Who are the true title contenders?

[Real Deal]

Eastern Conference
1. Chicago	10	2	0.833
2. Miami	8	3	0.727
3. Philadelphia	7	3	0.700
4. Indiana	7	3	0.700
5. Orlando	7	3	0.700
6. Atlanta	7	4	0.636
7. New York	6	4	0.600
8. Boston	4	5	0.444
-- Cleveland	4	5	0.444
-- Toronto	4	7	0.364
-- Milwaukee	3	6	0.333
-- Detroit	2	8	0.200
-- Charlotte	2	8	0.200
-- New Jersey	2	9	0.182
-- Washington	1	9	0.100
Western Conference
1. Thunder	10	2	0.833
2. Portland	7	3	0.700
3. L.A. Lakers	8	4	0.667
4. San Antonio	7	4	0.636
5. Denver	7	4	0.636
6. L.A. Clipps	5	3	0.625
7. Utah Jazz	6	4	0.600
8. Dallas	6	5	0.545
-- Phoenix	4	5	0.444
-- Sacramento	4	7	0.364
-- Memphis	3	6	0.333
-- Golden State	3	6	0.333
-- Minnesota	3	7	0.300
-- New Orleans	3	7	0.300
-- Houston	3	7	0.300

[moeroadkill]

imo i think any team in the top 8 in the west can make the finals

as for the east its only bulls and heat

[Art]

^ I agree the West is up for grabs, but In the western conference I believe the conference contenders are the Lakers . Spurs . and the Mavericks; while in eastern conference I would choose Chicago ATLANTA, Miami, or Boston to win it all. and New York

Edited February 4, 2012 by Art Hues

[MainEv3nt]

Damn didnt kno chi was 10-2 lol

[Check my Stats]

Miami in the east and no one else... a couple teams might have an outside shot, but in terms of favourites, no, no one else.

 

The west I think OKC is the major favourite, with LA a ways behind, all depends on Bynum and Kobe really. I am becoming a pretty big fan of Portland as well.

[Sħãlïq™]

^ I agree the West is up for grabs, but in the East i'd have to say Chicago, Miami, Boston and New York.

Boston?! They may not even make the 'offs.

[Art]

Boston?! They may not even make the 'offs.

 

They have too much heart to not make the playoffs.

[Kobe24]

I would say in the east it is bulls and heat...

 

in the west it is thunder, lakers, blazers, and nuggets

[SRT Spidey]

My teams beat. Weak as [expletive]this year .

 

East : Miami or Chicago

West : Dallas , LAL, Okc

[Real Deal]

While I think Miami will return to the Finals, I can't count Chicago out. I'd also hate to be the team that has to play Philly in the first or second round. I have a gut feeling that, by the time the playoffs roll around, the Sixers could take a team like Miami or Chicago to at least six games.

 

My West teams are the Thunder, Lakers, and Blazers. I'm not so sure how healthy Manu will be by the time the playoffs roll around (even though he's due back well before them), and the same is said for TJ Ford...just always up in the air for me when it comes to them. The Clippers are a good team, not really that surprising, but I just don't like their style of play, and while they can beat a team like the Heat in a regular season game, I'm not so sure how well they would do against a contender when it's a seven-game series.

[Nitro]

While I think Miami will return to the Finals, I can't count Chicago out. I'd also hate to be the team that has to play Philly in the first or second round. I have a gut feeling that, by the time the playoffs roll around, the Sixers could take a team like Miami or Chicago to at least six games.

 

My West teams are the Thunder, Lakers, and Blazers. I'm not so sure how healthy Manu will be by the time the playoffs roll around (even though he's due back well before them), and the same is said for TJ Ford...just always up in the air for me when it comes to them. The Clippers are a good team, not really that surprising, but I just don't like their style of play, and while they can beat a team like the Heat in a regular season game, I'm not so sure how well they would do against a contender when it's a seven-game series.

 

All the teams you included are the ones I had in mind when I opened the thread. I feel you can maybe add a healthy Grizzlies team to the West, but that's a big question mark.

[Real Deal]

All the teams you included are the ones I had in mind when I opened the thread. I feel you can maybe add a healthy Grizzlies team to the West, but that's a big question mark.

I never had faith in a Grizzlies team with Rudy Gay. He's really the reason why.

[Flash]

I really think its Miami, OKC and Chicago as a distant third. The Bulls are good but I feel like that's a real flawed team come playoff time. They really remind me a lot of the LeBron Cavs. I think Miami/OKC is the matchup everyone expects this year and I think its what we'll see.

[Legacy]

No other team this year will win a championship outside of the Bulls, Heat, Lakers or Thunder. I would put Dallas amongst them, but I feel like Lamar Odom and Vince Carter will cause the team to lose more games than expected. The loss of Tyson Chandler also kills them.

[DunkinDerozan]

In the east I think the Knicks might pull off a deal at the deadline to put them into the running for a championship. In the west I think the thunder and clippers are my front runners right now, and the Lakers might be if they pull off a deal for Dwight.

Edited January 13, 2012 by DemarDerozanDunk

[ChosenOne]

In the East you have Chicago and Miami.

 

Boston - Isn't in sync yet therefore at the moment they imo aint contenders.

New York - They are flat out terrible on offense as they play with no flow what so ever. And they only seem good when Melo is hot, and whens he has an off night he's a black hole.

Orlando - Dwight can't do it all.

Hawks - Once again gonna be a good team but with no true star they just aint gonna be able to get it done. Same shit different year.

 

In the West you have Lakers, Clippers, and Thunder

 

First off yes i said Lakers because they still have Kobe along with 2 good 7 footers.

 

Dallas - They don't have the fire no more.

Grizzlies - Are just like the Hawks not big time star no finals ticket.

Portland - Love this team but i don't this team would be able to beat the Clippers, Lakers, or Thunder in a seven game series.

[Blazed49]

In the East you have Chicago and Miami.

 

Boston - Isn't in sync yet therefore at the moment they imo aint contenders.

New York - They are flat out terrible on offense as they play with no flow what so ever. And they only seem good when Melo is hot, and whens he has an off night he's a black hole.

Orlando - Dwight can't do it all.

Hawks - Once again gonna be a good team but with no true star they just aint gonna be able to get it done. Same shit different year.

 

In the West you have Lakers, Clippers, and Thunder

 

First off yes i said Lakers because they still have Kobe along with 2 good 7 footers.

 

Dallas - They don't have the fire no more.

Grizzlies - Are just like the Hawks not big time star no finals ticket.

Portland - Love this team but i don't this team would be able to beat the Clippers, Lakers, or Thunder in a seven game series.

I think it would depend on if we had home court or not. Against the lakers and clippers I think home court would make a huge difference. Maybe not as much against okc. Regardless I would feel a lot more confident with home court but if we can't get that than it would be super tough.

[headliner]

I look at Boston as a title contender a lot of team are playing 6 games in 8 nights as a result a lot of injuries are happening. This schedule fixes itself come playoff time and if a team like Boston is the 7th or 8th seed do you think a Miami or a Chicago want to play a veteran team like Boston when at that point they will have a chance to rest and there won’t be as many games in a short number of nights?

[Flash]

We beat a better, more rested Boston team last year in 5 games. Now they're a year older.

[headliner]

I think Boston would be a tough out for Miami or Chicago in the first round of the playoffs.

[Finch23]

People give Boston a chance but won't even consider the much younger Spurs in the weaker conference?

[Finch23]

I'm not saying Spurs are title contenders, but Boston?

[Real Deal]

People give Boston a chance but won't even consider the much younger Spurs in the weaker conference?

I'm not so sure the West is the weaker conference. It may feel that way when you look at Miami and Chicago at the top, but after that, I'm not so sure there's anyone else that can beat those two teams.

 

In the West, it's hard to say what teams will survive. Last season, we saw the Grizzlies come out and knock off the #1 (as you know), and they nearly upset the Thunder. Denver has that potential...the Nuggets were running people over in the second half of last season, probably the best team in the conference at that point, and may have done more damage in the playoffs if they had a bit more experience together. Can't count out Dallas yet, either...because if Odom figures his life out and Carlisle starts using him correctly, they can be a tough out, despite not having Chandler.

[Finch23]

I guess I shouldn't have said "weaker" conference. What I meant is there really isn't a clear favorite. OKC is probably favored in the West, but I wouldn't call them the "clear" favorite.

 

Denver plays great "team" basketball, but they still lack that closer. When the game is close down the stretch in the PO I don't trust them to be able to grind it out and get the win. IMO the same goes for Portland, although they have the player(s) to assume that role. (Aldridge).

 

I won't count out the champs, simply out of respect but the bottom line is they are OLD. (Oldest team in the league I believe). This season is going to be difficult for them, especially not having young legs to come in off the bench to give the vets rest. Also the front court outside of Dirk (maybe Odom if he gets going) isn't that good. *Cough Ian Mahinmi Cough*.

 

I think LAL and OKC are the 2 best teams in the West, with San Antonio (with a healthy Manu) and Portland being right behind them.

[Oliver P]

EASTERN CONFERENCE :

 

In the Eastern Conference there are only two true contenders right now in my opinion : the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls.

 

 

The Miami Heat is an obvious choice as they are the East Champions. Besides they are the most talented team in the league on paper. But as I said the whole year long the last season, pure talent is not everything. And the most talented team is not necessarily the one which wins. There are many example of that in the past (I already talked about that many times) and we saw that once again in the last Finals as the Heat lost to a team that was clearly less talented.

 

Which is why I was not convinced that this team would win it all for sure last year (contrary to most people) and why it was not a shock to me to see them lose. I had my doubts about this team and I still have. First of all I am not sure (never was) about the Wade, James, Bosh big three. Those three players are too similar in my opinion. Even Bosh cause, even if he's a big man, he has the game of a forward, he has no post moves and relies too heavily on his jump shot. In terms of pure talent the Rodman, Jordan, Pippen or Bird, McHale, Parish big threes were not as impressive for example. I mean Bird and Jordan were superstars like James and Wade but Pippen and McHale were not. They were second options. And Rodman and Parish were role payers, you couldn't have built a team around them the way the Raptors built a team around Bosh. So in terms of talent the Heat big three is definitely above.

 

However the Bulls and C's big threes were better overall. Why ? Because everyone knew perfectly his role and was the best at it. Parish and Rodman were role players, but they were among the best role players ever, they were perfect teammates, they knew exactly what their team needed and brought exactly that to them. They couldn't do much things on the court, the way stars do (especially for Rodman who was terrible offensively), but they were among the best at what they did best (especially for Rodman who might even be the best rebounder and defender ever).

McHale and Pip were second options, they never succeeded as the first option of the team, but they are probably the best second options ever (that's what I think at least).

Jordan and Bird were the clear leaders of the team while it is still not clear who the Heat leader is. And that's a problem. I think that might explain why LeBron was so good against Chicago and then was terrible against Dallas, and the opposite for Wade, last year. A lot of people think that it's great to have several go to guys, that it's a big advantage cause you have more option in the money time, I highly disagree with that. Everyone can have a bad night, everyone can make mistakes but I think that it's important for a player, if he screws up one time in the money time (happens to anyone, happened to Jordan or Bird several time..), that he still remains the leader of the team and that he still gets the ball in the money time. He might lose all his confidence otherwise...

 

Mental is important in basketball, anyone can lost his confidence the way LeBron did last year in the Finals, but the only way to get your confidence back is to keep trying and so, for a leader, keep getting the ball when it matters. The Heat didn't do that last year, Wade was so good in the Finals that they couldn't do otherwise anyhow. And that's a problem. And why the Heat seemed so lost last year in the Finals but at other times also, and why we still saw them being lost in the money time this year again. And I why I still have my doubts about this team. I know that some people are still 100% sure that this team will win this year (as they were last year..) because they made the Finals in their first year, so they can only get better their second year together. Well I am still not convinced cause in my opinion the Heat were already at their best last year and so they cannot be better than they already were. Their only problem is this « leadership » thing and I am not sure that they can solve it. Besides last year there were not really a true contender in the East, the Celtics became REALLY old, the Bulls were not ready yet (they depended too much on Rose and Derrick was not himself in the playoffs) and all the other teams were not good enough to be contenders.

 

So I think that the Heat are a favorite to win it all, don't get me wrong, their big three is one of the most talented we ever seen and I certainly can't say that I would be surprised to see them win. But, contrary to many people, I still don't see them as THE favorite because of all of that, they are a favorite but other teams are as well, just as much as them.

 

 

The Chicago Bulls were already a fantastic team last year, well they are even more impressive this year in my opinion. First of all they still have the MVP, Derrick Rose, who truly is an unbelievable payer. He literally carried the team on his shoulders last year, the reason why the Bulls were the best team in the East at the end of the regular season was Derrick. And this year the good news is that his teammates are clearly better than last year. We saw that in the last games, when Rose got injured but the Bulls kept on winning. That would have been totally impossible last year. They have developped a real chemistry and this year they are very impressive.

 

They have also solved their SG problem with the signing of Richard Hamilton. Which will also allow the team to be better offensively. However I still think that Rose is not a true PG and that he would be more comfortable as a SG (just like Wade, Dwayne was a PG in his first seasons but he was really more efficient at SG) and so that it would have been better to sign another PG and move Rose at SG instead. But this said Rose can get the job done at PG of course and Hamilton is a very nice acquisition. With this addition, and their better chemistry I believe that the Bulls now have all what they need to win it all. And they are this year my favorite to win the Eastern Conference. We still have to see how Rose will play in the playoffs this year though. But as he has better teammates he'll be able to rest more during the regular season this year, and he's an intelligent man I would be surprised if he wasn't great during this year's playoffs too. We'll see.

 

 

The New York Knicks have the talent to be a top 3 team in the East this year but they are still far from being a contender right now nonetheless... Everyone focus on their PG's problem but that's not their main problem. As a matter of fact the second three peat Bulls won three rings without any PG. Harper was a pure SG, Randy Brown was also a SG despite his size and Kerr was listed at PG but he was not a true one either, Steve was only a shooter, that's the only thing he could do on a court. They had no PG but a lot of players who could get the ball up court, like the ones I mentioned plus Jordan, Pippen or Kukoc. It's the same for the Knicks with Melo, Douglas, Shumpert, Fields and they even have a true PG : Bibby. And soon they'll have Davis who, even if he's getting older and is still injury prone can still get the job done and clearly knows how to run an offense as we saw the impact that he had on both the Clippers' and Cavs' offense lately.

 

So anyway that's still a problem (not everyone is the Bulls, not everyone can win without a PG, especially a team who doesn't use the triangle..) but that's not THE problem. The problem is the chemistry. This team has none. It's that simple. They don't know how to play together and most of the time it seems that Melo plays alone against the opposite team. Let's just say it : this team is a total mess. And the one to blame for that is the coach. So D'Antoni. Honestly I've always stood up for Mike, cause people kept unfairly attacked him since he's in NY. The people who called him terrible since he's in NY are the same who called him a genius when he was in Phoenix.. Which is totally ludicrous to me. Besides it was unfair to judge him as the Knicks were the only team without even ONE star in his first two years. So I stood up for him. Despite the fact that I don't like his coaching, never did... I never considered him to be a genius. Far from it. I didn't like that all offense system. I'm a huge fan of defense. But the fact remains that Mike has had some success in his career, both in the NBA and Europe. He won four champsionships in Europe (as a coach) and he led the Suns to the WCF twice. Not only that but I am convinced (as well as many others) that his Suns would have had a very strong chance to beat the Spurs without the Horry/Nash thing during the 2007 Suns-Spurs, and had they won this series they would have probably won a ring as they were clearly better than the Jazz and Cavs. So it's impossible to deny the man's success. And he's not as terrible as some people make him to be. Just like he's not a genius, he has major flaws (he's quite bad at adjustements and giving confidence to his players for example).

 

Anyway I've been patient with him, I give him credits to what he's accomplished, but it is now clear to me that he is not the right coach for us. I repeat he's the first one to blame for our terrible situation right now. I know that many people rather blame the players, many think that we should trade Stoudemire but I highly disagree with that. It's true that Melo and Stat are quite similar but it still could work. Pippen and Jordan were very similar for example, yet many people consider them as the best duo of All Time... I think that it would be a mistake to change this team now. This team deserves another chance with another coach, a coach more suitable for it. If we still had troubles with another coach, if it became obvious that the Melo-Stat duo couldn't work, then and only then we should make a change in our roster. But not right now. It wouldn't be fair.

 

It's impossible to deny that D'Antoni has been terrible lately. Honestly 11 of our last 13 games, what did Mike do during that time ? Did he try any adjustments ? No. Nothing changed. It's obvious that we have a PG problem (again D'Antoni's system needs a PG, maybe we wouldn't need one with another system..), we have only ONE TRUE PG : Mike Bibby. Not only he barely plays, but when he does D'Antoni rather use him at SG ! That doesn't make any sense to me. And in the money time D'Antoni seems to do with Melo what Mike Brown did with James : he tells him « get the ball and do something with it ».. Many times Melo seemed to be alone against the entire opposite team this year.

 

And D'Antoni uses too much isolation for Melo and Stat. You can use isolation at times but not that often, it just kills chemistry ! Especially that when we really want to play together it ain't that bad.. We just can't build a chemistry with all those isolations. It's ridiculous. Oh and Riley wouldn't have let Iman take 15 shots in one half... No this all situation is definitely totally ridiculous, we need another coach, it is now obvious, and I just can't understand why we don't have a new one already. It is too late to become a real contender this year but we can still do something this year, we could still at least go to the second round, and there's only solution for that : fire D'Antoni.

 

 

The Pacers and Sixers have been very impressive so far. But it's definitely too early to call them contenders. And I don't think that they will be this year. Granger still has to prove that he could be a real leader and the Sixers have a terrific chemistry but they have no one to carry them in the playoffs. And without a true leader you just cannot win a ring.

 

 

I don't believe in the Magic, Celtics and Hawks any more. The Celtics are just too old now. They're always dangerous, it will never be easy to beat them but their last chance to win a ring was two years ago and now they're just too old to win IMO. I think they could go to the semis at best, but they have 0 chance to beat teams like Chicago or Miami IMO.

 

As for the Magic and Hawks, well those teams have reached the maximum of their potential and can't improve the way they are now. And they're just not good enough to win. Howard is still fantastic, he's a professional, but it's obvious that he's already not a Magic any more. And it is obvious that the Hawks need a better leader than Joe Johnson to achieve anything. Besides they lost one of the best sixth man in the league, Jamal Crawford, and replaced him with the old and injury prone McGrady. Nothing good can come out of this. I like the additions of Glen Davis for Orlando and of Ivan « The Terrible » Johnson for Atlanta but both won't be good enough to make those teams contenders. I see the Hawks in the second round at best, and I don't think the Magic will pass the first round.

 

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE :

 

There are only two real contenders in that conference right now IMO : the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

 

 

The Thunder is an easy choice, they improve every year, they were in the WCF last year, and they have the best record in the league this year. They are a fantastic squad and we will certainly hear a lot about them in the 2010's.

 

However, if I don't deny that they are a true contender, I personally still have my doubts about this team. First of all they still lack of something inside. I mean Perk, Ibaka, Collison and Nazr are four very solid players but the fact remains that none of them is a star. Yet only one team (if I'm not mistaken) have won a ring with no star inside, it was the Warriors in 1975.

Besides they clearly lack of scoring big men. And only two teams have won without a big man averaging at least 10 PPG, those were the 75 Warriors and the second three peat Bulls.

 

Another thing that bothers me about this team is that I'm not sure that Westbrook is the right second option for Durant. He tends to take a lot of bad decision and I see him more as a third option.

 

 

I know that many people don't believe in the Mavs this year but I definitely do. Well I was already among the only ones who believed in that team the whole year long last year, so I'm used to it.. The fact is that the Mavs are the champions. And the champions is always dangerous (unless he loses all his players during the summer), it's always the team to beat. Sure the Mavs lost some important pieces this last summer, like Barea and especially Chandler, and I don't deny the importance of Tyson, certainly not, but still the fact still is that Chandler is not Nowitzki. And the first reason why the Mavs won last year was because of Nowiztki's amazing performances in the playoffs and the Finals. And the Mavs still got Kidd, Terry or Marion too. All of them very important part of last year's team. So let's not act like the Mavs lost their best players.

 

Sure the loss of a quality big man is always important, especially nowadays as it's harder and harder to find real good big men. But at the same time the Mavs still got Haywood and Mahinmi. None of them is as good as Chandler but the fact remains that Haywood is a very good defender too and that Ian is clearly improving this season. And has done quite a good job as Haywood back up so far. I am convinced that it can be enough to make up for Chandler's loss.

 

Let's not also forget that the team is overall more talented that it was last year. We all know what Odom did when he was in LA and all that he can bring to Dallas. And if Vince is not the player that he once was he's definitely not done and can bring a lot to that team too. He could be a decent second option for Dirk for example. And Delonte is a terrific back up for Kidd. When Kidd was out this year Delonte did a terrific job.

 

The Mavs haven't been themselves this year so far, especially because Dirk hasn't been himself. He's looked tired (because of the EuroBasket) and has had a bad knee injury. But he's slowly getting back to his best. I have no doubt that Dirk will be at his very best after the All Star game. And once he is, and once the new players are totally used to their new team, this Dallas team's gonna be really dangerous. They definitely can repeat.

 

 

The Los Angeles Clippers are not a contender yet. It's way too early to tell, they still have a lot to prove. But I am personally convinced that they will be a true contender by the end of the season. I know that many people still have doubts about this team but I think that they definitely have a good chance to win it all this year.

 

The reason why many people have doubts about them is because they think the Clips need a true SG to win. Which I disagree with. When Paul was traded I saw many people say that the Clips should get a SG, I always disagreed with that. Cause I clearly remember that Chauncey was a SG at the beginning of his career. And never had any doubt that he could get the job done as the starting SG. Especially that, if he's not the Detroit Billups any more, he's still more than decent and is still a good defender. And to be honest the Billups-Paul combo is even better than I thought it would be. The two players just play PERFECTLY together. And the Clippers backcourt just couldn't be better than it is now.

 

Besides even if the Clippers had a true starting SG, Billups would HAVE to be the SG in the money time no matter what. Mr Bigshot is still one of the very best closers of the game today, he has to be on court in money time. The Jordan, Griffin, Butler, Billups, Paul lineup is the one that has to end the games. Now it could be nice to have another SG to start and to use Billups as the sixth man of the team, which could be great as Billups could be both that SG and Paul's back up. I would agree with that if the Clippers didn't have Mo Williams. Cause excuse me but Mo is absolutely unbelievable as the sixth man, and as both Billups and Paul back up. So the fact is that the Clippers do not need Billups on the bench and he's just perfect as the starting SG.

 

Also it is important to note that Del Negro has used the three PGs Paul, Billups and Mo at the same time on the court many times and it just works surprisingly well. Those three players just work perfectly together. And the Mo, Chris, Chauncey small ball is the best one I've seen since the Iverson, Snow, Mckie small ball. And let's not forget about Randy Foye too, he's played very well this year so far.

 

The Clippers backcourt is just perfect as it is now.

 

The only problem that the Clippers had at the beginning of the season was solved by the arrival of Reggie Evans. As a matter of fact Reggie brought them all what they needed : energy, defense and rebounds from the bench. And now the Clippers have all the pieces they need to win a ring. They have a perfect starting lineup, with both youth and experience, a true leader in Chris Paul (clearly the best PG in the league, he's always in control, always seems to take the right decision, contrary to Rose and Rondo for example who are still a bit young), and a solid bench with Mo, Reggie, Gomes and Randy. And as if it wasn't enough they now got Kenyon Martin, who's gonna bring scoring inside from the bench, and is also a very efficient defender.

 

I repeat they got all the pieces they need to win. And if I admit that it's too early to call them contenders, again they still got a lot to prove, I am sure that they will be by the end of the year. And I personally see them in the WCF instead of OKC, against the Mavs. The last game between the Thunder and Clippers showed exactly what I said earlier, the Thunder are still a bit weak inside, Jordan and Griffin did all what they wanted against the Thunder big men. There's no one in OKC who can stop Griffin or Dirk and that's why I rather see a Mavs-Clippers in the WCF.

 

 

As for the Nuggets and Blazers well I just don't believe in those teams. They both have talent and the Nuggets have an unbelievable chemistry (like the Sixers in the East) but they don't have the leader that a team need to be a real contender. Everyone seems to think that the Nuggets had the better deal in the trade that sent Melo to New York but they forget that as good as they are the Nuggets will not achieve anything without a leader like Melo. And that it's gonna be hard for them to find a player like that again.

 

And it's true that the Blazers got Aldridge but he still has to prove that he can be the leader that the Blazers need now that Roy is retired.

 

 

I don't believe in the Lakers and Spurs any more. It is true that the Spurs are younger than they used to be, the Spurs staff has (once again) done a great job to find new young talented players, but the fact remains that their three best players are now too old. Especially Duncan. Tim just cannot carry the team on his shoulders like he used to do any longer, he just cannot be the Spurs leader any more, and neither Many or Parker are leader materials. And that is why that it just doesn't matter if Many is healthy or injured, until the Spurs get that leader they now have 0 chance to win a ring IMO.

 

Contrary to the Spurs or the Celtics, I cannot say that I would be surprised if the Lakers went back to the Finals. I can't cause after all they still got their two best players, Kobe and Pau, and that contrary to what a lot people say Kobe still is a top three players right now. So I can't say that I would be very surprised but I still don't believe in them nonetheless. Cause honestly they have a lot of problem : the loss of Phil Jackson, the loss of Odom, the fact that they tried to trade Pau (which made him lose his confidence and he already had a confidence problem before that, he's certainly not on his way to get back to the level he was playing at a couple of years ago...), Kobe's divorce, Fisher and Barnes are no starting materials, McRoberts and Murphy won't make up for the loss of Odom, Artest is outta shape and not the player he used to be... Is that enough ? I doubt they can solve all of this. I doubt it a lot.

 

Besides a lot of people were very impressed by the performances that Kobe had this season, I wasn't. Cause I knew that Kobe could still play at this level, it wasn't a surprise to me, the reason why he didn't was because he didn't, he could rely more on his teammates. And now he can't. The team is weaker now and Kobe has to play at this level to make his team win. And he can't play at this level every night. Kobe's great performances just showed us how weaker the team is now.

 

 

I also would like to say a few words about the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now of course I certainly don't consider them as a contender, I am not crazy, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will be one in a couple of years. This team is absolutely amazing and the Rubio, Williams, Love big three is the big three of the future.

 

I hope now that all the people who thought that Ricky didn't want to play in Minnesota know better now. As I said many times the reason why he didn't join the team earlier was because he couldn't, not because he didn't want to play in Minnerapolis... I already clearly explained why and kept talking about that other and other again I am not gonna repeat myself here.

Also I hope that all the people who thought that Ricky couldn't play in the NBA know better now. Not only he definitely can, but he's already one of the best PGs in the league now ! And mark my words : one day Ricky Rubio will be the BEST PG in the world. That kid is amazing, just amazing. I really enjoy watching this young Wolves team and I hope that they'll make the playoffs this season.

 

 

Edit : I wanted to add that for me (I might be the only one) THE favorite to win it all this year are the Dallas Mavericks. As Rudy T said it in 1995 : "never underestimate the heart of a champion".

 

About that I noticed that there were many similarities between the Mavs this year and the 95 Rockets :

 

- both teams had just won a ring the year before

- both teams had/have trouble during the regular season ( so far for the Mavs)

- both teams had major roster changes

- both teams had lost a valuable inside player (Chandler for the Mavs ; Thorpe for the Rockets)

- no one believed/believes that they could/can repeat (except Chris Webber for the 95 Rockets)

 

And the Rockets won their back to back in 95. Will the Mavs do the same this year ? We will see.

Edited February 4, 2012 by Oliver P