There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

[TMagic]

This year, I don't think the Lakeshow are clear cut favorites to win it all. I don't think they are even favorites out west.

Dallas and Denver can beat the Lakers. And I would not be surprised at all if they did just that in the playoffs.

Dallas looks like they are starting to hit their stride with Caron and Haywood. Acquiring Haywood was big for the Mavs. They have not only the talent, but the SIZE to match up with the Lakers. The Lakers size creates a problem for most teams in the league, but that will not be the case with the Mavs. Plus they have defenders that they can throw at Kobe in Caron and Marion. Then they have Dirk who is a matchup problem for the Lakers himself, and can easily carry them in the fourth quarter if the game is close.

Then you have Denver, who showed last year that they can go toe to toe with the Lakers. This year, they seem to play very well against the leagues best. Against teams that I personally think are title contenders (LA, Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, Dallas), they are sitting at a pretty 7-1. It seems as if they play down to their competition as most of their losses are coming from inferior teams. But against good teams, they are very, very good.

It's another three team chase out East. Four teams, possibly with Atlanta. I'm not sold on them yet though.

This year, I honestly feel there are no guarantees. Not even close. There are 6 teams that I can see winning the title. It's a toss up in my book. This may be one of the closest postseasons yet. People say that the NBA is predictable, but I do not think that is the case this year.

What do you fellas think?

[23]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

LA seems to be the favorites every time I hear commentators talk. Even last night they were saying it...

Right now, its the same old thing, only about 4 teams tried to improve to win this past summer and thats pretty much who you expect to see

Spurs seem to have dropped from that radar

[JBH3]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

I dunno...I think Philly can still surprise some and make a push... Nah just playin...

I agree though that there's no "Clear-Cut" favorite. You can make a case for LA, CLE, BOS, ORL, DAL, DEN, and even the SAS.

If I'm CLE I'm hoping that MIL continues to lock down the 8th seed, and Charlotte loses ground because I know CLE does NOT want to face CHA in the 1st Rd.

Can you imagine the backlash if Lebron were to lose in the 1st Rd to the Bobcats, who are 3-1 against CLE thus far this year; having only lost in a game prior to acquiring S-Jax.

For me though I want to see Dallas win it all, and as you've illustrated I think it's well within their reach. Kidd and Dirk get a ring, my fav player Tuff Juice gets one, and the best owner in basketball gets one.

[23]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

I'd rather see Shaq win another one

Oh how this city would hate him even more

[Jasong7777]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

I agree. The playoffs should be great this year. Hopefully all the contenders go into the postseason healthy.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

LA seems to be the favorites every time I hear commentators talk. Even last night they were saying it...

Right now, its the same old thing, only about 4 teams tried to improve to win this past summer and thats pretty much who you expect to see

Spurs seem to have dropped from that radar

Seems like people on t.v. are putting money on Cleveland. I hear LA but I hear Cleveland more

But yeah just like last year there wasn't a clear cut favorite.

Outside of when Boston won, I don't really think there's been a clear cut fave since the Chicago/LA three peats.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

Yeah I don't think the Lakers are a clear favorite at all. The Cavs will win the East for sure, but I don't think they're an automatic in the playoffs, especially if they catch the Magic when they're playing well.

I'm definitely worried about Dallas, but otherwise I think the Hawks might knock off one of the big boys. My Nuggets are the clear #2 team out West still, but both Dallas and Utah have me worried because we don't match up terribly well against them and it would be a very tough out in the 2nd round. Same with the Lakers though, they might catch freakin Portland, Houston, or even SAS in that 8th seed (or DAL, DEN, OKC, UTA in the 2nd) and have a rough go of it.

[23]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

Utah aint going nowhere

[TMagic]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

Seems like people on t.v. are putting money on Cleveland. I hear LA but I hear Cleveland more

But yeah just like last year there wasn't a clear cut favorite.

Outside of when Boston won, I don't really think there's been a clear cut fave since the Chicago/LA three peats.

Out East it wasn't clear who was going to come out on top. In the west, I think it was known that it would be the Lakers, and when the Magic made the finals, I don't think there were many that thought that the Magic could beat the Lakers in the Finals.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

Last year there was no clear cut favorite to win it all.

The best choices were either LA or Cleveland. But there was no consensus or anything like that.

[Cebby]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

This year, I don't think the Lakeshow are clear cut favorites to win it all. I don't think they are even favorites out west.

That's absurd.

The Lakers may not be the clear cut favorites to beat Boston or Cleveland, but they have 5 games on everyone in the West and are definitely the favorites to come out of the West.

[ZB9]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

In games against the eight best teams in the NBA, the Lakers’ record now is 7-8. The playoffs are a different story, but the Lakers are certainly not unbeatable

If I had to put money down on who will win it this season, it would be Cleveland, then Denver

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

The Lakers are not the clear cut favorite out West at all.

They may be "favored" in some circles to come out, but certainly Denver and Dallas are up there in the conversation.

ZB brings up what I was going to point out.. I know there's been some injuries or what have you but LA has not looked good against the best of the best.

Denver especially. The Nuggets have absolutely OWNED LA this year, and it started in the pre-season.

Cleveland has gotten the best of LA as well..

Overall I'm not really "scared" but I won't act as if LA should be favored by a large margin to come out of the West. Denver matches up too well against LA and now that they've been together for a few years the chemistry is certainly there.

Dallas I'm not as afraid of like I said in the other thread, but they have the pieces there on paper. It's just a matter of chemistry.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

That's absurd.

The Lakers may not be the clear cut favorites to beat Boston or Cleveland, but they have 5 games on everyone in the West and are definitely the favorites to come out of the West.

Having the top record doesn't guarantee them coming out of the West... they can easily catch a bad matchup in the 1st or 2nd rounds and get knocked out. I do agree that they'll have the top seed, but I'm not sure that's enough to pencil them in to the Finals.

[Muzyk23]

Re: There Are No Clear Cut Favorites This Year

Magic and Mavs - I'm counting on one of you to win it all