Anybody in the west worry you?

[baseline bum]

I think Dallas is our biggest threat in the West. I'm really impressed with the job AJ has done with them, and I think he's an outstanding motivator who will become an of a coach. They have so much young talent: Devin Harris, Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels and some nice vets to fill backup roles in Finley and Stackhouse. I think they've done a pretty good job rebuilding while remaining compte ive, and Dirk took a huge leap forward last year.

Phoenix doesn't concern me nearly as much. I don 't like that trade for Kurt Thomas at all for them. Q was a big part of their success, and I feel like they're overreacting to one bad series. They're trying to be something they're not. I know everyone says defense wins championships, but if you're that good offensively you have a great shot. Before the Bad Boys people would have told you it was nuts to think a defensive team with an above-average but not spectacular offense could win a le.

[jsgtaw]

Mavericks are a tough team, but any team that's counting on Dirk Nowitzki to be your leader is destined for failure.

McGrady is a phenomenal player, but he doesn't have the supporting cast in Houston (including Yao).

Denver is a solid team, yet they lack leadership as well. K-Mart ain't gonna get it done. They will be a good team though.

Sacramento is in a transition year. No threat here.

Lakers + Phil = good soap opera, bad basketball team

Jason Williams hurts locker room reporters more than he does other teams' defenses. Grizzlies are no problem.

The Suns are the only team that has both the talent and leadership to compete at the Spurs' level. Thomas was a good addition to the team, but they also lost Q-rich who provided a big offensive punch. Is D'Antoni changing his strategy which he was so convinced would work? The Suns will have another good year, but I wouldn't expect them to have the same success they had this year.

The only other team that comes close to the Spurs is Detroit, but they might not be the team they were these past couple of years.

I think Detroit will still be the team to beat out east, but Indiana is a tough contender.

Bottom Line: Spurs repeat in 2006, 2007, 2008. The core of their team is too solid. There is too much experience, too much depth, and too much heart for anyone to handle this team right now.

[milkyway21]

Looking to next year, we're going to have to deal with a more experienced Heat team (and we may well not have Elden coming off the bench), and a Pacers team with Artest (unless they get cold feet and shop him, or his head explodes again, which I don't expect to happen). I think we're going to need more bench depth to get past them.

Is there anybody in the West that worries you folks? Houston, with their three ex-Piston guards? Phoenix with a healthy Johnson? Just wonderin'...

with PhilJackson back in the Lakers team again as coach, that must be something to worry about. They got no Shaq but with Kobe and Phil, who's taking charge now, expect a BIG trade in the summer. Everytime the Spurs a le(1999 & 2003), the Lakers ALWAYS came up WITH BIG acquisition the next season.

1998-1999 - Spurs won
1999-2000 - Lakers signed Phil Jackson to coach

2002-2003 - Spurs won
2003-2004 - Lakers signed, Malone & Payton
one of the biggest season acquisition
in NBA season.

2004-2005 - Spurs won
???????????? Garnett? Artest? Kidd?

who knows....
i just hope the Spurs make a decent draft or trade if they need to, this summer to sodify their line-up.
If not, it's okay with me if they stick with the present line-up except 2 of them-Wilks & Marks.

for Suns.Quinten Richardson is going to get traded to Knicks. So that's minus1 from the Suns. They need to get the same quality of player to get back to form they had this season.

Houston needs solid point guard.
Wolves needs a healthy big man to help Garnett.
Sacramento needs a decent replacement for Divac & the old C. Webb kind of player.

Sonics?-who knows if Allen gets traded too!
The Contract extension is still a big Q.

Dallas remains a solid opponent for Spurs.

I expect Denver to explode.