Not with the current roster as it is. They still have to make some moves. Phoenix will be better with Amare back. And who knows what other teams will do, even the lakers may land Garnett some how. Every year the landscape of the league changes.
to win it all next year. shaq is getting older and slower and mourning and payton might retire. the mavs might not recover from thier collapseand detroit is a little disfunctional right now.everyone keeps talking about amare coming back but i think the suns will start off slow with everyone having to adjust to thier new roles and he will have to get in game shape. so i think if the spurs make thier bench a little younger they will be back on top in no time.
Not with the current roster as it is. They still have to make some moves. Phoenix will be better with Amare back. And who knows what other teams will do, even the lakers may land Garnett some how. Every year the landscape of the league changes.
yeah but im pretty sure the spurs are gonna make whatever moves they have to. and who knows how good amare will be when he gets back? thats a mystery. and the T-wolves dont want anything the lakers have for KG.
I think the top west teams will be:
Mavs
Spurs
Suns
Kings
Lakers (only because of Kobe)...I think the Kings will be tough this next season (Artest)...
No Dammit The Spurs Must Fly Under The Radar
Too early to tell. Let's see what the rosters look like going into the season and what Amare looks like.
Nash is getting up there in years and has chronic back problems...not sure how long he is going to be able to maintain his recent level of play...and his level of play has a whole lot to do with the ability of Phoenix to contend.
All of his strength is contained within his chest hair.
West will be very compe ive next year, and my guess is whoever wins the West wins the Championship.
Don`t agree with two things.
First: Spurs will be on top.
Second: LAC will be before LAL.![]()
Jury is still out on Phoenix, IMO. Besides Nash getting older, lots of people have struggled to come back from microfracture surgery and Amare went and injured the good leg when he tried to come back too soon. If nothing else, the mental baggage could prove worrisome.
good points. Still if Amare comes back healthy and they get 1 more good year out of Nash, then Phoenix will be tough this year, much tougher than last year.
In fact, I believe that if those two things hold that Phoenix can and will beat Dallas. I would bet money on it. and I don't say that very often.
Nash, Raja, Diaw, Marion and Stoudamire
Barbosa, House, Thomas off the bench.
That is a very good and extremely athletic team right there.
Dallas best team is small and athletic. But Phoenix's team is quicker, stronger and more athletic than Dallas and their team is much better at small ball than Dallas. Dallas cannot win.
If Nash stays healthy for a year and Amare is recovered fully,
then you can take that to the bank.
Phoenix over Dallas in 5.
Regardless of who you "think" should be favored in the west, the reality is that the Mavs will be the odds on favorite (in Vegas) to win the west again. The Spurs will be close behind with the Suns a little bit behind the Spurs. That's just the way it will open up in Vegas & all internet sportsbooks.
Don't you know that if we're the favorites we'll lose? In 1999, 2003, and 2005 we were not the favorites.
im sure the top team will be:
Spurs
suns
kings
"Da last"
Not true. We were the favorites in 2005. Every expert and newspaper picked us to win the championship in 2005 ( knowing we have won in 2003 and that only a 0.4 miracle shot from Derek Fisher kept us from getting the ring in 2004 ).
We will be the favorites next year because we were the best basket-ball team this in this year's playoffs ( many experts still think that way). We just lost because of the refs ( it's not whinning and ing ... it's a fact... the refs took game 3 and 4 from us... we didn't deserve to win against the Mavs because we underestimated them and we didn't do anything do dump Rasho's or Barry's contract ( lesson learned, we will do it this summer) but we were still the best basket-ball team out there ). And for those who don't believe that the NBA favors big market teams ( L.A. , New York, Miami, Dallas, etc) and big superstars ( Wade, TD, Garnett, Shaq, Dirk, LeBron, etc ) then just watch this year's finals and tell me that the Mavs didn't get ripped like we did.
spurs will be fine, and they will make the moves that they need to get back on top. their current roster wont win them a championship,but believe me they will be ready.sign Jak, trade Scola's rights for a solid big man or a draft pick, and get maybe one or 2 via FA,and we will be back in good shape. the spurs have always found a way to get the guys they want.
That's what everyone thought this year...too bad we blew game 3...they got all the momentum after that.
That's a bold prediction before the season has even started...the Kings will be a lot tougher than people think, and the Spurs will be right at the top as usual as well.
..um, DALLAS...![]()
Screw favorites. i'm telling you being the favorites suck. Your team gets y and it bites em right in the ass when they finally realize they lost. I don't care if my team isn't the favorites actually i like it. I don't think nationally people think spurs are the favorites. Everyone is filling up the miami and Dallas bandwagons
No matter who the Spurs get you probably will automatically assume the Spurs are not contenders. They pretty much have to be a MUCH better team on paper for you to admit that they have a decent chance at the le. Was Miami even really that good? We picked them to beat Dallas, but was their roster really that excellent?
If the Spurs had someone like Haslem to guard Dirk (instead of 6'6 200 pound Bowen) they could have easily beat them as well. Don't pretend like it was scoring and lack of roster talent around Duncan that lost the series (at least not where Ginobili and Parker are concerned). They lost because of ty defense, and no offensive firepower from anyone but Ginobili and Parker with Duncan.
Spurs if they get a backup PG like Speedy, and one decent big can easily be better than any team but the Suns (if Amare ishealthy).
I would agree Garnett to LA and they would be the favorites. But the Spurs are not exactly gaurunteed to not have a chance at the le with their current roster.
Well, lets just consider all of the GOOD teams in the west and not put them in order yet. Who could possibly make the playoffs out of the west.
San Antonio
Dallas
Phoenix
Denver
LA Clippers
Memphis
These all are very good bets to repeat in their playoff berths. But that still leaves 2 slots. Theres a lot of teams that could slip in there.
Houston - If they can pick up a shooter like Re and TMac and Ming can stay healthy, they're a good bet.
LA Lakers - Kobe alone could make them an 8 seed. But offseason moves might move them further up.
Utah - They finished at 9 last season. They could draft well and surprise you.
New Orleans/Oklahoma City - They're a player away from being a legit playoff team. Chris Paul will be the best PG in the league in a couple of years.
Sacramento - We all know what they can do.
The fact is, the West is going to be a slug-fest. I imagine we'll probably see an Eastern Conference team come out with the best record in the league (Miami? Detroit?) but the West will be favored to win the finals. Before we rank the top 5 teams in the west, who will make the playoffs at all?
As of today, Spurs and Pistons are the VEGAS favorites.
San Antonio Spurs 4/1
Detroit Pistons 4/1
Dallas Mavericks 5/1
Phoenix Suns 5/1
Miami Heat 5/1
New Jersey Nets 12/1
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