The Western Playoff Race

[Chaser7]

Hey fuck all of you rooting against the Warriors. Jackson is on fire right now against the Suns, ballin.

But we're still fucked since unless Memphis comes up with a miracle it won't even matter if we somehow manage to win this game...

[Lamrock]

Some of us don't live in the Bay Area, and prefer fundamental basketball to video game style.

Go Suns! Hold them off!

[Chaser7]

Then why are you rooting for the Nuggets over the Warriors? They are just as reckless...

hold them off? you mean rally to beat them? hahah still up 6 as I write this...

ANd fuck now they are losing damnit...................

[L10]

Now, the Suns are beating them 117-112 with less than 2 minutes... bad luck chaser, i think your warriors are out

[shadowgrin]

...and the Warriors bandwagoners have nowhere to go.
The Portland bandwagon looks nice next season.

[L10]

Its over Nuggets clinch the 8th spot haha.

[Lamrock]

The Sixers are the new Warriors. just watch.

[Chaser7]

shadowgrin- not all of us are bandwagoners although it sucks that we might only have one really good year depending on how free agency goes...

and lamrock- except the 76ers are a whole lot less interesting...

[Lamrock]

If you lived in Philadelphia you wouldn't be saying that. It isn't like the Warriors would have done anything anyway. How you have a small chance of getting the #1 pick rather than an early playoff exit.

[Chaser7]

Lmfao early playoff exit- haha what a joke. I'm sure you said that too last year Lamrock. Hahahaha. I've watched some philadelphia games, I guarantee they won't be nearly as popular as the Warriors, especially since they will lose to Detroit in 4 games. Also I still don't understand why you like the Nuggets sooo much more than the Warriors when the Nuggets are just as reckless...

P.S. stop saying that they Warriors suck, clearly they don't if they're going to win 49 games (well 48 now, but after beating YOUR Sonics it will be 49). How can you say they wouldn't have made any noise in the playoffs? Last year you probably thought that too. Not to mention they were just a couple unlucky bounces away from going to the conference finals last year. (Jackson's shot rolled out in Game 1, Free throws also rimmed out in game 2).

[Lamrock]

Regressing to the hahahaha state are we? The wound will heal with time. I'm a Sonics fan after all. I'm not saying the Warriors suck. I just don't like them and that they suck relative to the bulk of their competition. I won't give you shit about them for a week though.

[L10]

This is going off topic ...
Back in the western playoff race, if nuggets win the next game they will reach the 50 victories... 8 teams with that at least that record, wow...

[Lamrock]

We were talking about the Warriors, who before a half hour ago were an active part of the Western Playoff Race ...

The funny thing about all eight playoff teams winning 50 games is that not one has 60+ wins. Anything can happen.

[Andrew]

Kind of a shame it didn't come down to the final game of the season for that extra bit of drama, though I'm sure the Nuggets and their fans are fine with locking up a playoff appearance (slightly) before the 11th hour. I'd like to see them come out and win their 50th game even though they don't need it, just to see the staggering accomplishment of eight 50 win teams in the West and eleven overall in the league.

Meanwhile, the Warriors are still going to finish with an impressive record and the Blazers could finish as high as 42-40, records that would qualify for the postseason in the East and would have been good enough to qualifty in the West last season. I admit it's hard to look at those results and argue against eliminating the conferences in seeding the Playoffs but a situation like this is still rare, the result of more than a couple of Eastern teams underachieving and the West being an unpredictably close race.

[Chaser7]

But next year do you see the West being any less competitive? In fact it will be even harder. Houston will get Yao back. Portland will get another lottery pick and get Greg Oden. Clippers might have Brand back and along with a healthy Kaman, thats formidable frontline, especially if they can retain Maggette. That's at least 10 teams competing for spots, maybe 11..

[Oskar]

But hey, if Beasley and Derrick go to East, it will be better already I guess, we'll see if that goes so. Would be kind a sick if East would get both, if Trailblazers would have another BIIG LUCK year, and some other.. Like SuperSonics would get Rose.

[Chaser7]

Um... Beasley and Rose will not solve that there will be at least 10, maybe 11 extremely competitive teams in the West next year. Not to mention, Rose/Beasley could very well end up in Seattle (Or Oklahoma I guess, hopefully Seattle though) since they have high odds, or in Minnesota....

[Skills]

Beasley or Rose won't solve what's happening in the West.
IMO the R.O.Y. goes to the rookie who gets drafted to Miami.
And if the Heat don't get Beasley.. fans =
Anyway, it sucks to see the Warriors not get in this year.
If only they were in the East..

[Andrew]

But next year do you see the West being any less competitive? In fact it will be even harder. Houston will get Yao back. Portland will get another lottery pick and get Greg Oden. Clippers might have Brand back and along with a healthy Kaman, thats formidable frontline, especially if they can retain Maggette. That's at least 10 teams competing for spots, maybe 11..

It will remain competitive but I'd be surprised if seven or eight Western teams winning 50 games with a ninth team coming close to 50 wins and a tenth team at .500 or better. There'll still be tough teams, the conference will be highly competitive but that doesn't mean the records will be as close as they are this year one through eight.

[Chaser7]

What makes you say that? Who do you see dropping off next year?

[Sauru]

imo there is no way next season will be as competitive as this season, so much really came down to the last few games. i have no doubt that there will be alot of good teams in the west still but there is no guarentee that there will be 10 or 11 top notch teams. at this point there are too many unknowns.

[Andrew]

What makes you say that? Who do you see dropping off next year?

It doesn't necessarily mean someone's dropping off. Seven or eight teams winning 50 games is a rarity, I'd be surprised if the West remained as close as race one through eight year-to-year. Also consider that if the Rockets and Clippers win more games next season (to use your examples), those wins are going to have to come at someone else's expense.

For example, if the Clippers were to win 35+ games next season, some of those victories would likely come at the expense of teams like the Nuggets, Warriors and Blazers and likely a few of the higher seeds in the West as well.

That's not to say we definitely won't see a similar situation next year, but I'd be surprised because it doesn't happen very often, at least not to the extent it has this season.

[Chaser7]

True maybe a little at the expense of the Western Conference teams, but more so when the West plays the East IMO. Not to mention, the reason why this year there were so many 50 win teams (and one 49 win team, which was equally good and has *cough Derek Fisher to blame for not making the playoffs *cough), was because no team even won 60 games. It was very even. So maybe next year no one even wins 55 games in the West, but every team is is a lot closer to 50. Ya know?

[Andrew]

A Western team plays fellow Western teams 52 times a season compared to only 30 games against Eastern teams, so they'll be taking more wins away from each other than teams in the East. You're right, maybe it will be a similar situation next year with no one in the West winning 60+ games in a close race from top to bottom but historically speaking, it's not the norm. I'm not saying it cannot happen, I'd just be surprised if it did.

Anyway, history has been made with all eight Western teams winning 50 games with the Warriors winning 48 and Portland finishing at .500 for good measure.