Meet
My Predictions for the West
Posted by: Lee on July 25th, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Hey, just wanted to express my opinions for the upcoming season in the West in my very first blog post.
WEST
1. L.A. Lakers - After upgrading from Jordan Farmar, Josh Powell, and DJ Mbenga to Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Theo Ratliff, Devin Ebanks, and Derrick Caracter, the defending champs will improve from last year’s record even more from the off-season moves. They will be the top team in the NBA. To quote Jazzbots writer James Seaman, “they are firing from all cylinders”. After resigning Shannon Brown, the Lakers will win over 60 games this next season. http://www.nba.com/lakers/roster/10players.html
2. Oklahoma City Thunder – The rising young-stars will be even better than last year and can get even better from their 8 Million in Cap Space. The Thunder’s strong set of 2nd string players with Eric Maynor, James Harden, and Nenad Krstic/Cole Aldrich leading will put up very high bench numbers. Kevin “The Durantula” Durant will once again be the Scoring Champion and also the 2010-11 Season MVP.
3. Dallas Mavericks – With the addition of Tyson Chandler, they finally have a big presence down low with Chandler and Haywood sharing minutes. Jason Kidd will be older, but J.J. Barea and Rodrigue Beaubois will successfully take the reins when needed.
4. Utah Jazz – As much as I would love to put them higher, I don’t think it’s going to happen. After losing Boozer, Korver, and Matthews; the Jazz added Al Jefferson, Raja Bell, and Gordon Hayward. Now, with someone that can actually play Center so Okur can rest (a 6′9 center in boozer does not work), Jefferson makes it so that the Jazz are able to bang down low with the other bigs in the league. They will fight OKC and Dallas for the #2 spot, if everything goes there way, they may even grab that spot. Andrei Kirilenko will not be traded and will play out his contract in Utah. Earl Watson will be a great addition for the Jazz and the Jazz will have one of the strongest benches in the league.
5. Phoenix Suns – Some think that they will drop dramatically from the loss of Amare Stoudemire, but I think that the addition of Josh Childress, Hedo Turkoglu, and Hakim Warrick with the help of Steve Nash will easily clinch the 5th seed for them.
6. San Antonio Spurs – After adding Euro-Giant Tiago Splitter, the Spurs resigned Richard Jefferson. Even though the team is getting older, the new addition of Splitter will let them fight for the 6th spot. DeJuan Blair will once again prove that teams made a huge mistake by passing him up.
7. Denver Nuggets – Having to start the season without Kenyon Martin, Chris “Birdman” Anderson, and their head coach, George Carl; the Nuggets will have to have a bad start to the season, but will bounce back once the whole team is back. Al Harrington will help fill the void slightly before Martin and Birdman fully heal. Ty Lawson will find himself playing better than Chauncey Billups in a few games. With all this Carmelo Trade Hype, it looks as though the Nuggets will be a rebuilding team and will most likely drop to below 10th seed.
8. Portland Trailblazers – Greg Oden will be back, Marcus Camby will play a full season with them, and Wesley Matthews will let Brandon Roy rest without having to worry. Look for them to trade Rudy Fernandez and for Luke Babbitt to have a better season than some of the other Rookies picked ahead of him.
9. Houston Rockets – With Yao Ming healthy, and a legitimate backup in Brad Miller, the Rockets will fight with the Spurs, Nuggets, and Blazers for the 6th seed, but will fall short in a few close games during the season. Having Kevin Martin for a full season will also make the team better. Aaron Brooks will again have a stellar season. Yao Ming and another (Brooks or Martin) will make the All-Star team thanks to all the votes from China.
10. Memphis Grizzlies – After keeping the team almost exactly the same as last year other than switching Ronnie Brewer for Tony Allen, the Grizzlies will have another lottery-bound season. Hasheem Thabeet will show that he deserves to play in the NBA and will get close to 20 minutes a game.
11. Los Angeles Clippers – Now with Blake Griffin healthy and a good showing in Summer League, the Clippers will significantly improve from last year. Al Farouq-Aminu will emerge as the starting SF they have always been looking for. They will once again be lottery bound, but look for them to make some huge upsets against top teams during the season. Eric Bledsoe will learn a lot from playing behind Baron Davis and Blake Griffin will take home the ROY award.
12. Golden State Warriors – With a veteran-leader in David Lee, the Warriors will improve from last season on the backs of their own “Big Three” in Lee, Stephen Curry, and Monta Ellis. Stephen Curry will be the Rookie-Sophomore Game MVP.
13. New Orleans Hornets – Now that the team and CP3 are on “better” terms, I can see them get up to the 10th spot or even make a strong push for the 7th seed. David West will put up All-Star stats with the help from an actual All-Star, Chris Paul. Trevor Ariza will have a high scoring season.
14. Minnesota Timberwolves – The Timberwolves will slightly improve from last year by one or two wins after drafting Wesley Johnson, and adding Michael Beasley and Luke Ridnour. After trading Ramon Sessions and Ryan Hollins to clear Cap Space, they will once again have a slow-improvement season until Ricky Rubio comes over.
15. Sacramento Kings – Tyreke Evans will again put up very good numbers, but the Kings will fall to last place in the West because of the trade for the overpaid Samuel Dalembert. Look for Dalembert’s minutes to dramatically fall with Jason Thompson, Carl Landry, DeMarcus Cousins, and even Hassan Whiteside taking the bulk of the minutes. Maybe even look for a trade involving one of their bigs. If there is a successful trade, the Kings may even end up with a spot as high as #12.
Now for the Playoffs.
1st Round
1. Lakers Vs. 8. Blazers (Lakers in 4)
2. Thunder Vs. 7. Nuggets (Thunder in 6)
3. Mavs Vs. Spurs (Mavs in 7)
4. Jazz Vs. 5. Suns (Jazz in 5)
Conference Semi-Finals
1. Lakers Vs. 4. Jazz (Lakers in 7)
2. Thunder Vs. 3. Mavs (Thunder in 7)
Conference Finals
1. Lakers Vs. 2. Thunder (Lakers in 5)
Tell me what you think!
East Coming Soon!
Replies: 27
Views: 5594
27 Responses
WEST:
1) LAKERS- Screw you Lakers, how dare you get better! Barnes will help significantly and I expect fewer injuries. They won the West last year and I’d expect the same this coming season.
2) TRAILBLAZERS- When they’re healthy, they can be the team to beat. Matthews will help a bit and add some security. I hate them and hope everyone gets injured again though(except maybe Wes).
3) DENVER- They have some real big talent(as well as cheap fouls and dirty play) and if they pull themselves back together again, they’ll be hard to stop.
4) UTAH- We’ve got a solid starting lineup that should be better than last year. Having versatile players with a variety of skills could put us higher than 4th, but it should give us another stong season regardless. Some holes exixst in our rotation. Memo’s return time and success in the new lineup should be a big factor.
5) OKC- They were suprisingly great last year and they are improving faster than any other team in the NBA. I think Durant might be the best player in the game right now and Westbrook is becoming a superstar. This team is a wild card, but their inexperience could hurt them more this year. If all goes well they could easily be 2nd.
6) HOUSTON- Yao’s back, and ready to put these guys back on the map. Martin should increase Yao’s efficiency and Yao should do the same for Martin. I don’t think they have what it takes to go too deep, but they are certainly a threat.
7)PHOENIX- This team will be really interesting to watch. I think Turkoglu is set to have one of his best seasons ever running the floor with guys like Nash and Richardson. If their age doesn’t stop them, this could be a great season for them. It hurts to lose a versatile guy in Barbosa, but Turk and Childress will mix things up.
8)GOLDEN STATE- I think the Warriors got quite a lot better with Lee and if the guys can stay healthy, they can do some winning of their own.
Followed by: Dallas, San Antonio, Memphis, LA Clips
EAST:
1) MIAMI- This team is now the Lakers of the East, except they have bigger stars and to get good they cheated even more than LA did when it got Gasol for nothing. The NBA wants them to win, the vast majority of bandwagon fans wants them to win, and so they probably will.
2) ORLANDO- The Magic are an easy 2nd in the East. We know they have the talent, it’s just a matter of utilizing it and getting some of that veteran swagger that you need to win. If Howard, Carter, and Nelson can step up and not choke or let down their guard, they will win big.
3) CHICAGO- They are definitely better. Their solid young squad has improved fast and Booz adds some offense that will help them significantly. Their bench is very solid as well and having 3 players from the same team should make it even more so.
4) MILWAUKEE- If they were healthy toward the end of last year they could have gone deep. They are determined and did a great job loading themselves full of talent and potential. They are a major wild card and should be even better than their best last year. I like these guys, one of the few teams I can still say that for.
5) ATLANTA- If they couldn’t do it last year, they won’t do it this year either. I don’t think they’re much better, maybe even worse. They had made it to the top of their hill and now they’re going down the other side slowly. Joe Johnson isn’t the answer they need. They can get a good season record, but don’t have what they need to make it far in the playoffs.
6) BOSTON- They still know what it takes to win and if they could stay healthy I think they could beat Miami. But that’s just it, they won’t stay healthy. Jermaine O’Neil replacing Perkins for awhile is not a good thing, but keeps them from dropping off at the beginning of the season. If they can make the playoffs healthy and stay that way, they’re still contenders.
7) NEW YORK- I have a feeling that Amare will keep them in the playoff race and I wouldn’t be suprised if self-absorbed, backstabbing, looking for the easy way out Chris Paul ends up here. They won’t go far if they do make the playoffs, but they won’t be bad.
8- CHARLOTTE- They just weren’t quite good enough last year and they haven’t improved much this offseason, at least so far. They’ll be solid at best, but they need to give it their all and stay injury free to do much.
Followed by: Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia
I like Elliott’s predictions better because he gets the Jazz on the opposite side of the bracket from the Lakers.
Truthfully, your scenario is more realistic. I’m reading a lot comments (on this site) from folks who see the Jazz finishing second. That’s not impossible, but it’s definitely a long shot. We’ve got a lot of question marks (Jefferson’s knee and his ability to adjust, Bell’s health, Okur’s health, Hayward’s development, Fesenko’s developoment, plus AK’s durability is always an issue). That’s a lot of ifs. I think your scenario would actually make it a successful season for the Jazz–getting homecourt in the first round (something the Jazz haven’t done since 2001) and advancing to the second round after a summer with so many changes would be a good sign that the team has held the ship steady and is ready to grow again.
i think that denver should be like 6 the jazz should be2 or 3 and the thunder shoulkd be 2 or 3.
@James
I totally agree with you.
Most of the other predictions put Utah at #2,
but is that realistic?
I don’t think, I would love it if they had that good of a season, but we would need a lot of luck for that.
Idont uderstand how you think okc is better than utah.. not only did the jazz get better but they have 100% inproved on the one thing that loozer and korver couldnt give them, DEFENSE! okc had a great series against the lakers and now wveryone wants to crown them. give me dwill over any player on that team maybe and thats a hard maybe over duraunt.. when we see okc, you will realize how much this team rode a hot streak ito a neworleans hornets type thing when everyone rde chris paul like he was the 2nd coming. Where are the hornets now???
@Marcus…I have to respectfully disagree with you. OKC beat the Jazz 3 out of 4 times in the regular season and they almost came back to beat us in that final game, which would have made it a clean sweep. Durant is a monster. Now, I’m not putting the Thunder in the same category as the Lakers (a team that we simply cannot compete with when they are firing from all cylinders), but I think it’s completely reasonable to rank them as high or higher than the Jazz. They certainly had our number last year, and it didn’t appear to be a fluke.
@James
That is a main reason, I put them higher than the Jazz,
and the other thing is that “The Durantula” is only getting better. The Thunder also have a very strong set of 2nd string players with Eric Maynor, James Harden, and Nenad Krstic/Cole Aldrich leading the bench.
1.) Utah Jazz
2.) Los Angeles Lakers
3.) Oklahoma City Thunder
4.) San Antonio Spurs
5.) Dallas Mavericks
6.) Phoenix Suns
7.) Portland Trail Blazers
8.) Denver Nuggets
@Tony
ha!
Yeah, I wish the Jazz would get the #1 seed, but unless something unfortunate happens to the other top teams, it won’t happen. It is possible, but it is a very slim chance.
@J.C.
I chose Jazz as the number one with my heart, and I’m very confident with all my decisions.
1. lakers
2. mavericks
3. thunder
4. jazz
5. suns
6. spurs
7. blazers
8. warriors
g
1.Lakers
2.Thunder
3.Jazz
4.Mavericks
5.TrailBlazers
6.Suns
7.Spurs
8.Nuggets
Wait are you serious? or is this suposed to be funny? 1st off before i say anything i am a huge Deron Williams fan and a fan of the Utah Jazz. BUT! i am from Sacramento and i am an even bigger Kings fan. And i just want to ask, after all you guys let go so far in the off-season what on earth makes you believe you guys would still be a top 5 contender in the west? after loosing Boozer, Mathews(OMG!), and Kover, and Okur comming from a terrible injury and AK47 just flat out not what he used to be, what makes you beleive your so much higher then other teams? espeacially the Kings. i feel disrepected that you would put us last espeacially over teams like Warriors and Houston. and heres a freindly fact, DENVER hasnt beat us at all last season and the rest of the top 10 teams in the league only beat us by 3 or 4 pts. some lost to in overtime. so we cant be that dam bad man. All im saying is sacramento is going to shock the world next season. because we have weapons and have developed a solid bench. and we are big now. everyone is 6′6′ and above. we are only 1 or 2 moves and a Gaurd away from solid success. its going to get scary out here in SAC, trust. i know it and so do the writers of the nba and espn.
1. Tyreke Evans
2. Francisco Garcia
3. Omri Casspi
4. DeMarcus Cousins
5. Samuel Dalembert
BENCH
1. Beno Udrih
2. ?
3. Donte’ Greene
4. Carl Landry
5. Hassan Whiteside
WEST
1. Lakers
2. OKC
3. Mavs
4. Denver
5. Suns
6. Spurs
7. KINGS
8. Portland
9. Jazz
10. Clippers
11. Houston
12. Grizzlies
13. Timberwolves
14. Golden State
15. Hornets
Mark,
The Kings will be better this year, but I don’t think they’ll make the playoffs. The Jazz will.
There are a lot of question marks about the Jazz this year, but I think we’ll do fine. Home court advantage would be fantastic, so I hope they can pull it off.
The reason the Kings do better against top teams than other teams is because those top teams don’t give it 100% when playing against the Kings. You can tell when watching those games that they are just now trying their hardest.
And putting the Kings at #7?! The Kings?!
Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have put them last,
but the highest they could get would have to be 12th. And I put the Rockets higher than them because the Rockets have a very deep bench and have multiple go-to guys.
I put the Warriors higher than the Kings because they have three all-star caliber players compared to the King’s one.
I didn’t put the Jazz that high because I am a Jazz fan, I put them there because that’s where it looks like they will end up. I think they could even go as high as #2, but also might go as low as #7, so I think the 4th spot is a very realistic spot for the Jazz.
Another thing about the Kings I’d like to mention. They remind me of the where the Thunder was two years ago. They have the young talent but won’t make the playoffs most likely. In a few more years, the Kings probably will be back in the playoffs, much like the Thunder this year (although Evans is no Durant. Great player though).
1-Lakers
2-Mavericks
3-Thunder
4-Jazz
5-Denver
6-Houston
7-Trailblazers
8-Sacramento
@Mark,
with all due respect, The Kings will NOT be making the playoffs this season. If you want to talk about disrespect, that would be putting the Jazz at the 9th seed. Al Jefferson is the size down low Utah has needed for years. Boozer is not a “BIG” man. i’ll miss his animation on the court, but I’m much more excited about having Al Jefferson. Also, Big Al’s #’s are a tad skewed considering he’s been playing in different systems yearly and has not had a single reliable point guard. Here’s two of many reasons the Jazz finish top 4. Jerry Sloan has missed the playoffs three times in the last 20+ seasons. The only time he and the Jazz have missed was due to rebuilding after the Stockton-Malone era. Deron Williams is the best point guard in the game, as was voted yesterday by ESPN’s Sportsnation as the top point guard in the game. Here’s why Sac town is left dreaming in 10th to 15th place. Paul Westphaul. Too Young. You really believe Dalembert is an answer? How’d Philly do last year? On another note… Why rank after 8th place?
Your comment “(Matthews OMG)”…. You’re right…. OMG! How could any team pay 32 million to a second year player? He did well for us, but not 32 million well. Congratulations, Portland, Utah called your bluff and you’re paying a front loaded 9.7 million to a bench player this season. Hayward will COMPLETELY replace Korver. Kyle was a deadly shooter, but sadly very one dimensional. Gordon is much more well rounded as a basketball player. That could be speaking to soon, but I’m very confident in that.
KOC, Rigby and Mr. Greg Miller deserve a round of applause for turning what seemed like a bleek off season into pure gold.
bare with my english…. It’s late.
West:
1. Lakers
2. Dallas
3. Denver
4. OKC
5. Utah
6. San Antonio
7. Pheonix
8. Portland
East:
1. Orlando
2. Miami
3. Boston
4. Chicago
5. Atlanta
6. Milwaukee
7. Washington
8. Cleveland
West Playoffs:
LAL vs. POR (LAL in 4)
DAL vs. PHO (PHO in 7)
DEN vs. SA (DEN in 5)
OKC vs. UTAH (OKC in 7)
LAL vs. OKC (LAL in 7)
DEN vs. PHO (DEN in 5)
LAL vs. DEN (DEN in 6)
East Playoffs:
ORL vs. CLE (ORL in 4)
MIA vs. WAS (MIA in 5)
BOS vs. MIL (BOS in 7)
CHI vs. ATL (CHI in 5)
ORL vs. CHI (CHI in 7)
MIA vs. BOS (MIA in 5)
MIA vs. CHI (CHI in 7)
Finals:
CHI vs. DEN (CHI in 7)
WEST
and a healthy brandon roy portland should be very strong like they were the season before last
Spurs – now the mavericks are old but the spurs are ancient. they will have a rough season but if tim duncan has another 20and10 year in him they will make the playoffs
1) Lakers – always tough. the 3 giants is what makes them always beat the jazz its not kobe that has brought them back to back championships
2) Thunder – very young and very tought westbrook and durant are still improving
3) Jazz – high hopes as always for utah. d-will will be even better and al jeff being able to play center is a huge plus for us
4) Blazers – with help from matthews
5) Nuggets – my least favorite team in the NBA. Melo will cause some drama and they will be no better than last year. harrington is a thug so he will fit in well
6) Grizzlies – this is a bold prediction but i think with gay and mayo still improving memphis could be pretty decent
7) Mavericks – this team is too old. kidd is no longer one of the best point gaurds in the league and i think he’ll show some serious age. and dirks best years are also behind him
9) Rockets – it all depends on Yao. if he comes back strong they’ll have a shot if not they’ll be lower than 9th place
10) Hornets – if chris paul is traded the hornets will make the playoffs. collison is just as good as paul. a trade involving paul would land new orleans an all star. if a trade is not made the hornets will be mediocre
EAST (quickly)
1)Heat – i respect lebrons talent but i hate his ego and his monumental bandwagon. i hate the idea of the big 3 in miami but whether i like it or not the team will be the top seed
2)Magic – they will be tougher than ever and play more as a team than miami
3)Bulls – i’m a boozer fan
4)Hawks – their record will be similar to last year
5)Bucks – if bogut can come back strong milwalkee will do well
6)Celtics – too old and will wear out by the end of the season. rondo is their superstar
7)Bobcats – play good team basketbal
8)76ers – hopefully a drastic improvement from last year
POST-SEASON
ROUND 1
lakers over spurs in 5
thunder over mavericks in 4
jazz over grizzlies in 5
blazers over nuggets in 6
heat over 76ers in 6
magic over bobcats in 4
bulls over celtics in 7
hawks over bucks in 7
CONFERENCE SEMIS
lakers over blazers in 6
jazz over thunder in 7
heat over hawks in 4
magic over bulls in 7
CONFERENCE FINALS
jazz over lakers in 7
magic over heat in 5
NBA FINALS
jazz over magic in 6 (very very doubtful but i have high hopes and i’m aloud to dream a little too)
@mark… the kings picked up a rookie and dalembert they will be better but not a top ten team. They will be very good in a couple years i think. and that little roster update you had just supports everything us jazz fans are saying. haha the kings have hardly any stars they have Tyreke Evans and there is no garantee that cousins will be a star. the rest of the team is mediocre at very best. you are probably in the only person in the world that thinks the jazz will miss the playoffs and the king will make them
Thank you, KOC and the Miller family for an off season of pure gold!
http://dj-nba.blogspot.com/
This is me and my roommate Joe’s new NBA blog site. Please check us out. We will post 6 to 8 blogs a week! We’re two journalism students trying to practice. We would love some input! Thanks!
OK guys cool out the arguments about the West. I am about to give you the reasons why the Jazz will end up either 2 or 3 in the west.
1. Lakers are number one. Most people agree with this and as I am a hopeful Jazz fan I also know they will still beat us in the playoffs because they have the length. We improved our length problem, but without a decent backup center, we just don’t have the length. (Okur doesn’t count as length because he is simply a 7′ perimeter shooter.)
2. We are either 2 or 3 and I will tell you why. DEFENSE. Look at what we struggled with last year and the year before that, and the year before that. Look at what we gave up this offseason. KOC knows what he is doing. I give him a ton of credit.
Let’s start with Boozer. Boozer was amazing on the offensive end but on the defensive end he was lacking to say the least. It did not help that Okur did not help him much because of his perimeter play. Okur and Boozer for AL Jeff and Millsap. Great deal. We get a center who can play defense and we get a PF who can play defense much more than Boozer. We just upgraded 2 spots just by getting rid of Boozer and Okur being injured.
3. Ok now how about Korver. Korver though I loved his 3point game, that is all he can ever be. He does not play defense well and gives up as many points as he makes. We get an upgrade in a more all around player (crosses fingers) with Gordon.
4. AK-47 plays (hopefully) the 3 and starts. Look now at our starting 5 compared from last year in terms of offense and defensive minded players.
At the 5. Okur totally offensive minded to AL Jeff who is both D and O minded. This is an upgrade and when Okur comes back he should be the 6th man.
At the 4. We traded up here too. Boozer who is completely offensive minded to Millsap who is completely unselfish and defensive minded. This is an upgrade.
At the 3. Think of having AK-47 on the floor next to Millsap and AL. Come in that lane anyone???
At the 2. I would have loved to have kept Wes but not for that salary and a good thing came out of it. Bell. Assuming he is healthy, all the stud 2’s in the league, (including Kobe) watch out. Bell is defensive minded but can play offense. Upgrade in my opinion. Plus he brings the veteran experience which we so desperately need.
At the 1. D-will. Need I say more. Another year under his belt and now has a center and all players on his starting 5 with unselfish attitudes. Our offense WILL be firing on all 5 cylinders this season. Wait…..I thought I said defense is the key??? Yeah, that is what I said, our defense will win us ballgames and defense wins championships. WE, the UTAH JAZZ, at least in our starting 5, has that DEFENSE!!! (FINALLY)
At the Coach!!! We still have one ace in the hole. We have a coach who knows how to conduct an offense. The Pick and Roll boys and girls. Our offense will take care of itself because of Jerry Sloan and the way the Utah Jazz play. Now that we have the DEFENSE we will win more games. Our offense has BEEN good. Why shouldn’t it be??? We have the best point guard in the leage running it and the best coach in the league conducting it.
Everyone knows that defense creates offense. We did that a little in years past but not really. Anyone can play well when they have 19911 fans screaming for you, but now we will have the defense to win the close ballgames on the road. Look at us to win many more games on the road this year than in years past. This will win us enough games to put us at the number 2.
cough*** (bought) Talent, bench, and length still go to the lakers however, which is why we still lose to them in 5 or 6 in the playoffs when we meet them. The road to the finals will go through LA, mark my words and until we have the length and at least as deep a bench as them, we will not beat them in the playoffs. (barring injury or someone else pulling off beating them)
Other than the Lakers, we will beat anyone else we play in the playoffs. I might be eating my words come playoff time, but I am usually not wrong about these things. Happy dreaming and happy blogging. Have a wonderful rest of your summer and see you in the fall when the Jazz kick it off. We will be number 2 in the West.
Dallas? #3? NO! Tyson Chandler isnt going to give them the 3 seed.
OKC? I kind of am on the fence about them. They are great and have any amazing team BUT lack experiance.
West: East:
1.Lakers 1.Heat
2.Blazers 2.Celtics
3.Jazz 3.Bulls
4.Suns 4.Hawks
5.Thunder 5.Magic
6.Mavricks 6.Bucks
7.Nuggets 7.Knicks
8.Spurs 8.Wizards