I think they're only using those characters for the silhouettes because we already know a fair amount about the games they're from. They don't want to spoil any big surprises.
At least I hope that's the reason.
It's only there for hype purposes, and to let people "figure out" that a new Mario game is coming.
[collapse="@johnknight here's espn's nba future power rankings"]1) Miami
2) OKC
3) Houston
4) San Antonio
5) Golden State
6) Indiana
7) Chicago
8) Cleveland
9) Denver
10) Utah
11) Memphis
12) LAC
13) Dallas
14) Portland
15) Boston
16) Washington
17) LAL
18) Atlanta
19) NO
20) Detroit
21) Brooklyn
22) Orlando
23) Minny
24) Philly
25) New York
26) Toronto
27) Milwaukee
28) Sac Town
29) Phoenix
30) Charlotte[/collapse]
[collapse="My response"]1. I don't care if the Rockets sign Crybaby Howard, they aren't that good, and Jeremy Lin is not anywhere near a viable starter in this league.
2. I'm a huge Warriors fan, but let's wait and see how healthy the team is, especially since all 5 of the starters were injured or playing hurt (Steph couldn't even run, Klay had troubles running, Barnes got hurt in the last game, Bogut has loads of issues, and Lee had a huge injury), their 6th man is probably gone (I think Jared Jack is overrated, actually), and their next best bench player (Brandon Rush) is coming off an ACL tear (I was actually at that game, and it was horrible to see).
Everything else I agree with ESPN on the Warriors, especially with all those great young bench bound to only get better, and Biedrins (aka the Warrior's highest paid player) set to be off the books this year or next year.
3. Indiana/Chicago is gonna be FUNNNNN next year, especially with the Bulls getting Rose back. Something tells me they'll meet in the playoffs.
4. No offense dude, but I don't see Utah that high unless they draft someone real good, or say sign someone like Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, or Amire Stodimire.
5. The Lakers are way too high. Once Nash is gone, probably with Kobe gone too, they got Gasol, maybe Dwight, and nothing else of value. They got no draft picks, either.
6. Brooklyn has a brighter future then that, probably because they will only get better, and I think they'll get many good young players. A lot of that depends on them getting the right coach, though. Maybe they get Phil Jackson as a coach, and they get an assistant coach who is developing into head coach material in his wing to prepare for when Phil retires from that job.
7. Toronto should be on the bottom. They got nothing to hope for in the future. IMO, they traded their best prospect to Memphis.
8. Sac-Town has tons of potential, especially with former Warrior's assistant coach and strategy/defensive genius Moses Malone at the helm. No really, that guy is incredibly smart.
9. Charlotte and Phoenix have tons of draft picks, and with all that, they should be good in a few years.
10. I think the Clipper's future is hard to predict. A lot of it depends on who they resign (Chris Paul obviously being the big name; add in Dwight Howard, and you got 3 legitimate Hall of Famers on one team), and who their coach is (you can't do much worse than Vinny Del Negro). Stan Van Gundy IMO would make a great coach for the Clippers; his understandings of fundamental basketball and defense is a great match for that team. However, I think in the end, the worst owner in all of pro sports (along with Dan Snyder) in Clipper's owner Don Sterling will find a way to make this team suck again.[/collapse]