[d-grizzlyParticipant]

L.A, san antonio, portland.

These 3 teams are on another level that the rest of the west is not on. These 3 are the western elite teams that have the best chance to make it to the finals.

I have a few questions to ask you all,

If san antonio is healthy, how far can they push?
if it’s the western conference finals between them and the lakers, who will win? would it go 7?

Remember, this is if san antonio enters the playoffs with no health issues or problems.
bynum < Duncan Gasol > mcdysse
artest = jefferson
kobe > ginobli
fisher < parker - the lakers are better at the 2 and 4 and are tied at the 3. The lakers bench is only better because they have odom...who knows..blair might be a pain in the @ss to guard for odom or artest.next -If portland is matched up with san antonio, who would win? - also if both are healthy. the matchups aren't bad really, oden < duncan aldridge > mcdysse
outlaw < jefferson roy > ginobli
miller < parker. The spurs are better at the 1, 3, and 5..which should enable them to win. - i'm not sure whos bench is better in this battle.

[llperez]

Denver. I agree LA and San Antonio are the 2 best, but what makes Portland so much better then Denver?

[RickyRubio9Participant]

These are the real threats to come out of the West. I believe the only way Portland can really beat either team is if Oden can play to what we expect. Roy is going to do his thing and as Ron Artest said, “Best Player I’ve ever Played”
I’m sure they will meet again…haha. If Health allows all three to be at full strength…it’s tough. No one on the Lakers can hold Parker, but no one is stopping Kobe. I like the PF matchup if Duncan is at PF. If Bynum plays good then he pushes the Lakers over the top. Lakers bench isn’t as good as everyone says either. Eh…this is tough. Portland is really good as well. Tough choice..Lakers will probably come out on top, but it won’t be easy.

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

kmart is a non offensive factor. no real post game. nene is above average, but would be dominated by duncan or a healthy bynum.

losing kleiza is going to be a huge hole in the bench.

denver is not a championship contender

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

duncan will start at center with the pickup of mcdysse and blair and ratliff.

5 – duncan – ratliff
4 – mcdysse – blair

[gatorheelsParticipant]

Ummm……the Spurs have a better bench than the Lakers. Sure the Lakers have Odom but who else worth a penny? Spurs have Mason, Bonner, Hill, Blair, Ratliff, Haislip, Finley, Hairston, Also the Spurs may start Mason & bring Ginobili off the bench.

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

thanks gator, wasn’t too sure about the bench.

also, i’d like to add that the spurs are a very clutch team. parker, ginobli, duncan, mason can each hit shots when it counts.

I know kobe/fisher can hit the big shots…who else?

[RickyRubio9Participant]

Lakers got no bench, I was going to point that out, but I couldn’t think of who was on there team so I stayed away, but I basically only know Odom…They have the worse bench of the three.
Portland has Fernandez, Joel P., Outlaw, Webster, Frye, Blake, Bayless and whomever they drafted which I don’t remember. I believe another PF…

[llperez]

how are you gonna say the Lakers have no one on the bench other hten Odom, and then brag about how the Spurs have Blair, Haislip, and Hairston who are all unproven in the league? Walton, Farmar, Brown, Powell and Vujacic can all play and have been there before. Spurs bench might be better, but Odom is a huge 6th man and it’s not nearly as one sided as you seem to think.

[RickyRubio9Participant]

the Spurs play their lineup like this.
PG – Parker
SG – Mason Jr.
SF – Jefferson
PF- McDyess
C- Duncan
6th Man – Ginoboli
Bench – Hill, Blair, Bonner, Ratliff, Finley
I think it’s better then the Lakers.
Hill was just as good as Farmar with that inconsistent play.
Finley has experience as well and won’t go missing for a whole series COUGHSashaCough
Blair, Ratliff, and Bonner – Powell? Seriously? I can understand Walton, but still
The 6th Man to me is just equal, maybe leaning more to one side

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

ya that lineup looks more accurate. the problem is, kobe or roy are gonna demolish mason. i think the spurs need a defensive minded SG to come in and breakdown his opponent.

[RickyRubio9Participant]

If Bruce Bowen wasn’t gone and old…He’d be able to slow them down. They are going to miss him.

[dwat4444Participant]

Heres how i see the West Playing Out
1.LA***
—VS———-LA ***
8.GS
—————–VS———–LA***
4.Den^^^
—VS———Dall
5. Dall**
——————————-VS.—————–The Lakers win the West!
2.SA***
–VS——–SAN A***
7.OKC
—————VS———–SAN A
3.Portl***
—VS.——-Porland
6.UTAH

***means they won

[gatorheelsParticipant]

dwat- That looks good except how in the world is OKC going to get a #7 seed. No Way. They are destined for a lottery pick for sure. They won 23 games last year lol. U must be a fan.

llperez- I didn’t say it was so onesided. I just think the Spurs have the better bench.

[llperez]

not bad, but I agree with heels that OKC should’nt be there. Still no bench, but they are getting closer. The Hornets and Clippers both have better line ups imo.

[dwat4444Participant]

I don’t see the Hornets being any good, I see them making some sort of trade to save money which will ruin them. nor will the rockets and suns be good as well. This may be the year when a team (OKC, GS) with low 40’s wins will make the playoffs in the west. IMO

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

I don’t see OKC or the warriors making it to the playoffs. My picks are the Hornets and Suns. Here is how it will play out.
1 Lakers Lakers in 5 Lakers in 6 Spurs win the Western Conference in 7
8 Suns

4 Mavs Mavs in 6
5 Blazers

3 Nuggets Nuggets in 7 Spurs in 5
6 Jazz(this series should be good)

2 Spurs Spurs in 6
7 Hornets(won’t this be a classic)

[Bryant24Participant]

Im lakers fan i think we can repeat but the west is going to be hard we need to watch out for denver i know they lost klieza but they still decent. Spurs are good but they are still old they contenders but they will be the easier matchup for the lakers the hardest team is portland roy is quietly becoming a superstar in aldridge is prettty good and if oden plays like he suppose to they are a hard match

[llperez]

1-Lakers
2-Spurs
3-Blazers
4-Nuggets
5-Mavs
6-Jazz
7-Hornets
8-Clippers

My ninth team would be Golden State. But right now, the Clippers just have a little more then them imo.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

Everyone is sleeping on the Hornets,

The are going to have a huge year behing Paul, and if they are healthy, which they were not last year, they will be way better than anyone thinks. With the addition of Okafor, they will have an upgrade at C, and then they have west and peja to add on to that. I actually see them as a top 4 team in the west, and CP3 will have an mvp caliber season.
Dont sleep on New Orleans.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

1 Lakers
2 Portland
3 Spurs
4 Hornets
5 Nuggets
6 Mavs
7 Jazz
8 Thunder/Warriors.

[gatorheelsParticipant]

Hornets won’t make any trades to save money. They aren’t trying to save money. Don’t forget they got Okafor, plus Peja is healthy now. New Orleans is almost a lock for the playoffs. They got better this offseason.

llperez- I agree I would put the Clippers ahead of the Thunder too

[Tobe BryantParticipant]

I think that the LAKERS will win the WEST. It just because no one has anybody to match KOBE in the clutch of games. Even then if they do, THE REAL LAMAR ODOM shows up and knocks the opponent on their heels.

[aj81Participant]

portland aint no contenders cant beat houston,utah,spurs,lakers,denver,dallas

lakers.. 63-19
nuggets..56-26
spurs…53-29
dallas….49-33
utah…46-36
portland…44-38
golden state….41-41
phoenix/ new orleans 39-42

[nepaliman_7Participant]

aj81 how can you say hornets will be sub .500? if stojakovich is healthy, they are a top 4 team in the west. i dont think golden state makes the palyoffs because they have no point guard and cant defend. okc is 1-2 years away from being a legit playoffs contender

[llperez]

should be in the playoffs unless they are hit really bad with injuries. Problem with relying on Stojakovic getting healthy and regaing his old form is that they have been saying that for like 5 years now. I have them 7th right now in the west.

As for the Warriors and Thunder, it is really hard to make a solid prediction for them. They could be a 50 win team if everything goes well, but right now I have the warriors 9th and the thunder like 11th.

[aj81Participant]

the hornets have the worst bench in the league posey thats it

[tac_blues]

“Sure the Lakers have Odom but who else worth a penny? Spurs have Mason, Bonner, Hill, Blair, Ratliff, Haislip, Finley, Hairston”

is Hairston worth a penny?

[gatorheelsParticipant]

tac_blues- so you think the Lakers bench is better than the Spurs? Hairston is descent.

aj81- The Hornets defnitely don’t have the worst bench in the league. You need to look at some rosters. Hornets have Antonio Daniels, Darren Collison, Morris Peterson, Devin Brown, Marcus Thornton, Posey, Julian Wright, Ike Diogu, Hilton Armstrong…..that is a descent bench. Not the best but I’ve seen way worse.

[billykParticipant]

Isnt Daniels a Celtic?????

[Untouchable JParticipant]

This argument is flawed right off the bat b/c Portland is far from ‘on another level’.

The west is very fluid; Denver, Dallas, even Phoenix can all jump ahead of Portland. They could easily win 50 games and still be a 5 or 6 seed. Each of the teams i mentioned have just as good or better stars than Roy (Melo,Dirk, Stoudemire, Nash), are deeper, and have more vets. Portland seems kinda light in the a## to me.

Blake, Outlaw, Alridge, Pryzbilla…too many soft/frail/quiet guys in their core.

Their future in many ways rests on Oden. If he lives up to potential it changes everything.

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

One thing that’s starting to bother me is when ppl try and decide who’s going to win a game/be a better team based on who would win the most match-ups… like somehow basketball games are won on something like:

bynum mcdysse
artest = jefferson
kobe > ginobli
fisher < parker

then ppl say well, since the starting matchups are "equal", whoever wins the bench battle will win… NO. that is not how basketball works. that doesn't take into account the fact that, first of all, those ,= are completely subjective, (like to me, artest is a vastly better player than RJ)

and who knows who will guard whom… ya know? For example, the matchups would be completely different if you put bynum v Mcdyess and Duncan v Gasol (to me the adv would be to the spurs in both those matchups)… and who’s to say we have any idea how the coaches would match up?

and it also completely disregards the fact that the difference between one position may be a lot wider than the gap at another matchup… (for instance, Parker would OWN fisher, but the matchup between Manu and Kobe would be very close)… I donno, I just don’t think that’s anyway to decide who’s going to be better, or who would win a series….

[xbadgerhustlerParticipant]

My two cents:

1. Lakers
2. Portland
3. Spurs
4. Denver
5. Dallas
6. who knows… some mixture of Utah, NO, OKC, GSW, LAC

[McWinningParticipant]

dont forget Dallas Marion is almost as good as Jefferson Kidd can still ball Howard is good, Dirkd a beast center is a weakness but their still a contender in my book.

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