Look at the current playoff standings in the Western Conference. Spurs - .741 Suns - .679 Nuggets - .607 Mavs - .655 Hornets - .643 <span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%">Lakers - .643</span> Warriors - .586 Blazers - .571 The Lakers are currently tied with the Hornets for 6th in the West despite winning over 64% of their games with an 18-10 record. If the Lakers played in the East they would be a top 3 team right behind Detroit and Boston. If the playoffs started today neither Houston or Utah would be in them. West is loaded.
I don't see the Hornets holding up for a whole season, at least I don't hope they do. It's very scary; I'm hoping for at least one of those 8 playoff teams to falter so my Rockets can get back in the picture but it's hard to picture any of these teams playing significantly worse than they are playing now, at least not bad enough for them to drop out of playoff contention. Portland can be an exception because of their youth, but they're on a hell of a roll right now and with Aldridge and Miles returning, they can well win 50 games this year.
I agree about the Hornets, the whole starting five is injury prone. At the end I see; 1) Phoenix 2) San Antonio 3) Dallas 4) LA Lakers 5) Portland 6) Golden State 7) Houston 8) Utah
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Locke @ Dec 27 2007, 06:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't see the Hornets holding up for a whole season, at least I don't hope they do. It's very scary; I'm hoping for at least one of those 8 playoff teams to falter so my Rockets can get back in the picture but it's hard to picture any of these teams playing significantly worse than they are playing now, at least not bad enough for them to drop out of playoff contention. Portland can be an exception because of their youth, but they're on a hell of a roll right now and with Aldridge and Miles returning, they can well win 50 games this year.</div> The Hornets look legit to me and Chris Paul has to be in MVP talk at this point. He's had some amazing performances this season including his recent 40 point outburst. Their team is well-rounded, plenty of depth and they rebound the ball well. The Hornets probably would have made the playoffs last season if they didn't get destroyed by injuries. There's always a chance the injury bug strikes again, but you can say that about any team so I don't think it's fair to hold them back because of what happened in the past. Portland is the biggest surprise to me especially with Aldridge missing games and of course not having Oden all season long. I'm glad for their success and they'll be a great story if they make the post season. Utah and Houston are two disappointments so far in the West. These two teams were in the discussion for being right up there with Phoenix, San Antonio and Dallas. Premature expectations up to this point, but either franchise has the talent to turn it around. The team out West I'm still not sold on is Denver.
