What? Al kills Yao in matchups. Okur and Al are two centers that give Yao fits because one is more athletic and the other forces Yao to spread out to the three point line.
Al Jefferson really is more Power Forward than Center. Scola can take care of Little Al, Yao can abuse Okur and Fesenko of Fesenko. Okur will be a hard cover on the outside but I'm sure the Rockets can go Zone if the Jazz play that card.
1.Lakers 2.Rockets 3.Jazz 4.Mavericks 5.Spurs 6.Suns 7.Thunder 8.Grizzlies Let's not forget that first 3 teams that win there conference automaticlly get's the 1,2,and 3rd seed spot.
They changed that rule. Top 3 teams + 1 get top 4 seeds in any order. so you can have: 1. Rockets 2. Mavs 3. Jazz 4. Lakers
EDIT: CORRECTION IN BOLD. They changed that rule. 3 division winners + 1 team any division get top 4 seeds in any order. so you can have: 1. Rockets 2. Mavs 3. Jazz 4. Lakers
I hate my top 8 1) The Spurs 2) The Thunder 3) The Lakers 4} The Jazz 5) The Mavs 6) The Trail Blazers 7) The Rockets 8) The Nuggets
My Top 8 in the East 1) The Heat 2) The Celtics 3) The Magic 4) The Bulls 5) The Hawks 6) The Pistons 7) The Knicks 8) The Bucks
I don't want to see that matchup because I hate watching the Jazz play. They cheat constantly and get away with it. That's not fun to watch.
1. LAL 2. POR 3. DAL 4. SAS 5. OKC 6. HOU 7. UTA 8. NOH PHX, DEN, MEM, and LAC on the outside looking in. SAC and MIN, a year or two away from the playoffs. GSW.... sorry.
agreed, Jazz traded one rocket killer (boozer) for a bigger one (jefferson). They might not have won against us just because they are the t-wolves, but IMO no center in the league has played better on a consistant basis against yao than Jefferson.
Top 8 WC: 1) LA Lakers 2) Dallas Mavericks 3) Houston Rockets 4) Oklahoma City Thunder 5) San Antonio Spurs 6) Denver Nuggets 7) Utah Jazz 8) LA Clippers
1 Mavericks 2 Lakers 3 Utah 4 Houston 5 Thunder 6 Portland 7 San Antonio 8 Grizzlies or Suns I hate the Mavericks but I actually expect this to happen due to injury. I also hate the Jazz but think they'll continue to be a higher rank than us. I expect Denver to trade Melo and fall into obscurity and I expect the Thunder and Portland to have almost identical records this year. Also, our ranking is only if we stay mostly healthy this year. If we lose Yao or Martin for an extended period of time then you can place us 8th if we're lucky.
I don't know if you've seen Jefferson this year, but he is far from slow. He is in the best shape I've ever seen him and is playing very well. His defense may have been mediocre before, but under Sloan he is playing great defense and rebounding well. As much as I hate the Jazz, don't sleep on them. They are looking real good with Jefferson/Milsap frontline and finally having their defensive stopper in Raja Bell, who is healthy and is playing just as good defense as before while knocking down the 3. Kobe has already pushed Bell down out of frustration, and it's just preseason. They look like they haven't missed a beat, and I won't be surprised if the Jazz are one of the top 4 teams in the West. Portland is also a team I think will be up there. With all of the injuries they had last year, they still won over 50 games b/c they're deep. If their bigs get healthy they can be really good. San Antonio is also looking good and Dallas always win a lot of regular sesaon games. I think it will be tough for the Rockets to be one of the top 4 teams in the West b/c of the time restrictions on Yao and the back-to-back games he will miss. Hope I'm wrong.....
