Nah. Take my word for it, Devin Harris' outside shooting makes Francis look like Larry Bird. PG is not a strength for Dallas because Jet Terry is slipping. The Spurs won't be as good because they are older. TP might improve but nearly everyone else will decline some, maybe even TD. The Mavs won't be as good unless they refresh their roster. The past regular season was a magic carpet ride they will not repeat. I said all year their roster wasn't as good as their record. Their consistency was just amazing. The Suns are hard to tell. Nash will slip some, who knows how much. Amare could make a giant leap back to superstardom since he could be fully recovered. Barbosa may step it up a notch and finally become a clutch player. Diaw could be a much better player if his motor would run hard all the time. Or he could slip backwards. Diaw strikes me as a very very talented player who's heart will never match his talent. Raja Bell is old enough to start slipping but I doubt it happens next season. Kurt Thomas was getting old. But having Amare, Diaw and Sean Marks as your only centers won't work. The Suns must make a deal for a young banger with some size before the season starts. Utah won't miss Derek Fisher much. The way people on this forum overrate him is astounding.
One chicken... Two chickens... Three chickens... You startled me! I was just counting these eggs here. I mean, yeah, they're not chickens YET, but what's the harm in counting them now? Four chickens... 5ive chickens...
Spurs: OLD Mavs: lack of super talent. Dirk will choke and will suk in the playoffs. chuck will be named the dirk-stopper come playoffs if we face them. mark it. Suns: Traded away Kurt Thomas, who always gave Yao more problem that Amare. This trade dissapoints me. I thought they were gonna trade away shawn marion to get under the cap. Oh well.... at least Yao is gonna flourish now against them. Jazz: we will woop their sorry ass this time around. Do you honestly think Yao would allow himself to be terrible again against Okur. Gimme a break. That's not counting how many more weapons we can deploy on them. And Scola's gonna block Boozer's sorry ass lik he did in the Olympics. plus they lost derek fisher. game over before it even begins. Denver: dunno how AI and Melo is going to gel. But don't think it matter either way as long as their stars keep being selfish. Too many holes. Doubt Chucky Atkins is gonna bring the over the top. GSW: One year wonder only, insignificant force. Rest: useless[/QUOTE] conclusion: we can get to the finals if we ever resemble the monstrous defensive team we were last year. I'd say we have a great chance to win it all if we remain top 3 in defensive efficiencies.
As far as competition goes, how hard the west is this year depends mainly on two players, Steve Nash and Tim Duncan. If Nash and Duncan maintain their level of play, all the other moves Spurs/Suns make won't make them less challenging. And if either one of them falter, then their team would no longer be contenders. Meanwhile, the Mavs and the Jazz will basically remain the same. There are no other contenders in the west. GSW might be a dangerous first round matchup... but that's about it. The LA teams are not worth mentioning. Denver is too flawed a team that has no defense nor outside shooting. And Peja even when healthy can't play well in the playoffs for the Hornets to do anything.
conclusion: we can get to the finals if we ever resemble the monstrous defensive team we were last year. I'd say we have a great chance to win it all if we remain top 3 in defensive efficiencies.[/QUOTE] just about right.
