You know what's more important than a top 2 seed? The heart of a champion, which you should never underestimate.
They were 8-6 in November, 16-0 in December, 9-7 in January, 8-5 in February, 7-7 in March and 7-1 in April. They were basically the same team all year except for catching fire for one month. Sample size.
You can debate the merits of the Clippers all you want. All I know is, come the regular season ill be going thread necromancy on this board as we battle it out with OKC for top dog status.
Hakeem making the leap from unhappy and really good to God mode. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1992.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/1993.html PER of 27.3, WS of 15.8, WS/48 of .234 in 1993 PER of 23.7, WS of 9.8, WS/48 of .178 in 1992 Quite simply, the Rockets had a transcendent player in 1993 that they didn't have in 1992. Maybe that happens to Paul or Griffin under Rivers, but the track record of such random improvements isn't long, so I'll have to see to believe.
I'm with you on this one Cat. Clippers lost to the Grizz because their bigs were MANHANDLED by Z-Bo and Gasol. Unless Blake and DeAndre get significantly better (not impossible, but no real reason to think they will) I don't see them making too much noise. And they didn't pick up anyone to really bolster their frontcourt rotation either, Mullens doesn't scare anyone. Part of the hype is because people overrate Doc and Chris Paul. I think this is a 2nd round playoff team at best. Don't see them beating the Thunder and the Spurs have been giving it to them for a few years now. Also don't like their chances against the Grizz. A series against us or the Warriors would be interesting though. Could easily be wrong though. Also got to give credit where credit is due. You were on top of the Dwight thing months ago. Good call Cat.
Waaait.... AT&T. Somehow that name seems familiar. Don't they have naming rights over this NBA stadium?
I guess it's good for the Clippers then that no one is asking them to go from the lottery to 2nd seed, but only move up a couple of spots.
I will be glad to say it. Nobody has any data to work with. Not a clue. Just pissing into the wind. Go buy some lotto tickets. But don't give me your crap analysis in an area that no one has a clue please.
While personnel isn't an upgrade on paper, they fit better with Paul in reality. Spacing is key. Also you have to figure that the young bigs will get better - team chemistry and so on - another year of playing together is going to make them better anyway. They don't need to win more games, just mature as a team. And I think Doc is going to help with that a lot.
I don't think a top 2 seed is critical. Having home court will make a difference, but it's a very lofty goal to strive for, unless one of those teams falters, I doubt we get that - the weakness at the 4 is too big, not to mention our still lack of polish and experience. I think it will be a close race. Here's how I see it shaking out: 1. OKC - younger legs + experience over a long season gives them the edge 2. L.A. Clippers - will be very close between L.A., H-town,G.S. and SA. Maybe 4 games separates 2 from 5 seed. 3. Houston 4. SA - Duncan and Manu are aging with declining stats, and Manu with less PT. SA will sacrifice games to keep these two healthy - and that will cause them a drop in places in the standings 5. G.S. 6. Memphis 7. Denver 8. Minnesota 9. Hornets 10. Jazz 11. Mavs 12. Portland 13. Lakers
Fair point, but I'd caution that it's almost as tough to make the leap from good to great as it is to jump from mediocre to great. I just don't see the Clippers having the transcendent, upper-tier talent to compete with OKC/SA/HOU. If Griffin develops into that, they can, but that's a huge if.
Will San Antonio finally break down? They're hard to beat at home. I don't see Memphis improving much, so 58 wins should be enough to win the Southwest. OKC wins overall, so we just have to see what kinda difference Doc Rivers makes with the Clippers.
GS at 5? With a healthy Bogut they could be a surprise. Unfortunately I think he's like Yao and bound to miss some time, so yeah, you're probably right. I say unfortunately not because I am for GS, but I hate seeing quality centers get hurt. Memphis could win the SW division over us. Marc and Z-Bo are still the most effective, and boring, front court tandem.
Yeah, I could agree with the ranking. The key thing for us would be 1) How fast we build team chemistry 2) How well we make use of Dwight on defense (I think we would do well in offense) 3) How deep can we go on the bench. (As games progress, we would have some smaller and hopefully no bigger mishaps, and we need the bench to perform, this is crucial)
They were only 3 wins shy of a 2-seed this year. 1-5 was only separated by 4 games. Even Morey says a coach can make up to +/- 5 games difference. Going from VDN to Doc could be huge.
