I know I know The summer is not over yet. but as of right now Pistons Heat Spurs then maybe the Suns seem strong Rocket River of course the rockets. . but then I would be biased
It's gonna be the Spurs. They are the defending champs and have the best defense in the league. I think Miami will be the team in the East, but the competition there is so much weaker than the West.
You can't go wrong answering the Spurs simply because they are the defending champs. But what I asked myself was: Which team in the NBA would I like most to be in the EC, away from the Rockets? The answer was Miami. If they were in the WC my optimism for the Rockets getting to the Finals would almost crash. If they develop a good team chemistry by playoff time and aren't decimated by injuries, the Heat will win the championship easily IMO. The team chemistry part could be tough because so many of their guys will have to accept lesser roles than what they are accustomed to. But since Shaq is the only one on their team who's tasted a championship, maybe they will be hungry and pull together for the ultimate prize. Plus, we have to see how Shaq's body holds up.
RocketRiver, shame on you for not putting the Rockets in that list. No excuse. You should know better. You go sit in your timeout chair until you've learned your lesson.
for us, we have to win the western conference b4 meeting a eastern conf. team. so SA is definately the team to beat.
Spurs Miami Detroit other. I did not include the rockets because i would be to biased. The spurs are the best team, and we will see if they will be beaten when they are healthy. I'm not sure how well the chemistry will be with the heat. And how much they will let walker play(hope not so much). Detroit is still a tough team to beat IMHO
Miami is freaking loaded...if they can get their chemistry straight and avoid major injuries, they could possibly win 65+ games....The Spurs are still the defending champs though so they have to be #1 followed by the Heat and then the Pistons. 1. Spurs 2. Heat 3. Pistons 4. Rockets 5. Pacers
Miami. I hope everyone beats them! 1. Miami Heat - Shaq can miss the whole season and they would still get a top three seed in the East, that's how talented they are, you can't say that about any other elite NBA player. That's without Michael Finley! Now they aren't perfect; SVG's job is the most pressure packed in the NBA, their defense will be bad, their shooting percentage, 3 point shooting percentage, and overall offensive efficiency won't be as good as it was last season, but with all that talent it won't need to be. 2. San Antonio Spurs - This is only because they are defending champions, I think they need a big guy down low that can help Duncan out, it must have been a nightmare for him facing Detroit's big three by himself. Also Tony Parker has to break out of his playoff shell, it's as if he doesn't know how good he is, or maybe he's not that good at all. 3. Houston Rockets - Biased? Maybe, oh well. If I was a fan of the Spurs I would be ****ting my pants at the thought of facing this team in a seven game series. The only reason I'm not thinking Finals is that it's very rare for a team to go from first round to the Finals after one offseason, still, as I said the Spurs have a team to fear. 4. Indiana Pacers - These guys are loaded as well, if their backup bigs (Scott Pollard, Harrison, Crochere) can stay healthy I think they will give the Heat the biggest challenge next season. Their problem is that come crunch time they don't have Dwayne Wade they don't really have a clear go to guy at all, that's why they're going to lose to the Heat in the ECFs. I love the addition of Sarunas Jasikevicius, he's going to be their X-Factor, they have a good chance if he can be as clutch as he has been playing for Yugoslavia and his European team. 5. Detroit Pistons - This is probably their year to start declining, and most people will think it's because of Larry Brown. NO. It's because everyone else is getting better and they're not, to stay on top they need Michael Finley about as bad as the Suns need him to match their previous season, and I doubt that's going to happen. Or they can just give up on Darko and trade him for some talented guards that can help them off the bench, preferably one that can hit threes, something they don't have and continue to ignore for some reason.
