This is too easy - all Rockets opponents losing big time now. Playoffs here we come. 7th seed here we come, 6th seed ... no stopping me now ------------------ We can reach our destination, but it's still a ways away.
I’ve studied the records and remaining schedules of the teams looking for the 8th and 7th spots in the Western Conference Play-offs and I am extremely confident that it will fall together similar to what I have predicted. I actually had us penciled in for a win against LAC on Feb 1st and Orlando on Feb 16th. I also had us penciled in for a loss against Minn on Feb 21st. So as is always the case we loose some we expect to win and win some we expect to loose. In March we have 8 games against teams that we should win 5 games against teams with similar talent that could go either way and 3 games against teams that will surely be favored (San Antonio, Sacramento and Utah). We should be able to get 10 to 11 wins out of this schedule even though half of the games are on the road. On to the Mavs. They have a 10 game stretch that started last night against the Clipps that they better hope they sweep or win no less than 9 or 8. The Rox, Miami, Orlando, Minn and Phoe are teams they will play in that stretch so it will not be easy to get that many wins but 9 wins will put the Mavs at 43 wins and 23 losses. Sounds like if they do that they will be a lock for the play-offs but think again. Their schedule starting March 20 is as follows: Port, Minn, Char, Utah, LAL, Sac, Hou, Atl, Ute, San Antonio, Phoe, Sac, Sea, GSW and Minn. OUCH! And 10 of those games are on the road. A schedule like that could cause any team to snow ball into one hell of a loosing streak. The Mavs will be lucky to escape that 15 game stretch with 6 wins. If they do get 6 wins in that stretch and win 9 of their next 10 starting with the Clipps on Feb 26, that would give them a final record of………..49 and 33. But if they slip up and loose 3 or 4 to the likes of Hou (we have owned them this year), Phoe, Minn, Orl or Miami and only win 3 or 4 of their last 15 they could very easily finish the season with only 45 wins. Is a final record of 45 and 37 going to be enough to get the 8th play-off spot? I guess we’ll know in a month and a half. ------------------
Awesome work again crash! I mean the Mavs no harm, but it is hilarious to me that they're put on a different pedestal than the Rockets.... and they could so easily fall out of the pos yet again. If the Rockets beat them to the playoffs (it's more likely that Minn falls I know... that will be fun to watch as well) it will be fun watching to see if anything happens w/ Finley if Webber goes to Houston. The offseason is fun! ------------------
Achebe, Remember the Mavs are also going thru an adjustment period with Juwan Howard right now much like we did with Mo at the beginning of the season. Bad timming. It's possible the Mavs could make the fastest dive out of the play-off picture of all time if they don't play to their full potential the rest of the way. ------------------
I saw this stretch months ago, thought they would be 1 game over .500, but will take 3. http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum3/HTML/009990.html ------------------ "Chucky who? I thought we were talking about basketball?" Charles Barkley
Now, as February draws to a close, kudos on the first half of this prediction. 8 wins so far, with Chicago a likely ninth victim. Let's just hope you are as accurate on your March prediction! 46 wins (0.561) will be very close to the playoff hunt, but still not good enough for the race as it currently stands. We have to hope the T-wolves continue to play below their current pace. Unless things fall apart completely, I don't see the Rockets catching the Mavs or Suns. ------------------
What actually happened. I guess Rockets going 5-2 was not that far of. But damn did I miss out Sonics and Wolves fall - on the other hand Suns did way better than I predicted, but we have positioned ourselfes in 9th already and thats one better than predicted. 6. Mavs 36-22 +2 (37-21 (6-1) +3) 7. Suns 34-22 +1 (33-23 (3-3) 0) 8. Wolves 34-24 0 (36-22 (4-2) +2) 9. Rockets 31-27 -3 (32-26 (6-1) -2) 10. Nuggets 30-29 -4.5 (32-27 (4-3)-2.5) 11. Sonics 29-29 -5 (32-26 (5-1) -2) Here was my initial predictions for the remainder of the season at the end of January - (actual record) Current record: 22-22 January (remainder): 1-0 (0-1) February: 10-3 (9-4) March: 12-3 April: 7-2 ------------- Total: 52-30 = playoffs But I allowed 4 slip-up games for a total record... and playoff going record of 48-34 And we had 1 of these games in January We had a total of 1* in february... and with two months reamining we can slip up 1 time each month... Yeah Playoffs here we come.... *) We actually had 2 slip-ups games in february, but made 1 up by winning a lot of though games. Btw... I can see our slip-up game of the month coming already today with all the injuries we have... but no need to worry... its calculated... we will go to the playoffs.... ------------------ We can reach our destination, but it's still a ways away.
