Predict the Southwest Division

[Dverde]

Where do you think every team finishes? I don’t see a dominate team in the bunch. Should be a wild year.

https://ats.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Southwest-Division-755x420.jpg

[exstatic]

Dallas
SA
Hou
NO
Mem

[offset formation]

Dallas
NO
SA
Memphis
Houston

[ginobilized]

Dallas
NO
SA
Memphis
Houston

Ditto

[timtonymanu]

Dallas
SA
Hou
NO
Mem

[Dverde]

Dallas
Memphis
San Antonio 210
NO
Houston

I think Memphis, SA, Pelicants battle it out for a top 8 seed. I think SVG a year away from getting NO in the playoffs.

[Seventyniner]

Dallas should win the division, but the other 4 teams could end up in any order. Probably the hardest division to project in the league. Except maybe the Southeast, where all the teams other than Miami suck.

[hombre]

Dallas
SA
Hou
NO
Mem

[paperboy77]

Dallas....... SA, Hou, Mem, NO. After Dallas it could be anyone.

[offset formation]

Four ppl above agree on the 1, 3, and 5 spot and split on the 2 & 4 spot.

Who knows how this shakes out? I could even see Dallas finishing 3 or 4. I think every team could win it, but I have a hard time seeing Houston getting there. It's just too likely they implode, imo.

[Dejounte]

Dallas
SA
Memphis - injury prone at the top (JJJ and soon Ja)
New Orleans - terrible roster construction, bad fits
Houston - low IQ team (assuming no Harden)

[KobesAchilles]

We are winning it

Dallas has to survive without KP and he’s too important to go a long stretch w/o
Houston is done as a team. :lol harden
Pels will be a year away due to that’s how long it takes Stan historically to get his shit together. Plus they will have injuries galore.
memphis is going to regress a bit this year. Tho if JJJ continues to play like he did in the bubble then I will be wrong about that

Sa
Dal
Memp
NO
Hou

[Prime BEEF]

Dal
NO
Mem
SA
Hou

[John B]

It's a pretty competitive division:

SA - Contract year for Aldridge and Demar? Pop seeing the errors of his ways? Athletic young core minus the defensive liabilities? Possibly the best defensive front court in the league? Spurs will surprise a lot of people.
Dallas - Luca and Porzingis are injury prone I think.
Hou - Harden and Wall could still get higher, but the windows are closing fast
NO - They are good from 1-5 so it's hard to discount them.
Memphis - The way they dropped games last bubble shows the immaturity of this team

[rudwick]

Dallas
SA
Hou
NO
Mem

[k830713]

Houston
Dallas
San Antonio
Pelicans
Memphis

[exstatic]

Dal
NO
Mem
SA
Hou

Why are people so high on Memphis and NO? People discounted the Orlando performances of PHO, SA, POR because most of the playoff teams that they were playing treated the bubble like a series of scrimmages. What does that say about Memphis and NO who flat out stunk under the same circumstances?

[lmbebo]

Dallas
NO
Mem/SA
Hou

[TD 21]

Obviously subject to change when (if?) Harden get's traded in season: Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs, Pelicans, Grizzlies.



Why are people so high on Memphis and NO? People discounted the Orlando performances of PHO, SA, POR because most of the playoff teams that they were playing treated the bubble like a series of scrimmages. What does that say about Memphis and NO who flat out stunk under the same circumstances?

A combination of high ceiling young cornerstones and recency bias. To be fair, Morant was banged up and they were missing Jackson Jr., Jones and Crowder/Hill (technically traded for Winslow, but he's yet to play for them). Meanwhile, Williamson clearly wasn't right.

I agree with the sentiment though. The Grizzlies are still far too limited an offensive team in general and the Pelicans have a severe lack of shooting.

[SAGirl]

The Grizzlies are just a different team without JJJr. He will be an all star if healthy. He’s been injury prone and inconsistent because of it but is a difference maker. Morant was a rookie last season. They have a promising duo and Clark plus good chemistry but don’t have much talent outside their stars. I like their coach from a player development standpoint though.

Zion was so bad in the bubble that I have done bias against him. He’s clearly talented but he wasn’t ready to play or something was wrong with him. He couldn’t maintain the energy and focus to play both ends. IMO they need development and growth. I don’t think they will be better than the Spurs unless the Spurs massively disappoint.

it’s too early to be projecting the Spurs to be as bad as last season. Hopefully their youth has improved and Pops schemes highlight their strengths better.

[RC_Drunkford]

Mavs
Spurs
Memphis
Houston
NOLA

[Sugus]

Mavs
Spurs
Memphis
Houston
NOLA

Almost. I don't think the Pels fail to win more games than Shitshow Rockettes, tbh, with their Lonzo-Ingram-Zion core after another season of development. Maybe I'm predicting too harsh a dropoff for Houston, but I just can't see the team playing with energy and grit after everything that's gone down with Harden.

Dallas
Spurs
Memphis
NOLA
Houston.

[RC_Drunkford]

Almost. I don't think the Pels fail to win more games than Shitshow Rockettes, tbh, with their Lonzo-Ingram-Zion core after another season of development. Maybe I'm predicting too harsh a dropoff for Houston, but I just can't see the team playing with energy and grit after everything that's gone down with Harden.

Dallas
Spurs
Memphis
NOLA
Houston.

Houston still has a lot of better players than the Spurs

[Sugus]

Houston still has a lot of better players than the Spurs

But they all go as far as Harden takes them. With him disinterested and saving himself up for the next season, having nothing to prove as a player to be traded for, I can't see the Rockettes being competitive at all. They might surprise me, though, or the Pels disappoint me. I expect them to go further.

[SPURt]

We are winning it

Dallas has to survive without KP and he’s too important to go a long stretch w/o
Houston is done as a team. :lol harden
Pels will be a year away due to that’s how long it takes Stan historically to get his shit together. Plus they will have injuries galore.
memphis is going to regress a bit this year. Tho if JJJ continues to play like he did in the bubble then I will be wrong about that

Sa
Dal
Memp
NO
Hou
+1, I like the way you think my friend

[RC_Drunkford]

I have to adjust my prediction after watching these preseason games:

Mavs
Houston
Memphis
NOLA
Spurs

[Dverde]

I have to adjust my prediction after watching these preseason games:

Mavs
Houston
Memphis
NOLA
Spurs

Spurs look horrible. I can see why you changed. Still no Keldon or White. That gives me a little hope.

[BackHome]

Yeah I think White Big Toe injury is going to make him miss a lot of games which is good for us short term netting us a top 6 pick....Go Spurs.

[itzsoweezee]

I'm cautiously optimistic popovich will stick with his turd trio of vets and San Antonio ends up with a top 5 pick (I'm not watching those bums play, though). Bottom of the conference, here we come

[tim_duncan_fan]

I have to adjust my prediction after watching these preseason games:

Mavs
Houston
Memphis
NOLA
Spurs

This is the correct answer.

I get the sense that Pop doesn't really coach/direct/instruct teach. And guys like Lonnie and Dejounte lack ability.

If Keldon and Derrick haven't leveled up either...it's going to be a long season.

[Dejounte]

Dallas
SA
Memphis - injury prone at the top (JJJ and soon Ja)
New Orleans - terrible roster construction, bad fits
Houston - low IQ team (assuming no Harden)

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1343735677914116096?s=19

The way Ja jumps around, he's always going to be prone to injury. He reminds me of a past star who jumped around a lot and ended up getting injured frequently... Can't put my finger on it right now

[John B]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1343735677914116096?s=19

The way Ja jumps around, he's always going to be prone to injury. He reminds me of a past star who jumped around a lot and ended up getting injured frequently... Can't put my finger on it right now
It looks like a lot are sleeping on NO. They look pretty legit in retrospect, and Ingram could emerge as a new star

[BackHome]

I think out of the West will probably be around 11th or 12th place.

[Dverde]

Dallas
Memphis
San Antonio 210
NO
Houston

I think Memphis, SA, Pelicants battle it out for a top 8 seed. I think SVG a year away from getting NO in the playoffs.

:lol I got it right! I assumed Spurs would be about .500 tho.

[SAGirl]

:lol I got it right! I assumed Spurs would be about .500 tho.
A lot of people got it wrong.... ja, ja.
In retrospect the view for the Spurs was very rosy based on the bubble games. Everyone thought the team would level up without Belli and Forbes.

It puts in retrospect that the season is a long grind and one can't place too much weight on a small sample of games (though it's evident Belli and Forbes back would not improve this team. They needed to move on from them when they did, they just didn't replace the shooting they provided, save featuring the injured White more and starting him.) Maybe the predictions would have been more on point with a full season of a healthy and productive Derrick.

Also, some fans gave too much weight to Memphis' poor performance in the bubble. They lost Jaren Jackson at the very beginning IIRC who was fantastic in the bubble games he played. It was also year one of their rebuild and they had other priorities than win now, shown by their FO trading some productive veterans midseason for draft capital or prospects, like Jae Crowder, which changed their rotations, etc.

Still good prediction. For me, I was disappointed with Zion's performance in the bubble, he was clearly out of shape and gassed. He's looked much better for the season, I'd say it's time NO tried to improve their roster.