Is it just me that thinks we're actually going to struggle a bit this year? Not that Mchale is a bad coach, but I think RA was exceptional and we overachieved imo. I know we sucked in defense, but that was more personnel. And I think losing Chuck is going to cost us a few games as well.
Zach Lowe of SI did his breakdown of the NBA. Put teams into tiers. Spoiler 3 set contenders Miami Oklahoma City Chicago If everything goes right Dallas San Antonio Memphis The wildest wild cards Los Angeles Clippers New York Aged out of contention Boston Los Angeles Lakers Sleep on them at your own risk Denver Nuggets Portland Trailblazers Painful, painful stasis Atlanta Orlando A disaster if they miss the playoffs Indiana Philadelphia Lurking on the edge Milwaukee Houston Spoiler Lottery-bound, frustrating division Golden State Phoenix New Jersey Lottery-bound, fun division Utah Detroit Minnesota Sacramento Just lousy Washington New Orleans Toronto Cleveland Charlotte
As much as it pains me to say: Rockets should look @ the way Jazz are doing business. They have been significant up until 2010, traded some star players and quietly working on getting a great young team with some nice veterans together.
My top 8 in the West: 1. OKC 2. Dallas 3. LAC 4. Memphis 5. Portland 6. Lakers 7. Spurs 8. Nuggets I also think the Hornets could be better than advertised. Okafor/Ariza/Landry/Gordon/Aminu/Kamen/Jack is not a bad core. I may be nuts, but I'm tempted to slide them in there at the eighth spot, especially with Chandler/Smith/Martin missing a good chunk for Denver. I see Houston finishing 10th or so.
For what it's worth, my top 8 in the East: 1) Miami 2) Chicago 3) NYK 4) Indiana 5) Atlanta 6) Boston 7) Orlando 8) Philadelphia Incredible how top heavy the East is ...
