Hollinger - Denver Claims Northwest Division

I'd be pretty happy playing Houston in the first round- we'd have a good chance of beating them- though I don't remember our record against them this season...

 

Just imagine, if Blake had hit his free throws in the Clipper game and we didn't fall to Philly at home, we'd be #3, only 1 game behind San Antonio for 2nd place. All these little mess-ups have come back to bite us in the butt.

But I have to agree that Denver has a firm control over the division. Utah has an extremely tough schedule, and ours is tough because of all the road games we have left to play.

To win the division we'll have to win the rest of hour home games, and beat the Clippers, Grizz and Thunder on the road. That would give us 53 wins. It's do able, but that loss at Philly really hurt.

 

I like to think that you always win some you shouldn't have won, and lose some you shouldn't have lost. The better you are, the fewer of both happen.

 

exactly, every team wins some they shouldn't and lose some they shouldn't, you just hope it evens out in the end. i don't think it's out of the relm of possibility for us to win the division but denver should have the higher odds at this point. i hope they do self destruct down the stretch but that is why they have billups, he won't let that happen. i think the fact that we've (basically) locked up a playoff spot and are talking about 3-7 is a sign that this season is a positive one, whatever happens in the playoffs aside. to me what happens in the postseason is what gauges our expectations for next season. patenice is a virtue and in this league it is steps that make up a champion, we all want to "win now" but just sit back and enjoy the ride of the next month.

 

You mean like Roy's shot against Houston? Or the comeback against New Orleans?

 

Yep. At least for one side of my argument. Losses to teams like the Clipps being the other side. The better you get, the fewer of those "sneak up on ya" losses happen, because you just put the wood to those low end teams.

 

the lakers lost to; Indy, sacto, miami, charlotte, and philly.
the celtics have lost to; indy, gs, knicks, charlotte, clippers, miami, milwaukie, and chicago.
the cavs have lost to; miami, chicago, washington, and indy.

these are the three elite teams in the league and they drop games they are "supposed" to win. i don't understand the rationale that we have to beat these teams every time or our world collapses.

 

Hollinger also predicted roughly 41 wins prior to the season by his model, which at the time most rational posters knew was a junk prediction based on what the team was adding.

That said, predicting Denver at this point is hardly a longshot.

 

At the moment, it absolutely is out of our hands. If Denver wins the rest of their games except the one we have control over, Denver will win the division. If Denver loses a game before that, then it is back in our hands. But right now, it's not.