“Then again, we bounced the Magic up to No. 2 because of their undefeated preseason. So we’re not consistent. We’re clearly not in midseason form yet.”

Then goes on to say:

“Preseason games are meaningless, but Orlando certainly looked good in them, going 7-0.”

“Lots of changes this season and we are not sold that Al Jefferson will be better than Carlos Boozer, but an 8-0 preseason moves you up a few notches.”

“Chris Paul, Trevor Ariza, David West. Good add with Jerryd Bayless. But a 1-7 preseason has to give you pause.”

“I’m skeptical about teams that don’t make moves in the offseason and instead count on growth from players not likely to get better. But an 8-0 preseason record shows me this team may be better than expected.”

“Expect the total collapse if you want, but they went 6-2 in preseason.”

“Blake Griffin was very impressive this preseason. The Clippers (1-7) were not.”

Hmm…preseason is meaningless huh? You seem to be placing a lot of stock on the preseason for a guy claiming it’s meaningless. If I’m reading this correctly, you’re saying don’t sleep on the Cavs because they went 6-2 in a “meaningless” preseason. Preseason games don’t mean anything, but a 1-7 preseason record for the Hornets is alarming. Preseason is irrelevent, yet you are bumping the Jazz up based on their undefeated preseason. The best of all: preseason is bunk and yet the Grizzlies might be better than expected BECAUSE OF THEIR PRESEASON. I must be missing something…

I don’t know if I would have Utah ahead of Dallas, and Portland should be better if healthy.

- Versatility. Since he can play PF/C Sloan can mix him with a better array of talent.

- Defense. Al is a below average defender. Boozer is an awful defender. A plus is a plus.

- Health. Though Al isn’t the picture of health, he will likely miss 1/2 of the games that Boozer would.

I like Boozers scoring and boards, but I really think that he needs to play next to a defender at the 5 (Noah is perfect). In Utah when Boozer and Okur stepped on the floor they could score, but as a defensive tandem they should have been introduced using the “Mister Softee” theme.