The Lakers are head & shoulders above every team in the West. Folks,
it ain't even a contest folks unless Shaq goes down, they have 3 all-stars
and as much as this makes me sick to say it, they have no competition.
Jack Nicholson could come off the bench and they wouldn't lose a beat.
I rank the west as follows:
1. Lakers - no one comes close
2. Utah - If Malone and Stockton stay healthy
3. Kings - Will be better & better
as the season goes on, could pass Utah
4.Spurs - Robinson's tank is empty, ain't
you glad he's not a Celtic and Duncan may wish he was a Celtic by the end
of the year.
5. Blazers - Pippen's team, do I have to say
any more.
6. Sonics, probably by attrition, since Googs
being out and Penny always hurt makes the Suns toast.
The East is pathetic, with the best team probably being the Heat and that is assuming that Hardaway can be at least 75% of himself, but believe it, there is real concern down here in Fla, that he may only be a shadow of his former self and if that is the case, that will probably give the Hornets the East crown, followed by the Pacers, Sixers and the Knicks in no particular order. The truth is they all suck big time except for a Healthy Heat team and if they played in the West, no one in the East would crack the top 4 West teams above.
The Celtics, when all healthy could be in the top 5 or 6 east teams
by the end of the year, but they must use at the most a 9 man rotation.
I like the following 9 guys:
VP, Walker (he ain't going anywhere), Fortson, Pierce and Anderson,
backed up by Battie (backing up 1-2 and needs consistency), Griffin (man
for all seasons, backing up 3-4)Williams (backing up 2-3, but needs decent
minutes) and Overton (backing up 5, we really need a backup point guard
desperately). Mccarty, Ellison,Cheaney and Barros in a dire emergency only.
A pretty good starting 5 with 3 pretty good bench players. This team needs
chemistry and until all is healthy , it will be awhile until we know. Fortson
was activated and should get some minutes tonight, hopefully.
Who is gone once Pierce comes off the injury list? My guess is Mccarty to injured list, although I would love to ship Barros out for something of equal cap value (unfortunately can't happen - Dana way over priced).
Just some end of the year thoughts.
Hart