So with the draft coming next week who do you think will be the best team in the western conference next year? Im sure everyone is going to say the spurs and they likely will be up there. I dont think the Spurs will be the best team in the west for too much longer though. Alot of the reason the Spurs win their championships is their deep bench but you have to question how much older players like Duncan,Bowen,Horry,Finley,and Barry have in them. Manu ginobli will also turn 30 next season. They are obviously a great team but as the oldest team in the nba you have to question when they start to decline? That being said, I still think the Spurs have the best chance to win the west as of now.
In the regular season I expect Phoenix to be the best team out west largely due to San Antonio more or less coasting for a large part of the season to keep their core healthy for the postseason. As far as the postseason goes I have a hard time going against San Antonio as they just ran over everybody they faced in this postseason and I expect them to make some key changes to their bench to inject some more youth to the team.
Of course people will go with the Mavs, Suns, and Spurs, and they are always on top, but here are some more teams I think have a chance.Jazz- They have a very nice core, and still some young players who will grow this off-season with one under their belt. Deron still has room for improvement, and I still think Boozer does coming off of his first pretty big year. Ronnie Brewer may have the chance to prove himself as a starter and Dee Brown will likely get more playing time to try to prove himself. They may make some moves and trade Kirilenko, and in this deep draft they could possibly find a stud. This is a real nice teamRockets- If this team can keep their stars healthy for one full season, they can be a force. With a good balance of outside and downlow weapons, this team can challenge in the West. They've already made a move to bring in a good point guard upgrade in Mike James who had one of his better years with the Rockets his first go around, and is happy to be back. They are still looking to bring in either Rashard Lewis or Ron Artest which could be big. They also have a 1st round pick in this deep draft and could find a nice player. Nuggets- With Carmelo seeing not only Wade, but LeBron make the Finals, Carmelo could have a little motivation this season. With him and Iverson leading the way, this team is always dangerous. If this team can stay healthy and get the best out of all their players, they can be really good. They really need a big year out of JR Smith. He improved last season, and showed signs of a great player, he just needs to keep it up.
I think the Rockets have been overrated ever since they got yao. Every year people say they are going to do something and every year they lose in the first round. I've just given up on that team as a whole. They added Mike James but they still have a weak bench and are generally a soft team as seen by the Jazz series.I think the Jazz will be better next year but I doubt they make it to the WCF next year. They were very lucky to get to play the warriors who just had the Mavs Numbers.Im not sold on the nuggets yet until I see what moves they make, but I think they can play with San Antonio if they could just get a great perimeter defender to stop ginobli and parker.As of now the only team who can beat San Antonio I believe is Dallas. They were a young team in the finals a few years ago and are still only improving. not to mention they already beat san antonio in a playoff series. I'd like to see them get another strong guy in the post. I know everyone says Diop is garbage but I believe if it werent for him, that dallas would have never beat SA. He actually played Duncan very hard and by doing so allowed other options on the team to open up. They are just an overall great team with a mix of good depth, good offense, and an above average defense. I think Dirk is a great player also but im not so sold on him come playoff time. He really is just as one dimensional as Zach Randolph but gets much more the praise because he plays on a great team. Dirk is very overrated in my eyes.
I like Houston's chance of winning the West, but they need to find the right coach who will bring in the right players. The Jazz did really well for such a young, inexperienced team and I think they'll come back strong. I want to go with Dallas here but I'm just not sure Dirk and co. can get past teams like SA and PHX. I'll pick a team that has not been mentioned yet, the Warriors. I think they have a great core of players that really played well together and took out the best team in the NBA 4-1 in the opening round. I love the way Nellie coaches this team, and they have at least four or five guys that can score the ball, maybe not consistently but they can score.
Phoenix. San Antonio are getting older and it's not like they were the better team in the Suns series, they had a few things go their way and used that to their advantage (I'm not dwelling on this still, just saying that they weren't a far superior team or anything).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (808Hornetsfan @ Jun 19 2007, 03:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I like Houston's chance of winning the West, but they need to find the right coach who will bring in the right players. The Jazz did really well for such a young, inexperienced team and I think they'll come back strong. I want to go with Dallas here but I'm just not sure Dirk and co. can get past teams like SA and PHX. I'll pick a team that has not been mentioned yet, the Warriors. I think they have a great core of players that really played well together and took out the best team in the NBA 4-1 in the opening round. I love the way Nellie coaches this team, and they have at least four or five guys that can score the ball, maybe not consistently but they can score.</div>Houston signed Adelman; maybe speeding up the tempo will result in them actually getting past the first round next year.But my pick would be the Spurs. I don't see anyone beating them in the West; maybe Dallas. The Spurs won't have any trouble with Phoenix, as they've shown the past two or three years.
I think the Mavericks get the best record in the west, of the three elites they are the youngest. San Antonio will be close again, but they'll go with resting their guys more than Dallas will so that will cause the Spurs to drop a few in the standings. the difference between the Spurs resting their guys and when Dallas did it is that the Spurs do it over the corse of the season, while the Mavs did it all at one time.Phoenix will be good too, but Nash is getting older so I think he'll see fewer minutes. it's a strategy that has worked with other PGs in the past. cutting regular season minutes so that they still have fresh legs come playoff time.I'm a huge Jazz fan, but even I have to admit they did catch a break this year. though I do think the Jazz could have made it a good series vs Dallas. The Jazz will likely be the fourth best team in the West next year, they may catch SA or Phoenix for third but I doubt it. but even being 4th would be good for the Jazz, they are still developing and probably need another year before they are real title contenders.
N'Awlins Hornets!! sh*t, this is reality I think the Mavericks will be on top again in the standings; we might see Nowitzki and the rest of the team rebound from their upset. Avery Johnson is a pretty good coach. The Spurs will probably be chugging up behind them and hopefully the Suns will be right behind provided all of their pieces from this season are still there.
I'd have to say Phoenix will have the best record in the Western Conference next season. Either San Antonio or Dallas will represent the West in the Finals though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 19 2007, 01:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think the Rockets have been overrated ever since they got yao. Every year people say they are going to do something and every year they lose in the first round. I've just given up on that team as a whole. They added Mike James but they still have a weak bench and are generally a soft team as seen by the Jazz series.</div>If they were fully healthy last season (or if T-Mac was only hurt for 5 games rather than 10, or Yao only missed 10 games rather than 32) then the Rockets would have likely been a 60-win team. They were 4pts away from getting into the 2nd round, where they could have very likely won and made it to the WCF. They still have moves to make (which WILL be done since they traded Howard for James, which leaves a nice hole at PF that will need to be filled), but I like the Rockets chances of really contending out West.The West all depends on what happens with the trading of Shawn Marion and Jason Terry, along with what happens with SA's vets. A possible major trade to Houston, like acquiring the rumored Ron Artest, could also greatly shake things up. But I think the West will play out like:1) Dallas2) Phoenix3) San Antonio4) Houston5) Golden State6) Utah7) DenverThe final spot will be decided by what happens with Kobe.
I think the Warriors are going to disppoint alotve people. They arent going to be better than Utah and probably not Denver. They had a great run in the playoffs, but I dont see them being like that all season next year.Other than that, I think the Suns will be the best team.You cant really rank the West 1-8 cause you never know whos going to be better as far as Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas and you can even put Utah in there. Theres also teams like Portland, Memphis, or even the Lakers who might make a strong push for the playoffs. You just never know especially in the stacked West.
Unless Phoenix changes the way they play, they will be losing again. They might end up with the top regular season record, but come playoff time, their lack of defense will again make them pay.Same goes for the Mavericks, to a lesser degree. Nowitzki is awful on defense, and doesn't play to his advantages on offense, settling for the fade away jumper regardless of who is checking him. One trick pony he is.I think Yao might finally play closer to his potential if he keeps working with Olajuwon. If you combine that with Adelman forcing the rest of the players to get him the ball a bit more, Houston could improve quite a bit.
Phoenix and Dallas both play pretty good defense. I get sick of people saying Phoenix doesn't because in this past season they have defiently stepped it up.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BluffCityBlue @ Jun 19 2007, 03:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Phoenix and Dallas both play pretty good defense. I get sick of people saying Phoenix doesn't because in this past season they have defiently stepped it up.</div>They give up over 100 points a game...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GrizzFanTaylor @ Jun 19 2007, 01:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They give up over 100 points a game...</div>There is a lot more to defense then just how many point you give up. Take the Suns/Spurs series for example. The Spurs are known to be the best defensive team in the NBA so how did they do against an up tempo team:Game 1: SA 111 - Phx 106Game 2: Phx 101 - SA 81Game 3: SA 108 - Phx 101Game 4: Phx 104 - SA 98Game 5: SA 88 - Phx 85Game 6: SA 114 - Phx 106So in that series the Spurs held Phoenix under 100 points only once and it was the game where the Suns didn't have Amare or Diaw while the Suns held the Spurs under 100 in half of the games. In fact if you add up the totals for the entire series the Suns outscored the Spurs.The Suns defense actually gave up fewer points then the Spurs defense (603-600) but San Antonio was still the better defensive team in that series.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I think the Warriors are going to disppoint alotve people. They arent going to be better than Utah and probably not Denver. They had a great run in the playoffs, but I dont see them being like that all season next year.</div>Warriors were fantastic in last month or so of season, and I expect them to have a very good regular season record because of their style of play.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jordanisoverrated @ Jun 19 2007, 03:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think Yao might finally play closer to his potential if he keeps working with Olajuwon. If you combine that with Adelman forcing the rest of the players to get him the ball a bit more, Houston could improve quite a bit.</div>They will likely be going to Yao less and rather have more of an all around team effort. Right now Yao's problem is what he does before he gets into the move to score (aka HIGH TO numbers). JVG's offense forced it into Yao too much and forced T-Mac to have a massive load which included both scoring and making plays for everyone else every single time down the floor...both guys will have it easier and have less offensive pressure on them.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>There is a lot more to defense then just how many point you give up. Take the Suns/Spurs series for example. The Spurs are known to be the best defensive team in the NBA so how did they do against an up tempo team:Game 1: SA 111 - Phx 106Game 2: Phx 101 - SA 81Game 3: SA 108 - Phx 101Game 4: Phx 104 - SA 98Game 5: SA 88 - Phx 85Game 6: SA 114 - Phx 106So in that series the Spurs held Phoenix under 100 points only once and it was the game where the Suns didn't have Amare or Diaw while the Suns held the Spurs under 100 in half of the games. In fact if you add up the totals for the entire series the Suns outscored the Spurs.The Suns defense actually gave up fewer points then the Spurs defense (603-600) but San Antonio was still the better defensive team in that series.</div>Ok, so in 3 out of 6 games, they held the Spurs to under 100 a game. Great. Can they do it consistently? No, and that shows by how many points they give up a game on a season's average. I think one of the big reasons the Suns haven't made the Finals is because of their bad defense. You're not going to make it through the West giving up 102 points a game. Look at all the teams that made the Finals in recent years. This season:Spurs: 90.1 PPG allowed in the reg. season--91.7 PPG allowed in the playoffsSuns: 102 allowed in the reg. season--99.1 PPG allowed in the playoffsLast seasonHeat - 96.1 PPG allowed in the reg. season--92.5 PPG allowed in the playoffsSuns - 102.8 PPG allowed in the reg. season--106.1 PPG allowed in the playoffsYes, the Suns run fast paced, and I know that, but it limits them on defense, which I think hurts them. Fast paced teams are meant to do good in the regular season, but once you get deep in the playoffs, you have to have something to back your team up if your jumpers are not falling. The Spurs and Mavs did, while the Suns don't. The Spurs didn't do good offensively in the Finals, but they played great defense that slowed down LeBron.I know it's cliche, but defense wins championships, and the Suns don't seem to have a great concept of it.
