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Just based on talent and how we are playing right now. Are we good enough to be a playoff team in the east.

No.

could you provide some insight sir?

If everyone was healthy from the very beginning, yes.

Theo would have been our enforcer and tone setter on the defensive end. He brought so much energy in the beginning of the season.

No. I think we might have 12 wins if we were in the east. We aren't much better than Miami was, and I don't think we're better than NY. I'm not going to throw ifs out there, because just about every team could do that. As is, we would not be a playoff team in the east, and I don't think Seattle or the Clippers would be either. Had Memphis kept Gasol, i'd say they be a fringe team like Charlotte and Phili.

Not all season guys, and not records. Right now are we playing good enough to be in the eastern playoffs.

Rev, we have 10 wins.

I expect at this time next year, baring some unexpected dramatic improvement to the East, the answer that question will be "yes", or at least "maybe." Today? No.

Right now? We've lost 5 in a row. Maybe two weeks ago we were for like a seven game stretch.

Or do you mean right now, as is during the first half of the Sixers game?

No but we would have a few more wins

revprodeji wrote:Not all season guys, and not records. Right now are we playing good enough to be in the eastern playoffs.

Every team has good stretches. Every team at some point plays much better than they actually are. Don't read too much into it.

The wolves have been a lot better lately, and understandingly so as we knew it would take a while to gel. So the question is, at full strength, are the Wolves better than these teams?

7. Nets
8. 76ers
9. Hawks
10. Bulls.

I think 3 1/2 games separate these teams. I personally think we can compete with any one of them on a given night. But it is tough to say if we are better. I think in the East we rank somewhere between the Pacers and Bucks. But what do I know?

The West is obviously tougher as only 4 games separate the 1st seed from the 8th seed.

No. If the wolves could play every game at their fullest potential and the rest of the league had to play with the normal up and downs of an nba season... we could probably do it.

No no no no

If this team just knew how to close out games, we'd have six more wins on our belt, and be 4 games behind the 8th seed.

Wolves are 10-11 when ahead going into the fourth quarter. They've blown 10 double digit leads. I think they'd have more than just the 6 gave-it-up-at-the-last-second wins if they could close out games.

I think with a healthy theo/Foye MN would have had enough to compete in the east for a spot. I'm not implying the team is great or the east is weak, but if you look at how the wolves have played some of their games against the elite teams in the west you have to be somewhat impressed.

I think these stats prove that as a whole the West is still much stronger than the East, whether or not the top couple of Western teams are stronger than the top two in the East is debatable.

I think it interesting that only 5 eams in the East even have an above 500 season whereas 10 teams in the West do. Usually at least a couple of teams in the East make the playoffs with a sub 500 season....thanks to playing the Western Conference.

This season the Western Conference has a 196-143 win total against Eastern Conference teams.

Only the top four teams in the East have a winning season against Western teams whereas the top 9 teams plus #11 Sacramento is above 500 against Eastern Conference teams and #10 in the West as of this moment Portland is 12-13.

Cy32 wrote:I think these stats prove that as a whole the West is still much stronger than the East, whether or not the top couple of Western teams are stronger than the top two in the East is debatable.

I think it interesting that only 5 eams in the East even have an above 500 season whereas 10 teams in the West do. Usually at least a couple of teams in the East make the playoffs with a sub 500 season....thanks to playing the Western Conference.

This season the Western Conference has a 196-143 win total against Eastern Conference teams.

Only the top four teams in the East have a winning season against Western teams whereas the top 9 teams plus #11 Sacramento is above 500 against Eastern Conference teams and #10 in the West as of this moment Portland is 12-13.

Off topic, but did you go to the Iowa State alumni game? Freddy was telling me he hit a controversial game winning tip-in...

theGreatRC wrote:If everyone was healthy from the very beginning, yes.

Theo would have been our enforcer and tone setter on the defensive end. He brought so much energy in the beginning of the season.

No one would have had the expectation of Theo Ratliff being healthy. It's not as if Theo Ratliff's was expected to contribute anything at the time of the trade.

Hell, if Theo Ratliff was going to be healthy and play in his prime (12.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.7 bpg) the Celtics might have been better off with Rondo-Allen-Pierce-Jefferson-Ratliff.