Who's the 2nd best team in the west?

I wouldn't say the Thunder haven't done anything yet. They were only a Gasol tip-in away from taking the Lakers to seven games.
Alright, some people obviously overrate them, but they are a young team with great promise and surprisingly good defense for such young guns as well.

Regular Season
1. Dallas
2. Lakers
3. Utah
4. Portland
5. Denver
6. San Antonio
7. Oklahoma City
8. Phoenix
9. New Orleans
10. Houston

All other teams still a long way back...

WTH ? Its the Spurs.

We spanked Dallas
Phoenix fell off
Utah took a step back

The Thunder will be good but they have to sustain their energy for a full season.

What's with the Dallas love ? They are a year older too. We handled them just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tmtcsc

wth ? Its the spurs.

We spanked dallas
phoenix fell off
utah took a step back

the thunder will be good but they have to sustain their energy for a full season.

What's with the dallas love ? They are a year older too. We handled them just fine.

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+1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mingus

+1

yeah, the OKC hype is ridiculous. they haven't done much of anything to prove they were more than a flash in the pan. people thought NO would be a contender for years to come, same thing with the Jazz. some teams peak really early and don't have a lot of room to grow (or as much as people like to think); we'll see if they're one of those teams. they'll have to prove to me otherwise.

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In some ways, OKC reminds me of the 1990-91 Spurs--young and athletic, with an emerging superstar. The thing is, it took the Spurs six more seasons to get David a partner in crime. Kevin Durant has emerged as a franchise player, but OKC may still be a Tim Duncan away from greatness. The key difference though may be that OKC plays the right way, emphasizing defense, while the Spurs of the early to mid 90's were all about scoring. I OKC's youth, talent and defensive mindset has them setup to be force in the west for a long time.

The Lakers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Obstructed_View

The Lakers.

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LOL

Yeah unfortunately there is a big drop off from the top team in the west to everyone else. Lots of what ifs with seeds 2-8, not so much with the lakers.

I've got:

1. Lakers
2. Jazz
3. Denver
4. Dallas
5. San Antonio
6. Thunder
7. Trailblazers
8. Rockets

Thunder are gonna hit a bit of a wall this year. They're gonna feel a lot of pressure this year and the team is still very young as well as the coach. Denver will finish that high if Karl comes back to coach them. Mavs might even fall to a 5 or 6 seed. They are gonna feel the age of Kidd this season and the softness of Marion for an entire season as well. Jazz upgraded with Jefferson and Bell and getting Milsap his minutes when Boozer left, they are better off now. San Antonio climbed out of the celler with Tiago coming over but we still dont have the pieces we need to be a top 2 team in the West. Trailblazers and Rockets? two injury prone teams. Who knows what can happen there?