IF the Spurs stay healthy, I agree they could steal the top seed. They are hungrier than the Lakers entering the season, and there is always the Artest factor to consider. The Warriors *should* finish ahead of the Thunder, but if they self-destruct...again....I can see OKC sniffing the fringe of the play-off race. (I say this knowing not everyone is as high on Harden as I am) As for the Clips - I have given up on trying to predict them. About every 5 or 6 seasons they actually play up to their talent level. Odds are, however, this prediction is on the high side.
Essentially my thoughts, too, though I'd swap LA and San Antonio too, now that Odom seems to be returning to the fold. San Antonio didn't upgrade enough, even with health, to catch and surpass LA, in my opinion. Plus, LA has some "upside if healthy" too in the form of Bynum. I think she's overrating Dallas. If they had signed Gortat, I'd be more impressed...as it is, Gooden basically replaces Brandon Bass and Shawn Marion is declining and not an ideal fit, as he'll take minutes away from Josh Howard which mitigates some of whatever value he brings. And with Kidd a strong decline candidate, I don't see the Mavericks improving much on last year's record.
i agree with the lakers above the spurs, but i think the only glaring mistake was portland behind dallas and denver. dallas has maybe added one impact player to their team and that all depends on where shawn marion is at this point. the marion of last season isn't going to do much to improve their team. denver lost dahntay jones and it appears they might not be resigning kleiza either, so i think that would have to drop them below portland as well.
I would make my rankings slightly differently, but overall, I thought she had well thought out reasons and a logical approach to her order. Overall, I would giver her a A- at ranking. She seemed very knowledgeable and willing to stick to her guns. I don't agree with the actual order, but I think she is close. lakers spurs BLAZERS Mavericks Nuggets Jazz Hornets OKC
My rankings would be: Lakers Spurs Trailblazers Nuggets Jazz Hornets Mavericks Warriors/Suns With McGrady probably essentially done as an impact player and Yao out for the season, I don't see Houston reaching the playoffs. Oklahoma City has a nice perimeter nucleus, but nothing up front. That leaves the Suns and Warriors. The Suns have Nash, Stoudemire and Barbosa and little else. If Stoudemire is at peak form, the Suns could grab the 8 seed again. If he's not, then I like the Warriors young core of Ellis/Biedrins/Randolph/Curry to sneak into the playoffs.
Ya, when I was doing my rankings I had Warriors in 8th , then erased them for OKC. Just one of those too close to call spots, so I went with the team I would prefer to see.
Yeah, I agree that the 8 seed is between several teams that are all close enough that it probably comes down to who "surprises."
Doesn't look right to me. A young team with another year of experience under its belt and a veteran point guard who has a little more versatility than the last starting PG, sounds to me like more wins. I don't see Denver playing as well as they did last year. I also don't think Dallas has made enough improvements to help with their horrid defense. I say 3rd in the West.
I agree with this ranking. Much as I'd like to say the Spurs are the frontrunners, it remains to be seen. I'm satisfied with the improvements they made but the health of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili are paramount to their success. With no major injury issues and the potential for all their new additions to learn the system and gel with the rest of the team, I see no reason why they can't knock the Lakers off and play for a fifth title. As for the Blazers, I'm cool with the Miller signing. I don't see them getting ousted in the 1st round again. They're not quite ready for championship contention in my opinion. But with another year, improvements and more playoff experience, they could very well be in the finals in 2011.
this seems relevant... excuse my ignorance of SA. http://www.sportstwo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143617
1. L*kers: defending champs AND they add Ron Artest? 2. Spurs: RJeff was a sweet pickup. All depends on Timmy D's health. 3. Mavs: Can't believe they added Matrix without losing Howard 4. Blazers: Miller will add stability to the backcourt. Need more depth at the 4. 5. Nuggets: I think they peaked last year to be honest. Stable team but don't think they'll be as good. 6. Hornets: I am iffy about this....but better than the other teams. 7. Clippers: Yes. Clippers at 7. Healthy they should be better than Utah I think. 8. Oklahoma City: I don't have faith in the other teams to be that good.
OKC may be better, but without legitimate big men they will really struggle on "those" nights when their shots don't fall... they'll have a terrible record on the second of back-to-backs and near the end of road trips as their legs will be tired and their jump shots will be short...
i'll go with 60-65 wins 1. lakers 2. spurs 3. blazers 55 wins 4. nuggets 47-50 wins 5. hornets 6. jazz 7. mavs 43-45 wins 8. suns 35-40 wins 9. warriors 10. thunder 11. rockets 24-28 wins 12. grizzlies 13. clippers 14. kings 15-17 wins 15. twolves with the teams grouped together when i think they will finish with similar records.
I'm going to wuss out, and do it by tiers. 1-2: LA and SA 3-5 Mavs, Nugs, Blazers. The difference between 3rd seed and 5th seed will be razor close. 6: Jazz 7-8: NO and Suns. Possible surprise? NO, who could leap-frog the Jazz and even challenge for the 5th seed if things go right.
