IMO Batum and Roy just had unlucky seasons neither one was ever injury prone prior to last year. Camby hasn't had any recent injury woes, and Miller + Aldridge stayed healthy. The lineup of Miller, Roy, Batum, Aldridge and Camby is good for a top 4 seed in the West with decent bench support.
I agree this team has nothing but upside and will continure getting better but I can name at least 4 teams next year that without major injuries should finish ahead of them. I think they are a definite playoff team next year. But no way they have the 2nd sead let alone homecourt.. maybe I'm wrong though.
They were 3 wins away from being tied for a top 4 seed, and 5 wins away from being tied for the 2 seed. They improved by 27 wins last season, didn't lose anyone, and added minor talent. It's no guarantee they improve enough to be the 2 seed next season, but it's not the small possibility tlong scoffs.
1. Miami
2. Boston
3. Orlando
4. Chicago
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
29382938293101. Cleveland
Yesterday I bet my friend $40 (not a lot) that the Cavs would win less than 30 games, I'm baffled as to why he did that but it's the easiest $40 I've ever made.
Lakers
Mavericks
Thunder
Nuggets
those are going to be the main 4 with a solid shot at getting to the Finals
In the West: The Lakers and then everybody else.
In the East: The Heat and then everybody else.
The Heat/Lakers aren't invincible.
Phoenix could've won game 5 last year had one or two bounces gone their way. If they do they're up 3-2 and likely close out the series in game 6. While LA has been dominant, they're gonna have to lose sometime. We saw it in 2003 when they got complacent and were overtaken by the Spurs. Nobody really saw that happening in the offseason.
So who knows? The Mavs, Spurs, Blazers, Thunder, and Nuggets could all compete with LA if healthy.
Who would have thought that Amare Stoudemire versus Hedo Turkoglu was the difference between sweeping the Spurs and being the second best team in the west (maybe in the league) and being a borderline playoff team.
IMO it's more complicated than that. Hedo is a terrible fit for the team because he's only effective in an offense run through him with the ball in his hands, his skillset is more or less useless on a team with an elite PG. We all know how much of a great fit Amare was, so really it's replacing Amare with nothing.
It's a shame, because if they somehow kept Amare and also traded for a motivated Turkoglu, they could be a matchup nightmare with two different ball handlers to run pick and rolls with Amare.
Even though Amare didn't have a monster series against the Spurs, he opened things up for everybody..the Spurs are ALWAYS aware of where Stoudemire is, and he's always the main target for the D in pick and roll situations, and pretty much any time Nash has the ball..he opened things up for everybody on the Suns team..
Turkoglu will be a horrible fit IMO..this is coming from somebody that watched most Raptor games..Turkoglu needs the ball in his hands as the primary player on the wing, and he needs to play the pick&roll for the majority of his possessions..I think he will be better in Phoenix than he was in Toronto, mostly due to dedication and motivation, but I don't think he's going to fit in well..obviously that's just my opinion though, I could easily be wrong..
Right now, off the top of my head, by levels, not necessarily in order IMO:
Miami..
LA..
Orlando..
Boston..
Dallas..
San Antonio..
Portland..
Chicago..
OKC..
Denver..
Utah..
Milwaukee..
Atlanta..
Phoenix(could move up)..
Houston(could move up, if healthy)..
New York..
Charlotte..
Sacramento..
Memphis..
LA Clippers(could move up)..
Golden State(could move up)..
New Jersey..
Philly..
Detroit..
New Orleans..
Minnesota..
Indiana..
Toronto..
Cleveland..
Washington..
I agree 110%. Replacing LB with Hedo and keeping the rest of last years team is awesome on paper.
Is this list in order or you are just a Dallas homer
lakers
....
okc
dallas
....
rest doesn't matter, really neither does anyone but LA. bull ass league
Pretty much. It's remarkable what Sarver has achieved. He inherited a team that had Joe Johnson and Amare on rookie deals, had Marion in his prime, had the 7th overall pick in a good draft, had Cleveland's 2005 draft pick, and also had a ton of cap flexibility that allowed them to sign Steve Nash. Just 6 years later, he turned them into a team that'll be starting Hedo Turkoglu at power forward while not even being able to get a finals appearance along the line, and in the process was such a bag that he drove nearly all the worthy front office personnel outa town.
Sons the Hornets WILL WIN AT LEAST 60 GAMES NEXT SEASON .. Peja will return to his all star form and put up 25pts per game
LA
Dallas
Spurs
OKC
Denver
Suns
Suns should be a lock for last in this group of teams.
He will also give up 30 points due to his HORRIBLE defense.
You're giving the Suns too much credit by calling them a top 6 team.
TlongII
You're really putting the Hornets on the same level as the Clippers and the Warriors?
West Playoffs (as of July 15, 2010):
1. LA Lakers - 57-25
2. Oklahoma City Thunder - 55-27
3. Dallas Mavericks - 52-30
4. Denver Nuggets - 50-32
5. Portland Trailblazers - 48-34
6. Houston Rockets - 46-36
7. Utah Jazz - 44-38
8. San Antonio Spurs - 44-38
East Playoffs (as of July 15, 2010):
1. Miami Heat - 62-20
2. Chicago Bulls - 58-24
3. Orlando Magic - 55-27
4. Milwaukee Bucks - 50-32
5. Atlanta Hawks - 48-34
6. Boston Celtics - 44-38
7. Cleveland Cavaliers - 42-40
8. New York Knicks - 39-43
Where does my team, the Detroit Pistons, rank? In the bottom 3 of the Conference, challenging for the worst record.
I'd like to think Yao will win us more than 4 more games than we won last year. The Rockets need to prove it though. They weren't in the mix last year. Out of site, out of mind, or so it appears in this thread.
1. LA
2. OKC
3. Dallas
4. Portland (if healthy)
5. Spurs (if healthy maybe even better)
at whoever thinks Cavs will make the playoffs
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