playoffs this year is frigging critical and incrediblly fierce, we're gonna survive this, which team do u guys think can be easily handled?
without yao ? everyone is going to be a challenge. we will probably have to keep playing above our heads (rafer)
You do not want the Jazz in the first round. You want them for the second round. Jazz has 3 big scorers. Hornets is nothing without CP3.
killed? haha yeah right.. i voted the spurs because they're a bit injured this year but i might repick NO. idk without yao its hard to say..
I really think our defense can shut down the Hornets. The Jazz...not so much. Boozer/Okur/AK is a pretty big team to try to push off. The Hornets are still young so we can abuse that if nothing else. I'd like to meet the JAzz in the second round though. I'm pretty sure thats impossible though. Hornets is our best chance to exit first round.
1. lakers - no way, no team would want to play them matchups nightmare to anyone. 2. Spurs - champ, still if we can avoid them in first round then its good 3. NO - with no playoffs experience and their bench is questionable. one man show. shut down chris u win the game. 4. Jazz - another matchup problem for teams, however they are beatable. 5. Mavs - maybe the second or third team I prefer the rox to see. we will see how we fare with them next week. 6. Suns - with Shaq manning the middle, we can kill them in the arc. scola and landry will school shaq.
We actually match up better defensively against Utah without Yao. Hayes, Landry, and Scola all have better lateral quickness than Yao, which would allow them to cover Boozer better. These guys would also do a better job covering Okur when he goes to the perimeter. Obviously we're a better team with Yao than without him, but a Jazz matchup this year would play very differently than last year's. I'm more confident in a Jazz rematch now than I am against the teams with big frontlines (Lakers, SA).
Suns- We can beat them now, that they dont have Marion and have Shaq. Shaq makes them a lot slower and their offense is not better now. 1st choice.
All of them will be difficult. Very likely a seven game series with most of them. A series could go either way. The West is brutal.