Alright, got into a heated arguement up here in college because I felt the Mav's didn't get all the better this off-season and another guy felt they're basically guaranteed a top 3 seed in the west now. Any opinions on this one?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SupermanRT:</div><div class="quote_post">Alright, got into a heated arguement up here in college because I felt the Mav's didn't get all the better this off-season and another guy felt they're basically guaranteed a top 3 seed in the west now. Any opinions on this one?</div> To get a top 3 seed they'd need to have a better record than the Spurs, right? I don't think that's guaranteed at all. I think the Mavs are loaded with talent, and apparently Nellie is going to concentrate more on defense this year, which is good. I expect them to be pretty good, but a lot of other teams in the West will be better too. I'd guess a fourth or fifth seed for the Mavs.
To be a top three in the west you gotta be better than Spurs, Timberwolves, Kings, Nuggets. Out of those four teams I only pick the first two to be the 2 best teams in the west. That means the Mavs need to be better than the Kings or Nuggets, which is no impossible... so I guess yes they could be a top three, but it's not a surefire thing... top 5 definitely.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PupMelo:</div><div class="quote_post">To be a top three in the west you gotta be better than Spurs, Timberwolves, Kings, Nuggets. Out of those four teams I only pick the first two to be the 2 best teams in the west. That means the Mavs need to be better than the Kings or Nuggets, which is no impossible... so I guess yes they could be a top three, but it's not a surefire thing... top 5 definitely.</div> I thought the top 3 seed go to the three division winners, since there are now 3 divisions in each conference. If that's true, that would mean that the Mavs would need a better record than the Spurs. I don't think that's likely.
I don't really think the Mavs got too much better. I give them credit that they finally got themselves a true center in Dampier, who will really help on the defensive end, but, aside from him, they didn't do that great. They lost Steve Nash to free agency and replaced him with rookie Devin Harris, whom I think will be great, and 2nd year man Marquis Daniels. Currently, I think they can get anywhere from 5th to 8th, but won't get home court. They don't play defense and they're best player is the softest 7-footer the league has ever seen....well, maybe not, but he's still a pansy.
^^^^^ Did you forget about Jason Terry Moo Moo??? Jerry Stackhouse??? Last year our worst defenders were Dirk, Nash, Walker, and Jamison. And Dirk is getting better as a weakside defender. Jason Terry is a very good one-on-one defender and no one gives him credit for his passing abilities when last year he avg close to six assists and the year before that over seven. On a horrible team. Josh Howard, and Marquis Daniels are both good defenders. And of course you know how Dampier works. And ya aint ready for DJ so will leave that at that. How can you call Dirk a pansy, when he lights up every defender who's come his way??? At least he's not a rapis....nevermind. Yes they can definitely get a better record than San Antonio but I dont see it happening.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">I thought the top 3 seed go to the three division winners, since there are now 3 divisions in each conference. If that's true, that would mean that the Mavs would need a better record than the Spurs. I don't think that's likely.</div> Honestly, I forgot about the seeding rules... thx for reminding me... with these, yeah the mavs would have to be better than the spurs which is unlikely...
I see the Mavs finishing with the fourth best record, mainly because San Antonio, Minnesota and Sacramento will roll up the wins. Those teams were all great last year, and didn't make dramatic changes in their rosters (well, you could say Vlade was big, but honestly, he wouldn't have started this year anyway). The Mavs must use their massively improved defensive talent to turn this team into a more balanced team that can go deeper into the playoffs. Therefore, they will lose some games in the learning process. Still, I predict 57 wins. The goal will be to come together for an extended playoff run in the increasingly difficult West. I think Denver, Houston, Memphis, Phoenix, Lakers are all very good teams, but all of them are lacking at one position or the other, where the Mavs have great depth at every position.
For the mavs to get the 3rd seed, they need to win the south west division. Here are my deciding factors.. San antonio ------------ * Tim Duncan - 2 time MVP * Addition of Brent Barry - Will hurt you when Tim is double teamed. * Tony Parker more mature * Will the participation of Duncan and Ginobli in the olympics hurt them? They have not had a good rest over the summer, Ginobli hurt his knee a bit in the finals. Is is serious? Houston -------- * Yao - McGrady Combo - the next one-two punch * Will McGrady sacrifice enough for the team? * Will Yao and TMac have good on-court chemistry? * Will McGrady play defense Van Gundy style? Memphis -------- * Did they over achieve last season? * Will they keep up the intensity this season as well? New Orleans ------------ * Not a threat Mavs ----- * More defensive oriented * Legit centers * How long before chemistry is achieved? * Will Stackhouse accept his role? * Will Dampier be productive? * Will Marquis play the same way he did last season or is he a bust? Considering these, I think both Houston and SanAntonio are the only ones standing between the mavs winning the division title. I think Mavs need a great start to the season, since Spurs and Rockets will start a bit slow and keep the pressure on them to have any chance of winning the division. Mavs have a 50% chance of winning division in my opinion Minnesota will have home court advantage throughout. Pacific Division wont come easy as well. It will be a hard fight between lakers and kings. Kings IMO have more issues than lakers with Peja complaining, Vlade leaving etc... This will be one heck of a season to win the west!!!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SunshineRain:</div><div class="quote_post"> Still, I predict 57 wins. </div> 57 wins in such a tight western conference will all it take to win the top seed! Most series will be 2-2 or 3-1, unless you play Clippers or Goldenstate(pun intended ) As with last season, an eastern conference team (pistons) will end up with the best overall record and have home court advantage in the finals.
Stop this bullshyt right now! YOU DIDNT EVEN MENTION THE WOLVES?!?!?! You know perfectly well that even with Peja's complaining he will bring it every night (before the playoffs). Yeah Vlade left, which just gives more minutes to Webber and Miller (who will play center now). You didn't even look at Memphis, you just assumed that they overacheived last year. As much as I hate the Lakers, they are a threat. Lamar Odom lead the Heat to a high seed with Dwyane Wade being the 2nd best player. Why dont you think that Lamar teamed with Kobe can be a top west team? Spurs, Kings, Lakers, Wolves, and Rockets all have a chance to finish above the Mavs.
and the mavs have no chance??? Lamar and Dwayne were great. IN THE EAST. Remember the last time Odom was in the west??? We finished over Memphis last year didnt we??? Besides this is a Dallas Mavs board what do you expect Jurrasic???
Last time Lamar Odom was in the west he was playing with Dmiles and Qrich, who together are not worth Kobe's value. He was on an inexperienced team that was young and didn't know how to win. Yeah you finished over Memphis last year, but that was with Nash as your pg, and Antoine Walker as a three point and assist threat. You were a jump shooting team and you lost your best jump shooter (Nash) Besides, who is the idiot that mentioned top western teams and forgot to mention the Wolves? Crack is whack people. I dont care if this is a Dallas message board. I dont even care if you all are from Dallas, there is no excuse for this kind of stupidity.
I don't want to seem like I'm hating on Dallas...but the Wolves and the Rockets will finish over the Mavs. I also see Minnesota with home court...Lakers winning their division, the Kings and possibly the Suns all finishing over the Mavs. That would leave Dallas with the 7th-8th seed, meaning it's against a division-winner...meaning nothing past the first round, guys. I could be wrong...just my opinion.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">Besides, who is the idiot that mentioned top western teams and forgot to mention the Wolves? Crack is whack people. </div> You talkin about me? Dumbass? All I said were chances of winning the division and getting the third seed.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't want to seem like I'm hating on Dallas...but the Wolves and the Rockets will finish over the Mavs. I also see Minnesota with home court...Lakers winning their division, the Kings and possibly the Suns all finishing over the Mavs. That would leave Dallas with the 7th-8th seed, meaning it's against a division-winner...meaning nothing past the first round, guys. I could be wrong...just my opinion.</div> Mavs need to win the division to get past the first round. Suns finishing over the Mavs? You gotta be kidding me! Here's my western conference seeding 1. Minnesota 2. Lakers/Spurs 3. Lakers/Spurs 4. Houston/Mavs 5. Mavs/Mavs 6. Kings 7. Nuggets 8. Phoenix/Utah/Memphis READ THIS POST APRIL 21 2005 AND PROVE ME WRONG!!!
I predicted 57 wins for the Mavs, which I think might be a little high, but you know, I'm a fan, so I can be hopeful. The Mavs have won 60 and 52 games the last two seasons. We have a better team than last year, so I think the 55-57 is just a smart prediction based on past performance. The Spurs will win 60+ games. Minnesota won 58 last year, and I see no reason to believe they won't do it again. Sacramento has been in the 55-60 win range, there is no reason to believe they won't do it again. These will be the three division winners. Now I'm not hating on these teams either, but trying to throw some realism on the picture: Lakers - won 56 games last year. Anyone who is not on crack knows that they are not a better team now. I mean it is cool to be a fan, but damn, this is just blind hope, putting weight in things like "Kobe will score 45 without Shaq". Realistic, 52 wins would be considered a huge success. I'll predict about 48-50 wins. Houston - definitely better. Won 45 games last year. A ten game improvement is the max possible. I'd suggest 52 wins will be a major step forward for a franchise that is headed in the right direction. They don't have anything at the point, and have old support players, so the picture is not complete. They need more moves to be a contender. Phoenix - Major improvement with Steve Nash. This team is gonna be fun to watch. They won 29 games last year!!!! Can they go 500? Maybe, I think they can, maybe even 45 wins. If they get a center next year, they could go improve even more. But 40 wins is probably a more realistic prediction. Denver - 43 wins last year. KMart will be huge. They could win 50. Memphis - Well, everyone can't improve. They didn't get any worst in the offseason. But if everyone else improves, they might take a hit. They had a great season, with a lot of close games, and won 50 last year. Hard to believe they will repeat that. 45 wins. Utah - Not much better, Okur is not good. Boozer might help slightly. Portland, Seattle, GoldenState - all outside looking in. Not seeing much chance for them to make the playoffs. Maybe Portland can. These teams might all have an outside shot at the 8th seed, alond with Memphis, Lakers and Phoenix.
I dont know why people say Dallas got better. True they have a real center and have gotten better defenders but they lost Steve Nash who I consider to be the second best point guard in the league(name one better besides Kidd). Who are the back up forwards? Dallas will not get home court in the playoffs and more likely then not will be eliminated in the first round. So what if Dallas got Dampier?? Don Nelson couldnt be with Patrick Ewing for a full season. He uses small, quick, unorthodox lineups thats what he knows and does best. And then there's the fact that Dampier is a fat lazy cat who know that he has his 73 million dollars for 7 years???????(Cuban is just giving away money isnt he?)He'll go back to being an average center. This is going to be the seeding in the West for the playoffs. 1. Spurs 2. T wolves 3. Kings(Peja is going to stay and play) 4. Rockets 5. Nuggets 6. Grizzlies 7. Mavericks/Suns 8. Suns/Mavericks/Lakers/Jazz This is it unless serious injuries occur. Watch and see.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">I dont know why people say Dallas got better. True they have a real center and have gotten better defenders but they lost Steve Nash who I consider to be the second best point guard in the league(name one better besides Kidd). Who are the back up forwards? Dallas will not get home court in the playoffs and more likely then not will be eliminated in the first round. So what if Dallas got Dampier?? Don Nelson couldnt be with Patrick Ewing for a full season. He uses small, quick, unorthodox lineups thats what he knows and does best. And then there's the fact that Dampier is a fat lazy cat who know that he has his 73 million dollars for 7 years???????(Cuban is just giving away money isnt he?)He'll go back to being an average center. This is going to be the seeding in the West for the playoffs. </div> I don't think it is fair to equate the Nelson/Ewing feud. Ewing had serious flaws in his game and Nelson had a great plan, that Ewing did not buy into. It didn't work out, but this is a different scenario. What is a serious question is whether Nelson will coach this team to it's potential as a top team. You are correct, Nash made the team go, I believe that too, but the Mavs can still be the best offense in the league without him, easily, look at the roster. They got rid of some horrible parts. And now they have a very good defensive squad. Very good. If Nellie doesn't win 57 games and bring at least a top 15 defense to this team, he will be fired and the next coach will get the job done. Looking at it from another angle. They won 52 games last year, which was a huge disappointment. They lost at least 10 stupid games early last year, because of dumb ass Walker. They could have easily repeated their 60 game season from before, if they had gone with Dirk instead of Walker as the focal point. So what I'm saying is that the Mavs were a 60 win team that lost Nash and added Dampier. So if that makes us five games worse, so that's a 55 win team. Right?
