OT: Are you buying the Blazers and Nuggets record?

[RD2191]

Haven't watched much of either this season, are they legit contenders? Do the Spurs have a chance against them in the playoffs?

[Robz4000]

Denver is legit, but :lol Guests...

[Jay.From.NbTx]

Both will come down to earth sooner than later.

[High Plains Drifter]

I was in Denver last week and went to the Nuggets/Jazz game. It was a pretty close game until the 3rd quarter after which Denver was comfortably in control. Mitchell was out for the Jazz most of the 3rd quarter after going down with what looked to be a bad leg injury, but he came out of the locker room and played in the 4th. The nuggets were without Will Barton, so it may not have been the best game to judge them by.

All that said, there was no point during the game that Denver looked like they were on another level, and I didn’t see anything the Spurs couldnt handle in a playoff series if they are healthy.

I’m not sure what to think of the Blazers. Lillard and McCollum are as good of a backcourt as there is in the league right now, but the rest of that roster seems very pedestrian. I’ve got to think that you could come up with a game plan that contains the rest of the team and forces those two guys to go absolutely bonkers to win a playoff series. They might be that good, but I won’t buy it until I see it for 4 games in a series.

I think the the road to the western conference finals is wide open as long as the Spurs avoid Golden State in the first two rounds and don’t have any more injuries pile up.

[RD2191]

I was in Denver last week and went to the Nuggets/Jazz game. It was a pretty close game until the 3rd quarter after which Denver was comfortably in control. Mitchell was out for the Jazz most of the 3rd quarter after going down with what looked to be a bad leg injury, but he came out of the locker room and played in the 4th. The nuggets were without Will Barton, so it may not have been the best game to judge them by.

All that said, there was no point during the game that Denver looked like they were on another level, and I didn’t see anything the Spurs couldnt handle in a playoff series if they are healthy.

I’m not sure what to think of the Blazers. Lillard and McCollum are as good of a backcourt as there is in the league right now, but the rest of that roster seems very pedestrian. I’ve got to think that you could come up with a game plan that contains the rest of the team and forces those two guys to go absolutely bonkers to win a playoff series. They might be that good, but I won’t buy it until I see it for 4 games in a series.

I think the the road to the western conference finals is wide open as long as the Spurs avoid Golden State in the first two rounds and don’t have any more injuries pile up.

Great analysis. Yeah, I've pretty much come to the same conclusion which is why I ask. The Spurs could possibly make the WCF, which is pretty astounding all things considered.

[RD2191]

Denver is legit, but :lol Guests...

Right. Tlong :lol

[Mugen]

On paper, Portland looks like a matchup nightmare against the Spurs in a playoff series but i'd easily play them if I got to choose the Spurs playoff opponent, provided they make it.

Haven't seen a single minute of the Nuggets this season tbh....guessing Murray made a leap and Milsap isn't completely done....i'd have to think their success is tied to those two factors....

[Beartrucci]

Denver is legit, but :lol Guests...

This. Love Denver but guests are as always a super annoying boring pretender.

[Spurtacular]

Just because they go for 50 wins doesn't mean they're not pretenders come playoffs, tbh. Hell, the Spurs or Lakers could end up with 50.

[Mr. Body]

I don't think Denver is this good. Portland may be, but won't cause much damage when it counts.

[Robz4000]

On paper, Portland looks like a matchup nightmare against the Spurs in a playoff series but i'd easily play them if I got to choose the Spurs playoff opponent, provided they make it.

Haven't seen a single minute of the Nuggets this season tbh....guessing Murray made a leap and Milsap isn't completely done....i'd have to think their success is tied to those two factors....

Murray and Gary Harris have really blossomed. Jokic has also reached another level somehow.

[HarlemHeat37]

They're both good teams, nowhere near legit contenders..

Tough to take Portland seriously after last year, New Orleans showed the blueprint to beat them and they didn't add any significant pieces in the off-season..also, they have like 3 white American players in their rotation, which is suicide in today's NBA..

I like Denver's starting lineup, but I don't think Jokic is aggressive enough to consistently dominate..he's way too unselfish..

[superbigtime]

Guests? Do tell.

[The Closer]

both trash

[Kobe'sAchilles]

Denver is already coming back down to earth and the Guests are trash until they prove otherwise. They have too many chuckers on the team and not enough players who can drive and get easy buckets. Too many fade away 3s tbh. There aren't any scary teams this year in the west. Just a buncha meh teams

[Beartrucci]

Denver is already coming back down to earth and the Guests are trash until they prove otherwise. They have too many chuckers on the team and not enough players who can drive and get easy buckets. Too many fade away 3s tbh. There aren't any scary teams this year in the west. Just a buncha meh teams

Interesting how the East suddenly has all the league's best contenders besides the dubs. West is all around more solid top to bottom probably but no true contenders.

And no I don't think anyone in East is truly competing with Dubs either. It's all relative.

[TimDunkem]

Only two teams really have a chance. Everyone else is a pretender.

Denver and Portland are definitely better than San Antonio though.

[DAF86]

Interesting how the East suddenly has all the league's best contenders besides the dubs. West is all around more solid top to bottom probably but no true contenders.

And no I don't think anyone in East is truly competing with Dubs either. It's all relative.

I don't see many contenders on the East either, tbh. Outside the Raptors, and maaaaybe the Bucks.

Fuck Kawhi and his bitchness, we should be fighting GS for a crack at the championship.

[Kobe'sAchilles]

Interesting how the East suddenly has all the league's best contenders besides the dubs. West is all around more solid top to bottom probably but no true contenders.

And no I don't think anyone in East is truly competing with Dubs either. It's all relative.
I like the way the bucks are playing tbh. It's early of course but their biggest weakness the past couple of years was offense and Bud is teaching them how to actually score. They have the length to bother Golden St and a free flowing offense. Probably the best series we get.
I would say the raptors but I can't imagine the amount of choking Lowry will do in finals. The dude is petrified of the first round and his team is very reliant on him creating for others

[TDMVPDPOY]

i hope guests gets left off on allstar team...lilly will start puffing at the media as usual why the hate

[Philthemage]

I was in Denver last week and went to the Nuggets/Jazz game. It was a pretty close game until the 3rd quarter after which Denver was comfortably in control. Mitchell was out for the Jazz most of the 3rd quarter after going down with what looked to be a bad leg injury, but he came out of the locker room and played in the 4th. The nuggets were without Will Barton, so it may not have been the best game to judge them by.

All that said, there was no point during the game that Denver looked like they were on another level, and I didn’t see anything the Spurs couldnt handle in a playoff series if they are healthy.

I’m not sure what to think of the Blazers. Lillard and McCollum are as good of a backcourt as there is in the league right now, but the rest of that roster seems very pedestrian. I’ve got to think that you could come up with a game plan that contains the rest of the team and forces those two guys to go absolutely bonkers to win a playoff series. They might be that good, but I won’t buy it until I see it for 4 games in a series.

I think the the road to the western conference finals is wide open as long as the Spurs avoid Golden State in the first two rounds and don’t have any more injuries pile up.

With Denver I think they're good but lack the experience come playoff time. Very exciting young core and I was saying before the season started they would be fun to watch.

For the Blazers I think you gotta give Terry Stores credit as I would put him as one of the top 5 coaches in the league now. Year in year out he's kept the Blazers competitive.

[marinoman]

I think the 2-10 seed teams can all beat each other. Spurs might be the 2 seed and lose the first rd or 7 seed and make West finals

[tlongII]

The Blazers are terrific this year. We have Evan Turner playing point forward with the 2nd unit. Stauskas and Curry were nice pickups for the bench. Collins is going to be a star. And Nurk is a top 5 center in the league.

[Kawhitstorm]

Fuck Kawhi and his bitchness, we should be fighting GS for a crack at the championship.

.....yeah with the same squad that couldn't hold a 20 point lead for 10 minutes:lol

[hater]

:lmao Lebrante Cunningham

[TimDunkem]

.....yeah with the same squad that couldn't hold a 20 point lead for 10 minutes:lol

This roster isn't even as good as the one that year too.

[BackHome]

Right now they are 11 teams in the West that have as many wins we have. Making the Playoffs is going to be really hard because of injuries but I am hoping we get a pick between 9 to 12.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Nuggets look pretty damn good. Their guards might score 200 points on the Mills/Forbes tandem.

[Fireball]

both are way better than the Spurs ...

[dontouchmebwo]

Nuggets>Blazers.

Jokic looks like he's a legitimately great player, their core is very young and have progressed much more than last year.

Blazers are just bad, they depend too much on Lillard/CJ, they also look very sloppy, need a change of coach. I see so many guys on that team take poor shots and make repeated mistakes, they can win a good amount of regular season games but just don't have it overall.


Spurs would struggle big time with the Nuggets, but Blazers, they're capable of beating.

[RD2191]

Bump. Call me crazy but still not sold on the Nuggets.

[KDKSpurs24]

Bump. Call me crazy but still not sold on the Nuggets.
Nuggets are winning with injuries to key players like Gary Harris and Paul Milsap. (I’m not going to count Isaiah Thomas and Michael Porter Jr). They’re a really good team.

[RD2191]

Nuggets are winning with injuries to key players like Gary Harris and Paul Milsap. (I’m not going to count Isaiah Thomas and Michael Porter Jr). They’re a really good team.

Do you watch any of their games? I haven't. I'm going solely off of reputation here. :lol

[NASpurs]

Do you watch any of their games? I haven't. I'm going solely off of reputation here. :lol

:lol I haven't either but the West is so fucking bad outside of the Warriors. Only thing you have to be sold on is whether they can beat any other team in a seven game series.

[SAGirl]

I think the Nuggets have a lot of depth (result of drafting in the lottery, even the lower part of the lottery). They may have just the one true star, but their roleplayers are really good and if one gets injured another one steps right up. The regular season is a marathon, not a sprint, and that is really where team depth matters. The shallow teams can't really handle an injury to a starter without tumbling. It will be interesting to see them in the playoffs though, it would be the first time for this group.

[KDKSpurs24]

:lol I haven't either but the West is so fucking bad outside of the Warriors. Only thing you have to be sold on is whether they can beat any other team in a seven game series.
I hope you’re not going by records when you say that though. I’m not sure why people automatically think mediocre records mean teams are bad. It just means the teams are more even in level now. Means almost any team can now win/lose on any given night. I thought that parity was what most nba fans wanted? Unless you have a different observation?

[99 Problems]

Nuggets are good. The big man troubles GSW, they have strong perimeter bodies as seen working all game on Kawawa yesty, they have shooters that can splash you from the riverbank. Harris is out and I rate him very high. I don’t think they’ll go missing come post season.

Blazers, not so certain. I was disappointed last season.

[Spurs Homer]

**heads up - anyone with DirecTV - there is a few more days of NBA league pass free preview right now **


Happened to catch last nights Nuggets/Raptors game -

Nuggets impressed.
Raps were playing great D, Kawhi was beasting (that piece of shit)

and the Raps had a solid 8-12 pt lead for much of the game - but the Nuggets hung in - just stayed within reach -

then the altitude and their crowd and their athleticism got em over the hump and they wore out the Raptors.

Unfortunately Kawhitter didn't have his thigh explode into bits - but it was satisfying watching the Nuggets beat them
Nuggets are for real and will be a problem for any team. They might still come down to earth a little but they were battling and they have a few athletes on their team that give teams headaches.

Nikola whatever his name is just competent enough to keep them within reach in any game.

Oh one last thing...

Fuck Kawhi

[daslicer]

I really like Jokic. He has a great post game and plays like an old school big. You can't put an undersized big on him and expect to get away with it. I saw one possession where the Raptors switched Kawhi on him and he went to work backing Kawhi down underneath the basket for the easy bucket.

[Laker_1995]

**heads up - anyone with DirecTV - there is a few more days of NBA league pass free preview right now **


Happened to catch last nights Nuggets/Raptors game -

Nuggets impressed.
Raps were playing great D, Kawhi was beasting (that piece of shit)

and the Raps had a solid 8-12 pt lead for much of the game - but the Nuggets hung in - just stayed within reach -

then the altitude and their crowd and their athleticism got em over the hump and they wore out the Raptors.

Unfortunately Kawhitter didn't have his thigh explode into bits - but it was satisfying watching the Nuggets beat them
Nuggets are for real and will be a problem for any team. They might still come down to earth a little but they were battling and they have a few athletes on their team that give teams headaches.

Nikola whatever his name is just competent enough to keep them within reach in any game.

Oh one last thing...

Fuck Kawhi

“ that piece of shit” has me dying bro :lol