http://www.espn.com/nba/standings Right now Rockets are #1 by 0.5 games. Nuggets are 3rd, Blazers are 8th and currently the Thunder and the Clippers are not in the playoffs. I'm excited about the Rockets of course, but I was wondering, how surprised are you guys by the Nuggets start and the Thunder and Clippers being under .500? Those are the things that surprise me the most this season so far(I don't follow the Eastern Conference much but the Cavs are certainly surprising too) anyone surprised by any other teams? And now based on what we've seen so far, who do you think is in the top 4 in the West? I'd say Rockets, Warriors, Spurs, Grizzlies. I don't think the Nuggets are for real, but I could be wrong.
I had the Nuggets as a 45-46 win team so I’m not really surprised at their start...they look OK I didn’t think that OKC was at our level or the biggest threat to GS like the media loved to claim before the season started, but I didn’t expect them to be under .500 based on talent alone I wasn’t high on the Clippers, they have a lot of injury prone players, and I don’t expect a team led by Blake Griffin to go far the East is what is surprising me a lot with teams like Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Cleveland, and NY...I wouldn’t say that anything in the West really surprises me...I would’ve had OKC at like 8-5 instead of 6-7, but that’s about it
I'm not entirely surprised by the Thunder's early struggles. I was mildly surprised by the Nuggets' slow start, but I think I'm more surprised by how well/quickly they turned it around. Not surprised by the Clips. I thought they'd be slightly > .500, but they are decimated by injuries. Their greatest asset is depth and right now they just don't have it.
i think the better question is what are your early predictions for playoff teams in the West? 4-8 are gonna be the toughest picks but here's mine Golden State Houston San Antonio Memphis Oklahoma City Denver Minnesota Utah
The Clippers started off strong. What happened? OKC is still trying to figure things out but I am a little surprised that they're not winning on talent alone. But how crazy would it be if OKC ends up fighting with the Clips or Blazers for the 8th seed?
OKC is going to win a lot more once they get used to playing with eachother it's still too early to make out the final standings considering a lot teams have injury problems. Rockets have a great system and the same squad with upgraded parts on defense, no surprise we are flourishing along with GSW who also didn't change out parts. I think Spurs will start winning again once they get Kawaiii back. The rest of the conference is a crap shoot. I'm surprised Portland isn't doing better tbh
Their defense fell off a cliff, but they are also missing 3 of their 5 best players as of late (Milos, Bev and Gallo).
I expected Memphis to remain competitive despite many having them as a borderline playoff team. OKC's issues mainly fall on Billy D imo. They will get better though. Also Denver has an incredible young team.
I expected Denver and Minny to be the new playoffs teams. Portland will fade. OKC will be in the lower half of the playoffs pool by sheer star power. But they won't get past first round playing one of the big 3 (GSW, HOU, SAS), unless they can get to the 5th or 4th seed. NOLA, Jazz, and Clippers will fight for the last seed.
Anyone find it really annoying that the Spurs are still 8-5 without Kawhi with the corpses of Gasol, Aldridge, and Gay all of a sudden playing well?
In before people say, "See, that shows you Leonard isn't MVP caliber player." But this is the Spurs, folks. I do think that Aldridge was somewhat held back by the emergence of Kawhi last season. Now he is unleashed as the first option. And Gay coming off the bench is how he should have been used his whole career.
i thought DEN would make the playoffs and never thought LAC would. i didn't expect OKC to start off so poorly
that's the whole point. he is the product of pop's system. he ain't even the team's MVP let alone the league. Pop is the team's MVP
Before the season began, I had serious reservations about the Thunder regarding chemistry/fit. So far, a small sample of games has shown that the Roster doesn't fit well. Russ in many ways is a bigger, more explosive version of Iverson, in that he's a natural scorer who doesn't play well with other guys that need the ball. The Thunder would be better off doing what the Rockets did last season by surrounding Westbrook with a plethora of good spot up three point shooters that play defense. Obviously, Russ didn't trust his teammates last season (seriously, who would?), but to truly utilize his talents, he needs to be confident in his teammates when he's double and triple teamed. PG and Melo just don't fit with Russ, even though the old saying goes Talent trumps all.
Yes. They are not a threat for a ring in the slightest. Still, they are not this bad either. I will never be one to count out Russell Westbrook. I know it popular to **** on the guy in here, but he is literally the Tyson of the NBA. Through sheer willpower alone, the Thunder will get back in the mix.
now PG & Melo ain't that talented enough? they do have talent now WB is just an idiot even last year see how Oladipo, Sabonis, etc are doing for their respective teams
