Who are going to bank on to win the Championship this year? Are you taking the clear cut favourites in the Mavericks or are you going to take the field? The field is the other 29 teams in the league. So it basically comes down to are you going to take the Mavericks or do you think that either the Suns, Spurs, Pistons, etc come up and knock them off. I think this is a pretty good time in the season to take everyone's picks and see how everyone does and where everyone stands. I of course is going to take the Mavericks.
VERY tough West this year, I think any of the top 5 teams (including the Mavs) can win the title when healthy.As for me, as I said before the season, I pick the Suns assuming they have everyone healthy in the playoffs.
Mavericks.Big competition on the field. More with Spurs and Suns than any of the other teams in the East
^I still can't pick the Suns, until I see them play a slowed down, half court/defensive minded game consistently in the playoffs.Both the Spurs and Mavs can take the Suns out of the fast paced games more than enough to win 4 games out of 7...and until the Suns can play a half court, defensive game, I can't really pcik them to get past either.
Obviously whoever gets through the West is going all the way. I think it'll be the Mavs, but it's really going to be a dogfight against almost anyone they're going to have to face after the first round.
If the Mavericks don't win this year, what a dissapointment. If they get to the finals in my opinion, it's over, nobody in the east can compete with the Mavericks. They just have to get past the Suns and they have it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Mar 6 2007, 07:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>If the Mavericks don't win this year, what a dissapointment. If they get to the finals in my opinion, it's over, nobody in the east can compete with the Mavericks. They just have to get past the Suns and they have it.</div>Everyone said that last year and look what happenned. I personally agree that no one in the East matches up, but anything can happen, as we saw last year.
You know who I'm going to pick.I have dismissed the Spurs over the whole year, but now I'll just go with D'Antoni and the Mavs fans and start to take them seriously. I'm still picking the Suns though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Mar 6 2007, 08:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Everyone said that last year and look what happenned. I personally agree that no one in the East matches up, but anything can happen, as we saw last year.</div> The Heat are a mess, nobody in the East matches up. Seems like a lock to me right now.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Mar 6 2007, 06:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Everyone said that last year and look what happenned. I personally agree that no one in the East matches up, but anything can happen, as we saw last year.</div>Yeah all it takes is an NBA Posterboy and a league full of refs to knock off the West Champs, lol.
I wouldnt dismiss the Spurs. They have won 9 games in a row, and I think they are going to make it 10 tonight. They have been playing great ball as of late, and I think that they are the 2nd best team in the NBA as of right now.But, if I had to bet on a team, I would go with the Mavericks. They have been consistent all year, and out of thier last 55 games, they have been an amazing 50-5. That is just ridiculous. They have a very balanced offense attack, they are a pretty good defensive team, and they have a great coach. They are the favorites agaisnt anybody in the league as of right now.
IMO it matters on how much games the play per a round and if healthy. Pistonslooked like the Mavs this year but lost to the Heat. Anything can happen. The suns are using players that need some rest for the playoffs. They should be using the depth they have in the season. By playoff time I wont be surprised if someone gets injured. Also I think Tim Duncan will have Amar on lockdown in the post, The Spurs are big and pound the ball inside. Diaw and Amare cant guard TD and will be shutdown on the other end. The Mavs unlike the Suns are both great on 2 ends of the floor. Dirk looks unguardable even if you put Diaw or Amare on him. Hes too big and too versatile. But the Mavs cant hold Amare downlow. He is getting stronger and now with a new jumper added to his game he will be tougher to guard. Nash will have to be huge Tony Parker and Jason Terry cant guard him. He will find teammates and will make them more effective. Tony Parker is huge as well he has to attack the paint on the Suns defense
^Except the Pistons lost steam in the second half of last year, and let's face, they didn't look as complete as the Mavs do. They had a few flaws, and didn't look like the best team by far in the league.The Mavs are picking up steam, and look just about invincable at times.You're right though...we have to wait and see how the season pans out.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinoy Balla @ Mar 7 2007, 01:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>IMO it matters on how much games the play per a round and if healthy. Pistonslooked like the Mavs this year but lost to the Heat. Anything can happen. The suns are using players that need some rest for the playoffs. They should be using the depth they have in the season. By playoff time I wont be surprised if someone gets injured. Also I think Tim Duncan will have Amar on lockdown in the post, The Spurs are big and pound the ball inside. Diaw and Amare cant guard TD and will be shutdown on the other end. The Mavs unlike the Suns are both great on 2 ends of the floor. Dirk looks unguardable even if you put Diaw or Amare on him. Hes too big and too versatile. But the Mavs cant hold Amare downlow. He is getting stronger and now with a new jumper added to his game he will be tougher to guard. Nash will have to be huge Tony Parker and Jason Terry cant guard him. He will find teammates and will make them more effective. Tony Parker is huge as well he has to attack the paint on the Suns defense</div>Amare has done better than Tim Duncan the last 2 seasons that they played each other. I don't know if Tim Duncan has ever contained Amare, but if he ever did it was about 4 years ago. Amare did play good defense on him this year, but that was only one game so it doesn't mean much. And Duncan can't focus on both Diaw and Amare. If Diaw is in the line-up and he is more aggressive on offense like last year he will have big games against the slower centers of the Spurs.
Any time you give me one team, and the rest of the field I am going to take the field. There is alot more chances for one of those teams to win, than there is if you just pick the Mavericks. That being said, my pick for this years team is the Spurs. I know the Mavericks look awesome this year, and seem invincible at times, but I think the Spurs have the pieces to play with the Mavericks. Last year the Mavericks and Spurs played an outstanding seven game series, and I would expect the same if they played. I think Duncan can have his way with the Mavericks and their big men defensive players, as well as they have the shooters and role players to play with the Mavericks. The big deal will be, how does Parker play against the Mavericks for the entire seven game series. If he is playing aggresively, and getting to the rim like he likes to do, this team will be tough and I think can beat the Mavericks.If they play the Suns, I think Duncan will once again have his way down low. Sure, he won't be able to contain, Amare on the other side as Amare is a different type of big man than Duncan has ever had to guard and Amare had his way with Duncan in the playoffs two years ago, but I still expect to see Duncan tear it up down low on offense. Overall, the Spurs are good enough to slow down the pace of the game and take the Suns out of their element, while also being fast enough to spot run against the Suns. With the speed of Ginobili, Parker, and the San Antonio guards, they can get up and down the court decently with the Suns, as we saw two years ago in the playoffs against the Suns.I think the Spurs are as dangerous as any team in the league this year, and are my pick to win the Championship this year.
