not a championship caliber team so what is the point.
Many would have said the same thing about the Hawks or Warriors at the beginning of the season.
I still wouldn't call the Hawks a championship caliber team.
The Warriors are closer with that record in the West. The Hawks would be 3rd or 4th in the West, kinda like last years Blazers fake run but on another level.
The advantage they have going for them is that their uptempo style shouldn't get too slowed down come playoff time unless they meet the Grizzlies or Spurs. It will certainly be harder for them in 7 games vs anyone from the West if they do make the finals.
In fact the one team they match up with well on both ends are the Warriors lol.
I'm still taking the Grizzlies, Spurs and possibly Thunder over the Warriors until I see them pull a series out vs Spurs or Memphis at full strength.
i tend to agree, especially about the hawks. i think their style won't hold up in the playoffs, and they will have match-up problems in the half court against other good teams. IMO the wiz, cavs, and bulls all have more upside this year.
the warriors are certainly much better, as they have a legit star in curry, and a true defensive anchor, though injury-prone, in bogut.
i could see their offense slowing down come playoff time though. they rely very heavily on 3s, and in the big pressure moments in the playoffs those shots often stop falling.
curry is really the only truly dynamic offensive scorer on the team (though thompson has certainly improved in that regard). and i've seen curry choke quite a few times already in his young playoff career, so that is worrying.
but if they can get some inside offense going with bogut, green, and lee, that could help greatly, and take pressure off their outside scorers, letting them play inside-out, much like the spurs last year.
thankfully for the warriors, their opposition is also flawed. the spurs have been shockingly good for their age the last few years, but that's got to catch up with them at some point.
memphis is elite on defense, but their most versatile offensive player is jeff green. they can be beaten, as they struggle to score late in games.
OKC is one of the great enigmas in this league, they still just haven't put together that great playoff run, and they've played poorly this year. it's odd because they have two of the best players in the league, and have solid depth after that. sometimes they look like the best team in the league, other times they look soft. their lack of an interior game is their biggest weakness.
so overall i think it's a 4-team race in the west, i don't know that i have a particular favorite at this point. the warriors are probably the least flawed of the 4 teams, but they also are the least experienced, and are a bogut injury away from being irrelevant.
Topic: What if the 76ers didn't go for Bynum and end up tanking? (Read 7607 times)