I'm suprised by a few teams, so I thought I would highlight where the teams are now and how I think things will shake out:
Current: Prediction:
1sa ------------1SA
2clips-----------2PHX
3minny----------3DEN
4grizz-----------4DaL
5dallas----------5griz
6gs-------------6min
7phx-----------7Sac
8den---------- 8 GS
I dont' see both GS and Clips making it. I think Sac will recover, seattle will come close,and the Clips will probably sink when Alien gets hurt, just missing the playoffs.
Houston has sunk too far to catch up. NO is a pretender at .500, and LAL don't have the chemistry or the talent in the front court.
nice work there on the brackets, very tight look, looks like adobe...
Very Well Done, but I'll predict:
1st Round: Spurs vs. Lakers or Jazz.
2nd Round: Spurs vs. Nuggets.
Western Finals: Spurs vs Mavs.
NBA Finals: Spurs vs. winner of Pistons/Heat of course.
as much as i'd like to see this, i just love making the mavs look like a bunch of sniveling, whining bas s, it will never happen. i dont know the reason, but i read it on espn or somewhere. if we meet it would be in the second round. at that point they would reduced to "a bunch of sniveling, whining bas s".
Western Finals: Spurs vs Mavs.
[/B]of course.
... "Injuries"....
Is the variable ladies and gentiles.
It has to do with winners of the division. Assuming the Spurs win the division, they can only play Dallas in the 2nd round I think.
It's a graphic borrowed from last year's NBA playoff web pages (or maybe it was ESPN).
But cut and paste is 100% percent original content of my own talented self.
That's also assuming the Spurs get the 1 seed and Dallas gets the 4 seed. They could play in the WCF if SA is #2 and Dallas is #4.
1. Spurs
2. Clippers
3. Nuggets
4. Mavericks
5. Grizzlies
6. Phoenix
7. Golden State
8. Minnesota
First Round: Spurs over Minnesota 4-1
Second Round: Spurs over Mavericks 4-2 (possibly seven?)
WCF: Spurs over Clippers (yes, the Clippers if everyone stays healthy and continues to gel)
1. Spurs
2. Nuggets
3. Phoenix
4. Mavericks
5. Clippers
6. Grizzlies
7. Minnesota
8. Houston
First Round: Spurs over Houston 4-1
Second Round: Spurs over Mavericks 4-2, Suns over T-Wolves 4-2
WCF: Spurs over Suns 4-1
Golden State just misses the playoffs after Baron Davis gets injured again and they go into a death spiral with Derek Fisher starting at PG.
it is very early... but ill make a guess
Spurs/Twolves
Nuggets/Rockets
Mavericks/Grizzlies
Clippers/Suns
Spurs/Mavericks for conference, Spurs/Heat for finals
as published yesterday that also debates again who is the best player in the game:
Debate This: Best in the Game & Trends toward Playoff Seeds
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By Peter Rumm, MD
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Dec 4, 2005, 14:28
Best Player in the Game Revisited:
On a NBA chat” forum I hang around occasionally, www.lakersground.net there is an interesting and entertaining discussion today about the “best” and the “player to start a franchise with” if you wanted to win within a 3 year time period. Many good points were made by NBA fans there.
My strong contention, that is shared by some of the posters is that they are one the same, and that is why I would (for all the brilliance of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash) would have to lean toward players that play “big” for both categories.
Talent is a subjective thing and one cannot just quantify it by the ability to jump or make fancy moves, to me it all about winning and making your team better.
Great players like Jordan, Bird, Johnson, Russell, Jabbar, Chamberlain and many other NBA greats were all on winning teams – not always those that won les, but helped lead very compe ive teams for a decade or more.
My choice for both would be Tim Duncan who has 8 straight all NBA les, 3 championships, 2 MVPs, 3 finals MVPs and has led his team consistently to a high winning percentage. In fact, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, "the Spur’s 0.702 winning percentage during that span is the highest of any team in major pro sports.” (http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/nbafinals/)
He also is David Dupree’s early season choice (and mine) for anther MVP award, despite only playing limited minutes compared to other NBA superstars. In my ranking, I factor in the fact that Duncan tends to get better as the season continutes and is also a superb defender. USA TODAY subjectively picked 10 early-season MVP candidates and ranked them in five statistical categories that encompass formulas to measure every facet of the game.
Duncan's scoring (21.7) and rebounding (11.9) averages are below his career numbers of 22.5 and 12.2, respectively, but he is playing almost four fewer minutes a game than his career average of 38.2.
He is the only player, however, to be in the top five in Dupree's categories (see his article cited below for details) in the index — and most importantly, his team wins. There's no question we are who we are, and we are where we are because of Tim Duncan," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich."
(http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baske...rs-table_x.htm).
My second choice would be Shaquille O’Neal if healthy, for there is still no better interior force in game followed by Kevin Garnett, who by the way is 2nd this year in Dupree’s MVP rankings.
The only thing keeping Garnett from a top two spot is that he has never carried a team far; except for in 2003-04 when he got to the Western Conference Finals.
It is my belief that either O’Neal or Duncan would have taken the Wolves farther on a more consistent basis than the multi-dimensional Garnett – for some reason, these other two superstars just seem to be better able to bring out the talents of other NBA players (at least to this point in their careers).
Fourth on my list, in a tough decision over a number of other deserving candidates, is LeBron James.
Others to be considered were a healthy Amare Stoudemire and his teammate Steve Nash of the Suns; Dwyane Wade for this steadily growing brilliance and demonstrated clutch play in the playoffs; Kobe Bryant (who is still a considerably talented and multi-dimensional player up their with the very best of all time but has to somehow prove that he can make his teammates better); Allen Iverson who seems to be defying age and getting better and more mature; Dirk Nowitzky – who never gets the recognition he deserves for his special offensive brilliance; and Elton Brand – who is finally getting the recognition for the talented player and is helping to lead a winning team.
However, James at a young age continues to get better every year and his lifetime shooting percentage of 0.449 does not fully show that each year he is shooting better, while continuing to be an incredible distributor and rebounding machine for a wing man.
Tied for 5th on my list are Steve Nash (18.7 PPG and 10.7 APG) and Allen Iverson (34.7 and 7.7 APG), who have both taken teams to at least the conference finals a couple of times, and are both not given in my mind enough credit (despite Nash’s MVP of last year) for the high level of their play the last two years.
Iverson has increased his shooting percentage this year and if his team can get better might deserve to move up to the top 3-4 on this list.
It was very difficult to leave both Bryant and Wade out of the top 5; but neither without Shaquille O’Neal has proven much yet, although, Wade did have a pretty good season as the de facto leader in the Heat's playoff run in 2003-04.
If he comes back healthy from micro-surgery, Amare Stoudemire, has to move into any top five list – he is young, motivated and as talented offensively as anyone in the low post around. If Stoudemire develops more defensively health permitting, he could end up someday surpassing James, Duncan and others in future listings.
Who Will Make the Playoffs in Both Conferences?
After one fifth of the season, more definitive trends are beginning to show as far as team strength. So here are my revised seeds in both conferences:
Eastern
1. Detroit (winning Central). I expect them to slow down some but they are on a mission to return to the finals and want the top seed.
2. Miami (winning Southeast). With O'Neal back they will go on a run to contend with Detroit.
3. Philadelphia (winning Atlantic in an upset over the NJ Nets). Vince Carter being hurt is a common occurence and I just think the Sixers are a more solid team inside with Dalembert back alongside an apparently healthy Webber, but the Sixers to pull this off have to improve defensively.
4. Indiana. So far somewhat disappointing but expect them to surge at some point of the season.
5. Cleveland. A strong record, and Larry Hughes is complimenting James better than I expected, but they have not shown themselves to be a good road team yet. Still a series between them and Indiana would be entertaining!
6. New Jersey. Lots of perimeter talent with big three of Jefferson, Kidd, and Carter, but will it mesh and who gets it done inside and defensively?
7. Washington. Strong start and then mundane play since then but will probably hang on to nose out Chicago and Milwaukee for this spot.
8. Milwaukee. I see them nosing out Chicago and Boston for this spot behind T.J. Ford's strong play and the gritty rookie, Andrew Bogut (how tough is he, broken nose = "no worries mate" and comes back in to help lead a win?) Cannot see NY pulling this one out after their poor start.
Western
1. San Antonio (winning Southwest) Despite a 13-3 record, perhaps, not overly dominant yet but have had more injuries than most realize, but they also have a lot of depth. For them this is a near historic fast start - so watch out NBA! Tony Parker should make the all star team based on early season play.
2. Denver. (winning Northwest) Slow start but good win over Miami last night and a lot of talent on this squad.
3. Los Angeles Clippers. (pinch me but they look strong to win Pacific) Brand and Cassell seem to be a great inside out duo and Cassell is a "Mr. Clutch" type who will not back down from anyone.
4. Dallas. Have to give them their props, well coached and deeper than expected.
5. Phoenix. Proving some naysayers wrong with decent start without Stoudemire, and picked up some savy talent in the off season. This would make a dream first round re-match of a great series from last year.
6. Memphis. Who would have thought they would remain this good? Hats off to Pau Gasol especially, who looks like a dominant interior force finally.
7. Golden State. Only question is can they continue to thrive with Baron Davis shooting blanks?
8. Sonics. (nosing out Sacramento and hard-charging LA Lakers, Houston and Minnesota). After a rough start, this still talented team gets the nod, although any of the other teams edging them out that are listed would not surprise.
However, if the surprising Hornets did somehow slip into the last spot - it would not only be a miracle after their dislocation this year, but perhaps one of greatest "feel good stories ever" and with rookie phenom, PG Chris Paul now leading that team - who can count them out?
Dr. Rumm, "the Sportsdoc to the Fans" is a former editor who enjoys a good debate, between writing on various teams, players and medical issues.
He will respond to each e-mail about his rankings.
Gotta Response? E-mail It Here
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I don't care who the Spurs play, as long as they win!Which I'm sure they will!
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