We continue with a look at the Western Conference, if you missed out here is the link to Part I.
THE CONTENDERS
These are the teams that are playoff contenders but have a couple questions or missing pieces that put them below the big 3.
Houston: I was ever so tempted to put them in the elite but they haven’t gotten out of the first round so it would be overrating them. But this is my pick of a team to make some noise out West this year. Tracy McGrady is coming off one of the best years in his career as he had career high in assists (6.5) and is a very motivated man. You all saw his interview before the first round series and the painful one after the Game 7 loss. To say the man is on a mission would be one of the biggest understatements of the year. Add to that the fact that Houston not only acquired an offensive coach in Rick Adelman but they also have finally put some offensive weapons around T-Mac and Yao to make their lives easier. Bonzi Wells is playing for another contract AND is playing under a coach he likes. Expect big numbers from him. Steve Francis and Mike James are major upgrades over John Lucas and Kirk Snyder. Luther Head and Shane Battier give them two great perimeter options and let us not forget about the acquisition of Luis Scola. Scola looked impressive at the Tournament of Americas and should be more reliable than Juwan Howard and Chuck Hayes. I still have a couple of concerns with this team. As great as Adelman and T-Mac are…they both have labels of choking. Can they shake them off? We shall see. I’m not concerned about Yao adjusting to the high-tempo offense I mean for pete’s sake a) he’s Yao Ming and b) if Kevin Duckworth and Brad Miller could do it, he can do it.
Utah: The Jazz were the surprise of 06-07, the Cinderella if you will. I’m a little iffy on whether they can do it again though. Scratch that I’m very iffy on if they can do it again. Deron Williams grew into one of the NBA’s elite PG’s last year, can he keep it up or will he have a letdown? It is good to see Carlos Boozer returning to being the bruiser he is known for being. Can Okur knock down shots like he did during the season or will he disappear like he did against the Spurs. How about this whole AK storyline? I will say this; the Jazz have a great system and a tremendous pick-and-roll. I’ve said it a million times but it is like pick your poison. Either Williams is going to take you and score or he’s going to dump it to Boozer or it is a cross-court pass to a wide open Okur for a three. That being said…I don’t like their depth. To go from Derek Fisher to Jason Hart is a major downgrade. Hart doesn’t have the experience or the stroke like Fisher does. To be honest, Fisher’s amazing performance I think won them that series. If it wasn’t for him the Warriors were winning that game. At shooting guard they have Gordon Giricek. That’s. About. It. Too many questions surrounding this team as of right now for me to fully endorse them. However given their weapons, the system and the fact that they are a tremendous home team force me to put them up here. For pete’s sakes they won 51 games last year.
Denver: Remember people this team won 16 of their last 22 games to end the season. Had they not run into the Spurs in the first round who knew what would have happened. A full season of Melo and AI? How can you not believe in Denver, especially after the summer Melo had. I was about to talk about the lack of depth around them, but seriously people when you have Melo and AI you don’t need too many other scorers. They have decent role players who will play their roles. Will Nene and Camby be able to stay healthy and provide the same defensive anchors as last year? Who knows. The questions are out on this team but we all know George Karl always finds a way to coach a great regular season team and this year will be no different. Seriously, how good is Carmelo Anthony about to be this year. *shudder*
Golden State: This will be Nelson’s first full year with a team of guys he wants. He won’t have to deal with a broken and unhealthy team for half of a year. All of this of course means watch out Western Conference. This is a team that snuck into the playoffs with a horrendous road record (12-29). This year they have a different confidence and a different swagger about them. Do not downgrade the signing of Troy Hudson as that could take smallball to the next level. Imagine the matchup problem if Golden State threw out a lineup like Hudson, Monta Ellis, BD, Steven Jackson and Al Harrington? Let us not forget they now have a lights out shooter in Marco Belinelli who will give them not only a huge perimeter boost but some of that Euro toughness as well. When it is all said and done this is a team that needs Baron Davis to stay healthy. As great as he played last year and in the playoffs, the man has not played a full regular season since 01-02. An injury to BD could take this team down a couple notches.
And now a sub-division of ‘The Contenders’ I like to call
MAYBE SO/MAYBE NOT
Lakers: There are a couple reasons that I have the Lakers down here and not as a lock as playoff contender. First off all of the not so dramatic drama can’t be good for a team. Secondly, Lamar Odom is still coming off of that injury. The key to the Lakers success (besides Kobe) is health. They were rolling early on last year until they got hit big time by the injury bug and they scrambled back to make the playoffs. As soon as I can get an update on Lamar I would raise them back up. But until then, without a full team this Laker team will have their struggles. Kobe and Phil are in for a challenge. Kobe is too good for this team to not get into the playoffs though.
Hornets: It wouldn’t be surprising if the Hornets snatched the 7 or 8 seed and it wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t. On paper they have a strong core; Chris Paul, a great post one-two punch of Tyson Chandler and David West and Peja Stojakovic. Peja has to be healthy for this thing to work, Chris Paul has to be healthy for this to work and guys like MoPete and Julian Wright have to contribute and pan out. There are no for sure clear answer with the Hornets which is why it could go either way with them. They are a couple injuries away from being close but so far.
Back tomorrow with the rest of the West and the East.