Little Movement for Nets in NBA Power Rankings

It's rare that so many pundits are as nearly unanimous about a team as the weekly power rankers are about the Nets. With few exceptions, the Nets fall just out of the NBA's top 10, at No. 11. The rankings are mostly current since the Nets have had the weekend off.

No pundit has them higher than No. 8 (Kurt Helin of NBC Sports) and no one has them lower than No. 13 (The Hollinger Daily Power Rankings. For the most part, they are like they are on the court, comfortable but not exciting enough to get to the upper echelon.

Here they are...

John Schuhmann, NBA.com (11)

The Nets have survived this tough stretch of schedule they're going through, but they haven't exactly impressed. And that's basically been the story of the Brooklyn Nets thus far. Solid, but not spectacular. The good news is that they don't play the Heat, who trounced them on Wednesday, again in the regular season. The bad news is that there's probably no avoiding Miami in the playoffs.

Marc Stein, ESPN (11)

Good news: Brook Lopez, who ranks as the highest-scoring center in today's NBA at 18.7 points per game, has been granted his rightful All-Star spot by decree of David Stern. Bad news: D-Will and Joe Johnson are making a combined $37 million in the Nets' All-Snubbed backcourt.

Seth Rosenthal, SB Nation (11)

Brooklyn's gotten a little sloppy over the last few, but deserving All-Star Brook Lopez reasserted his value by leading them through the muck against Chicago.

Adi Joseph, USA Today (11)

Andray Blatche gave his teammates Valentine's Day cards. So thats awkward.

Kurt Helin, NBC Sports (8)

They remain in a tough stretch of the schedule. While the next three teams (Lakers, Pistons, Wizards) are all under .500 all have played better of late, then it’s the Spurs, Pacers and Nuggets. Do you watch the Nets against these top teams and think, "That team is a contender." Neither do I.

Marc J. Spears, Yahoo! Sports (11)

The Nets host the Lakers in Brooklyn for the first time Tuesday. If Lakers center Dwight Howard plays, the spotlight will be on how fellow All-Star center Brook Lopez of the Nets fares against him.

Matt Dollinger, Sports Illustrated (10), published Friday

P.J. Carlesimo suffered the first reality check of his dreamy start with the Nets last week, losing three of four after starting 12-2. You can blame Reggie Evans for at least one of those losses after he made the curious decision to taunt the best player on the planet before playing him. If you're going to talk wild, nonsensical trash to LeBron James -- how does a lockout-shortened regular season affect a normal postseason? -- you better back it up with more than zero points and no offensive rebounds (an Evans strength) in a 20-point loss at home.

Mitch Lawrence, New York Daily News (11), published Friday

The Nets made a statement in their 20-point loss to the Heat: No, we're not good enough to compete with the best the NBA has to offer.