Is there another team other than the Blazers that we can say with certainty will not make the playoffs? IMO, Western Conference will be extremely competitive and almost all teams are in the running to make the playoffs. Spots 5-8 could be total surprises. Is this the biggest imbalance between the East and the West ever?
The Sonics and the Jazz will not make the playoffs. There isn't an imbalance between the East and West. Well, at least it's not the greatest imbalance ever.. The East still has a lot of good teams - Miami, Detroit, Cleveland, New Jersey, Chicago. And don't forget up-and-coming Orlando.
i would say seattle sonics...they weren't no where near to making it last year..and they haven';t don't any moves to improve themselves...so I don't see them making it this year...especially how you mention now that the west is 100000000000 times tougher...ha ha ha ha
I wouldn't rule out the Jazz. Their playoff hopes hinge on Kirilenko's health, but they could be good.
I don't think Seattle will make it. Memphis, if they struggle without Pau Gasol, won't make it either. I don't know. Every other team in the west looks competitive and thay all stand a decent chance of making the playoffs.
i dont think the blazers, warriors,sonics,grizzlies and the twolves will make the playoffs. yes the twolves, they still dont have enough help around garnett. james will not be the scorer he was in toronto and unless foye becomes ROY i just dont see them making it with the talent they have right now
At this point, we can safely assume the Clips, Suns, Nuggs, Rockets, Spurs, and Mavs are in. That leaves 2 spots... First tier: Lakers, Kings, Twolves, Memphis (with Pau) Second Tier: NOK, GS, Utah Scrubs: Portland, Seattle I don't think it would be going out on much of a limb to say Portland, Seattle, Utah, and Memphis will not make it... Memphis will have too much of a hole without Pau early on. I also think GS will be much like last year... flashes, but no sustained run, so they are out. I think NOK could possibly take the Twolves spot in the next tier, but I think both of them are out. While I put the Kings in the playoffs, it is primarily because of veteran players... I think this is the last year for them and I expect NOK to be there next year.
its a pretty damn big imbalance.. lets take ur six eastern confernece teams u listed. miami, detroit, cleveland, new jersey chicaco, orlando. they all rank behind the western confernce power house teams like san antonio, dallas, phoenix, and possibly us. i think u can break it down to different categories. teams that have a good chance of going to the finals and winning it all and have already provem themselves 1) san antonio, dallas, phoenix, heat (any of these teams can finish top with the best record in the league teams that if they play well together definately have the potential to win it all but have to prove themselves first 2) houston, detroit pretty good teams that might make some noise in the playoffs 3) clippers, denver, chicago, orlando, lakers anyways san antonio, houston, dallas, phoenix, heat in my opinon are the top teams.. and 4 of those come from the western conference. pretty big imbalance.. and lets not forget memphis if healthy and the hornet are also decent teams 3)
this is regular season order prediction, not however the order of championship teams,for instance i think mavs will have a better reg season than rockets, but rockets will overtake them in playoffs 1.mavs 2.suns 3.spurs 4.rockets 5.twolves 6.hornets 7.lakers 8.nuggets best playoff teams 1.rockets 2.mavs 3.spurs 4.twolves 5.lakers 6.suns 7.hornets 8.nuggets
funny..i was just watching nba tv and the majority of the analysts predicted jazz to win their division.
what's wrong with the Jazz? Okur - 18 and 7 Boozer - 16 and 8 Kirilenko - 17, 5, and 3 blocks Matt Harpring - kills the rockets, all I know Deron Williams - PG with good talent Fisher coming off the bench I mean if you get 60 points from your front court every night they'll have a chance to win. Teams I'm ruling out for the Playoffs blazers, sonics, warriors, grizzlies Teams on the bubble twolves, kings, lakers, hornets, nuggets, jazz I'm not that high on Denver
Outside shooting is still a question mark, surely. But they have Carmelo. And he has gotten very, very, very good. I just watched a few minutes of the Lakers game and he was just molesting them -- basically the same thing we saw at the FIBA championships. No question Utah has a ton of potential (and so does Minnesota with a very nice offensive arsenal), but Denver is still the team to beat in that division.
You mean besides the fact that they don't play defense, have no low post scoring threat, or go-to man at the end of games?
Since when do they not play defense? Any Sloan team is going to be above average defensively, and they have AK47, who would have a few dpoy's if Wallace wasn't so overrated.
i think the sonic's have a good chance to be in the playoffs. they just need to play defence..but then again when our team started to focus on defence we gave up alot of offense...i think it could go either way for the sonics.. min i think has a chance to do better, but i can't see KG carrying the team that far into the playoffs..
