I say the team wearing St. Patrick's color against the Purple / Gold team again, no "ifs" and "buts" about it !
magic vs trailblazers just throwing it out there. and if it sticks im going rub it the entire website's face
It's too early to make that prediction. I'm wondering if any teams in the East wise up and follow the Celtics mold. What do you do when you have overpaid stars incapable of carrying teams by themselves? Trade them all to the same team! The Bucks are a team I think should follow this mold. They should deal Yi since he wants to play for a big market team and it's only a matter of time before he demands a trade. Yi/Bobby Simmons/Picks for Elton Brand in a S&T? Could be a nasty team if they tried something like that. Or the Hawks could use Bibby's massive expiring contract and try to deal for Nash or Kidd. The Hawks are probably the quickest and most athletic team in the league. If they had either of those uptempo PG's they could tranform the Hawks into one of the most exciting and dangerous teams in the league. Just a couple ideas i'm throwing out there. But to answer the question it very likely could be another Lakers/Celtics Finals next year, much to everybody's dismay. People will be talking about the Gasol "trade" for years since that same Lakers group was a 42-win team before they essentially were handed Gasol for free. Now, the Lakers have the opportunity to be dominant and near untouchable for years. The Spurs are getting older, the Suns/Mavs are both in disarray. The Rockets, Hornets and Jazz are the real wildcards.
I'm a realist, but Homer. Ummm....why not? Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics.... I think the Celtics are probably going to rule the East, at least for another, especially if the Pistons are about to shot their horse. Everyone else is so far away from the Celtics it is not even funny. I know everybody is ready to crown the Lakers the next 3 titles or so, but they are some teams in the west as it right now that could beat them a full strength, we happened to be one of them. They just got really hot in playoffs and played teams that weren't that good defensively (Utah and Denver). SA looked dead as fish and really old. I think their four teams that could dethrone the Lakers, next year, Suns, Trailblazers (with Oden), re-energized Spurs, and us (healthy). The Suns, because they ended up with SA in the 1st Round, I believe they probably would've snuck past the Lakers, as strange as that sounds. Shaq and AMare would've been too much Gasol. I believe the Trailblazers might make the biggest jump in conference, simply because of Oden, he may not be the next David Robinson, but he could very well turn out to be a consistent 15 -19 ppg and 10 reb player. And, that is enough, especially when you have players like Alridge, Webster, and Roy. I think Oden is actually better Bynum (who I think is somewhat overrated). Now, the Rockets, health is the biggest concern. But, if healthy and determine Yao comes up against the Lakers, I can't see us losing.
if the lakers are healthy then they are back in the finals. i can't imagine how tough they will be with a healthy bynum.
Possible West Finals Teams: Houston Rockets Los Angeles Lakers New Orleans Hornets San Antonio Spurs Possible East Finals Teams: Boston Celtics Detroit Pistons Cleveland Cavaliers Orlando Magic
Yep, I was thinking the same thing, if the rockets stay healthy, we could get very deep in the playoffs. So, bring the others 80's finals back because first we got Boston vs LA and next year will be rockets vs celtics
Actually, I agree with Les Alexander. If the T-Mac had a healthy Yao Ming and Rafer Alson, utilizing Adelman Ball, Luis Scola and such...they would have been finally past the 1st Round this season. And they would have been a far more potent roadblock to the Lakers. The Rockets were DOMINANT after the All-Star Break. Then Yao went down...and to the Rockets credit still had enough gas to get a 22-win streak. No. 2 all time. They matched dominance with the Lakers until Yao went out...and of course, the Rockets started out the post-season with Rafer Alson on the pine. Hell, even without Yao, the Rox took the No. 1 seed for a moment. T-Mac was brilliant against Utah, with no quarterback or post-in-the-paint equalizer, the players he went to war with this season. 28 and 8 was a pretty damn excellent body of work. Do we really need to get into this anti-McGrady idiocy again?
Whoa, man calm down! I'll go Houston vs. Celtics also. It feels right and a bit of positive thinking thrown in there.
The Lakers may very well make it back to the Finals, but I have a hard time seeing them win it when one of their "big 3" is Lamar Odom. I mean, I even like Lamar, but he is just so up and down, and generally down in big situations....and considering how he should be dominating every game he plays in but doesn't maybe Bynum improves enough by next year... it seems like a "Big 3" league these days (Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Pistons, Hornets, etc.) The Rockets have a big 2, that was down to a big 1. The Cavs have a big 1 to 1.5 (depending on Big Z's day). The Mavs tried to get a big 3 with Kidd, but in teh end Harris may have been closer to that 3rd than anyone thought. Same with the Suns, where Shaq replaced Marion. The Jazz have a big 2 for sure, and since either AK47 or Okur (both past all-stars) can be that 3rd any given night, I consider them having a big 3, too. To get to the Finals, the Rockets need that 3rd player. Can Scola be it...I don't think quite it, he would be an awesome part of a Big 4, though. As good as Battier is defensively, the Rockets were good defensively before him. Seeing the unlikelihood of getting a significant PG improvement, I'd trade Battier + filler for that big 3, in the form of a Michael Redd, Maggette, last season's Hedo, etc. Then I'd confidently say Rockets (well, if healthy) will represent the West in next year's Finals!
