I think people underestimate how much we gained on the trade deadline last year. Putting Yao Ming and Patrick Patterson on top of what we had last year should easily place us in the top four in the West talent-wise. Health is always a question mark for every team, but even more so for us with Yao and Martin as our top two offensive options. I will say this though: there are still four months to the offseason, and I haven't given up my hope in my signature. This team come November will have one or two significant changes from its current configuration, and other teams will too most likely. 1. Lakers 2. Thunder 3. Rockets 4. Portland 5. Dallas 6. San Antonio 7. Utah 8. Memphis -- 9. Clips 10. Kings 11. Suns 12. Hornets 13. Twolves Z. Golden State
My Top 8 Teams in the West(based on off-season so far): 1. Los Angeles (Just won a championship, so i got to show some respect, uhh!!! ) 2. Houston (The deepest team in the west, and one of the best starting 5) 3. Oklahoma (Young and getting better with Westbrook and Durant, also added some size this off-season) 4. Denver (Still have Billups and Anthony, but haven't added any significant pieces) 5. Dallas (Still very talented, but are getting old) 6. Portland (Still a young team, but they need to get healthy) 7. San Antonio (Veteran leadership, but age is a factor) 8. New Orleans (With Chris Paul back, their team should get better) ...... Borderline Playoff teams: 9. Memphis Grizzlies (Young talented team, almost made the playoffs last year) 10. Los Angeles Clippers (Very young and talented team with the additions of Griffin and Aminu) 11. Utah Jazz (Lost Boozer and hasn't added any significant pieces) 12. Phoenix Suns (Lost Amare, Nash is getting older, hasn't added any significant pieces) 13. Sacramento Kings (The addition of a young low post presence in Cousins, should make them much better) ...... Bonafide lottery teams: 14. Minnesota T-wolves (they pretty much alway's suck) 15. Golden State Warriors (I have no Idea what they're doing) --RB
1. L.A. Lakers--too strong up front with Pau, Bynum and Odom not to mention some dude named Kobe. 2. Dallas--another year older, but essentially a team that should have gone deeper in the playoffs. Still, they have Beaubois, Dirk, Butler and Kidd...just need to add some depth on the front line and they have always been a regular season beast. 3. Denver--Nuggets get one more try with Chauncey, Melo and company but Karl needs to be there come April or its bye bye Melo... 4. Houston--Yao and Scola = best offensive frontcourt in the west and probably the deepest team in the west. Need better defensive rebounding and a shotblocking presence wouldn't hurt. 5. Oklahoma City--Young legs and a taste of post season success makes this the hungriest team out west. Just need a big man. 6. Portland--Brandon Roy is talented enough to get them to the playoffs. Add in the rest, they get to #6 seed. 7. Phoenix--losing Amare hurts....but how much? I'm not convinced they won't be just as good. Defensively they won't be any worse off and how much of what Amare did was due to Nash? 8. Utah--same as Phx...except trade out Boozer for Amare and DWill for Nash. 9. L.A. Clippers--alot of good young talent plus a coach that wants to convince the world Chicago made a mistake. 10. Sacramento--coin flip with Clippers and Utah for the last playoff spot. Another team on the rise with a lot of talent...but very green. Will be fun to watch them develop together. 11. San Antonio--Spurs finally hit "that year" when they get old. Possible loss of Parker and Jefferson also looms. 12. New Orleans--Chris Paul starts making noise around middle of January about where he wants to play next. 13. Memphis--Gasol, Gay and Randolph are good players...but throw no fear in the hearts of anyone in the west. 14. Golden State--Don Nelson and his wacky world. Lots of talent with no direction...no true on court leader. Going nowhere fast. 15. Minnesota--Seriously....KAHN!!!!!! Does anybody know what this man is doing?
Lakers will be number one in the west. The Hornets and Grizzlies won't make it. Either the Jazz or Suns won't make it. Houston,Thunder,Blazers,Spurs,Mavericks, and Nuggets will. What order they're in will be unknown until late April.
From last year's playoffs, I really saw the difference between a head coach and an assistant coach. I didn't think Adrian Dantley would suck THAT bad. There goes his chance to ever be a head coach anywhere..
My Power Rankings: 1. Los Angeles Lakers : Even if they lose Fisher, Lakers are still undoubtedly the best in the West. 2. Denver : They have the pieces to contend, but their post-seasons have been disappointed. 3. Houston : If Yao comes back healthy, we're easily the number three seed. 4. Dallas : They make the playoffs every year, but never make it far... 5. Thunder : Durant and co. had a huge improvement record-wise last season, and are looking to do ever better this upcoming season. 6. Portland : Great team, injuries last year kept them from post-season success. 7. San Antonio : Getting too old. 'Nuff said. 8. Memphis : They had a quiet regular season last year, almost got into the playoffs. The iffies... a. Phoenix : Loss of Amare, but still a decent team without him. However, in the West decent doesn't cut it. b. Utah : Williams is left to carry the team all by himself. Can he pull a Dwyane Wade and carry the team to a playoff spot? Probably not. c. New Orleans : If they get lucky, this team can make a playoff spot as well.
As of right now, these are my predictions: 1. LA Fakers 2. OKC 3. Houston 4. Portland 5. Denver 6. Dallas 7. San Antonio 8. New Orleans 9. Utah 10. LA Clippers 11. Phoenix 12. Memphis 13. Sacramento 14. Golden State 15. Minnesota Seeds #2-6 could all easily switch places. The teams in the West are so evenly matched outside of the Fakers.
My Worthless Power Rankings 1. OKC Thunder 2. Houston Rockets 3. LA Lakers 4. Portland Trailblazers 5. Denver Nuggets 6. San Antonio Spurs 7. New Orleans Hornets 8. Dallas Mavericks We'll see...
Cuban.does.not.rule. 1.Lakers- as usual 2.denver- george karl is back 3. houston- yao ming and morey said he will make a move this offseason 4. OKC- with the scoring machine KD and young talent. 5. dallas- always find a way to get in 6.portland- healthy now 7.spurs- another team who always finds a way 8.jazz-sloan ... 9.neworleans-paul 10.clippers- solid team 11.suns-amare 12.memphis- solid team 13.warriors- no idea what the hell there doing 14.kings-tyreke evans 15.wolves- always suck
LAL on top (unfortunately) 2-4: OKC Portland Houston 5: Dallas 6: San Antonio 7: Denver 8: Utah 9: Sacramento 10: New Orleans 11: Pheonix 12: LAC 13: Memphis 14-15: Minnesota/Golden State but nobody gives a **** about them
1. fakers 2. Hou 3. OKC 4. portland 5. dallass 6. denver 7. NO 8. sac-town 9. utah 10. spers 11. phoenix 12. clipps 13. memphis 14. golden state 15. minnie
1. Lakers 2. Portland 3. Houston 4. Denver 5. OKC 6. Dallas 7. Sacramento 8. San Antonio 9. Memphis 10. Utah 11. Clippers 12. NO 13. Phoenix 14. GS 15 Minn. There's a whole lotta parity in the West from 2 - 11.
