Going into the next season (edit: with the team as it stands right now, or if we drop TrOut) in the west: Weak: Houston is crippled. Spurs are just getting older. Phoenix is in dismantling mode. Strong: L*kers imo grew with Artest. Dallas didn't seem to change? (i need opinions on this) Indifferent: Utah seems not a threat NO we seemed to handle decently, and are they trying to shed weight? Denver we seemed to handle evenly Others: Could OKC become a scrapper this year? The Warriors improve at all?
You forgot San Antonio 1. Lakers 2. Spurs 3. Denver at best we are 4th in division if we don't make any changes.
I didn't forget them, i put them in weak, b/c OLDEST team in the league isn't younger. Especially if you count Broken Knees Blair (did they really give away all their other drafts?). We were 3-1 against them.
I think Jack is right -- no way is San Antone done yet. Just because they've had some big injuries the last few seasons doesn't mean they will this year, and their game plan does not rely on youth and athleticism. Unless one of their big pieces goes down (possible, but nowhere near certainty) I see no reason why they won't be scrapping near the top.
LA and San Antonio (when healthy, which I think won't be all the time unless they get very lucky) are the main powers. Denver and Portland are the next two and essentially equal.
if they get healthy and get Sheed, San Antonio is the best team in the NBA next year IMO. too smart of a team. Parker/Ginobli/Jefferson/Wallace/Dunan
Duncan's knees aren't going to magically get any younger. Assuming we get improved play from Oden (and I think that's a pretty safe assumption), we are really going to exploit them inside - particularly with Tim playing limited minutes. The Lakers are obviously a problem - but we own them here so it's a wash for the regular season at least. Denver is an even matchup, and again, big improvement in the middle for us means trouble for them. Holw old is Billups now? 31?
San Antonio has another year in them. With Manu healthy, Parker, and Jefferson etc. Dallas on the other hand might take a hit if they lose Kidd.
Teams in the west Portland should be better than OKC Memphis LAC Houston w/o Yao Phoenix GS Sac Min NO maybe, but that one is close I think Teams the I think are better right now LA SA Utah Denver Dallas This all changes if Portland adds an upgrade at PG
Utah is NOT better then Portland, not even. Dallas has an advantage against us but not the rest of the conference compared to us. Denver is about a wash maybe a slight edge to Chauncey's team but this could easily change with moderate improvement from any two of Oden/Batum/Bayless/Rudy. Obviously a big consolidation trade (at least one is coming imo) changes everything.
Utah is too better than us. The only reason they were down last year is because of injury. By the way, Houston is as well with a healthy Yao.
I agree Houston is better with a healthy Yao...with a healthy Yao. He seems to be done. As for Utah I disagree that they are better. There is serious dissension in the ranks over there. Not to mention the fact that there is no guarantee they retain Millsap. Portland has plenty of guys who will get better. I think that in a third party stadium we are with no additional growth by Roy/Aldridge/Oden/Batum/Rudy/Bayless about even with Utah. We beat them at home and they beat us in the terror dome out there in the Utah desert. Of course D. Will could arguably get better but I doubt we will see much growth from Ak-47, Boozer, Okur or anyone else not named Millsap who may not even be there next year. If any two of Oden/Bayless/Batum/Rudy get moderately better or any one of them massively better and we win more games next year especially if it's Oden or Bayless. I only fear a healthy SA, Denver with homecourt, Dallas (but I bet we post a better record...again), and Lakers. Utah isn't better not anymore.
Utah was healthy when they melted down to both a depleted Minnesota and Sacramento team at home during the stretch run. Games they needed desperately to win. But it would be nice if they lost Milsap.
I think they are a team in disarray Millsap sounds better as an FU to Utah. If we're going that route we ought to try for...ugh I hate to say this...Odom.
Lakers have a lot more money than Utah. The chances are considerably less of getting Odom. Why don't you think LA will match?
Good point about the Lakers having more money. I haven't looked into Lamar much because personality wise he is nearly dead last. Dead last of course is Shawn Marion which would be worse then spending the summer just trading Outlaw for draft picks.
Yeah, I guess if Ginobili is healthy and Jefferson meshes well, that is a pretty scary team. I think if we run them down, we'll be okay. Maybe we'll get lucky and play them on the second half of a back to back
FEAR: L*kers- IMO they are one of the best teams ever assembled in NBA history. They won the ring last year and then added one of the best defenders in the league and another offensive threat. San Antonio- Duncan was injured last year, so was Ginobili. they should get better, then they add another scoring threat at the wing spot in RJeff. I think they got better, adjusted to the league. Denver- I think they'll regress a bit as I thought they were a bit overrated. They are still a threat. That's it. I think we'll either end up 2nd or 3rd in the Western Conference depending on how well San Antonio adjusts.
I agree that we (and the entire league) should fear the Lakers the most. After all, they are the best team in the league. But I think it is laughable to call them the best team ever assembled in NBA history. In my opinion they have been fortunate to have peaked when the top tier teams of recent past have started to decline due to age and when the up-and-coming teams remain... well, up-and-coming. The 1999 Spurs and 2000 Lakers would walk all over all the teams in the NBA as they are at this point in time.
I agree with that. The Blazers are still going to make the playoffs next year, it'll just be whether we make a New Orleans-like big-time drop or really cement ourselves as still one of the rising teams in the league. The Lakers will probably be the favorite again, Denver will be up there and the Spurs should as well. We can beat all of those teams head to head though. But even though I think we're a better team than Houston and Dallas, we still haven't proven we can beat them.
