Official Discuss your CB Draft team

[StartOrien]

Now I just need to hire a marketing team....

Phoenix Gorilaz are now hiring:

-Video editor
-Photoshop expert
-Talented writer
-Stat Guy
-Hot chick waxing a corvette

I'll handle the choosing of the fonts used.

[indeedproceed]

I'd contend that the Pacific is the best division in the league:

I agree it's the best division. I created the pacific division teams in 2k10 with the rookies downloaded. The ratings for the downloaded rookies are kinda high i would say. So take the higher rookie ratings into effect when looking at these team rankings.

LAL: overall 85, offense 85, defense 84(no rookies)
PHX: overall 89, offense 89, defense 86(3 rookies)
SAC: overall 82, offense 90, defense 79(no rookies)
LAC: overall 83, offense 72, defense 89(no rookies)
GSW: overall 86, offense 85, defense 83(3 rookies)

The rookies increse GSW and PHX rating by a few points so i would lower their overall by 3 points to get these numbers:
LAL: overall 85
PHX: overall 86
SAC: overall 82
LAC: overall 83
GSW: overall 83

I know its 2k10 a video game but its pretty accurate and these teams are all pretty competitive and make it a really hard division.

To be fair, I've logged about 902 hours of Xbox in the last year, and 900 of it has been playing 2k. T-Will is ridiculous in that game.

Tommy Caffey is an 81 overall 6'10 240lbs small forward. He played all 82 regular season games and is currently averaging 36pts, 7boards, 4assts, 2 steals, and 37% 3pt% in the second round of the playoffs.

Tommy Caffey is a ball hog!

Hey now. He plays for the Nets.

Who surprisingly have made some good moves...the computer picked up Derek Fisher and Jamal Crawford.

[StartOrien]

I'd contend that the Pacific is the best division in the league:

I agree it's the best division. I created the pacific division teams in 2k10 with the rookies downloaded. The ratings for the downloaded rookies are kinda high i would say. So take the higher rookie ratings into effect when looking at these team rankings.

LAL: overall 85, offense 85, defense 84(no rookies)
PHX: overall 89, offense 89, defense 86(3 rookies)
SAC: overall 82, offense 90, defense 79(no rookies)
LAC: overall 83, offense 72, defense 89(no rookies)
GSW: overall 86, offense 85, defense 83(3 rookies)

The rookies increse GSW and PHX rating by a few points so i would lower their overall by 3 points to get these numbers:
LAL: overall 85
PHX: overall 86
SAC: overall 82
LAC: overall 83
GSW: overall 83

I know its 2k10 a video game but its pretty accurate and these teams are all pretty competitive and make it a really hard division.

To be fair, I've logged about 902 hours of Xbox in the last year, and 900 of it has been playing 2k. T-Will is ridiculous in that game.

Tommy Caffey is an 81 overall 6'10 240lbs small forward. He played all 82 regular season games and is currently averaging 36pts, 7boards, 4assts, 2 steals, and 37% 3pt% in the second round of the playoffs.

I don't have Ron Mexico's stats nearby, but I'm 100% he's twice the (my)player Caffey is.

[indeedproceed]

I'd contend that the Pacific is the best division in the league:

I agree it's the best division. I created the pacific division teams in 2k10 with the rookies downloaded. The ratings for the downloaded rookies are kinda high i would say. So take the higher rookie ratings into effect when looking at these team rankings.

LAL: overall 85, offense 85, defense 84(no rookies)
PHX: overall 89, offense 89, defense 86(3 rookies)
SAC: overall 82, offense 90, defense 79(no rookies)
LAC: overall 83, offense 72, defense 89(no rookies)
GSW: overall 86, offense 85, defense 83(3 rookies)

The rookies increse GSW and PHX rating by a few points so i would lower their overall by 3 points to get these numbers:
LAL: overall 85
PHX: overall 86
SAC: overall 82
LAC: overall 83
GSW: overall 83

I know its 2k10 a video game but its pretty accurate and these teams are all pretty competitive and make it a really hard division.

To be fair, I've logged about 902 hours of Xbox in the last year, and 900 of it has been playing 2k. T-Will is ridiculous in that game.

Tommy Caffey is an 81 overall 6'10 240lbs small forward. He played all 82 regular season games and is currently averaging 36pts, 7boards, 4assts, 2 steals, and 37% 3pt% in the second round of the playoffs.

I don't have Ron Mexico's stats nearby, but I'm 100% he's twice the (my)player Caffey is.

Ha. his name is Ron Mexico. try again, sir.

[StartOrien]

Funny thing, I played a couple games with Ron Mexico and he was so-so, then I changed his number to 69 in a intentionally unintentionally funny kinda way, and he started playing fantastic.

[Who]

Some preliminary rankings ... for the East

Atlantic Division

#1 - New York Knicks - contender
#2 - Boston Celtics
#3 - Toronto Raptors
#4 - New Jersey Nets - lottery team

I am not sure who is on Phily's roster. So I left them out for now.

Central Division

#1 - Chicago - contender
#2 - Indiana
#3 - Milwaukee
#4/#5 - Cleveland / Detroit

It's been awhile since Indiana's roster has been updated so they might fall or rise, or stay exactly where they are, depending on their moves since then. They had a very nice foundation (Kobe, Pietrus, Tyrus, M.Gasol) to work with at their last update.

Southeast Division

#1 - Orlando - contender
#2 - Washington - contender
#3 - Atlanta
#4 - Miami
#5 - Charlotte/Seattle

----------------------------------

So, I think there are four contenders in the East. Chicago, New York, Orlando and Washington.

Us at 5th in our division is just silly.

The bottom three teams in that division are fairly close to one another. In the same tier overall. The order doesn't have much bearing.

I'll look at it closer to see if I'd switch the rankings.

Charlotte/Seattle

• Starters - Duhon + Stuckey + Gay + Amare + Okafor
• Reserves - AJ Price + Battier + Young (Thaddeus Young?) + DeJuan Blair ... Head + Damien Wilkins + Tolliver

I am not a fan of Emeka Okafor. I thought he played poorly for the Hornets last season. His defense has dropped off in a large way. I didn't like seeing his minutes did below 30mpg either (health?). I didn't he had much of an impact in New Orleans last season in terms of wins.

Blair and Amare are both bad defensive players. Amare is also a below par rebounder and non-passer and I would expect his offensive game to suffer without a playmaker and without being in a fast paced offense (who is the head coach?). Blair played very well in the regular season but struggled mightily on both ends of the floor (rebounding was superb though) in the playoffs which lowered him in my estimation. 

Rudy Gay is a very good player in the long term but he still has a lot of issues to work through in the short term (upping his rebounding, defense and scoring efficiency). Still not an All-Star caliber player. Duhon and Stuckey are an unimpressive starting backcourt, AJ Price is suspect lead backup guard.

Shane Battier is an elite role player and quite possibly the second best player on this team (behind Amare and slightly ahead of Gay). Thaddeus Young is a good combo forward.

Miami Heat

• Starters - Nash + S.Brown + S-Jax + Frye + Odom
• reserves - Lou Williams + J.Moon + C.Andersen ... A.Carter

With Steve Nash at the throttle + a perimeter shooting big in Frye + a multi-talented big man in Odom + a versatile wing in Stephen Jackson ... I would expect this team to have a very effective offense.

They have a respectable amount of amount of defense (Odom and Jackson high quality defenders + Brown, Frye, Andersen and Moon are serviceable), likely slightly below average defensively, but are very poor on the backboards (league worst?).

Atlanta Hawks

• Starters - Hinrich + Redick + Durant + Varejao + Okur
• Reserves - Ridnour + R.Butler + R.Gomes + Brand ... S.Livingston + S.Graham + Udoh + Whiteside + Boone

Kevin Durant is the best player in the division. Anderson Varejao is an impact player. A solid backcourt in Hinrich and Redick. I don't like the rest of the big men in the rotation. Butler is a good backup two guard. Ridnour a good backup PG. Ryan Gomes a decent combo forward.

Conclusion

Steve Nash and Kevin Durant both have huge impacts on their squads. I think the Bobcats/Sonics fall back in comparison to them because their two elite talents (Gay, Amare) fail to do likewise. As does their third best talent (Okafor). The Heat and Hawks also get strong contributions from Odom and Varejao.

I would keep the rankings the same.

[Gainesville Celtic]

Denver Nuggets         Gainsville Celtic
-Guards: Russell Westbrook, Ronnie Brewer, Terrance Williams, Steve Blaek
-Forwards: Trevor Ariza, Drew Gooden, Taj Gibson, Josh Childress
-Center: Tim Duncan, Darko Milicic

PG Westbrook/Blake
SG Brewer/Williams
SF Ariza/Childress/
PF Gibson/Gooden/
C Duncan/Milicic

100 Words:
I think that Westbrook is a good person to run this backcourt as long as Ariza manages to regain his shooting form. The thing that worries me is that without a premier scorer at the 2/3 (the traditional 1st or 2nd scorer on a team), who is going to take the burden off of Ariza, who wilted under the pressure this past season? Duncan/Gibson/Gooden/Milicic Is as good a bigs rotation as there is probably, from top to bottom. Other teams have better starters, but 1-4 is one of the best. Childress could surpass Ariza for the starting minutes, but I think Ariza starting will be as much about his own ego (compared with Childress's own balanced temperment) as anything else. I like Blake behind Westbrook and I see Blake playing a lot of minutes at the 2 also, unless Terrance Williams finds some consistency.


<SNIP>

End Judgment:

1) Utah: I like the versatility, and I love the frontcourt. I think Yao's health is a major enough concern though that it keeps them from having HC in the playoffs.
2) Denver: Top to bottom the most talented team in the division, but even Tim Duncan can't compensate for Utah's frontcourt. I love Westbrook here too, especially with long athletic players like Brewer, Williams, Childress, and Ariza.
3) Minny: Deron Williams is the best thing going for this team, and it'll be up to him if they can leapfrog Utah or Denver. If Howard returns to form and Beaubois can quickly return to health to develop a rapport with Deron Williams, this team could concievably move ahead of both the #1 and #2 team, especially in terms of regular season wins.
4) OKC: I love Collison here, but he doesn't really compare to Deron Williams or Russell Westbrook. I also love Sefolosha, but I don't know how much his defensive ability will count 1)in a division without powerhouse SG's, and 2) on a team without a premier scorer on the wing.
5) Portland: A good team two years from now. Maybe a great one in 5. Portland will eat it up though and this is certainly a team that will be fun to watch if they gel. 

have been swamped with work IP, so i'm just seeing this --- this is an amazing post regardless of how you assessed my team so a heap of TPs when i can.

Just so happens that you liked my team, so thanks!

my lineup has changed somewhat to:

PG: Russell Westbrook, Steve Blake, Daniel Gibson
SG: Marcus Thornton, Ronnie Brewer
SF: Tervor Ariza, Josh Childress
PF: Taj Gibson, Darrell Arthur, James Singleton
C:  Tim Duncan, Darko Milicic, Aaron Gray

The 2nd deal addressed some of my concerns (that you and others echoed) about scoring at the 2/3 spot by upgrading from Brewer to Thornton (and letting Brewer come off the bench).

The cost was a slight downgrade of what you correctly call "[one of the best] 1-4 [big rotations] from Duncan/Gibson/Gooden/Milicic to Duncan/Gibson/Milicic/Arthur or Singleton (+Aaron Gray as a 3rd center)

Ultimately we felt it was a reasonable risk. We hope others agree!

(again TPs for you IP for an awesome bit of writing!)

[Who]

And for the West ...

Northwest Division

#1 - Utah - contender
#2 - Denver - outside contender
#3 - Minnesota
#4 - Oklahoma
#5 - Portland - lottery

Pacific Division

#1 - Phoenix Suns - outside contender
#2 + #3 - LA Lakers + GSW - outside contenders
#4 - LA Clippers
#5 - Sacramento

I am having a huge amount of trouble deciding a pecking order in this division. I think the Suns are ahead by a small margin with three teams just a smidge behind them. The Kings trailing by a considerable margin.

I think the Clippers have an incredible defense. Their starting lineup is also excellent on the backboards. I am not wild about any of their bench players though. That holds them back some. Not all that talented offensively but Garnett and Billups are still very efficient and effective offensive players. Jason Richardson is a solid scorer. Marion and Ben Wallace will make negative contributions. Maybe minutes, how much can Garnett and Big Ben play? What happens to their defense when they rest? ... I'm going to drop the Clippers down to fourth spot but they're going to be a nightmare to play in the playoffs because of their defensive ability.

The Warriors and the Lakers have many similarities. Two teams that rely heavily on a hugely efficient and prolific starting backcourt (Brandon Roy + Steph Curry = Chris Paul + Kevin Martin). Not much separation at forward with Prince + Beasley vs Batum + Randolph either. A difference at center with Tyson (excellent defense, good rebounding) and Splitter (good defense, good offense, mediocre rebounding). I prefer the Warriors bench, I think they have an advantage at backup guard (Lowry vs DJ Augustin) and backup center (Thabeet vs D.Andersen). Comparable talent on the backup 2-4 (Q-Rich + J.Green vs Webster + Aminu). Two very closely ranked teams with strong similarities throughout their roster. The Skiles factor will bring the Warriors a stronger team defense than they deserve to have. I think both teams are very comparable in terms of offense, defense and rebounding.

Southwest Division

#1 - Houston - outside contender
#2 - San Antonio
#3 - Dallas
#4 - New Orleans
#5 - Memphis

I was having a bit of trouble with New Orleans roster. Need some more time to consider that squad.

Summary

I think there is only one elite team (Utah) in this conference but there are several second tier teams (Denver, Phoenix, Lakers, Warriors, Rockets) behind them.

[KCattheStripe]

Some preliminary rankings ... for the East

Atlantic Division

#1 - New York Knicks - contender
#2 - Boston Celtics
#3 - Toronto Raptors
#4 - New Jersey Nets - lottery team

I am not sure who is on Phily's roster. So I left them out for now.

Central Division

#1 - Chicago - contender
#2 - Indiana
#3 - Milwaukee
#4/#5 - Cleveland / Detroit

It's been awhile since Indiana's roster has been updated so they might fall or rise, or stay exactly where they are, depending on their moves since then. They had a very nice foundation (Kobe, Pietrus, Tyrus, M.Gasol) to work with at their last update.

Southeast Division

#1 - Orlando - contender
#2 - Washington - contender
#3 - Atlanta
#4 - Miami
#5 - Charlotte/Seattle

----------------------------------

So, I think there are four contenders in the East. Chicago, New York, Orlando and Washington.

Us at 5th in our division is just silly.

The bottom three teams in that division are fairly close to one another. In the same tier overall. The order doesn't have much bearing.

I'll look at it closer to see if I'd switch the rankings.

Charlotte/Seattle

• Starters - Duhon + Stuckey + Gay + Amare + Okafor
• Reserves - AJ Price + Battier + Young (Thaddeus Young?) + DeJuan Blair ... Head + Damien Wilkins + Tolliver

I am not a fan of Emeka Okafor. I thought he played poorly for the Hornets last season. His defense has dropped off in a large way. I didn't like seeing his minutes did below 30mpg either (health?). I didn't he had much of an impact in New Orleans last season in terms of wins.

Blair and Amare are both bad defensive players. Amare is also a below par rebounder and non-passer and I would expect his offensive game to suffer without a playmaker and without being in a fast paced offense (who is the head coach?). Blair played very well in the regular season but struggled mightily on both ends of the floor (rebounding was superb though) in the playoffs which lowered him in my estimation.  

Rudy Gay is a very good player in the long term but he still has a lot of issues to work through in the short term (upping his rebounding, defense and scoring efficiency). Still not an All-Star caliber player. Duhon and Stuckey are an unimpressive starting backcourt, AJ Price is suspect lead backup guard.

Shane Battier is an elite role player and quite possibly the second best player on this team (behind Amare and slightly ahead of Gay). Thaddeus Young is a good combo forward.

Miami Heat

• Starters - Nash + S.Brown + S-Jax + Frye + Odom
• reserves - Lou Williams + J.Moon + C.Andersen ... A.Carter

With Steve Nash at the throttle + a perimeter shooting big in Frye + a multi-talented big man in Odom + a versatile wing in Stephen Jackson ... I would expect this team to have a very effective offense.

They have a respectable amount of amount of defense (Odom and Jackson high quality defenders + Brown, Frye, Andersen and Moon are serviceable), likely slightly below average defensively, but are very poor on the backboards (league worst?).

Atlanta Hawks

• Starters - Hinrich + Redick + Durant + Varejao + Okur
• Reserves - Ridnour + R.Butler + R.Gomes + Brand ... S.Livingston + S.Graham + Udoh + Whiteside + Boone

Kevin Durant is the best player in the division. Anderson Varejao is an impact player. A solid backcourt in Hinrich and Redick. I don't like the rest of the big men in the rotation. Butler is a good backup two guard. Ridnour a good backup PG. Ryan Gomes a decent combo forward.

Conclusion

Steve Nash and Kevin Durant both have huge impacts on their squads. I think the Bobcats/Sonics fall back in comparison to them because their two elite talents (Gay, Amare) fail to do likewise. As does their third best talent (Okafor). The Heat and Hawks also get strong contributions from Odom and Varejao.

I would keep the rankings the same.

I think we absolutely throttle the Heat on the inside where they're just not big enough to handle us, they can shoot their jumpers all day, but they have no one who can body up Amar'e or even Okafor for that matter and they don't have a player to stay in front of Stuckey.

A note about Stuckey, the past three years he has steadily improved getting himself 17pppg with 5 dimes last year. Detroit is terrible because they have such a muddled back court full of redundancies ( Gordon, Rip, Stuckey) that lead to ineffeciencies. However, paired with Duhon, who can play off the ball and be a bargain derek fischer offensively, those redundancies wouldn't be there.

I will say that I think we could give Atlanta the hardest time in the division because A) We have two capable defenders to throw at Durant in Gay and Battier, they also don't have the horses to win the battle inside with us. They have two gifted defensive guards, but all we have to do is run pick and rolls over and over again and they won't have the defenders to keep up with us.

I think you vastly underrate the entirety of my line up Who. Okafor didn't contribute much to New Orleans last year because they were a terrible team and he simply can't be the 2nd best player on a team. When Paul went down and DWest regressing ( as you noted earlier) that's what he was. But I would note, that in less minutes he produced roughly the same.

Rudy Gay's defense is vastly underrated on this blog, but in my fairly extensive observations he is an all NBA defender when he chooses to be and an above average defender when he doesn't.

Dejuan Blair wilted against the Mavs a bit, The entire Spurs did, and it's not unreasonable for a rookie to have a bad first playoff series.

Amar'e's ( That's an awkward amount of apostrophes) game doesn't benefit as much from an uptempo system as much as it does a constant barrage of pick and rolls, which our Coach Eric Spolstra showed he'd be willing to do if it was working. And while 9 rebounds a game may disappoint some, next to Emeka and Blair, it's perfectly fine. Amar'e suffers a lot from the " He should be better" syndrome fans have and thus his substantive defensive contribution get overlooked because he's not a top 3 defender at his position.


It is so important to look at how these players function as a team together and not how they performed last season on their former teams. I think One of the strengths of my team is how individuals skill sets cover for one another's weaknesses.

Thats all until the presser.

[Roy H.]

And for the West ...

Northwest Division

#1 - Utah - contender
#2 - Denver - outside contender
#3 - Minnesota
#4 - Oklahoma
#5 - Portland - lottery

Pacific Division

#1 - Phoenix Suns - outside contender
#2 + #3 - LA Lakers + GSW - outside contenders
#4 - LA Clippers
#5 - Sacramento

I am having a huge amount of trouble deciding a pecking order in this division. I think the Suns are ahead by a small margin with three teams just a smidge behind them. The Kings trailing by a considerable margin.

I think the Clippers have an incredible defense. Their starting lineup is also excellent on the backboards. I am not wild about any of their bench players though. That holds them back some. Not all that talented offensively but Garnett and Billups are still very efficient and effective offensive players. Jason Richardson is a solid scorer. Marion and Ben Wallace will make negative contributions. Maybe minutes, how much can Garnett and Big Ben play? What happens to their defense when they rest? ... I'm going to drop the Clippers down to fourth spot but they're going to be a nightmare to play in the playoffs because of their defensive ability.

The Warriors and the Lakers have many similarities. Two teams that rely heavily on a hugely efficient and prolific starting backcourt (Brandon Roy + Steph Curry = Chris Paul + Kevin Martin). Not much separation at forward with Prince + Beasley vs Batum + Randolph either. A difference at center with Tyson (excellent defense, good rebounding) and Splitter (good defense, good offense, mediocre rebounding). I prefer the Warriors bench, I think they have an advantage at backup guard (Lowry vs DJ Augustin) and backup center (Thabeet vs D.Andersen). Comparable talent on the backup 2-4 (Q-Rich + J.Green vs Webster + Aminu). Two very closely ranked teams with strong similarities throughout their roster. The Skiles factor will bring the Warriors a stronger team defense than they deserve to have. I think both teams are very comparable in terms of offense, defense and rebounding.

Southwest Division

#1 - Houston - outside contender
#2 - San Antonio
#3 - Dallas
#4 - New Orleans
#5 - Memphis

I was having a bit of trouble with New Orleans roster. Need some more time to consider that squad.

Summary

I think there is only one elite team (Utah) in this conference but there are several second tier teams (Denver, Phoenix, Lakers, Warriors, Rockets) behind them.

I will just say that I respectfully disagree with this analysis.  I personally don't think Golden State or the Lakers are all that good, and I don't see any way that either could be considered a contender.

[Gainesville Celtic]

If anyone wants to do some team rankings that would be a cool thing to discuss.

I'd do another division besides my own.

Ok do my division.

At a quick glance I would rate the teams as following:

(1) Utah = 60+ win roster
(2) Minnesota = 48-52 wins
(3) Denver = 44-47 wins
(4) Oklahoma = 34-38 wins
(5) Portland = 25 wins

I think substantially less of Utah because I don't think Yao will ever be healthy enough to win that many games and I don't like a 2 guard rotation of Casspi and Galls because I'm not sure they have the handles to play the position, Unlike Rudy whom I spent a better part of 3 pages defending at the 2.

The Jazz have Jose Calderon + two low post threats (high usage highly talented offensive players).

The ball-handling responsibilities on either of their wing players will be fairly limited. 

I am a big fan of Casspi as a two guard (his natural position in my eyes) but I'm not wild about Gallinari there. I would have Wesley Johnson defend the two and keep Gallo at the three while Casspi is resting. In some instances, maybe even Mbah a Moute defend the two while Gallo or Wesley defends the four (depending on matchups).

------------------------------------------------

If Yao Ming is not healthy, hmmm ...

Starters: Jose + Casspi + Wesley + Pau + Robin
Rotation: N/A + Gallo + Mbah a Moute + C.Smith

Pau Gasol would be double up as my starting power forward (20mpg) and my backup center (18mpg). Robin Lopez would play about 30mpg. My backup power forwards, Mbah a Moute would be the rotation regular (20mpg) but Craig Smith (8mpg) would get more court time when facing the more physical opponents.

Jose Calderon would play 30-32 minutes as a starter so the backup PG would play a fair bit. I don't like Jose playing more minutes than that because I think he begins to break down over the course of a season.

Casspi would be playing 32-35 minutes a night as a starting two guard. Wesley would hopefully be good for 30+ minutes himself. He would be the starting three and double up as the backup two guard (13-18mpg). That would leave 35 minutes available at the three which would mostly go to Gallinari (25-30) but Mbah a Moute could get more court time if the squad required more of a stopper there than an offensive player.

Okay, so with that description, I would expect the Jazz to win around 53-56 games next season. I'd drop them back to the 50 win range if they fail to find a serviceable backup PG (more if I factor in a Jose injury which would likely be an unfortunate consequence).

I think that their length will be a problem for a lot of people. The way my team would counter that would be to run early and often negating their size advantage. We would pressure Calderon and make him pass the ball to their wings which forces people with poor handle to handle the ball.
In my opinion that would be the recipe to beat them.

A couple points here (sorry i'm late to the discussion) ---

Yao -- i agree that while an imposing lineup on paper, (a) Yao has to prove he can make it through a full season and (b) until he does there has to be an expectation that as with 4 of the last 5 seasons he'll play fewer than 57 games....(and I have him in my Roto keeper league so i'm hoping he will play a full season)

Casspi --I'm no expert but i"ve not seen anything that indicates Casspi is a SG. Unless Don can find some documentation/proof I'll take this as a stretch... not a viable option. He's 6-9 and know that the games he started KMartin, Evans (with Udrih at PG) or Greene (even though he's actually taller, but quicker) started at SG. There is no way Casspi can keep up with small quick 2guards in the Midwest like MThornton, Turner, or Beabuois. Sure he'll have a mismatch on the other end, but with Yao/Pau in the middle there's not a lot of room.

(I personally put stock in other SBNation blogs like our beloved Celticsblog -- since they're written by maniacs like us about their own teams... This recent article (by their version of our Jeff Clark) says Greene & Casspi are in a battle for the SF position (with Udrih, Tyreke Evans and Garcia the backcourt rotation):

Fastbreak/size -- Agree with Evantime... our strategy vs. the big Utah lineup is gonna be to get out and run -- and with nimble bigs like Gibson and Singleton + long wings like Ariza, CHildress and Brewer we won't have to sacrifice much size.

Calderon -- He's jsut awful on defense and I think the fact that there's no way he's gonna be able to keep guys like Westbrook and Deron Williams out of the paint will greatly reduce the defensive effectiveness of UTA's bigs (who will have to help in the lane). Dwill and WB/Blake are gonna find the open big.

[Gainesville Celtic]

And for the West ...

Northwest Division

#1 - Utah - contender
#2 - Denver - outside contender
#3 - Minnesota
#4 - Oklahoma
#5 - Portland - lottery

Pacific Division

#1 - Phoenix Suns - outside contender
#2 + #3 - LA Lakers + GSW - outside contenders
#4 - LA Clippers
#5 - Sacramento

I am having a huge amount of trouble deciding a pecking order in this division. I think the Suns are ahead by a small margin with three teams just a smidge behind them. The Kings trailing by a considerable margin.

I think the Clippers have an incredible defense. Their starting lineup is also excellent on the backboards. I am not wild about any of their bench players though. That holds them back some. Not all that talented offensively but Garnett and Billups are still very efficient and effective offensive players. Jason Richardson is a solid scorer. Marion and Ben Wallace will make negative contributions. Maybe minutes, how much can Garnett and Big Ben play? What happens to their defense when they rest? ... I'm going to drop the Clippers down to fourth spot but they're going to be a nightmare to play in the playoffs because of their defensive ability.

The Warriors and the Lakers have many similarities. Two teams that rely heavily on a hugely efficient and prolific starting backcourt (Brandon Roy + Steph Curry = Chris Paul + Kevin Martin). Not much separation at forward with Prince + Beasley vs Batum + Randolph either. A difference at center with Tyson (excellent defense, good rebounding) and Splitter (good defense, good offense, mediocre rebounding). I prefer the Warriors bench, I think they have an advantage at backup guard (Lowry vs DJ Augustin) and backup center (Thabeet vs D.Andersen). Comparable talent on the backup 2-4 (Q-Rich + J.Green vs Webster + Aminu). Two very closely ranked teams with strong similarities throughout their roster. The Skiles factor will bring the Warriors a stronger team defense than they deserve to have. I think both teams are very comparable in terms of offense, defense and rebounding.

Southwest Division

#1 - Houston - outside contender
#2 - San Antonio
#3 - Dallas
#4 - New Orleans
#5 - Memphis

I was having a bit of trouble with New Orleans roster. Need some more time to consider that squad.

Summary

I think there is only one elite team (Utah) in this conference but there are several second tier teams (Denver, Phoenix, Lakers, Warriors, Rockets) behind them.

Like i said the 2 biggest "warts" Utah has -- that I think are being a bit undersold -- are the legit health questions about Yao (who hasn't PLAYED for a year) and the effect Calderon's dreadful defense will have on Utah's bigs.

[Rondo2287]

trust me im worried about Kobe, but he better be worried about Rip, Maggette, and Dirk.  Dirk would eat that team for breakfast lunch and dinner

I think Rip, Maggette, he shouldn't worry about. Rip hasn't been the same player since he was injured (could be a moral thing, who knows), and Pietrus should be able to contain Maggette.

Dirk on Ty Thomas though is going to be rough.

I've already began wondering what I'm going to do about 'Ze German'.

Id also consider Jarret Jack vs Johnny Flynn to be pretty big in my favor

[Roy H.]

Here's my view of the Western Conference, with two caveats:  right now, I'm presuming everyone will be reasonably healthy, and I'm going based upon the rosters posted in the Transactions thread.  Divisional "tiers" are marked by "===========".

Northwest

1. Utah
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2. Denver
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3. Minnesota
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4. OKC
5. Portland

I think that in the Northwest, if healthy, Utah is clearly the best team, Denver is clearly second best, Minnesota is third, and OKC and Portland are in the last tier (due mostly to youth).  That's not to say that based upon matchups, one of these teams couldn't beat the other in a seven game series, but I think this is how the season would go without injuries.  (Again, my final voting may reflect risks related to injuries.)

Pacific

1. Phoenix
2. Sacramento
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3. LA Clippers
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4. LA Lakers
5. Golden State

This is the division of "my" team, and I think it's the deepest in the league.  All five teams have an outside shot of making the playoffs.  That said, I think Phoenix and Sacramento are the two most talented and versatile teams in the division.  Sacramento is weak at the center position (most likely starting Bargnani, although in certain matchups Big Z or Petro will start).  I think Phoenix will come out on top, because they've got the best superstar, and in the regular season, that's good enough to win.

The Clippers are an old team, but a pretty good one, I think.  I'm a "believer" in KG, which goes a long way.  With LA, I'm as concerned with their depth up front as I am with Sacramento's.  Tyson Chandler is okay, but he's been in rapid decline, and only played around 23 minutes last season.  Behind him is...  Drew Gooden?  David Anderson?  Gooden stinks defensively, and David Anderson stinks at every aspect of the game of basketball.

Last comes Golden State.  I have this team ranked highly for a "team of the future", but neither Splitter nor Randolph is ready yet, in my opinion.  Behind them, at backup center there's Thabeet, who again, has a long way to go.  Batum is solid, but not much more than that.  Kevin Martin is a very good offensive player, and an absolutely terrible defensive one.  As for Chris Paul, it's hard to say anything bad about him; he's the second best player in the division.

Southwest

1. Houston
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2. New Orleans
3. San Antonio
4. Memphis
5. Dallas

I think Houston is the best here, but I could easily see any team 2 through 5 end up in second place.  I *hate* what Dallas did with its team, but there are some talented pieces.  However, I think it's very, very unlikely that a team with Iverson, Arenas, and 14 power forwards is going to win anything.

[Who]

And for the West ...

Northwest Division

#1 - Utah - contender
#2 - Denver - outside contender
#3 - Minnesota
#4 - Oklahoma
#5 - Portland - lottery

Pacific Division

#1 - Phoenix Suns - outside contender
#2 + #3 - LA Lakers + GSW - outside contenders
#4 - LA Clippers
#5 - Sacramento

I am having a huge amount of trouble deciding a pecking order in this division. I think the Suns are ahead by a small margin with three teams just a smidge behind them. The Kings trailing by a considerable margin.

I think the Clippers have an incredible defense. Their starting lineup is also excellent on the backboards. I am not wild about any of their bench players though. That holds them back some. Not all that talented offensively but Garnett and Billups are still very efficient and effective offensive players. Jason Richardson is a solid scorer. Marion and Ben Wallace will make negative contributions. Maybe minutes, how much can Garnett and Big Ben play? What happens to their defense when they rest? ... I'm going to drop the Clippers down to fourth spot but they're going to be a nightmare to play in the playoffs because of their defensive ability.

The Warriors and the Lakers have many similarities. Two teams that rely heavily on a hugely efficient and prolific starting backcourt (Brandon Roy + Steph Curry = Chris Paul + Kevin Martin). Not much separation at forward with Prince + Beasley vs Batum + Randolph either. A difference at center with Tyson (excellent defense, good rebounding) and Splitter (good defense, good offense, mediocre rebounding). I prefer the Warriors bench, I think they have an advantage at backup guard (Lowry vs DJ Augustin) and backup center (Thabeet vs D.Andersen). Comparable talent on the backup 2-4 (Q-Rich + J.Green vs Webster + Aminu). Two very closely ranked teams with strong similarities throughout their roster. The Skiles factor will bring the Warriors a stronger team defense than they deserve to have. I think both teams are very comparable in terms of offense, defense and rebounding.

Southwest Division

#1 - Houston - outside contender
#2 - San Antonio
#3 - Dallas
#4 - New Orleans
#5 - Memphis

I was having a bit of trouble with New Orleans roster. Need some more time to consider that squad.

Summary

I think there is only one elite team (Utah) in this conference but there are several second tier teams (Denver, Phoenix, Lakers, Warriors, Rockets) behind them.

I will just say that I respectfully disagree with this analysis.  I personally don't think Golden State or the Lakers are all that good, and I don't see any way that either could be considered a contender.

They shouldn't be contenders. They are both second tier sides.

But their is only one elite team in conference -- much like the Western Conference last season and the year before that with the LA Lakers -- so highlighted a group of teams who I feel are on the next rung down.

Like i said the 2 biggest "warts" Utah has -- that I think are being a bit undersold -- are the legit health questions about Yao (who hasn't PLAYED for a year) and the effect Calderon's dreadful defense will have on Utah's bigs.

To come full circle ... which is why if Yao Ming cannot stay healthy the Jazz fall back into a pack of teams who are on the same tier.

The West would be wide open and wholly dependent on the individual matchups between teams in the playoffs.