cool, some great matchups today

[boutons]

bulls@knicks, great to see a bad-start team start to get it together. Knicks will probably be embarrassed @MSG, again, no matter how wonderful Starbury thinks he is. edit: oops, Jamal's back, could be the +difference.

buck@bobcats, fairly evenly matched, could be an close, exciting game.

suns@pistons, Mark Stein says Suns will get 70W. Can DET get their championship D/hustle together for one full game or will Larry bitch again about "having to coach effort"?

kings@clips, clips can be dangerous. pac divsion action.

rockets@grizz, SWD action, should be a tough game. SWD leader HOU trying to extend their SWD lead. (yes, the erratic, soft, attention-deficit-disorder Spurs aren't even leading their own division.)

[CHAMPS AGAIN]

Last time I checked SPURS=30-9,Rockets are 20-17.Yea your right it looks the rockets are leading the SWD.

[boutons]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/standings?season=2005&group=division&column=divisionWinPercent&order=false&seasontype=2

[ChumpDumper]

So they own the tiebreaker.

There has to be a tie first.

[Solid D]

SWD leader HOU trying to extend their SWD lead.

Aren't you supposed to use a smiley when you post a useless fact, buttons?

[boutons]

Spurs are 4-3 in SWD at almost half-way (7 of 16 games) thru the divisional schedule.

Jan
Sat 29 New Orleans

Feb
Wed 16 @ New Orleans
Wed 23 Houston
Sat 26 Memphis

Mar
Mon 14 New Orleans
Sun 27 Houston

Apr
Thu 7 @ Dallas
Sat 16 Memphis
Mon 18 @ Memphis

Of the Spurs' remaining 9 SWD games, 6 are @SBC, so the road-soft Spurs have a pretty easy SWD schedule remaining.

[Solid D]

boutons, maybe the Rockets will win the best overall SWD crown and get the top seed in the SWD Tournament. :king

[T Park]

boutons, maybe the Rockets will win the best overall SWD crown and get the top seed in the SWD Tournament.

lol. good one Solid.

[Jimcs50]

rockets@grizz, SWD action, should be a tough game. SWD leader HOU trying to extend their SWD lead. (yes, the erratic, soft, attention-deficit-disorder Spurs aren't even leading their own division.

The Czar, JVG and Marv Albert are going to be reunited for the first time in 3 yrs...could be fun to watch.

[Useruser666]

What has happened to the Pistons this year anyway?

[Jimcs50]

What has happened to the Pistons this year anyway?


They are starting to gel again...they will be awesome in 2nd half of the season.

[Ballcox]

They thought winning the hardware one year would be enough to scare off teams during the regular season, doesn't work that way. When you win the big one you've got a nice sized target on your chest, everyone looks to beat you. I don't think the Pistons were prepared for that going into this season, they'll rebound, it's not very tough to crawl out of the middle of the pack in the East.

[Jimcs50]

Detroit is only 1 game behind last years record at this point in the season.

22-14 to 23-13

they will be just fine.

[Jimcs50]

They thought winning the hardware one year would be enough to scare off teams during the regular season, doesn't work that way. When you win the big one you've got a nice sized target on your chest, everyone looks to beat you. I don't think the Pistons were prepared for that going into this season, they'll rebound, it's not very tough to crawl out of the middle of the pack in the East.


see above post

[boutons]

Hey, assholes, winning your division is about pride of place, as contrived as a division is. Something to shoot for, and anybody knows, the Spurs need anything that will help them focus.

How weird would it be to have 1st or 2nd best record in NBA, but not be able to win your division? The season matters.

[Jimcs50]

How weird would it be to have 1st or 2nd best record in NBA, but not be able to win your division?


You mean like Dallas in 02-03 or SA last year?

[boutons]

yeah, weird

IIRC, we were all sweating SA vs MIN records, HCA, blah, blah. But SA FTs lost them 5 games, per usual. Fat lot of good our HCA did vs LA.

[boutons]

Bulls come back in 4th.

Nocioni drains a 3 to tie it at 86, with 56 secs left. Ben Gordon going nuts in 4th qtr, again.

then knicks miss, Nocioni get the RB!

then the play for Gordon and he hits a floater with 0.2 secs, 88-86.

THAT's Basketball.

[Jimcs50]

I win bet on Chicago game. I had 4.5 points had my ass saved when Gordon saved a possible OT by making a shot at the buzzer. *whew*

PS that made up for my loss last night in Seattle with the Cavs.

[ChumpDumper]

The season matters.
Fat lot of good our HCA did vs LA.When you take both sides of an argument, you're bound to win.

[Useruser666]

Well, it's a fat load of good that the season matters! :lol

[boutons]

"both sides of an argument"

you dan kiss both sides of the Coyote's ass

you win what you can. HCA helps, but Spurs blew it big vs LAL.

The season counts, winning tough/road games (instead of losing like the Spurs have been doing) is the "testing" that Pop wants. Spurs ain't proved shit so far, fuck the record and +12 diff PG. Spurs are soft as guacamole.

[CHAMPS AGAIN]

"both sides of an argument"

you dan kiss both sides of the Coyote's ass

you win what you can. HCA helps, but Spurs blew it big vs LAL.

The season counts, winning tough/road games (instead of losing like the Spurs have been doing) is the "testing" that Pop wants. Spurs ain't proved shit so far, fuck the record and +12 diff PG. Spurs are soft as guacamole.
When the SPURS become 2005 NBA CHAMPS you probaly going to come out say I knew it all along those are my SPURS my team. :elephant

[NCaliSpurs]

"rockets@grizz, SWD action, should be a tough game. SWD leader HOU trying to extend their SWD lead. (yes, the erratic, soft, attention-deficit-disorder Spurs aren't even leading their own division.)"


The Spurs are about 10 games up on Houston.

In no way, shape, or form are the Houston Rockets leading their division.

Do you understand?

Out of retirement, just for that.

[violentkitten]

friends dont let friends turn into boutons

[boutons]

"In no way, shape, or form are the Houston Rockets leading their division."

Go back to retirement, you're senile.

Division is won by in-division record, not WC record, not league record. That's why it's called a "division race":

SWD standings (SWD games only):
Houston 6-3
San Antonio 4-3
Dallas 23 5-4
Memphis 3-4
New Orleans 0-4

[violentkitten]

divisions are won by overall record. notice how the 3rd tiebreaker is the record within the division?


In the event two or more teams are tied in the standings, a series of tiebreakers are applied to determine which team receives the higher seeding.
Two-Team Tiebreaker
1. Better record in head-to-head games
2. Higher winning percentage in conference games
3. Higher winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division)
4. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference
5. Higher winning percentage against playoff teams in opposite conference
6. Higher point differential between points scored and points allowed

Three-Team Tiebreaker
1. Best head-to-head winning percentage among all teams tied
2. Highest winning percentage in conference games
3. Highest winning percentage within division (if teams are in the same division)
4. Highest winning percentage against playoff teams in own conference
5. Highest point differential between points scored and points allowed


espn (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/matchups)


this shit is so elementary the nba doesnt even bother to spell it out on their website that the division is won by the team with the best overall record (absent a tie).

so go ahead and continue to make a fool of yourself.

[NCaliSpurs]

"In no way, shape, or form are the Houston Rockets leading their division."

Go back to retirement, you're senile.

Division is won by in-division record, not WC record, not league record. That's why it's called a "division race":

SWD standings (SWD games only):
Houston 6-3
San Antonio 4-3
Dallas 23 5-4
Memphis 3-4
New Orleans 0-4

You completely misunderstand. Just because these divisions realigned, it doesn't mean they threw out the system altogether.

1) Division championships have always been, and will always be, based on overall record.
2) In the event of a tie in an overall record, the head-to-head matchups breaks the first tie.
3) In the event of a 2-2 split, the conference record is the second tie-breaker.
4) In the event of a even conference record (in addition to 2 and 3), then the DIVISION record is used to break the tie.


I understand if you have difficulties because you have never heard the rules before. But being smug about rules you completely misunderstand is far beyond annoying.

[Kori Ellis]

Boutons, that link you posted from espn.com is just showing the teams sorted by record within their own division. That doesn't mean that Houston is winning the division. To win the division you must have the best overall record of any team within your division. To win the conference you must have the best overall record of any team within your conference.

Here's the standings "by division".

http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Div.html

[CHAMPS AGAIN]

Thanks KORI enough said. The seasond ended today Houston would be the division winner. WRONG.