Its basically a race for the eighth in the west, but dont count out injuries. If any of the star players on a west team(that is on the top eight list) gets injuried, they could as well be out of the playoffs. Imagine Nash or Dirk or Paul not playing for 1 months..that team would not have a better record than the 8th seed. I like Portland's chance. They'll be playing more like a team, with a true centre, and a much more improved wing scorer, with Roy being the floor general. They might even take out the mavs.
People always want to underestimate the evil Jazz. I hate them, but they have a way of always being a threat. Would also put SA up and NO down. I think Chris Paul will continue to be superb, but I think the supporting crew may take a step back to reality.
Anyteam with Chris Paul, Chandler, West, peterson, and now posey arent a fluke. they got a great balance of great guard play, solid wing defense and lockdown interior defense. thats no fluke. there the rd best team in the west.
Yea, really. Everyone keeps saying "But they have Oden!" STFU! No one even knows if hes going to be good, he could be a complete bust! The 8th, maybe even 7th, seed are up for grabs. I think the Mavs will show a little improvement next season. Still get raped by the rockets though.
I don't think so because Chris Paul is just so good he makes everyone around him that much better. They really have a good all around squad but little depth. To me they are just needing some depth holes to fill and sign some veterans and that team has a legit shot.
I don't think NO should be ahead of us. They only added Posey. We routed them at their own home and we were without Yao last season.
They aren't a fluke, but they only put it together last year because before they had injury problems. West, Peja, and Paul all have had their share of injuries. They can survive without Peja for a while, but life would be difficult without one of the other two, and they're not very deep either. Also, I still don't think its a guarantee Bynum stays healthy, since he hasnt' been able to do that yet either. Lakers are deeper though, so its not as big of a deal for them. All things being equal, I think houston, utah, lakers, and hornets are the teams to beat in the west.
Why is everyone so high up on the Lakers? I think the way the Celtics played them in the play-offs will expose the Lakers this season. I realy think the Hornets will go close to being the first seed. The only reason I do not put the Rockets as the first seed is simply becasue there are too many question marks.
If we can table health issues for this debate, the Rockets right now are clearly the best team in the league IMO. The only teams that are even debatably better are the Fakers and Celtics, but looking at their rosters, I'd pick the Rockets over either. It's downright laughable to put the Hornets over a healthy Rockets squad. ... Of course I'm a little biased, but after years of disappointments, it's still not easy to have this high of expectations. But I do.
they are the defending conference champs and are getting a young promising center back in bynum which should help shift some of the players around in the front court and add to their depth. is he going to make them that much better who knows? but gasol alone help them close the season on a very impressive run last year and now with a full season with gasol should help their chances. provided no injuries to any team i see it as: lakers rockets hornets Jazz spurs(but better record than jazz) Blazers Suns Mavs the west this year will be fun
After Morey makes this other move he is working on the Rockets will be a number 1 seed.................
I agree with your playoff teams, with seven from last year and the Blazers taking the Nuggets spot. The Blazers or up and coming and could be a force to recon with. With that said I would not bet against AI or Melo even though they lost their only defensive player(Camby). And plus the Blazers are young and still haven't proved anything. I would reseed the teams though: Lakers Rockets Spurs Jazz Hornets(better record than Utah) Suns Mavs Blazers Looking at those teams it will be hard for any team to make it to the Finals out of the West. Who would you want to play?
Most likely...no. They're pretty solid and will remain to be for a long time. I think the Lakers might be primed for a quick fall, though. IMO, they're fragile and can go down easily with the slightest Kobe-related incident. I put the West like this... 1. New Orleans 2. Houston 3. Spurs 4. Lakers 5. Jazz 6. Phoenix 7. Dallas 8. Portland
Too much attention and hype is generally not a good thing, unless it could be translated to favorable calls, as Celtics were getting. Rockets could be a best-selling feel-good story. An organization with great history, who struggled in recent years; a super-gifted great player who never succeeded to pass the first round due to all kinds of obstacles, who transformed to a more team-oriented facilitator; a quiet East giant, who's a workaholic and ultimate team player but has suffered under injuries in recent years; a talented and hard-working once knucklehead, who has re-focused on the game he loves; a great coach who was robbed under millions of eyes, the list can go on and on. So, why not for the Rockets to get some favorable calls this time? One can always hope.
The Hornets were 1 game away from the WCF and got getter this offseason. Throw in the fact that they have a leg up on the Rockets because , yet again, the Rockets have changed the make up of the team and the Hornets have year of playing together. I's easy to see why NO is ranked second.
