Portland will be an interesting team to watch as will Denver.

Ah, I don't care too much about the seedings. It's the West. There's a bunch of teams who are close to one another talent wise so the difference in W-L will only be a small one. That means that seedings could come out in a bunch of different ways and will likely be decided by injuries.

The Lakers will win the West. If they're healthy and playing well there's only two teams that have half a chance of beating them and that's San An and Portland.

Seedings by Talent (Not W-L)

(1) Lakers
(2) Spurs
(3) Blazers -- Portland may match up better with San An + LA though. Need to see those head-to-head games. They may be the second best team in the Conference. Undetermined for now.
(4+5) Mavs + Nuggets
(6) Jazz
(7) Suns
[8] Hornets

The Hornets look the most vulnerable but the only way they miss the playoffs is if they continue to self-destruct or Chris Paul gets hit by another injury or three. If that does happen, then the Oklahoma Thunder and Houston Rockets are neck and neck with one another for that final seed.

Ah, I don't care too much about the seedings. It's the West. There's a bunch of teams who are close to one another talent wise so the difference in W-L will only be a small one. That means that seedings could come out in a bunch of different ways and will likely be decided by injuries.

The Lakers will win the West. If they're healthy and playing well there's only two teams that have half a chance of beating them and that's San An and Portland.

Seedings by Talent (Not W-L)

(1) Lakers
(2) Spurs
(3) Blazers -- Portland may match up better with San An + LA though. Need to see those head-to-head games. They may be the second best team in the Conference. Undetermined for now.
(4+5) Mavs + Nuggets
(6) Jazz
(7) Suns
[8] Hornets

The Hornets look the most vulnerable but the only way they miss the playoffs is if they continue to self-destruct or Chris Paul gets hit by another injury or three. If that does happen, then the Oklahoma Thunder and Houston Rockets are neck and neck with one another for that final seed.

I think Dallas or Denver got a shot as well!

1. Denver
2. Spurs
3. Mavs
4. Blazers
5. Suns
6. Jazz
7. Rockets
8. Thunder

That's it. I dont think I forgot anybody

Quote from: Who on November 24, 2009, 12:57:10 PM

Ah, I don't care too much about the seedings. It's the West. There's a bunch of teams who are close to one another talent wise so the difference in W-L will only be a small one. That means that seedings could come out in a bunch of different ways and will likely be decided by injuries.

The Lakers will win the West. If they're healthy and playing well there's only two teams that have half a chance of beating them and that's San An and Portland.

Seedings by Talent (Not W-L)

(1) Lakers
(2) Spurs
(3) Blazers -- Portland may match up better with San An + LA though. Need to see those head-to-head games. They may be the second best team in the Conference. Undetermined for now.
(4+5) Mavs + Nuggets
(6) Jazz
(7) Suns
[8] Hornets

The Hornets look the most vulnerable but the only way they miss the playoffs is if they continue to self-destruct or Chris Paul gets hit by another injury or three. If that does happen, then the Oklahoma Thunder and Houston Rockets are neck and neck with one another for that final seed.

I think Dallas or Denver got a shot as well!

The Nuggets made it to the Conference Finals last year but there was no point during that season/playoffs where I felt they had a legitimate chance of beating a good LA performance.

Could they clean up the leftovers if LA bottled it? Sure. Could they beat them when LA is playing well? Not a chance.

For the Nuggets to change that scenario I think JR Smith needs to become an All-Star caliber talent. He has shown glimpses of that potential but not consistency. Not altogether impossible, but definitely improbable. Until that happens, I don't think the Nuggets are a contender. They're like the Hawks in the East.

The Mavericks ... okay, maybe ... I want to wait and see how they play with a healthy Josh Howard in the lineup before putting them up amongst the best in the West. But if that goes well then they could be there. If that doesn't happen, if he continues to be injured or plays poorly after returning, then I don't think the Mavs have enough in them to beat the top teams in the West and make it to the Finals.

For a second there, I thought you were talking about the World Cup.

Got to agree with Brickowski on this one. LA is looking too tough for anyone out west. If everybody is healthy and barring any major changes, I just cant see the Lackers not coming out of the west. I just hope KG is very near %100 and the rest of the C's are all healthy so we can put them back where they belong.