Who Will Win the West (Besides the Lakers)?

[wiley]

If Ok. City could somehow manage to win more games than L.A. during the season, they could homecourt L.A. out of the playoffs.....longshot but L.A. could tire, three-peats ain't easy.

[housecall]

With the Lakers having the least amount of back to backs(18)than most teams in the NBA this season doesn't hurt their chances either.Most teams average around 23 per season.

[pearljammer10]

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


If Melo stays in denver, they end up in 4th and everyone else moves down one spot.

[LakersFan_33]

First of all, Dallas is NOT a threat to the Lakers. They are historical chokers - They've choked so many times, and in the most monumental ways, too. Last year vs. Spurs in the first round, in the first round against the 8th seed Warriors when they won 67 games, and lost when they were up 2-0 on the Heat. Analysts love to hype them up, but they're not legit.

The threats I see to the Lakers this year are Houston and Oklahoma, and to a slightly lesser extent, Portland and Denver.

Houston: Pau has problems against Yao, so do a lot of the other Lakers (obviously lots of teams do, as well). Not only that, but Houston's front line is excellent. I'm very high on Scola and Mike Miller for them. Even with Bynum, their front line matches up well with ours. Aaron Brooks is really tough for Fisher, even Blake, but less so. Kevin Martin is just a stud. The guy can flat out score. Not that high on Shane, but he's ok. They also have a decent bench.

Oklahoma: I still think the Lakers have an obvious advantage against them on the front line. Russell Westbrook is an awesome and lightning fast player. Kevin Durant is a superstar, and Artest can only do so much. Also, OKC is a very long team, and they are tough at home.

[wiley]

First of all, Dallas is NOT a threat to the Lakers. They are historical chokers - They've choked so many times, and in the most monumental ways, too. Last year vs. Spurs in the first round, in the first round against the 8th seed Warriors when they won 67 games, and lost when they were up 2-0 on the Heat. Analysts love to hype them up, but they're not legit.

The threats I see to the Lakers this year are Houston and Oklahoma, and to a slightly lesser extent, Portland and Denver.

Houston: Pau has problems against Yao, so do a lot of the other Lakers (obviously lots of teams do, as well). Not only that, but Houston's front line is excellent. I'm very high on Scola and Mike Miller for them. Even with Bynum, their front line matches up well with ours. Aaron Brooks is really tough for Fisher, even Blake, but less so. Kevin Martin is just a stud. The guy can flat out score. Not that high on Shane, but he's ok. They also have a decent bench.

Oklahoma: I still think the Lakers have an obvious advantage against them on the front line. Russell Westbrook is an awesome and lightning fast player. Kevin Durant is a superstar, and Artest can only do so much. Also, OKC is a very long team, and they are tough at home.

Very much agree.  Houston or Ok. City. biggest threats.  Houston due to bigs, talent and maturity.  And Ok. City due to being young, talented, wild and free (in other words they're young enough not to care about pressure), and a threat to win all games at home.

Ibaka's good....If Aldrich could learn to be an effective defender it would really help them, though he'd also have to do some serious rebounding to make it work.

I don't know the prognosis for N.O. I'm assuming it's not great.  But if they gelled Chris Paul could also do some damage against the Lakers.

[nba is the worst]

To me, the darkhorse is Portland IF Oden or Pryzbilla can manage to get/stay healthy by the playoffs.

Thunder will need 4 games at home to have any chance.

[xmuscularghandix]

Big Al and Utah ought to be a nice match.

I don't like what I've seen out of Utah in their first two games. Last night they didn't have enough shooting spacing the floor. Despite Big Al and Milsap having their way with the Suns they got waxed.

They have enough shooting, Raja Bell missed some very makable shots.

[Fafnir]

Big Al and Utah ought to be a nice match.

I don't like what I've seen out of Utah in their first two games. Last night they didn't have enough shooting spacing the floor. Despite Big Al and Milsap having their way with the Suns they got waxed.

They have enough shooting, Raja Bell missed some very makable shots.

Can Raj be relied upon? He's declined an awful lot.

[Who]

Portland are the main contender. Houston and Oklahoma the second tier. Dallas the third tier.

A bit too early to tell with San Antonio. Splitter hasn't played yet, I'd like to see how he and Duncan do against Bynum and Pau. I'd expect San An to be in the second or third tier but maybe they can join up with Portland if all goes well. Not sold on San An's defense or their supporting cast beyond the top 2-3 role players, why I'd expect them in that 2nd or 3rd tier. 

Utah, Denver and Phoenix do not have a hope in hell of defeating the Lakers in a seven game series. Nor does New Orleans.

Memphis could give LA a very tough series in the first round. I am not optimistic about their chances of coming out victorious but they'd give LA a real fight. They'd be a much tougher matchup for LA than the previous three teams.

[Fafnir]

Portland are the main contender. Houston and Oklahoma the second tier. Dallas the third tier.

A bit too early to tell with San Antonio. Splitter hasn't played yet, I'd like to see how he and Duncan do against Bynum and Pau. I'd expect San An to be in the second or third tier but maybe they can join up with Portland if all goes well. Not sold on San An's defense or their supporting cast beyond the top 2-3 role players, why I'd expect them in that 2nd or 3rd tier. 

Utah, Denver and Phoenix do not have a hope in hell of defeating the Lakers in a seven game series. Nor does New Orleans.

Memphis could give LA a very tough series in the first round. I am not optimistic about their chances of coming out victorious but they'd give LA a real fight. They'd be a much tougher matchup for LA than the previous three teams.

Didn't Splitter get some court time last night? The boxscore had him with a rebound, but I didnt' see him on the court at all.

[Who]

Portland are the main contender. Houston and Oklahoma the second tier. Dallas the third tier.

A bit too early to tell with San Antonio. Splitter hasn't played yet, I'd like to see how he and Duncan do against Bynum and Pau. I'd expect San An to be in the second or third tier but maybe they can join up with Portland if all goes well. Not sold on San An's defense or their supporting cast beyond the top 2-3 role players, why I'd expect them in that 2nd or 3rd tier.  

Utah, Denver and Phoenix do not have a hope in hell of defeating the Lakers in a seven game series. Nor does New Orleans.

Memphis could give LA a very tough series in the first round. I am not optimistic about their chances of coming out victorious but they'd give LA a real fight. They'd be a much tougher matchup for LA than the previous three teams.

Didn't Splitter get some court time last night? The boxscore had him with a rebound, but I didnt' see him on the court at all.

Eh, maybe, I didn't watch the game last night.

I believe Splitter has been practicing with the team since the start of the regular season. I was surprised he didn't play in either of the first two games against Indy and NOH.

Update: You're right, boxscore says he played 10 minutes last night, 2 points and 2 rebounds.

[Fafnir]

Portland are the main contender. Houston and Oklahoma the second tier. Dallas the third tier.

A bit too early to tell with San Antonio. Splitter hasn't played yet, I'd like to see how he and Duncan do against Bynum and Pau. I'd expect San An to be in the second or third tier but maybe they can join up with Portland if all goes well. Not sold on San An's defense or their supporting cast beyond the top 2-3 role players, why I'd expect them in that 2nd or 3rd tier. 

Utah, Denver and Phoenix do not have a hope in hell of defeating the Lakers in a seven game series. Nor does New Orleans.

Memphis could give LA a very tough series in the first round. I am not optimistic about their chances of coming out victorious but they'd give LA a real fight. They'd be a much tougher matchup for LA than the previous three teams.

Didn't Splitter get some court time last night? The boxscore had him with a rebound, but I didnt' see him on the court at all.

Eh, maybe, I didn't watch the game last night.

I believe Splitter has been practicing with the team since the start of the regular season. I was surprised he didn't play in either of the first two games against Indy and NOH.

Update: Boxscore says he played 10 minutes, 2 points and 2 rebounds.

Not enough time to get any sort of picture.

I only watched two quarters worth of that game. The Clippers looked a lot better offensively without Baron Davis on the floor, which surprised me. Duncan did not look good, tenative and turned the ball over repeatedly due to quick doubles.

Craig Smith was rightfully ejected, his play was very dangerous.

[Assassin70]

When the dust settles Spurs, OKC, Dallas and Houston are only real threat to the Lakers this year.

[heyvik]

as a true celtics fan, i really hate this topic. it really sickens me that that lakers will have a cakewalk into the finals. we all know that barring an injury to Kobe, the Lakers will walk to the finals. if Gasol get hurt, it will be a big blow but the lakers have Artest who 'could' play a 4. yeah, they'll be undersized but with Bynum coming back before the playoffs they 'could' still make it. That being said.... the lakers still suck!
I want to give OKC a fighting chance because of westbrook durant and green but don't see it happening....
what would be great is if the Lakers, by some miracle (Kobe ACL and Gasol ACL) DON'T make the playoffs and the rest of the West has to fight it out....NOW that's good basketball!!!!!

[ManUp]

There is no beside the Lakers, Portland is the only team that could realistically make it past game 6 (but alot of that depends on health and Oden). The Thunder aren't beating the Lakers until they get some legit size. The rest are all just pretenders with vulnerabilities that the Lakers can and will exploit. Spurs are too old, The Mavs aren't winning with Dirk leading,  Phoenix can't defend them(loss of Amare will hurt in the play-offs), The Jazz can't outscore them, and it keeps going on like that. Just a bunch of teams with wholes for them to exploit mainly the don't play defense, and they can't outscore them. Portland has comparative size, solid defense, and a closer so they've got a chance, but the Lakers have them beat in all of those areas.