Denver has less room to improve, unlike us. Billups has peaked. They might lose Anderson, a key bench player. It's unlikely JR Smith will ever "get it". Carmelo might improve a bit. The R-Jeff move is vastly overrated. He's not that good of a player. The Spurs are still old and beat up. Duncan was barely able to finish games at the end of last season. And you never know when Manu is going to drop on the floor again. If Oden, Bayless, and Batum improve as projected (even the most minimal), they're better than the Nuggets. With a possible healthy Webster, and most likely acquisition at PG, SF, or PF, I'm positive we'll end up with a better record than them.
You think the Nuggets got better than the Spurs? Seriously? Oh, thaat's right. You think Duncan is rapidly approaching the need to purchase his mobility scooter.
The Spurs have no depth and Duncan is clearly a step slower. Manu has been hurt a lot and I'm taking a 'wait & see' approach to Jefferson. Denver is a solid veteran team.
It's really too close to call. Last season it came down to the last game of the season. This season it is HyperOdenDependent and SuperManuDependent. Obviously, it WAS also HyperYaoDependent.
I know Nellie likes small ball, but how in the world do you see your team playing Curry, Watson, Morrow, Maggette, Law, Jackson, Ellis, Claxton, Belinelli and Azubuike? That's an insane amount of guards/small forwards.
I don't. Maggette plays about half his minutes at PF (I don't like that but it's just the way it is). Law will get the Marcus Williams treatment and never play, Watson just doesn't fit anymore, and Claxton will retire. I wish we could get rid of Morrow, he's just too one dimensional for me but Nellie seems to love him. I'd much rather those minutes go to Beli. For that matter I'd like quite a few of Azubuike's minutes to go to Belinelli too but I guess Nellie sees some problem with him that I don't. I think he's the best PG on the roster (and he's not even a true PG...that's sad). PG Monta 22, Curry 18, Beli 8 SG Jax 25, Monta 13, Morrow 10 SF Azubuike 18, Jax 15, Maggette 15 But even with the problem I have with Nellie and the makeup of the roster, I think Monta coming back is like bringing in a quality free agent. Randolph looks like he can be a legitimate PF, supposedly he's grown to almost 7' and added 20 lbs. If they can get decent production from one of Curry, Beli, or Azu I think that should be enough to push them up to the 7 seed. NOH just doesn't look much like the team from 2 years ago anymore.
The top 8: LAL (59-23) - They were the best team in the league and won the title easily. Then they go and get rid of a crucial role player for a me-first blackhole nutcase. I have a feeling Ron-Ron is going to fuck the chemistry up, but they'll still be #1. DEN (56-26) - They were pretty damn good last year, and I don't see that really changing. If they keep Birdman and JR gets one more precious year of maturity, all they can do is improve. If they weren't full of thugs, I would love this team. POR (56-26) - Denver owns the tiebreaker on us. Even if we run with the crew we've got right now, we'll be better than last year. This is mainly because of the development of just about our entire team. It's easy to forget that they're all so young and with the exception of Joel, Steve and perhaps Travis, none of them have reached their peak yet. Particularly, I think that the development of Oden and Nate giving the backup reigns to Bayless are going to add some much needed consistency. The only two questions marks I have are: is Martell gonna show up? and who plays backup PF? UTA (53-29) - Provided Deron stays healthy and their front line (Boozer, Okur, Milsap) is healthy as well, they're going to be much better than last year. The rest of their team is pretty sketchy, but they've got the Sloan-factor and Deron is only gonna get better. SAS (53-29) - Utah will own the tiebreaker. This is assuming everyone stays healthy, which is unlikely. When you've got Duncan, Manu, McDyess, Blair and a washed up Finley, there's a distinct possibility that the Spurs could degenerate into the Parker and Jefferson show, which would be pretty ugly. However, if they stay healthy and Pop figures out how to utilize Jefferson (which I'm sure he will), then they may contend with LAL for the top spot. However, my instinct tells me that Duncan plays 60 games and Jefferson is underwhelming, so I think they'll be lucky to get to the WCF. DAL - (50-32) I don't know if Marion is going to do much for them, and word now is that talks have stalled. Even if he does come over, this team is headed downhill. Kidd and Marion are both washed up, Terry and Howard are both undersized and play no D, and they're losing Bass. They either stay the same or drop in win total. NO (48-34) They were disappointing last season, and they did next to nothing since then. It's pretty much the CP3 and David West show, with a washed up Peja and an injured Chandler. I don't see anything but another first round exit. PHO - (45-37) They've got Nash, Amare and uhh... J-Rich. The only reason they get in is because Houston is going to be terrible. By the way, the reason a team with 45 wins is getting in is because I think overall, the bad teams in the West and a few in the East are getting significantly better next year, so that should help to reduce the number of 50 win teams in the playoffs next year. The Rest: OKC - I think it'll be close, but ultimately they won't get in. They're like the Blazers of two years ago, up and coming, full of talent, will go on a huge win streak and then miss the playoffs by thatmuch. GS - If they keep Turiaf, Monta stays healthy and Jax continues his improbably steady veteran play, then they'll be pretty close to the playoffs. HOU - edit: lol I forgot about them. With a potential starting lineup of Brooks/Wafer/Ariza/Scola/Mutumbo's Corpse, who wouldn't forget about them? MEM - The starting 5 looks good on paper: Conley/Mayo/Gay/Z-bo/Thabeet. But I've said it before: it's going to implode spectacularly. MIN - They traded away Randy Foye and drafted three point guards, the best of which isn't going to play for them. So, uh, if Big Al stays healthy and one of those PGs can play, then they might not be so terrible. Also Kevin Love is just gonna be better. But after that, it doesn't look good. LAC - Injuries. You gotta love Gordon and Thorton, and hopefully Blake will be a stud, but look beyond them: Kaman, Camby, Baron and Ricky. Youch. SAC - Something tells me that the Sergio trade isn't gonna put them over the top just yet. They're just bad.
These are my rankings: LA Lakers 63 wins Denver 57 wins SA 55 wins Port 53 wins Utah 52 wins Dallas 52 wins NO 50 wins GS 47 wins I think SA will not deal with the kind of injuries they had last year. Denver is a very solid team with a great coach. I think we will see inprovement with some of our players like GO, and LA, but the west seems tougher at the top and unless we make a move to address our starting PG ( I like Blake, but we need more), I think we will win one less game.
Haha. OK. Please name eight teams in the West that are better than the Blazers. I think there are six that even a very pessimistic Blazers fan could put pretty easily above the Blazers, but those last two seem pretty rough. The Warriors? Suns? Clippers? Grizzlies? I'd like to see which eight (or more) teams in the West are better than the Blazers right now according to you, MARIS. Ed O.
Hold up there, turbo. McDeyess gives them a better presence in the paint, But (this is a Spurs fan saying this) health is still a factor. If Gino stays healthy and Duncan's knees hold up, I put the Spurs at a solid #2 in the conference behind the Lakers.Plus there's a few new players in the mix. I see no reason why Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDeyess fitting in the Spurs system, but you never know. I'm happier with this offseason than any in the Duncan era. The Spurs made good moves, addressed issues with the roster, and had possibly the best draft of any team in the league. But I'm not going to get ahead of myself.
