2013-2014 NBA Season

[Duvalier]

Who do you think comes out of the West? I'm thinking Doc Rivers has a big impact on the Clippers. That conference really is wide open though...you can make a case for like five or six teams.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Duvalier

Who do you think comes out of the West? I'm thinking Doc Rivers has a big impact on the Clippers. That conference really is wide open though...you can make a case for like five or six teams.

I'm not sold on the Clippers at all. It is a great landing spot for Rivers but IMO his impact will be a bit overrated. A lot depends on injuries really. I dont like having to depend so much on Crawford like the Clips do when Paul isnt in the game. They will have a lot of trouble guarding bigger guards with Paul and Collison backing him up. I like Reddick and Crawford better off the bench but one has to start. If you have Collison and Crawford on the court at the same time you have to have Jordan in as well or it will be a layup drill. Jordan is really the key to this team, as they can afford to have minus defenders all over the place outside of Barnes with him in the game protecting them rim. I know I hated a lot of the things Del Negro did but Paul more or less runs the team on the floor and dont think the in game managemt was as bad last year as it was in prior years. Be a fun team to watch but I dont see them making it out of the West again.

If Curry and Bogut stay healthy, If the older Spurs stay healthy, If Miller stays healthy in Memphis, If Westbrook comes back healthy... lot of if's healthwise in the West. I guess the biggest question mark healthwise in the league would be Wade. He looked pretty bad for a good portion of the playoffs. Without him being at least 90% of himself it is hard to see Miami winning. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Indiana played them extremely tough and if Allen doesnt hit that unbelievable 3 point shot the Spurs are defending the title.

[Duvalier]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I'm not sold on the Clippers at all. It is a great landing spot for Rivers but IMO his impact will be a bit overrated. A lot depends on injuries really. I dont like having to depend so much on Crawford like the Clips do when Paul isnt in the game. They will have a lot of trouble guarding bigger guards with Paul and Collison backing him up. I like Reddick and Crawford better off the bench but one has to start. If you have Collison and Crawford on the court at the same time you have to have Jordan in as well or it will be a layup drill. Jordan is really the key to this team, as they can afford to have minus defenders all over the place outside of Barnes with him in the game protecting them rim. I know I hated a lot of the things Del Negro did but Paul more or less runs the team on the floor and dont think the in game managemt was as bad last year as it was in prior years. Be a fun team to watch but I dont see them making it out of the West again.

If Curry and Bogut stay healthy, If the older Spurs stay healthy, If Miller stays healthy in Memphis, If Westbrook comes back healthy... lot of if's healthwise in the West. I guess the biggest question mark healthwise in the league would be Wade. He looked pretty bad for a good portion of the playoffs. Without him being at least 90% of himself it is hard to see Miami winning. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Indiana played them extremely tough and if Allen doesnt hit that unbelievable 3 point shot the Spurs are defending the title.

Totally agree on DeAndre Jordan being the key...that's why I'm leaning towards picking them to come out of the West, along with the injury/health concerns surrounding some of the other contending teams out there. I think Jordan will have a big time breakout year for the Clips. And I do like Doc Rivers over Vinny Del Negro. Still pulling for the Blazers though.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Duvalier

Totally agree on DeAndre Jordan being the key...that's why I'm leaning towards picking them to come out of the West, along with the injury/health concerns surrounding some of the other contending teams out there. I think Jordan will have a big time breakout year for the Clips. And I do like Doc Rivers over Vinny Del Negro. Still pulling for the Blazers though.

He is basically poor mans version of Tyson Chandler. It isn't like they are going to let him start shooting and on defense it isn't his effort that gets him in trouble, it is his poor decision making. Plus until he figures out how to shoot 60% or so from the line (shot 39% last year which is disgraceful) it will be hard to play him late in games. If he can take the next step, play better defensively, stay out of foul trouble, shoot FT's just good enough, the Clippers will be dangerous.

[Duvalier]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

He is basically poor mans version of Tyson Chandler. It isn't like they are going to let him start shooting and on defense it isn't his effort that gets him in trouble, it is his poor decision making. Plus until he figures out how to shoot 60% or so from the line (shot 39% last year which is disgraceful) it will be hard to play him late in games. If he can take the next step, play better defensively, stay out of foul trouble, shoot FT's just good enough, the Clippers will be dangerous.

Yeah...THAT'S going to remain a problem lol. What are your impressions of the Blazer's Damian Lillard? I know some people believe he has pretty much peaked but I love what he's done so far, and think he has more upside. Defense is still a work in progress.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Duvalier

Yeah...THAT'S going to remain a problem lol. What are your impressions of the Blazer's Damian Lillard? I know some people believe he has pretty much peaked but I love what he's done so far, and think he has more upside. Defense is still a work in progress.

I don't know why anyone would think he peaked. He got a little tired down the stretch but thats understandable considering how many minutes he played as a rookie. He needs to improve the obvious, better shot selection as a shoot first PG, needs to get to the line more, needs to work on his defensive positioning, cut down on bad turnovers, etc. Typical stuff small college guards need to develop with experience. Bringing in Williams and Watson should help with leadership and maybe cutting Lillard's minutes back a little considering he led the league in minutes played last year as a rookie.

[King Glorious]

DeAndre Jordan is clearly the key to the Clippers.

Derrick Rose is clearly a top 10 NBA player but is probably also a little bit overrated but that's only because they gave him an MVP award. By the way, Nash getting back to back MVP's was worse than Rose getting one.

Assuming good health for all, I like Indiana to win the East and the Clippers to win the West.

James
Durant
Wade
Bryant
Rose
Paul
Westbrook
Howard
Anthony
Irving

Those are my top ten fully healthy players in the NBA.

Top four East-Indiana, Miami, Chicago, Brooklyn/Cleveland
Top four West-LA Clippers, OKC, Houston, SA