Got to give the OP major props for calling this, even in just 2 preseason games I think we can see that the quality of players this year is MILES away from last year at this point in time. We have so many promising players on the roster right now, its quite easy to forget we still have PP recovering from surgery and D-Mo chilling in Europe. Right now with Kobe needing surgery I think the West is wide open. Dallas and OKC and Memphis are the top 2 teams, but after that the dropoff is significant. The lockout year might turn out to be a special year for us.
Really think CP3 and Chauncey's leadership put Clips among the top 3 or top 4 Thunder Clips and Mavs Grizz Spurs Lakers Blazers Open ..........territory so hunting season starts..........
a lot of espn 'experts' think that nuggets are going to be great because of their depth. I personally think that both our starting and 2nd unit are at least as good as theirs. Am I wearing homer goggles? dragic,lee,twill,ppat,hill with flynn, morris, parsons, motie, thabeet as interchangeable parts in case of injuries.
Nuggs are too much of an unknown, I will correct myself.... They are going to be dangerous but Ty Lawson from 11.7 pts to 18 points that is a stretch.......
I liked the way our young guys looked against the starters in SA the other night. Duncan and Parker played good minutes in that game and they were still able to lead most of the game. With the season being as shortened as it is, it wouldn't make sense to send anyone down to d-league. There will be minutes to go around.
Rasheed was a star in Portland. Actually, he was a 2-time all-star in portland and 2 more times in Detroit.
Most here don't appreciate what Morey has done. He has you all fooled. Not me. Many of you here are ready to trade away all our veterans for one or two star types. Little do you know that in a 66 game season, one injury to any star, any star, will have them out for multiple games, thus hurting their team. We, otoh, don't have that problem. We have a team.
But its the season. Not the playoffs. In the Playoff's whenever we are vs. an oppenent. If they have a star to close out a game (especially a team like the Mavs, Lakers, Thunder...) it becomes harder. Yeah, if a team has an injury that could help us get into the playoffs. But we need a star to emrge or trade for one. Or we will just be that one and done team. We need everyone to take the next step and become as good as they can be and/or great to be a contender....
Getting to the playoffs isn't a concern. The concern is how do you get out the first round without a legit set of stars.
Memphis got out of the first round with Randolph as their go to scorer. You cant tell me Scola, Martin, Lowry cant do what Z-Bo, Gasol, Conley can in the playoffs. Stars are just good players who make noise in the playoffs. The Rockets have good players who just need playoff experience to gain star quality.
Even though we have depth and manage to slide into the playoffs, stars still win championships. Simply put, we don't have any.
Daryl Morey just echoed this point today at about 6:28 - 7:30 min mark on his show: http://houston.cbslocal.com/2011/12/29/morey-dalembert-is-playing-better-than-anticipated/
Now that the league is starting to feel the effects of the compressed season, I think the theory is starting to become reality leebigez.