Barring any major injuries, is it out of our realm to win the Pacific Division? Phoenix is 12-2 against the east, but 7-7 against the Western conference. Right now we're only a game back of them, but we've still over half the season to play. If there are no major injuries and the team performs consistently like they have been, is it absurd to think that we can win it?
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Injuries are an obvious concern (as you pointed out), but we're a young team and all bets are off as to how we do in the dog days of mid-January and February. It's very easy to fall into a slump then. Phoenix is a seasoned, veteran team and should come be less susceptible to that.
Phoenix is a .500 ball club against the western conference. They're very overrated IMO. They're window on winning a championship, if there ever was one, is slammed shut and they're losing to teams that they used to blow out. It's not getting ahead of ourselves, I know how good we are and how inconsistent we can play. However, we've been playing great ball and we're one of the most unified teams in the league when it comes to our chemistry. We've alreeady beaten Phoenix twice this year, pretty convincingly the first time. Today, we beat them at their own game. They're not the same team. Am I saying that we're a powerhouse, no? I'm saying that the Suns aren't the elite team that they used to be and I think that we are the better team, despite what the record says as of right now.
I hope you are right, but I don't think you are. Too many things need to go right for us to surpass Phoenix (and you can't exactly sleep on GSW either), and they'll be at home a lot more as the season ends too. I want to see how we do on that long ass road trip we have in January and February to really make a judgment on this team.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trench @ Dec 26 2007, 12:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'll wait until after the ALL STAR BREAK to make my predictions.</div> Exactly. Too soon to tell.
Keep in mind, the Suns started off in similar way against the west and had poor record against most of the elite teams last yr. They beat most those teams later on.
I wouldn't worry about winning the division right now. We just need to continue to play high level basketball, and we need to become more consistent. We cannot go out and beat a top notch team only to get blown out by a Jazz team without two of their top players. I'm definetely optimistic about this season, but honestly, winning the division has never crossed my mind (I'm shocked we're only 1 game back). Like most have said, wait until after the All-Star break to make predictions. I don't really think we can tell at this point. We all know Phoenix is a proven team, and they can get hot at any given moment. They have started out slow, but I believe they are a much better team than their record shows. Now, if we can somehow land Jason Kidd without giving up Kobe or Bynum, this may be a good question. *use that magic wand*
Don't forget the Warriors. They're 16-6 since that 0-6 start when they didn't have Stephen Jackson and 14 of those 22 games were on the road. They haven't lost back to back games since Jack came back. They'll have nearly half of their road games out of the way before January starts which means lots and lots of home games in the second half. In February they play 1 road game all month. Compare that to the Laker's February which has 12 of 15 games on the road. The Warriors historically play well down the stretch and the Lakers historically start to decline in Jan-Feb. The Warriors are proving that they are legit this year; winning on the road, gutting out games against inferior teams, knocking off some contenders, etc. They're rebounding much better and they lead the league in TO differential. The Suns are definitely worse the last few years but they can still rack up wins on crappy teams. I would be surprised if they didn't win the Pacific. The Lakers look very very god this year but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I'd wait until February to think about winning the division.
is it safe to say that we wont be playing the suns in the playoffs? thats ofcoarse assuming we make the playoffs, which looks pretty realistic to me.
It's achievable, but the Pacific is arguably one of the toughest divisions and the Lakers haven't put together any long win streaks yet. We also have a brutal span of games in February with only one or two games at home and 14 on the road. At this point I'd be excited about finishing 4th or 5th in the playoff seeding with homecourt advantage in Round 1.
I'm not that worried about February. January and February are usually Kobe Bryant's biggest months of the season. If there are no injuries to the team and the chemistry stays up, I don't see Phx stopping us. They've slipped a lot this year, IMO. They're losing to good teams, 7-7 against the West doesn't cut it. I forgot all about Golden State. They're coming along very fast after a slow start, I think the top 3 spots in the Pacific are up for grabs. I could see LAL, GSW, or PHX all landing the top spot.
