I guess he didn't say we'd have the 3rd best record, only that we'd be a 3 seed. Not that far fetched I guess... Jimmy Oliver (Cleveland, OH): BUZZER BEATER! Top 3 seeds in each conference will be....? David Thorpe: Lakers, Spurs, Blazers Celts, Cavs, Magic. 3 see would be a great get. Staying away from the Lakers until the WCF's? Pretty good idea. Bet Nuggets fans wouldn't be happy to see it though
I think it's going to be hard for us to catch Denver. They're just playing too well, and are winning practically every game. They're giving us no room for error, and that injury to Carmelo didn't hurt them as much as I thought. If Billups had an injury that forced him to sit for awhile, they'd hurt.
A couple of things I see with the Nuggs: It's my opinion that they have the tougher of the schedules when compared with ours. They're a team that has been playing 8 players a night for the season. I think there's a chance that older guys like Billups and Martin run down a bit at the end of the season. Maybe that's just wishful thinking by a Blazers homer, but I still feel like we win the division.
X-rays on Billups were negative and the team said he’s day to day. Anthony said he was confident Billups would be back in the lineup Wednesday night at New Orleans as the Nuggets embark on a season-high eight-game road trip.
They have had a pretty favorable home schedule. Denver is arguably the biggest home court advantage in the league. Let's see if they can do it on the road.
Unless we get a stud wing defender or a serious upgrade at the point guard before the deadline then I think there is almost no chance of this team getting the 3rd seed. I know Denver has a road heavy schedule, and a lot of teams are nicked up, but I just don't think our defense has improved enough to where we can say this team is capable of such a feat.
Why do we need a stud SF? I keep hearing how Batum has great defense, and other tangibles.... I don't think we need a SF. I think we need our current players to get tougher on D. Stop switching P&R's, and to fucking come with passion every game. Upgrade at the 3; would just cause another offensive issue, we dont need.
We don't need any trades, Nik. We are only 2.5 games out of the #2 seed and our remaining schedule is MUCH easier than the teams in front of us. Why do you think we'll falter?
The three division winners are automatically the top three seeds, irrespective of record. It's quite probable that Denver or Portland will be the third seed with an inferior record to the fourth seed (which will place second behind LA or SA). While the 4th seed would have HCA over us in that situation, that would ONLY come into play in the WC Finals. We would be matched up against the 6th seed, rather than the 3rd, and the odds are very small we would not have HCA in that matchup. We would also avoid the Lakers, or whomever if the first seed, until the WC Finals. Ed O.
Falter? I don't know that it's so much about faltering as it is not being able to really ramp it up the way veteran playoff teams usually do. I still expect this team to make the playoffs as about a sixth seed (give or take) or possibly even hold on to their current position at 4th provided CP3 is out for an extended period. but I just don't think we've seen enough consistency in defensive execution for us to assume that we'll overtake and hold on to the third best record in the West. I really question whether or not the past five games or so might be a bit of fool's gold, in the same way that last year's 13 game winning streak also proved to be several standard deviations above the team's mean performance. Mark my words, we will drop a few road games against either the Grizzlies, Thunder or T-wolves in the next two months; it isn't all going to be smooth sailing.
That's not true, Ed. They only did that for one year, that year that Memphis and the Clippers both tried to lose a game so that they could get the 6 seed. This is how it is now: If you are a division winner, you get a guaranteed top FOUR seed. But you don't get guaranteed home court advantage. That goes to the top 4 records. So if we win the division but only have the 5th best record, we get the 4 seed and that's it. **Example- Utah won the division last season but was only the 4th seed. And did not have home court advantage in the first round.
I'm not going to dispute that's how it is, I'll take your word for it - I'm just curious what the point is then? Why award the 5th best record (division winner) a #4 seed but not give them homecourt? Either give them homecourt for winning the division or just give them the 5th seed and all that goes with it. Seems like a pretty inconsistent & complicated way to make things.
Thanks for correcting me, man. I agree with noknobs it's pretty stupid to bother seeding like that. Why not just go by record? Or why not maintain integrity of the divisions by giving the champs the top three seeds? Or why not give the higher seed the HCA in every case? The Jazz were effectively the 5th seed last year... Ed O.
I'm still not sure how we're going to finish the season. I'd like to think that we are going to be able to keep this pace, maintain our spot or climb, and finish in the top four, but I'm not 100% convinced. First I'd like to see Brandon Roy finish the season healthy.
I think Portland will pass Denver at some point, but for another reason. The reason being, Denver has a lot of knuckleheads on their team that make dumb mistakes. Last night against San Antonio was a prime example. Between jacking up quick 3's when ahead, doing pullups on the rim after dunking and getting a T, and committing a lot of really dumb fouls down the stretch, they almost blew that game. At least when Portland loses, it's not usually because of stuff like that.
