2010/11 NBA Power Rankings, PG Edition:

As i search the net each day, looking through blogs and articles from a vast population of sports writers and bloggers, i always find opinions on NBA power rankings and overall lists of top teams. The elite players from these teams, Kobe, Lebron, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, and the list goes on, always generate a lot of chatter and get tons of face time on these blogs and articles, so basically, i thought, what if somebody did these power rankings, but, instead of doing power rankings for all 30 NBA teams, somebody did power rankings based solely on the players at their respective positions. So, I've decided to start a power rankings system for point guards and possibly extend that to each position. I'll do this on a bye-weekly basis. Here is your top 10.

#1- Derrick Rose: 26.6 ppg, .468 FG%, 8.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals per contest.  Rose has been absolutely on fire this season. Upping his point per game by 7.2 from his career total of 19.4. Rose has also seen increases in his assists and rebounds. The Memphis product, has led the Bulls to an early division lead in the Central, at 9-6, without the newly acquired Carlos Boozer. Rose has notched double-doubles four times this season and has also reached at least 30 points on six occasions. The numbers don't lie, folks, D-Rose is the man right now and you can take that to the bank!

#2- Russell Westbrook: 23.8 ppg, .447 FG%, 8.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per contest. Westbrook has helped lead the young Thunder to a 12-6 record this season, trailing only Utah in the Northwest, by a game and a half. Westbrook has upped his career ppg by 7.3, is a great defender and is also a tough matchup for opposing PG's, the former Bruin has great size and strength for a point guard without lacking speed and quickness on offense. Westbrook has great upside and is knocking on the door for the #1 spot.

#3- Deron Williams:  21.9 ppg, .464 FG%, 9.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest. D-Will is as advertised, big (6'3), strong (210lbs) and possesses an unmatched ability to control the flow of every game. He may not get to the rack as fast as D-Rose or Rajon Rondo, but, he does possess a complete game. He, Steve Nash and Chris Paul are probably the 3 most complete point guards in the game right now, and Deron is leader of the pack. His team is leading the Northwest division at 14-5, he's almost at 10 dimes per game and he averages over 20 ppg. He's really getting it done and Utah's success has him to thank.

#4- Chris Paul: 16.5 ppg, .490 FG%, 10.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and (league leading) 2.9 steals per contest. CP3 looks to be almost back to form, he's putting up pretty good numbers, we wish he'd score a bit more, but, everything else looks like it's there. I'm assuming he'll be right around 20 ppg before the season ends, and if healthy, he'll probably top this list. His Hornets are 12-5, which puts them 3 games behind the Spurs in the Southwest division, they should contend with Dallas and San Antonio for the entire season.

#5- Rajon Rondo: 11.5 ppg, .511 FG%, (league leading) 14.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest. Rondo may find himself out of the top 5 if he can't find a way to do more damage in the scoring collum, he's a great athlete, but, his jump shot isn't coming along and he still seems to rely on the "Big Three" too often. Where is the Rondo that took the league by storm during the 2009/10 playoffs? I'm in the process of faxing a picture of Rondo's scoring ability to every post office in the country, if anyone has seen it, please contact Doc Rovers immediately, because he'll need it for Boston to make a repeat appearance in the 2010/11 finals.

#6- Monta Ellis: 24.2 ppg, .476 FG%, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest. Ellis has been a scoring machine for the 8-10 Warriors, eclipsing the 40 point mark 3 times already this season. We'd love to see him dish a bit more, but, playing in a two point guard set with fellow Warrior, Stephen Curry, who averages 5.9 dimes per matchup could be the reason that Ellis is only hovering around 5 per contest. I'm more concerned with watching the damage Monta can cause while driving, he is one of the most explosive players to play the point guard position and is an elite scorer on most nights.

#7- Steve Nash: 18.9 ppg, .490 FG%, 9.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and about a steal per contest. Let me start by saying sorry to all of the Nash loyalists out there, i understand that it is hard to see Nash outside of the top 5, and believe me when i say that it sort of pains me to stick him here, but, i feel that i have to be true to my opinion and not place Nash inside the top 5 at this point. While he (Nash) is a great talent and probably the best PG of the last decade,  the Suns (8-9) are under .500 and they're competing with the best team in the league (LA) for the Pacific division, and things won't get any easier for Nash and company unless they can find a way to work this smaller unit, without Amare Stoudemire.

#8- Raymond Felton: 18.2 ppg, .471 FG%, 8.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2 steals per contest. I'm jumping on the Felton bandwagon right now and I'm riding that thing all the way to the Knicks first playoff appearance since 2004. Felton is on my radar for most improved player of the year. His last years numbers go something like this: 12.1 ppg, .459 FG%, 5.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest. That means he has improved in every possible way thus far. He's a great defender, shoots 36% from deep and really has the Knicks clicking.

#9- Tony Parker: 17.5 ppg, .513 FG%, 7.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest. TP has been working the helm nicely for the NBA leading Spurs (15-2) and he seems to be at the top of his game. As long as Parker stays healthy and the Spurs start winning, expect to see Parker in the top 10. He's scored over 20 nine different times and, yes, he's done what even Tiger Woods couldn't.. He's done all of these great things in the midst of a cheating scandal (sorry Tony).

#10- Stephen Curry: 20.8 ppg, .479 FG%, 5.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Curry has been what many thought Curry would become, early into the 2010/11 season. I'll be the first to admit that i was a skeptic, i recall seeing Curry ranked inside the top 10 during a fantasy basketball draft and i thought that there was no good reason for it. He has played beyond my expectations and really could make a convincing argument for the top 5 if he becomes more of an assist guy and the Warriors start collecting some wins. Playing side-by-side with Ellis probably effects his assist numbers, but, probably also helps them in some sense.

Close but no cigar: John Wall, Brandon Jennings, Gilbert Arenas, Devin Harris, Tyreke Evans, Rodney Stuckey, Mike Conley and Jameer Nelson.