[B1AZE]

ATL is in the other conference but the Blazers are good and deep.

by the end of the year:

(1) Oklahoma City
(2) Portland
(3) Lakers
(4) Memphis
(5) Clippers
(6) Dallas
(7) San Antonio
(8) T-Wolves / Denver

[PR9]

I'm a Miami fan, have been since their inception.

And Portland would scare me more in a 7-game series than any other team in the west.

The Heat match up very well against the Lakers. Along with Portland, OKC is also a concern because of their athleticism and the position play of their best players.

Heat would destroy denver (though I like denver from a betting standpoint as their money in the right spot). Heat would own san antonio and their old legs like Miami owned boston in last year's playoffs. Heat would own clippers, as well as own the current Dallas team without Chandler's inside presence and without Stevenson's fantastic perimeter defense.

1) Portland and 2) OKC are the worst matchups for miami.

signed,
longtime Heat fan

[yisman]

No, portland and clippers not two best teams.

[wantitall4moi]

If Clippers would play defense which sets up their style they would be the best team in the eague. Problem is theyre having issues with defense will have to see how they turn it around, last night was a glimpse. Obviously it was against a tired Houston team that cant play defense themselves, but you saw what Clippers can do in transition.

Jordon is a monster in the middle and once he learns how to play basketball will be a legit center. Same as griffen guy is going off pure talent if he really knew how to play.... Paul is paul and will get it done regardless. Then you have Billups old but less years than Kobe and a hell of a lot fewer games on his legs. Then you look at their bench, Mo Williams could start for 75% f the teams out there, and he was an all star not too long ago. Gomes started for the Clippers last year and he wsnt horrible, so another starting caliber guy off the bench. Then guys like Foye and Cook who are more than serviceable and they have some talent. They just have to learn how to play together. This team was more or less thrown together and will take time to get in sync. Miami same way last year, all the talent in the world but started out like shit and really didnt get it together until the play offs. Where they still got beat by a better TEAM. But as a team in whole Clippers have more talent than just about everyone at all positions.

Portland is good, same boat though, added a few new pieces. Have to learn to play on the road.

West has a lot of deeper teams than the East, East has big name guys on teams with not much depth. Short season will test that to be sure. The usual suspects are close to the top as talent will win early but as the season drags on and you get tired and beat down and that talent has to rest or nurse a boo boo or two thats when depth will start to show. Clippers have a real easy early schedule, they have played half the games of most teams, plus they have been able to rest guys in a couple blow outs in game where they played well, going forward that is going to matter. It will probably show as well. They gel at the right time and everyone stays healthy they have as good a shot as anyone to win, assuming they learn to play defense, which looked better last night but one game against Houston on a BB isnt enough to go on.

But by watching and listening to them they get it Paul was interviewed 3 or 4 times, every one of them he said they needed better defense, not concerned about how they can score at will or basically out score people he said and addressed the REAL issues the team has. Not in hype mode not being cliche or towing the usual sports rhetoric. He knows that if the Clips can play defense even moderately well theyre a very dangerous team. In transition theyre basically unstoppable.

[HoulihansTX]

Whenever they fire Vinnie Del Negro, the Clipps will be much better. Vinnie is probably the 2nd worst coach of defense in the league. Bulls were horrific defensively, then saw an immdiate turn around once the hired Thibbs. Clipps will not be a contender until Vinnie is fired.

[lunchbawks]

Clippers starting 5 is the best in the league.

Paul
Griffin
Jordan

Instant playoff seed. too bad their bench is all scrubs

[wantitall4moi]

Whenever they fire Vinnie Del Negro, the Clipps will be much better. Vinnie is probably the 2nd worst coach of defense in the league. Bulls were horrific defensively, then saw an immdiate turn around once the hired Thibbs. Clipps will not be a contender until Vinnie is fired.

the old addage was you couldnt coach defense you just had to hope guys did it. Phil jackson never once coached a defensive set in his career yet he didnt have any problems winning.

Who knows its somewhere in the middle I guess. Zone looks to be the killer for most teams right now, so I am sure a lot of teams will be playing zone going forward especially against athletic free wheeling clubs. Only issue will be how refs start calling illegal defenses.

[wantitall4moi]

Clippers starting 5 is the best in the league.

Paul
Griffin
Jordan

Instant playoff seed. too bad their bench is all scrubs

LMAO if Brian Cook, Mo Williams, Ryan Gomes, and Randy foye are scrubs I would hate to hear what you think of the lakers bench. Mo Williams and Ryan gomes could start for mre than half the teams in the league. Foye and cook would start for a few of the worse teams probably. That isnt counting Bledsoe who is hurt, only his second year but his first year he was more than useable.

[MarlinsFan2212]

There are only 3 teams in the NBA I can see beating Portland in a 7 game series. Miami, OKC, and the Lakers. They are that good. They have a stud in Aldridge, and a very very deep roster. Not a deep roster with good role players, but a roster that is full of good players.

They have the best Home-Court Advantage of any team. A top 5 coach in the NBA. Can play a fast or slow tempo, and have 6 guys averaging double figures right now.

I liken them to Dallas of last year. Stud at PF in Aldridge, a group of star caliber players around him, and a deep bench. Blue collar team too. Will never quit on a game, and as NBA fans its definitely a team your respect.

I think ideally they need someone to step up and become a consistent #2 Star. Wallace is good, but he had 0 pts against LAC the other night. Either this or they need Oden to come back and be 70% of what he was. If he can do that, he will take tremendous pressure off of Aldridge.

[wantitall4moi]

LOL at the Lakers having a chance to beat them in a 7 game series.

Also as far as defense goes, other than SA Clips havent been too horrid on D. And even against SA they played OK but SA just didnt miss anything. Chi did shoot 50% but it wasnt really that that did the Clips in but the 30 points or so Chi got from the foul line. Because the Clips actually shot better than Bulls did from both areas but had a lot less foul shot attempts and makes obviously. So the score was misleading there.

They shut down Portland who had been scoring lights out and who just scored over 100 at OKC and beat them. Coincidence? Anomoly? Or pattern? If Portland blows out Lakers tonight and score over 100 I will say it was Clippers that was the difference and nt just a 'bad' game. Especially since everyone seems to think the Lakers are some sort of defensive juggernaut.

It is still early but certain teams are playing as one would expect, and a few other teams are getting more credit than they deserve and other getting more criticism than they deserve.

We will know what the Clippers are a the end of this month as they have a pretty tough list of opponents, but the schedule isnt horrible. But it will be a very good baramoter as to how they can play against the bigger names in the league.

They are @ port then home to Mia with no rest, then the lakers after a couple days, then a few scrubs, then Dallas and Minn, both at home tho so should be wins, tor at home a few days off then back to back against lakers and Memphis, then they are at Den and home to OKC. So if they are really going to be good they should wina majority of those games mostly because theyre home in them.

But when you look at their schedule it appears pretty easy. They hve a bunch of road gaes in a row in March but mostly against scrub teams. April is where they start playing some legit teams on the road, but by then they should be plenty tested and if they get on a roll that is a major confidence booster.

[HoulihansTX]

LMAO if Brian Cook, Mo Williams, Ryan Gomes, and Randy foye are scrubs I would hate to hear what you think of the lakers bench.

As written by ESPN's John Hollinger, "Brian Cook is the worst rotation player in the NBA."

[wantitall4moi]

As written by ESPN's John Hollinger, "Brian Cook is the worst rotation player in the NBA."

Quoting an ESPN guy on something that actually matter is a frigging joke. When was the last time anyone from ESPN was right about anything? At least something they didnt steal from someone else anyway.

Getting sports information from ESPN would be like getting dinner advice from Swanson's.

[HoulihansTX]

John Hollinger is an acredited journalist for ESPN .com, and uses math models as the basis of his opinions. He does not make a comment unless his data agrees. He does research, and I do not lump him together with the rest of the ESPN guys who do little to no research.

[HoulihansTX]

Nevertheless, I watch a majority of the Clippers game, as they are shown on local cable, and I wonder how that guy receives major minutes. He is slow, unathletic, and has no offensive game. Brian Cook is basically a veteran, who causes no problems and plays for cheap.

[demens]

John Hollinger is considered one of the bigger jokes in the NBA community. Most consider him a laughing stock because all he does is use his math models sometimes making it sound like he has never even seen a basketball game in his life.

In either case. Brian Cook can't be described any other way then "scrub" as most of the Clipper bench. Not sure what the argument is about is. Even Hollliger got this one right.

[wantitall4moi]

cook can drop down 3s better than most guys certainly better than most 'big' men, he just never got utilized right by Philip when he was with the lakers and when he was with Orl he didnt get the best group to play with thus suffered from that. Not to mention he has had injury issues which I dont think necessarily constitute being a scrub, when he plays he is relatively effective if used properly.

[Tree Rollins]

I was going to get involved in this thread, then i realized that it was turning into an argument about whether or not Brian Cook is a quality rotation player in the NBA. Enjoy yourselves. I'll just move on now.....

[zsr]

Brian cook should not be a rotation player. To even argue this is just pointless.

Anyway, Portland looks better then I thought, not because of Crawford but because of the revival of Gerald Wallace this year.

[PR9]

As I have been saying since the start of the season..


Portland and OKC are the class of the west. Portland is FOR REAL and an incredibly well constructed and built team.


Anyone who couldn't see how good they are, and how well built they are, and the incredible amount of mismatches they represent -- have absolutely no clue about the game of basketball.


I absolutely love them... as I've said all along.

[zsr]

They wouldn't be a threat if gerald Wallace wasn't playing as good as he has this year, obviously. If he played like he did most of last year there a 4-6 seed

[paco]

And woulda been even better if Roy didn't retire. Championship caliber with BRoy

[DiggityDaggityDo]

Blazers and Bulls, guy.

[PR9]

Actually Denver will be a top 6 team this year too. Maybe Memphis or Dallas slides off.

Denver is a poor rebounding team and that will kill them in the playoffs. That will be Denver's downfall in the playoffs. Portland is a great rebounding team. Rebounding gets the rings.

Again, Portland and OKC are the class of the west.

Forget about previous years. THIS is THIS year. Look at Dallas, no one thought they'd do anything last year because of what happened in the past. Those people are idiots.

this is a different Portland team that poses some extreme matchup problems. They are FOR REAL. Period.

[Tree Rollins]

Denver is slowly becoming an overrated team. Already. It won't show in the regular season, but you'll see it in the playoffs. They don't have a true go to guy in crunch time. They rely a lot on the outside jumper. Nene is their only true big man, and he's solid, but he's a little overrated as well. He only averages 6.9 rebs a game for his career, which is pretty awful for your best big guy. He's doesn't protect the basket. Not much of a shot blocker. Only scores about 13 a game. Doesn't shoot free throws well. I mean, the guy was going to get a max deal. He's a good center, but him being so overrated is a big reason Denver has become so overrated.

[PR9]

^ Nene is a PF not a center. He's playing out of position at times because they have no other choice.

Another problem with Denver is when the playoffs roll around is Nene will get into foul trouble because they don't have the switching defensee capabilities as they had with K-mart there.

Teams will expose that when opposing teams hunker down and game plan for a 7-game playoff series.

Portland doesn't have those problems. They are a far FAR more well rounded team than Denver.

Denver is an excellent team to get on in the right spots, for betting in the "regular" season. But as far as long term outlook in the playoff picture, They will get bounced. They're 1st round fodder. Regular season basketball is an entirely different animal and game than "post" season basketball.

[Tree Rollins]

^ Nene is a PF not a center. He's playing out of position at times because they have no other choice. Another problem with Denver is when the playoffs roll around is Nene will get into foul trouble because they don't have the switching defensee capabilities as they had with K-mart there. Teams will expose that when opposing teams hunker down and game plan for a 7-game playoff series. Portland doesn't have those problems. They are a far FAR more well rounded team than Denver. Denver is an excellent team to get on in the right spots, for betting in the "regular" season. But as far as long term outlook in the playoff picture, They will get bounced. They're 1st round fodder. Regular season basketball is an entirely different animal and game than "post" season basketball.

That actually isn't true. He plays a lot of center. He's a forward-center, and that's what every website describes him as. To say he is only a center isn't true, and either is saying he's only a forward. But to say "he is a PF not a center", that's not true.
Anyway, who cares what his title is. I agree w/ your point about Nene and foul trouble. He's foul prone to begin with, and the way their roster is built, they can't afford to lose him for long stretches. Denver will go into the playoffs with a lot of hype, and fizzle out pretty quickly.

[zsr]

Why is Denver even being discussed? Everyone knows there going to lose in the first round

[beerman2619]

Blazers? Rofl....

dumb buck

[wantitall4moi]

TNT guys couldnt ball wash them enough last night thats for sure.

They still have to show they can win on the road (more than just one game). Then actually getting out on the road would be good too. Winning in that bullring hasnt been a problem for them, especially against LA. So that win was a foregone conclusion for most. We will see when they go up against the Clippers. Clips got them in LA if Clips shut them down and beat them in the garden then it would be safe to say Clippers are a better team. If it is close or a flukey game then the debate can continue. But Portland is in the same boat as a few teams, a lot of easy games at home with a couple ough road games mixed in. They won one of theirs against the big name team so they get a lot of accolades. If thy go in to Pho tonight and lose, even though it is a back to back game that is a small concern. If they win theyre supposed to it is Pho and Phoenix sux. Still early yet. If they can beat these teams on the road they beat at home it will help.

But as an aside if you guys love Portland so much you better start loading up on the 76ers whenever they get home since they were right there with portland in that first game and Portland was lucky to win, and Philly is 3-2 (should be 4-1) and havent had a home game yet.

[PR9]

But as an aside if you guys love Portland so much you better start loading up on the 76ers whenever they get home since they were right there with portland in that first game and Portland was lucky to win, and Philly is 3-2 (should be 4-1) and havent had a home game yet.

Dont make things up. Portland was in total control of that game, as i watched it. They were up by 16 points in the 4th qtr and Philly made some empty baskets in the end that didnt mean anything. Williams hit 4 straight shots in the final minute and a half to make the final score -game- look closer than it really was

http://www.nba.com/games/20111226/PHIPOR/gameinfo.html

[wantitall4moi]

Dont make things up. Portland was in total control of that game, as i watched it. They were up by 16 points in the 4th qtr and Philly made some empty baskets in the end that didnt mean anything. Williams hit 4 straight shots in the final minute and a half to make the final score -game- look closer than it really was

http://www.nba.com/games/20111226/PHIPOR/gameinfo.html

ahh if you watched it then you know philly shot like shit the first quarter and Portland shot lights out. I think Philly outscored them in every qurter after that. They closed the gap a few times in that game. But since you like to cite where 76ers hit lucky shots the same could be said about Portland when they opened it up, it was 72-2 or something like that near the end of the 3rd and Portland hit 5 threes in a row to blow it open a little bit. THAT is the NBA, teams make runs and no lead is safe. With 20 seconds or so to go Philly was right in it. regardless of how people want to look at the scores and the leads leading up to that point. Sacramento was losing by 21 at the have and 15-16 in the third quarter how did that work out?

Philly didnt quit (like the Lakers did last night) and they were in it at the end with as good a chance as Miami had last night against atl....oh wait Miami won too. The philly guy just happened to miss his shot. if he makes then who knows. So what changed? teams got lucky or was it because the other team was so much better? If you want to break down a game know a little bit about how the ebb and flow of the NBA works.

[wantitall4moi]

Shameless bump for JJ since he thinks I am so sharp....

Like I said Portland is a nice team AT HOME, they get totally destroyed by a horrible Pho team last night. Sure just one game but to me that is coaching. Going in expecting a win and trying to coast through it. That embarrassment may end up helping them in the long run.But if it is more than a lack of focus it wont. I will show a pattern of the inability to win on the road.

Philly total blow out of Detroit which was no shock, the -8 opener was though.

[PR9]

^ that's ridiculous

Every team takes a night off once in awhile. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. And ESPECIALLY in this condensed season playing 66 games in 124 days.

Vegas TOLD YOU it was Portland's turn when they released that low line yesterday and it didn't move despite a vast majority of the bets going to Portland (after showcasing themselves successfully in front of millions of people on national TV the night before).

Read the lines. They tell you everything.

[wantitall4moi]

^ that's ridiculous

Every team takes a night off once in awhile. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. And ESPECIALLY in this condensed season playing 66 games in 124 days.

Vegas TOLD YOU it was Portland's turn when they released that low line yesterday and it didn't move despite a vast majority of the bets going to Portland (after showcasing themselves successfully in front of millions of people on national TV the night before).

Read the lines. They tell you everything.

LMAO yeah keep telling yourself that. This isnt a 82 game season it is 66. Wins matter MORE. This team is supposed to have depth, that is all anyone talks about on this team how they have a bunch of guys on their bench that can start for other teams. Well Pho blows. That loss took Portland from first place to third place in their division. Why take a night off against Pho when you have a day off then play Cle at home where they have a much better chance of winning if they feel the need to take it easy. Not ot mention that Portland has an easy to spot pattern of not being able to win on the road, so why nt ry and instill an attitude of winning on the road against a clearly inferior opponent?

As far as the line it took two way action all day, so it wasnt 'vegas' telling us anything it was the people who arent buying into all the trailblazer hype despite the guys at TNT basically saying they are the best team in the west. Some gamblers are smarter than others and they know Portland has problems on the road, beating OKC to them didnt mean much obviously.

But if Portland really thinks theyre good enough to give games away against teams they should be able to beat in their sleep theyll end up like they always do on the road in the play offs and an easy out.

[beerman2619]

LMAO yeah keep telling yourself that. This isnt a 82 game season it is 66. Wins matter MORE. This team is supposed to have depth, that is all anyone talks about on this team how they have a bunch of guys on their bench that can start for other teams. Well Pho blows. That loss took Portland from first place to third place in their division. Why take a night off against Pho when you have a day off then play Cle at home where they have a much better chance of winning if they feel the need to take it easy. Not ot mention that Portland has an easy to spot pattern of not being able to win on the road, so why nt ry and instill an attitude of winning on the road against a clearly inferior opponent?

As far as the line it took two way action all day, so it wasnt 'vegas' telling us anything it was the people who arent buying into all the trailblazer hype despite the guys at TNT basically saying they are the best team in the west. Some gamblers are smarter than others and they know Portland has problems on the road, beating OKC to them didnt mean much obviously.

But if Portland really thinks theyre good enough to give games away against teams they should be able to beat in their sleep theyll end up like they always do on the road in the play offs and an easy out.

How stupid are some people that post on here? Portland didn't get into Phoenix till 5 in the morning son. Coming off a back to back fatigue set in and Portland got blown out. Nothing more nothing less Portland will still be one of the top teams out west.