I am the leader of the company wide poll and will win the whole thing if UCONN beats DUKE in the next round.
If the current standing holds, it could work out best for us. We are competive agaisnt Minn and LAL. We can meet the Lakers after we beat the Wolves in the 1st round: Winner of (#2 Minn -#7 Hou) vs. winner of (#3 LAL -#6 Dal) If LAL beats Dallas, we can avoid the Mavs. Afterward we won't have to meet but 1 of the other 4 whom we have trouble with: Sac, SA, Memphis, Utah.
I am very comfortable with playing either the Spurs of T-Wolves in the first round of the playoffs. They are the teams that present a better match-up scenario for us with the present crop of players we have now. Then if we hopefully get past the first round then all bets are off. I have up to 70% and 77% confidence that we can beat the Spurs and T-wolves respectively.
The only ways we would play the Lakers in the first round are: The Lakers finish 3rd (which is probable) and we finish 6th (which is very unlikely). OR The Lakers finish 1st (which is possible) and we finish 8th (which is extremely unlikely). OR The Lakers finish 2nd (which is unlikely, for they'll have to pass the Kings and not pass the T-wolves) and we finish 7th (which is very likely). None of these scenarios are likely to happen. But we can hope to get them in the 2nd round--if they are lucky enough to win the first round.
I'd hate to see the Rockets play the Wolves in the first round. KG is my favorite player, and it would be a shame to watch him lose his eighth straight first-round playoff series.
GO NIMRODS!! oh... damn... my bad... i dont really give a damn who the rockets play. its gonna be great just to see them there. matchups are a completely different story once you hit playoff time.
