If Amare can't come back, I don't see the Suns winning another division title. I'm not sure Steve Nash can carry that team another year. I think the Clippers can take the Pacific with a low 50's win total with Phoenix just a game or two back.
I think the Suns will have no problem without Amare, that's been their mindset almost all of last season anyways. I agree that the Clippers and Suns will probably be close, but I'm thinking the Suns will take this one away.. Nash is still very capable, he's not the 2-time MVP for nothing.
I like your clippers over the suns pick cause I think that has possibilities, but no way in hell the T-Wolves get the 4 spot. They would be lucky to get 7 or 8
Well, SOMEBODY has to win the Northworst Division. 45 wins would get the division title and the fourth seed. I think Garnett can carry that team to 45 wins. The T-Wolves have as much talent as Denver.
Actually I think the list that he's looking at isn't even going by the seeding rules. With those rules, Spurs and Mavs can't be 1 and 2.. so I think that list is strictly talking about which team is better than whom in the West.. making the Wolves undersving to be above the Rockets, so I'd have to agree with Sammy.
Under the old rule, you would be right. The new rule states that the 3 division winners plus the team with the next best record will be given the top 4 seeds, but this time they are ordered from best record to worst. So you can have two teams from the SW division at the top 2 spots. The Northwest division, as bad as it is, is almost surely going to get that 4th seed. The 5th seed would not be a bad place to be, especially since it would be possible to have homecourt advantage if you have a better record than the 4th.
http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/NBA_alters_seeding_system-186159-822.html NBA alters playoff seeding system Changes will keep top two teams in conference from early matchup By Damien Pierce Rockets.com The NBA reshuffled its playoff seeding system Wednesday to ensure a conference's two best teams won't meet in the semifinals. The first four seeds in each conference will continue to be given to the three division winners and the team with the next best regular season record. However, the four teams will now be seeded in order of their regular season records under a new rule created by the league's Board of Governors. The alteration would prevent the two teams with the best record in a conference from meeting before the conference finals. Last season, Dallas and San Antonio played in the conference semifinals even though they were the top two teams in the Western Conference. You were saying?
Touchè. I stand corrected, both of you are right.. I was not aware that these changes were made. I still don't like the fact that the wolves will be higher than us in this year's seeding. I have high hopes for the Rockets, so with this new seeding, I think the Rockets could break number 2.
1 Dallas Mavericks 2 San Antonio Spurs 3 Phoenix Suns 4 Minnesota Timberwolves 5 Los Angeles Clippers 6 Houston Rockets 7 Los Angeles Lakers 8 New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets and then the east, just for Kicks. 1 Miami Heat 2 Cleveland Cavaliers 3 Chicago Bulls 4 Boston Celtics 5 Detroit Pistons 6 Indiana Pacers 7 Washington Wizards 8 Orlando Magic
