fiddle to MJ for all those years in Chicago, but was a pretty good player in his own right.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates - Mitch Richmond - The Pirates are once again the class of the NL and of the IBC as a whole. At this point, Pittsburgh is so good, we can fail to appreciate how consistent JP has been at the top for the last few seasons. Mitch Richmond is probably the best of obscure basketball players from the nineties. He was so good for so long, but never really got to superstar status.
3. Tigers - Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway - The Tigers seem to have that one injury that dashes World Series hopes -- Pollock, Stanton, Goldschmidt the last three years. And while the Tigers currently enjoy a large lead, injuries loom. Hardaway had superstar written all over him, but was beset by injuries that marred an otherwise promising career.
4. Blue Jays - Larry Johnson - The Blue Jays have plenty of star appeal with Tulowitzki, Price, Cano, Felix Hernandez, Belt, Park and others. The former Marlins have sought an easier path to the World Series, but came to the tougher of the two leagues. This team has the talent to go deep into the playoffs. Larry Johnson was a huge star, but didn't play as long or as well as it seemed he should have. Injuries have already hampered the Blue Jays. We'll see if they continue to do so throughout the year.
5. Yankees- Damon Stoudamire - The Evil Empire has pushed itself back into playoff contention after a quick rebuild. This team is good, but young and the pitching is overachieving, but it's a contender. Just like Damon Stoudamire. He burst onto the scene as Rookie of the Year and had a couple nice seasons before fading into a role player. Will the Yankees continue to shine or do the IBC equivalent of being dealt to Portland and Memphis and disappearing?
6. Mariners - Terrell Brandon - The Mariners weren't considered a first-place team, but when the Rangers decided to tank, it opened up the division that really only had two potential contenders. Despite few big name players, Seattle has done well and boasts the fifth best run differential.
Brandon is a guy who if you got his Score basketball card, you weren't keeping. He didn't have a lot of star appeal, but he had some solid years. That can happen when you're on the mid-90s Cavs.
7. Orioles - Cliff Robinson - The Orioles were for a brief moment the class of the AL East, but due to the Yankees' resurgence and the Blue Jays changing rosters, he's now battling for a second Wild Card. But the Orioles have a solid team. Did you know Cliff Robinson was an All-Star and 6th Man of the Year winner? The Orioles sometimes feel like a 6th man in the AL East, but they have the talent to go far.
8. Padres - Dennis Rodman - After a lengthy rebuild, one is almost forced to do a double take when they see Bren's Padres atop the NL West and among the best teams in the league. Bren is known as an agitator, but he rarely gets credit for putting together a dominant roster. Dennis Rodman often received more attention for things he did off the court (like maybe marrying himself), but only die hard basketball fans seem to remember how great of a player he was.
9. Twins - Drazen Petrovic - The Twins were supposed to be a contender, but the tragic loss of our GM has put them into disarray. We miss Andrew and like him, Drazen Petrovic was taken from us too soon. Petrovic died at age 28 in a car accident, but is forever remembered as a trendsetter who helped break the barrier of other European players coming to the NBA due to his strong play.
10. Royals - Shawn Kemp - Shawn Kemp has a lot of kids. Jason Gudim has a lot of kids. The Royals were supposed to be a clear division contender this year, but underachieving has left them nearly 10 games back by the All-Star Break. Shawn Kemp signed a $100 million contract and then got fat and faded until he fell out of the league. The Royals are seeking trades in what seems like a move for 2017, but time will tell if they can bring it back together for 2016.
11. Giants - Mark Price - Jake is more than 10 games over .500 as of this writing, and yet seems to be doing it with smoke and mirrors, as he's in the middle of the pack when it comes to run differential. Mark Price was good at basketball. Yet I'm not sure exactly why he was good at basketball. There's not a single remarkable thing about his career.
12. Cardinals - Dwayne Schintzius - Aaron always seems like he's on the cusp of taking the next step. In this year's incarnation of the Cardinals, he has the fourth best run differential in the NL, yet he's currently sitting 20 games behind powerhouse Pittsburgh and just three games over .500. It's hard to find a celebrated redneck to connect to Aaron in the NBA, so Dwayne Schintzius' mullet will have to do.
13. Reds - Cedric Ceballos - Ken always seems to find the right combination of above average players and sim all-stars to be in contention until the very end. This year he's neck-and-neck with Aaron to be second best in the NL Central. Cedric Ceballos was a guy who was good at seemingly everything (including winning a dunk contest with a blindfolded dunk), and yet he was rarely great.
14. Astros - Walt Williams - Jake is an enigma. After barely missing out on the playoffs a few years ago, he's sorta been in this so-so mode where he's got some vets, but then he deals some for young guys. He now has Ian Happ and Andrew Benitendi, but also A.J. Pierzynski and Jimmy Rollins. I'm not sure why Walt Williams was called The Wizard, but maybe it's because no one understood him. Jake The Wizard Levine seems appropriate.
15. Brewers - Dee Brown - Jared is currently lurking on the fringes of the NL playoff race? Does he have enough to make a move and steal a Wild Card spot? Does he sell now and come back stronger next year? Only time will tell. As far as Dee Brown is concerned, you had to see this coming, as Jared provided the inspiration for this year's mid-season power rankings.
16. Nationals- Allan Houston - Z's master plan seems like it's well on its way to being a success. He's steadily improved each of the last couple of seasons, and he now finds himself within striking distance of a Wild Card spot. Yet, as perhaps the most active trader in the IBC, one can't help but wonder if one of these many trades might backfire and set Washington back. Allan Houston was a very good basketball for an extended period of time, yet he is mostly remembered by fans for his colossally bad contract that hung like a millstone around the Knicks' necks for several seasons.
17. Dodgers - Avery Johnson - What can you say about Shawn? Nobody works harder on the IBC than Shawn does, but he rarely is rewarded with a good team. As a pass-first PG, Avery Johnson never really experienced the personal accolades of his contemporaries, but he sure made everyone around him look good.
18. Rays - Jon Koncak - Never heard of Jon Koncak? Me either, but he signed a deal in 1989 with the Hawks that paid him more than Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson that year. No one hears from Martin, either, but he's supposedly still apart of the IBC. He's got some talent, but does nothing to help the team, which is what Jon Koncak did as a professional basketball player.
19. Mets - Gerald Glass - The Mets aren't great, but they're not terrible. Currently 9 games out of a WC spot, they could conceivably try to go all in to steal a playoff spot, but it would probably a bad idea. As New York's "other" team, plagued by mediocrity, we have assigned Gerald Glass to the Mets. A mediocre player from New York's "other" basketball team.
20. Red Sox - Jim Jackson - The Sox are in rebuild mode, after having made a flurry of April trades, including dumping three valuable players for three lotto tickets with the Royals. It seems like every day, the Red Sox are picking up some new international prospect who will be featured the next day in Baseball America. There's a lot of churn going on. Jim Jackson was a good player, but he never played with a team for more than five seasons. Over 14 seasons, he played for 12 teams.
21. Angels - Isaiah Rider - Still young and developing, the Angels are a quasi-competitive team with some potential in Story, Cole, Taillon, Anderson, Crawford and a couple other names. But they're always a year or four away. Rider was the high-flying UNLV who barely played six full seasons and then busted out of the league. The always-building Angels need to eventually try to win or will watch their young talent turn old and rusty.
22. Marlins - Bruce Bowen - Miami has the worst offense in the NL by a fair margin, yet their pitching and defense is respectable enough that the Fish are only 11 games under .500. Bruce Bowen was respected throughout his career as one of the NBAs premier defenders, but at his peak he only averaged 8.2 ppg.
23. Dbacks - Antoine Walker - JT has a good offense. The D-Backs score runs. The problem is that his pitching and defense is better at being bad than his offense is at being good. Antoine Walker was a decent NBA player in his day. But he was a particularly awful defender. Legend has it that at his rookie workouts, where players demonstrate moves against chairs (to work on positioning), the chair once put up 25 on Walker.
24. Cubs - Robert Parish - Remember those Toronto teams that went neck and neck with the Evil Empire in the old AL BEast? Pat's Cubs are now a far cry from those glory days. Robert Parish had a stellar career, winning a few championships and playing in nine all-star games. But by the mid 90s, he was a shell of his former self, essentially a mummy in high tops.
25. Braves - Gheorghe Muresan - Look, no one really knows why Brandon's Barves are in second place in the NL East. There's no logical, reasonable, or existential reason why this has happened. But there he is, two games under .500 and 5 1/2 out of the WC. No one really knows why Gheorghe Muresan has two "h's" in his first name or why he was 16th in the NBA in PER during the 95-96 NBA season. It seems that his only discernible NBA skill was being 7'7". But there he is. You can look it up.
26. White Sox - Shawn Bradley - Nice guy, not a lot of talent. That was Shawn Bradley. He was gangly and tall, so he could rebound and block shots. Jim is a nice guy, but he's light on talent. There are some young pieces coming, but it's going to take a lot to get into contention.
27. Athletics - Dana Barros - The Athletics' business model has been to trade players and then trade back for those players two-three months later. So, the roster changes, but eventually stays the same, which is to say not great. Giolito and Moncada are tantalizing, but there's a lot of nothing going on in Oakland. Barros was a one-time All-Star with only one decent season to his name. The Athletics can only hope for one decent season.
28. Rockies - Felton Spencer - With a -70 run differential, the Colorado Rockies are not good this season. They're not epically awful like the Rangers or the Indians, but they are not good. Felton Spencer is one of the poster boys for bad Timberwolves basketball during the early 90s. Spencer wasn't an epically awful draft pick at the time (no one drafted after him in 1990 really amounted to more than an occasional all-star), but he still wasn't really good, either.
29. Indians - Khalid Reeves - The Indians are pretty bad and are so injured, the team is having to pick up young players with projections just to field a team. There is some upside there if you look closely enough. Reeves was a Lottery pick and total bust. Danny is destined for yet another Lottery pick and hopes to not pick a bust like Reeves.
30. Rangers - Bryant Reeves - Big Country Reeves was a big 'ole boy who could be a presence near the rim, but quickly flamed out in the fast-paced NBA. The Rangers have purposely flamed out, dealing away all their older top talent in order to tank enough to get the #1 pick, which likely is used on the top international pitcher who possibly may be coming from Japan (??). This team could be historically bad, but that's because it's all about the future.
2016 All Star Break Power Rankings
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Guardians
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2016 All Star Break Power Rankings
Last edited by Guardians on Thu Jul 14, 2016 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Orioles
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Uncle Cliffy's opening a weed store in Oregon called "Uncle Spliffy." Awesome. One of my all-time favorite UConn players already and now I like him even more.
2023 GM Totals: 1780 W - 1460 L | 0.549 wpct | 89-73 (avg 162 G record)
