the big difference is that KG, Pierce and Allen are bona fide perennial all-stars that are all still in their primes. Pierce and Allen have missed out on all-star appearences by being on losing teams. Hakeem, Pippen and Barkley were all in their mid 30s by the time they got together and oft injured. at least Hakeem and Barkley were. heck they were already too old when it was Hakeem, Drexler and Barkley and that team nearly went to the Finals; Malone's bear hug notwithstanding. as long as they can stay healthy and have a halfway decent offensively minded coach, they can make the finals for the next 3-4 years. by then Rajon Rondo should have improved considerably as well. heck, he should get about 8+ assists this season. the Celtics would be a nightmare matchup against any team. they have excellent perimeter shooting in Allen and Pierce and now they have a real post presence in KG. it's a good thing the Rockets have Adelman because it looks like its going to be a matter of who has the better offense.
Holy crap. Get the strait jacket brother just gone and lost his mind. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker alone are better than all 3 of those guys and I do not know how you put your shoes on in the morning if you think Stoudemire, Nash, and Marion have anything to worry about. The seperation deepens even futher when you add the fact that next to the C's big three they have two of the character from "Whats happening" in their starting 5. Just pitiful I would bet anything you want that if their roster stays the same they won't even be the best in the East much less the big boy confrence I like to call the West.
i think suns lost alot interms of their inside presence. Dont forget the guy who effectively guarded yao last season when rockets played the suns is not stoudamire but kurt thomas. So not only is suns' inside think when they face duncan but they can't handled rockets now
I don't agree with some of your rankings, I feel like the rockets are in the top tier for one thing. secondly, we're definitely better than the pistons who really added nothing in the offseason. we were better last season, if you don't think we wouldn't have thrashed them in the playoffs (had we played them)...I don't know what to tell you.
The Celtics at 3 seems way too high. They could make that kind of jump with those three, but I think the odds are against it. They need some major contributions from some no-name, come-out-of-nowhere role players. I mean even if they were twice as good as last year, they only win 48 games. That means they have to be better than 100% better, avoid all injuries, don't let your three-some (who are all over 30) get fatigued playing 48 minutes a night because their is no depth, and find some roel players from the scrap heap. Not tomention the coaching job will really need to be good. I just don't see it. Definitely Rockets over Pistons on potential for the season.
the only team i still put over us right now are phoenix (b/c they give yao problems) and spurs (well b/c they have proven it over and over again) utah - we should have beat last yr if ONE of our role players stepped up dallas - i have no fear of dirk pistons - we owned them pretty good last yr the rest - easily owned
West not in seeding. just the best teams on paper 1:Spurs:Wrold champions and there nuceles still there. 2allasretty much kept there 67 win team. the warriors experience will make the better.if they sign webber, they'll be very, very good 3:Houston:Got the services of Mike James for howard. got Scola and butler for Span. signed Francis for 2.6 mill. besides the Celtics, no team has improved this much 4:Sunsespite losing there only real Interior force, there still gonna be good. grant hill will give them another playmaker besides nash. 5:Celtics:Rondo, Allen , Pierce, KG and Perkins is easily the best Starting lineup bar none. if they sign a backup PF and C, there gonna be awefully tough. 6enver:If this team gets there bigs healthy, there scary. K-Mart, Camby, Nene and Reggie Evans is a frightning good front court. 7istons:Retaining Billups was key. there still pretty talented team. losing delfino will hurt, but they still got enough players to cover the load. 8:Toronto:Bargani is gonna be better or the expirence. bosh is on the verge of superstardom. if Calderon and Ford play like they did last season, there gonna be very good. Kapano and Delfino should cover for the loss of Mo Peterson There the top teams who will be the major players in my opinion.Miami is done and Cavs are not gonna run into a bunch of pittifull teams they did in the playoffs again.
uhhh, why wouldnt they be as good as the jazz ? i think they could hang with the mavs too because of their lack of good inside D. as for the rockets.....i can't wait until we play the celtics, should be a classic. to the thread starter, you've got the magic ranked waaayyyy too high.
Its' going to be an intriguing season! My top 5 regular season teams: Spurs Phoenix Rox Jazz Mavs I'm not sold on the Celtics yet. In fact, after Cleveland won the East, my perception of the East have dropped even more. 3 All-stars may be good enough to win 50-60 games in the East but it won't cut it in the West.
I dont see how the cetics are gonna be that hard to defend considering they have rondo and perkins in the starting lineup who you could EASILY double off of and not worry about them scoring any points.
I agree with you completely on these two. The author of the thread had the Warriors way too low (do not underestimate Nelson!) and the Blazers way too high (they are basically an expansion team made up of really good young talent... but still an expansion team. It will take them years to gel).
1. Spurs 2. Suns 3. Rockets 4. Utah 5. Dallas The champ will come from one of the top three teams but Utah and or Dallas would be the favorite vs any East team 6-10 are very close 6. Heat 7. Bulls 8. Denver 9. Detroit 10. Cleveland my .02
1. Spurs - Champs, chemistry 2. Rockets - Added more than people give us credit for (Francis is more than he was the past 2 seasons), more small moves to come. 3. Suns - Nash might start to show his age, Amare not as good as people think. 4. Mavs - Chemistry 5. Jazz - Young, up and coming, awesome coaching 6. Celtics - Big three could take most starting fives...and that's how they're going to have to play. 7. Pistons - Chemistry 8. Bulls - The Jazz of the East.
I hate for my first post here to disagree with people, but I think a lot of you are underestimating the hornets. they could be pretty good this year. i think they would be a top 5 team in the east. i agree with everyone who says the celtics are being overrated. the celtics are now where we were back in 2004 when we had Yao, Tracy, and a gutted team. they have to fill in a ton of gaps in their roster. we all know how long that can take.
The Grizzlies haters on this board is alive and well. But it's all good. . Spurs 2. phx 3. mavs 4. bulls 5. raptors 6. boston 7. gizz 8. utah 9. charlotte 10. rockets
Bulls, Raptors, Celtics, Grizzlies, and Bobcats are DEFINITELY not better than the Rockets....I know you're just trying to stir the pot by putting the Rockets way lower than they belong, just to get some reactions, but come on man, you don't even have the Pistons in your top 10. At least make it realistic.....I can't wait for school to start back up so all these middle-schoolers will stop ruining the board.
