Make your predictions for next season's western conference standings when it's all said and done. This is record-wise, not using divisional leaders. here's my opinion: 1. Dallas 2. Phoenix 3. San Antonio 4. Sacramento 5. Los Angeles (Clippers) 6. Denver 7. Los Angeles (Lakers) 8. Houston/New Orleans (Still deciding on the 8 seed)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting hustler:</div><div class="quote_post">1. San Antonio 2. Phoenix 3. LAL 4. Dallas 5. LAC 6. Denver 7. Memphis 8. Houston</div> you don't have sac making the playoffs? i think you need to *edit*
1. Phoenix 2. Dallas 3. San Antonio 4. Houston 5. LAC 6. Sacramento 7. Utah 8. LAL ----------------- 9. Denver 10. New Orleans 11. Memphis 12. Minnesota
Top 3 is a toss up really but I'll give it a stab: 1. Suns (best regular season team when healthy) 2. Spurs (will be better than Mavs in regular season) 3. Mavs (still a great team, just the way the west works) 4. Nuggets 5. Clippers 6. Lakers 7. Kings 8. Hornets <font color=""Red"">edited, thanks Run BJM.</font>
Moo and Heat4Life, one of the top 4 has to be a team from the northwest division. With the new rule change the top 4 teams are the 3 division leaders and another team (sort of like a wild card) with the best record other than the 3 division leaders.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Run BJM:</div><div class="quote_post">Moo and Heat4Life, one of the top 4 has to be a team from the northwest division. With the new rule change the top 4 teams are the 3 division leaders and another team (sort of like a wild card) with the best record other than the 3 division leaders.</div>It said record-wise my friend, and that's how I think it'll be record-wise this upcoming season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">It said record-wise my friend, and that's how I think it'll be record-wise this upcoming season.</div> Oh my bad.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Moo2K4:</div><div class="quote_post">It said record-wise my friend, and that's how I think it'll be record-wise this upcoming season.</div> no, I think it's record-wise + division winner too. The top 4 best record (3 from the division leader) will be rank 1-4 according to their record. So I think the standing for next season likely will be 1. Spurs 2. Mavs 3. Suns 4. Nuggets 5. Clippers 6. Lakers 7. Rockets 8. Kings
1. Mavs 2. Lakers 3. Suns 4. Nuggets 5. Clippers 6. Hornets 7. Rockets 8. Grizzlies Yes, I dont have the Spurs making the playoffs this year!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dallasdude:</div><div class="quote_post">1. Mavs 2. Lakers 3. Suns 4. Nuggets 5. Clippers 6. Hornets 7. Rockets 8. Grizzlies Yes, I dont have the Spurs making the playoffs this year!</div> Uh...mind if I ask why you have the Lakers as the 2nd seed and San Antonio not making the playoffs at all?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting kobe4life:</div><div class="quote_post">no, I think it's record-wise + division winner too. The top 4 best record (3 from the division leader) will be rank 1-4 according to their record.</div>I realize this, however, the thread asked for standings based on record, NOT playoff rankings. But since you guys are all over me for doing what the thread asked, I'll use the playoff rankings now. 1. Mavs 2. Spurs 3. Suns 4. Jazz 5. Kings 6. Clippers 7. Lakers 8. Rockets With this, I think there could be plenty of shuffling in it. I think there is potential the Lakers could end up with a top 5 seed depending on how Odom plays after the death of his child along with how well Radman and Kwame play. I think the team has a ton of potential, but I want to see it on the court. Personally, I think the Kings could end Phoenix's two year run as the Pacific champ. However, I want to see them on court and I want to see if Bonzi comes back. The Rockets could also be better, but that really banks on Yao and TMac staying healthy all year, which I don't think they will. I see one of them likely having injury issues again.
My predictions: 1. Phoenix 2. Dallas 3. San Antonio 4. Denver 5. Sacramento 6. New Orleans 7. Houston 8. LA Clippers/LA Lakers/Utah Jazz The West is going to be very tough this year. Every team except Seattle, Portland, and Golden State has a chance to make the playoffs.
I think you're underrating the Lakers and Clippers, and overrating the Hornets. The Hornets are a team that didn't even make the playoffs last year, and while I like what they did in the offseason, you don't know if that'll lead to wins. They could have chemistry issues with their new guys, or they simply might not even produce. The other thing is that they're still very young. The only starters with playoff experience will likely be Chander and Peja, and neither of them have had a ton of success, just a lot of disappointment. With the Clipps, I don't see how you could have them on the bubble. They're probably going to have the best starting five in the league next year and they're bench should be pretty strong as well. They were also a playoff team last year that didn't lose anything this past offseason. They should and will be there again. With the Lakers, I think they improved more than you may think. They added a solid third scorer in Vladimir Radmanovic, someone who will also give them that lights out shooter they were in dire need of. They also strengthened their bench, allowing them to go very deep. With the addition of Radman, it allows them to move Mihm to the bench. They also added Shammond Williams and rookie Jordan Farmar. Beyond that, they got Maurice Williams from Detroit for nothing, finally giving them a nice backup for Kobe or Radman possibly. In all, they're bench is looking something like this: Chris Mihm Shammond Williams Sasha Vujacic Luke Walton Brian Cook Maurice Evans Ronny Turiaf/Andrew Bynum/Aaron McKie All in all, they're bench looks pretty good this year. I think Sasha is set to have a breakout year after his very solid performance in the playoffs. Maurice Evans will be a great backup for Kobe this year, giving us a nice offensive player and a good defender off the bench. Farmar might not get minutes early, but once he does, I think he'll be solid for us. Shammond Williams gives us a nice scoring point guard off the bench who can shoot the lights out. Cook is in a contract year, so there's potential he could do pretty good just so he can get overpaid. Luke Walton will be solid for us as he always is. He's one of Phil's favorite players so he'll get his minutes. I'd go on, but you get the drift. The Lakers have a good starting five and finally have a good bench, something that'll help out a lot, and I think easily vaulting them into the playoffs. Plus...they have Kobe. That was enough for them to win 47 last year, and he's got more help this year and I think that the other starters will be better this year than last year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">The West is going to be very tough this year. Every team except Seattle, Portland, and Golden State has a chance to make the playoffs.</div> *runs away crying*
