I respect your opinion, I think OKC may just be better on account of no Melo. Denver just doesn’t scare me at all. You may be right, I guess they’ll play the games to answer those questions for us.
Yet you replied to me... So why am I supposed to not respond with my own viewpoints? Dont be so sensitive...
You lol'ed at my initial post and seemed pretty sensitive to the idea that Denver might improve. Maybe the won't...who knows? But I thought I gave some legitimate reasons on why they could.
You werent saying they could make it, you said you consider them a lock, which was very funny to me, so I gave you a big ol' lol. Somehow that means I'm "sensitive to them improving" or something like that...? ...lol.
I picked Minny. They were comfortably in 3rd when Butler went down, and I think he is their best player, who is in his prime. I think losing your best player is a fluke and won't happen again, making Minny a lock to me. btw, their defense was averagish when Butler went down, and plummeted afterwards. note: I didn't check stats here, just going off of vague memories. Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.
None of the listed teams is a LOCK. They must play the games, they probably must avoid serious injuries too. GSW is a lock to make it. No one else. Spurs, Nuggets, T'Wolves, Lakers, Jazz, Pelicans, Rockets, Thunder, Grizzlies and Blazers all will be competing for spots.
Why is Utah a lock? Their record (once healthy) wasn't significantly better than Portlands record over the same stretch (when Portland lost some players to injuries).
Funny, I see Minny as the weakest because of the turmoil. Butler's bitching about everyone else and broadcasting that he's leaving ASAP. And without him they're the worst defensive team in the league. KAT is looking much more Shareef Abdur-Rahim than Anthony Davis, too. I think Jokic is clearly better than him, and Porzingis might be too, if he hadn't got injured.
I guess people see Mitchell as the New Dwyane Wade. More importantly, Gobert only played 56 games last year and he's their real MVP.
Yeah, like I said. once they got healthy, their record wasn't significantly better than Portlands (especially considering they had a few injuries at the end of the season). I'm not saying Utah is worse than Portland, just curious how much of the downplaying is due to the horrible playoff series last year, and not so much based on facts or actual #'s. Portland almost won 50 games with no decent backup SF, SG, PF or C, and a mediocre backup PG. They upgraded at least 2 of those spots, not necessarily because the players they brought in were so awesome, but the players they replaced (Shabazz and Pat) were just that bad.
It’s kind of funny that, except for the Warriors, the West is about as close to achieving parity as I’ve ever seen. It’s kind of one of those Dickensian best of times, worst of times things. The Warriors, on paper at least, are miles better than anyone else, but everyone else is competitive amongst themselves.
Those 4 is a toss up for making the playoffs this year. I will still rooting for the Blazers to be that one. But will come down to injuries though.
It's probably overcorrection - everybody thought Utah would tank because they lost Gordon last year. (Well, I didn't, but I'm some kind of Hoops Nostradamus. Or Nosferatu maybe.) Plus I think Mitchell is viewed as a budding all-star, even though his efficiency is not great. If they stay healthy they deserve their high ranking. Great coach, great organization.
Don't you think, though, that other teams will study the Pels' strategy closely for how to play us? Unless you think only a team with Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday can do that, then that's worrying.
