Monday, November 7, 2016

NBA 2K17 Team Ratings are currently a mess

Bold denotes team rating is 10+ away from real life ranking.


TEAM OVERALL RATING (SRS Rank)
1-10
97 Cavaliers (4th)
97 Warriors (12th)
93 Spurs (3rd)
92 Clippers (1st)
86 Raptors (5th)
86 Pacers (21st)
86 Knicks (26th)
85 Blazers (18th)
84 Hawks (2nd)
84 Jazz (9th)

11-20
84 Celtics (16th)
84 Kings (22nd)
84 Grizzlies (28th)
83 Bulls (14th)
83 Wizards (23rd)
82 Pistons (6th)
82 Thunder (8th)
82 Magic (24th)
82 Mavericks (25th)
81 Hornets (7th)

21-30
81 Bucks (15th)
81 Rockets (17th)
81 Wolves (19th)
80 Suns (27th)
80 Pelicans (29th)
79 Nuggets (13th)
78 Lakers (10th)
75 Heat (11th)
71 Nets (20th)
68 Sixers (30th)

It's still early and this will certainly fluctuate over the next month, much less the next year.  There are teams like the Warriors who aren't as good as expected, yet there are also teams like the Knicks who everyone (sans Derrick Rose) knew going into the year they weren't going to be a top 10 team.

What we can see is that young teams like the Nuggets, Lakers, and Heat are surprising opponents right now, and performing much better than originally anticipated.

TEAM OFFENSE RATING (ORTG Rank)
1-10
99 Warriors (5th)
96 Cavaliers (1st)
94 Clippers (18th)
91 Spurs (6th)
88 Knicks (12th)
88 Rockets (4th)
86 Pacers (7th)
86 Blazers (14th)
84 Raptors (8th)
84 Jazz (13th)

11-20
84 Wizards (25th)
83 Bulls (3rd)
82 Grizzlies (27th)
82 Hornets (19th)
81 Celtics (2nd)
81 Hawks (10th)
81 Wolves (11th)
81 Magic (22nd)
81 Kings (26th)
81 Mavericks (28th)

21-30
80 Nuggets (20th)
79 Bucks (15th)
79 Thunder (24th)
78 Pistons (17th)
78 Suns (26th)
77 Lakers (9th)
76 Pelicans (29th)
74 Nets (24th)
71 Heat (23rd)
67 Sixers (30th)

2K's offensive ratings are largely fine, with only 5 teams being way off base.  This is to be expected given the numerous stats we have to measure offensive ability.

TEAM DEFENSE RATING (DRTG Rank)
1-10
98 Cavaliers (18th)
95 Spurs (12th)
95 Warriors (24th)
89 Clippers (1st)
89 Raptors (7th)
87 Hawks (2nd)
86 Pistons (3rd)
86 Grizzlies (13th)
86 Kings (26th)
86 Pacers (27th)

11-20
86 Celtics (29th)
85 Thunder (4th)
85 Pelicans (10th)
85 Blazers (22nd)
85 Knicks (30th)
84 Bulls (25th)
84 Jazz (15th)
83 Mavericks (9th)
83 Bucks (11th)
83 Wizards (23rd)

21-30
82 Suns (21st)
82 Magic (23rd)
81 Wolves (16th)
80 Hornets (5th)
80 Lakers (17th)
79 Heat (6th)
78 Nuggets (8th)
74 Rockets (28th)
68 Nets (20th)
68 Sixers (14th)

It all falls apart here.  2K's defensive ratings are nothing short of a train-wreck year-in and year-out.  While playoff hardened teams like the Cavs, Spurs, and Warriors may get it together as the year goes along, many of these are a carry-over from last year.  It's frankly embarrassing how many poor defensive teams have ratings well above average.  There are two teams in the bottom five in the top 10.  The Knicks and Sixers are 17 points apart (and should likely swap ratings).

While it is still early in the year, this exercise serves as a reminder of how quickly the NBA landscape can change within the first two months of a given season, and how diligent a ratings editor needs to be in order to keep up with the league.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ok wo past years i couldsee having the sixers ranked 30th. But this year they are actually playing way better however 2k constantly keeps them rated 30 or 29th in online ratings.. 2k17 is a disaster most times it doesnt even load up with an error message.. I wabt my money back and im sure there are thousands of others feeling the sameway about how 2k17 goes about updating the ratings of there own perspective teams.