Against the Spurs: Yao = Duncan- Duncan even though he is on the decline is still one of the Top 5 players in the league. He dominated against the Mavs and thats when he was slowed down by a injury. Plus Yao has to show he can dominate for an entire season. T-mac > Parker- Parker is an All-star caliber player but a healthy Tmac is clearly better. Manu G. > Battier- Ginobli had proven that he is clutch, can take over games at the highest level (did it in the Finals) and has been to an All-star game. Even though Battier plays better defense, Manu us just that much better on offense. I say this is a wash and fairly even. Against the Mavs: Tmac =< Dirk- Dirk took his game to another level in the playoffs and unless Tmac can completely return to his level of 2 season ago the advantage here goes to Dirk. Yao > Terry- No comparison. Terry is a good player but Yao is clearly more dominant that Terry. Battier = Howard- Howard might have a slight advantage on the offensive end but i think Battier makes up for it on defense and with his overall IQ. The Rockets have an advantage here mainly because Yao is ALOT better than Terry and that evens out any advantage the Mavs have at the other two spots. The Suns: Yao >= Amare- Not sure how good Amare will be coming back for that knee injury but Yao has clearly improved and at worst is as good as Amare. Considering it might take an entire saeson for Amare to get back to where he was pre-injury i believe Yao has the advantage for atleast this season. TMac =< Nash- Nash makes his teammates so much better and is just so tough to guard against. Completely different players but its tough to ay that Tmac is ad good as Nash when Nash as won the MVP two years running. However, an older Nash and a healthy Tmac and the gap is greatly closed. Marion >> Battier- Rocket River put it best "Marion IS Battier but does everyhting better". Marion is a legit All star player that rebounds, scores, and plays better defense that Battier. No comparison. I think the Suns have the best trio is the League and Marion gives the Suns a great advantage over the Rockets. Not even close. Against he Clippers and Wolves, our our second best player (Yao or Tmac) is clearly better than their 2nd best players (Mike james and Cassell). Additionally an argument can be made that Battier is just as good as Ricky Davis or Mobley. Clear Advantage for the rockets against both teams.
Actually, I'd say.... If Amare swings back, then undoubtly they have an edge. If he doesn't... Pheonix won't fare better than SA, IMO. 1.Dallas 2.Pheonix (if Amare does strike back) 3.San Antonio 4.Houston 5.LA Clippers 6.Grizzlies 7.Hornets 8.Jazz
1.Phoenix (if Amare is healthy. If not then Dallas) 2.Dallas 3.San Antonio **BIG GAP** 4.LA Clippers 5.Houston 6.Sacramento (If they re-sign Bonzi) 7.LA Lakers 8.Denver OR Memphis Even though our trio of Yao, Tmac and Battier are just as good or better than the Mavs or Spurs, the fact that those team have so much more depth than us gives them a HUGE advantage in a 7 games series. Same goes with the Clippers who now have Tim thomas, CM, Livingston, and Kaman. We need another PG (Banks would help alot) and decent PF (no idea who we can get or afford) to overtake the Clippers and have any chance against the top 3 teams.
I agree... but man, I just realized that likely scenarios such as this mean the rox hafta play either SA or Dallas in the 1st round, whoever loses the race for the southwest division. Ideally we either win the division or are a 6th seed, cuz that 4v5 series is gonna be tough.
