Predict Final Standings (West only)

[mfanatic]

Here's mine:

Spurs
Mavs
Lakers
Thunder
Hornets
Portland
Utah
Denver/Phoenix (Depending if Melo leaves or not)

-----------
Spurs vs. Denver/Phoenix = Spurs in 5/6

Mavs vs. Utah = Mavs in 6/7

Lakers vs. Portland = Lakers in 6/7

Thunder vs. Hornets = Thunder in 7
------------

Spurs vs. Thunder = Spurs in 6

Mavs vs. Lakers = Mavs in 7 (Homecourt matters, you're an idiot if you don't agree)
-------------

Spurs vs. Mavs = Spurs in 6

Not being a homer, just stating what I believe... what you guys got?

[Phillip]

the winner of the Mavs/Lakers series will come out of the West

[cheguevara]

Utah is going downhill and there's no stopping. So is New Orleans

On the other hand, Spurs have 1 locked up and looks like Dallas 2. 3, 4 will be toss up between OKC and LA

1. Spurs
2. Mavs
3. Fakes
4. OKC
5. Blazers
6. Nuggets
7. Hornets
8. Memphis / Utah

2nd round:
Spurs vs. OKC
Mavs vs. Lakers

Finals:
Spurs vs. Lakers

yeah, Mavs will choke again

[endrity]

Not being a homer here, but if the Mavs are good enough to get past the Lakers they are good enough to beat the Spurs.

Let's not forget that in the last 3 playoff meeting between the two teams, the one without home court has won the series. So clearly, that isn't the big issue for these two teams when they meet each other. I still think Dallas is neck and neck with the Spurs, with the difference between the two teams being minimal at best.

The issue in the last two playoff meetings has been the supporting cast. We know the Spurs are going to throw the kitchen sink at Dirk, double teaming him before he even touches the ball and other similar crazy approaches. In 09, the supporting cast stepped up big time, especially Howard and Bass. In '10 that didn't happen, Terry had again a horrible series, and Butler was still completely out of synch with the rest of the offense. Right now though, this Mavs team is learning how to score without needing Dirk. And they will need to do so even against the Lakers, because LA will go at Dirk hard as well. If they show they are good enough to beat the Lakers, I honestly feel that it means that Dirk can't be double teamed. And one-on-one Dirk still owns the Spurs like nobody else does in this league.

[cheguevara]

lol including the series where Manu was out

[Phillip]

also, dont be suprised if the Thunder surpasses the Lakers in the standings. they have an pretty easy schedule from here on out, while the Lakers will have one of the toughest schedules.

[Phillip]

yeah, Mavs will choke again

losing to the defending champs = choking

got it :toast

[endrity]

lol including the series where Manu was out

lol comparing the 09 cast vs. the one the Mavs have currently assambled. That team struggled to win 50 games, and a 7th seed, this one will surpass 55 and with some luck could get to 60 and a very comfortable 2 seed, with a top 3-4 record in the league most likely.

[cheguevara]

losing to the defending champs = choking

got it :toast


yes. And if Spurs lose to these lakers I will call it choking and major failure too.

[cheguevara]

lol comparing the 09 cast vs. the one the Mavs have currently assambled. That team struggled to win 50 games, and a 7th seed, this one will surpass 55 and with some luck could get to 60 and a very comfortable 2 seed, with a top 3-4 record in the league most likely.

and you are comparing this cast to 09,10 spurs??

46-9 and counting

[Phillip]

yes. And if Spurs lose to these lakers I will call it choking and major failure too.

losing to a better team is not choking.

[cheguevara]

the mavs are a better team than the lakers.

[Phillip]

and you are comparing this cast to 09,10 spurs??

46-9 and counting

and still have yet to see them consistently produce lock-down defense

:sleep nothing to worry about here

[Phillip]

the mavs are a better team than the lakers.

not neccesarily. playing currently at a higher level? sure. but that doesnt make them a better team.

[endrity]

Again read what I said. I don't know if this cast is good enough to beat the Spurs, which also are much improved. I know that Dallas again has a team approaching the 06 quality, but we are all a bit unsure how well they'll perform in the playoffs.

My point was that beating LA would be a pretty good signal that this cast is good enough to beat a top level team. And if the supporting cast of Dallas is good enough to prevent, or make SA pay for double teaming Dirk, this matchup shifts to Dallas' favor again because the most important matchup in all these series has always been Dirk. I think you will agree with me that right now, you continue to lack a player that can do a decent a job on him one on one.

[cheguevara]

and still have yet to see them consistently produce lock-down defense

:sleep nothing to worry about here

you might be right.

all I know is Spurs + Mavs should beat the lakers this time. And pretty handily. If they fail they are chokers.

[DesignatedT]

mavs>lakers
spurs>>>mavs

[Banzai]

number 6th tbh.

[ohmwrecker]

Assuming Melo remains in Denver: I see the Nuggets making a post trade deadline run. The Lakers also make a playoff push to salvage some swagger. The Mavs will cruise. The Thunder hold steady. The Blazers will not sustain their current streak and the Hornets have one more mini run in them. The Jazz will fall out and the Grizzlies will move in.

1st round
1 Spurs vs Blazers 8 (Spurs in 4)
4 Nuggets vs Thunder 5 (Nuggets in 7)
3 Mavs vs Hornets 6 (Mavs in 5)
2 Lakers vs Grizzlies 7 (Lakers in 4)

2nd round
1 Spurs vs Nuggets 4 (Spurs in 5)
2 Lakers vs Mavs 3 (Lakers in 6)

Finals
1 Spurs vs Lakers (Spurs in 6)

[Phillip]

you might be right.

all I know is Spurs + Mavs should beat the lakers this time. And pretty handily. If they fail they are chokers.

dont sell the Lakers so short yet is all im saying. its way too early.

honestly, i will say that no team really scares me as a mavs fan, as there is no team that i feel the mavs have less than a 50% chance of beating. but if there was one team i feel least comfortable seeing the mavs face in a playoff series in the entire NBA, its the Lakers.

[MavFan6488]

honestly, i will say that no team really scares me as a mavs fan, as there is no team that i feel the mavs have less than a 50% chance of beating.
are you serious? our only addition compared to last year has been tyson chandler, so we're better defensively. but we lost butler for season. stojakovic cannot replace him offensively. the spurs are much better compared to last year and least year we didn't have a chance against them in the playoffs. if we meet them, i say we have a 25-30% chance of beating them without homecourt, at most.

[Phillip]

are you serious? our only addition compared to last year has been tyson chandler, so we're better defensively. but we lost butler for season. stojakovic cannot replace him offensively. the spurs are much better compared to last year and least year we didn't have a chance against them in the playoffs. if we meet them, i say we have a 25-30% chance of beating them without homecourt, at most.

last year the mavs had trouble against the spurs due to lack of chemistry after the trade for butler and haywood. this year, chemistry has not been an issue with the team at all, and chemistry is every bit as important, if not more imporant at times than the talent pool itself. really the only time that any adversity hit the team was when Dirk/Caron went down. pretty much aside from injury, the Mavs have been every bit as good as the Spurs have been all season. they were right there behind them in terms of record when Dirk went out, despite having played the hardest schedule in the league, while the Spurs still to this day, have had one of the easier schedules in the league.

you are selling the Mavs a bit short right now. they can compete with any team in the NBA right now, and they will only improve as Peja and Roddy get more incorporated with the team, and if Butler can return as he says, thats just icing on the cake.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

losing to the defending champs = choking

got it :toast

Losing to a team when you are up 2-0 in the Finals with homecourt advantage is choking.

A number one seed losing to an 8th seed is choking.

A number two seed losing to a 7th seed in six games is choking.

[Phillip]

Losing to a team when you are up 2-0 with homecourt advantage is choking.

A number one seed losing to an 8th seed is choking.

A number two seed losing to a 7th seed in six games is choking.

i agree with the first two, although i dont see your point here. to point out that the mavs have choked in the past? original. you deserve mad props. :toast

the last one is much more debatable. the spurs werent just any ordinary 7th seed. they very easily could have been a top 4 seed, had the injury bug not hit them so badly through the season.

[MavFan6488]

last year the mavs had trouble against the spurs due to lack of chemistry after the trade for butler and haywood. this year, chemistry has not been an issue with the team at all, and chemistry is every bit as important, if not more imporant at times than the talent pool itself. really the only time that any adversity hit the team was when Dirk/Caron went down. pretty much aside from injury, the Mavs have been every bit as good as the Spurs have been all season. they were right there behind them in terms of record when Dirk went out, despite having played the hardest schedule in the league, while the Spurs still to this day, have had one of the easier schedules in the league.

you are selling the Mavs a bit short right now. they can compete with any team in the NBA right now, and they will only improve as Peja and Roddy get more incorporated with the team, and if Butler can return as he says, thats just icing on the cake.
last year after the butler trade we went on a 12-game win streak, so i think chemistry wasn't the problem against the spurs. it was our lack of players who can create something off the dribble. the spurs know how to contain our shooters better than any team in the league. they will let dirk do his thing and make the others beat them. but most of them can't because we are still a 90% jump shooting team, the spurs will just stand on their feet. roddy is our only hope in a series against the spurs...RODDY, a player who missed 75% of the entire season.

[boutons_deux]

http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/2

Due to the clusters of Ls at seeds 2 to 4, and seeds 5 to "10", predictions are fun, but useless.

[clambake]

roddy can't help if coach won't play him.

[DesignatedT]

1st round:
1.Spurs vs 8.Jazz (Spurs in 5)
2.Mavs vs 7.Blazers (Mavs in 5)
3.Lakers vs 6.Hornets (Lakers in 6)
4.OKC vs 5.Nuggets (DEN in 7)

Semis:
1.Spurs vs 5.Nuggets (Spurs in 6)
2.Mavs vs 3.Lakers (Mavs in 6)

WCF:
1.Spurs vs 2.Mavs (Spurs in 7)

This assuming Melo stays put. I think Denver turns it up after all these rumors are over.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

1. Spurs
2. Mavs
3. OKC
4. Lakers
5. Blazers
6. Phoenix
7. Nuggets
8. Hornets

[Phillip]

last year after the butler trade we went on a 12-game win streak, so i think chemistry wasn't the problem against the spurs. it was our lack of players who can create something off the dribble. the spurs know how to contain our shooters better than any team in the league. they will let dirk do his thing and make the others beat them. but most of them can't because we are still a 90% jump shooting team, the spurs will just stand on their feet. roddy is our only hope in a series against the spurs...RODDY, a player who missed 75% of the entire season.

so you think chemistry was so fantastic, that it made sense for carlisle to have no idea what the hell to do with his rotation, and how to use Butler, how to motivate Haywood to actually box out for a fucking rebound, how to keep Marion from being pissed off, to play Roddy in favor of Terry who was useless? come on now. chemistry was a massive issue, and they were fortunate to pull off that win streak, and pretty much did so solely because the team was so talented.

its one thing to not be wanting to get your hopes up, which is fine for mavs fans. personally, i feel that there is more reason to be optimistic about this team than pessimistic. but the whole "being unreasonably pessimistic makes me a realistic fan!" bit is pretty damn stupid.

[Axe Murderer]

1 San Antonio
2 Dallas
3 LA
4 OKC
5 Denver
6 New Orleans
7 Portland
8 Memphis

First round

1 SA vs 8 Memphis (SA in 4)
2 Dal vs 7 Por (Dal in 6)
3 LA vs 6 NO (LA in 7)
4 OKC vs Den (OKC in 6)

Second Round

1 SA vs 4 OKC (OKC in 6)
2 Dal vs 3 LA (LA in 5)

3rd round

3 LA vs 4 OKC (LA in 6)

[nkdlunch]

all I am hoping for is Mavs @ Spurs game 7 WCF

payback

[Axe Murderer]

all I am hoping for is Mavs @ Spurs game 7 WCF

payback

I'd take that too but for some reason I just can't see it happening. This reminds me of 2007 when the Mavs-Spurs were supposedly on a collision course and it just seemed inevitable. For some reason I see either Dallas or SA getting knocked out before they play the Lakers giving them another easy path to the Finals and giving us a shitty WCF like OKC-LA kind of like in 07 when SA just walked over Utah instead of the epic 7 game series we all thought would happen

[badfish22]

Losing to a team when you are up 2-0 in the Finals with homecourt advantage is choking.

A number one seed losing to an 8th seed is choking.

A number two seed losing to a 7th seed in six games is choking.

So that means losing to the defending champs = choking? Got it.
Go back upstairs.

[badfish22]

1 San Antonio
2 Dallas
3 LA
4 OKC
5 Denver
6 New Orleans
7 Portland
8 Memphis

First round

1 SA vs 8 Memphis (SA in 4)
2 Dal vs 7 Por (Dal in 6)
3 LA vs 6 NO (LA in 7)
4 OKC vs Den (OKC in 6)

Second Round

1 SA vs 4 OKC (OKC in 6)
2 Dal vs 3 LA (LA in 5)

3rd round

3 LA vs 4 OKC (LA in 6)

No way OKC beats SA. I could see LA and maybe Dallas beating them, but OKC doesn't have a chance in my mind.

[dbestpro]

1. Spurs
2. Mavs
3. OKC
4. Lakers
5. Blazers
6. Phoenix
7. Nuggets
8. Hornets

This means the Spurs would have to go through the Hornets, Lakers and Mavs to get to the finals. Ouch.

[badfish22]

roddy can't help if coach won't play him.

It seems like those days are over. Carlisle is praising the hell out of Roddy lately, saying hes matured a bunch since last year and said his bbiq is one of the best on the team.
"But of all the guys on our team, if you were to quiz everybody on what we have put in and what guys at each position do, he would know as much or more as anybody on the team. He’d be right up there with Kidd because he really studies it and has a great grasp of it.”

[clambake]

It seems like those days are over. Carlisle is praising the hell out of Roddy lately, saying hes matured a bunch since last year and said his bbiq is one of the best on the team.

time will tell. we'll see how coach responds after a little pressure is applied.

[Axe Murderer]

He’d be right up there with Kidd because he really studies it and has a great grasp of it.”

probly all talk, tbh but as long as Carlisle is tossing his salad that means atleast he'll be playing

[MavFan6488]

so you think chemistry was so fantastic, that it made sense for carlisle to have no idea what the hell to do with his rotation, and how to use Butler, how to motivate Haywood to actually box out for a fucking rebound, how to keep Marion from being pissed off, to play Roddy in favor of Terry who was useless? come on now. chemistry was a massive issue, and they were fortunate to pull off that win streak, and pretty much did so solely because the team was so talented.

its one thing to not be wanting to get your hopes up, which is fine for mavs fans. personally, i feel that there is more reason to be optimistic about this team than pessimistic. but the whole "being unreasonably pessimistic makes me a realistic fan!" bit is pretty damn stupid.
the chemistry obviously wasn't fantastic in this series, because everybody realized the lack of penetration is a problem we couldn't overcome. carlisle desperately tried to find the answer against the spurs defense but could'nt. the entire series it seemed like we were playing against a wall.

and i don't think that i'm unreasonably pessimistic when i say we have a 30% chance of beating a far improved spurs team without homecourt after what they did to us last year. the offense was our big problem and compared to last year we haven't improved offensively in my opinion. sure, if terry starts draining jumpers all of a sudden it's a different story, but i doubt that will happen. again, roddy could be the key factor in a series against the spurs, but as long as terry is on our team, i don't see him getting more than 20 minutes a game.

[Bito Corleone]

1. San Antonio
2. Dallas
3. LA
4. OKC
5. Portland
6. Denver
7. New Orleans
8. Memphis

Round 1
Home court holds

Round 2
SA vs OKC (SA in 6)
Dal vs LA (Dal in 6)

WCF
SA vs Dal (SA in 7)

[jjktkk]

time will tell. we'll see how coach responds after a little pressure is applied.

Alot of similarities between Beaubois and The Spurs George Hill a couple of years ago, as far as Carlisle and Pop deeming them ready for more playing time. Pop still gets trashed upstairs for not playing Hill two years ago in the playoffs, and going with Jacque Vaughn instead, even though Hill was playing pretty well for a rookie that year.

[endrity]

Alot of similarities between Beaubois and The Spurs George Hill a couple of years ago, as far as Carlisle and Pop deeming them ready for more playing time. Pop still gets trashed upstairs for not playing Hill two years ago in the playoffs, and going with Jacque Vaughn instead, even though Hill was playing pretty well for a rookie that year.

Then let's hope Roddy can turn around the series like Hill was able to last year.

[TampaDude]

No way OKC beats SA. I could see LA and maybe Dallas beating them, but OKC doesn't have a chance in my mind.

OKC has no interior defense...it would be a layup drill for TP and Manu. Spurs in 5, maybe 6. The two teams in the West that I worry about are the Mavs and the Lakers, in that order.