What team is under the most pressure to win the NBA Title ..

[JordansBulls]

What team is under the most pressure to win the NBA Title this Year?

Also how would you rank the teams in order of the pressure they have to win this season?

[dockingsched]

1. suns. if they don't win it this yr can they really win with an older nash/shaq?

2. celtics
3. mavs.

jazz and lakers are young. nuggets and rockets aren't really contenders so no pressure. i'd call it 2nd round pressure. pistons and spurs are champions already.

[A.J.]

celtics- regular season doesnt mean anything, they will have the number 1 seed and is might pick to go to the finals, and anything short of that will be a disappointment

[amb1ent]

Expectations are higher for Boston, Dallas and LA, but Phoenix's window is closing fast.

[Iggyemu]

Easily the Suns. If they don't win this year they never will. And Kerr will be fired and probably never hired again by other team.

[Jules Winnfield]

All the old teams.

[Black Jesus 1]

Easily the Suns. If they don't win this year they never will. And Kerr will be fired and probably never hired again by other team.

Kerr is going to be fired after his first year? Doubt it.

[DraftBoy10]

Suns have a lot of pressure, but it's kind of funny that the Lakers are every bit as good as the best in the NBA and have such a young core. Kobe is thier most aged(not really in terms of age, but in terms of miles spent), but if he sees it happening, he'll work his ass off. You know his commitment.

Teams like Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles all have a player that can lead a team full of inexperienced winners to a higher level mentally. Teams like San Antonio, Detroit already possess that it's just understanding how to defeat the new made teams, while Denver and Houston just don't know how to win the playoffs yet. Utah is in the middle of the Dallas, PHX, LA and DEN-HOU caliber. They got semi-expierence, talent, and coaching just not maybe not all at a premiere level.

I still think it'll be a Jazz-Lakers WCF depending on the 1st/2nd round matchups. Utah has no problem going head to head with more talented teams and using that as motivation. Deron & Boozer are just that competitive.

[Iggyemu]

-= original quote snipped =-


Kerr is going to be fired after his first year? Doubt it.

If the Shaq thing doesn't work out you really think in todays day and age that someone won't take the fall for it? Kerr is gonna take the fall for it if they don't win a title this year.

[dockingsched]

mike d'antoni will be gone before steve kerr.

[miller31time]

1. Phoenix - They only have a 1-2 year window and they'll get progressively worse each season.

2. Dallas - They just sacrificed a lot of youth to get Kidd, a player with a short NBA lifespan remaining.

3. Boston - The biggest story of the off-season and the most hype coming into the year. A non-title season is a letdown.

4. Los Angeles - Not as much pressure as the top-3 teams since their core is young, but Kobe will want to prove to everyone he can win a title with him as the best, most dominant player.

5. San Antonio - They finally want to get that "Can't repeat" monkey off their respective backs.

6. Houston - With both Yao and McGrady in the prime of their careers, if a championship isn't coming soon, it isn't coming (barring a big trade in the later years).

7. Detroit - They have one of the best records in the league and are consistently a top-tier team, but their nucleus is getting older (Billups, Wallace).

8. Denver - Iverson was brought on last season, they under-preformed (due to a multitude of reasons) and now, the problems, for the most part, have been alleviated and they are winning at a good rate. But to, in a way, make the Iverson acquisition legitimate, a title would certainly help.

9. Utah - I don't think there's a lot of pressure on them. They're young and have a core of players who aren't even close to being in their prime. They have a large window for a championship.

[RobertGlory]

i'm glad we're not on here

[Patterns]

1.Phx
2.Bos
3.Mavs
4.Lakers
5.Rockets
6.Nuggets

[Dtown84]

Phoenix, probably the smallest window out of the teams above.

[kandiking]

timberwolves

[pro2020]

before all the trades happened in the West my list was easy

1. Boston
2. Suns
3. Dallas

Now after all the trades, it's changed.
1. Suns
2. Boston
3. Dallas

[AgEnT50]

Phoenix, probably the smallest window out of the teams above.

x2

[nesta]

Phoenix, they have to win a championship for their small fan base to support them for their huge cap hit because of O'Neal. Kerr will be labeled as a dumbass trading for Shaq they don't win a championship soon. He will lose his reputation so much that he won't be rehired when TNT when he gets fired(jokes)

[YiYaoYue]

1. suns (a must win this year as next year shaq's motivation might decrease)
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.
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2. boston: they all up in the 30s so their window is closing, but unlike the suns they still have a few years left and their young bench is starting to play better.
3. mavs (if they trade kidd) when kidd retires then they no longer have a good championship team since they lost youth and depth for kidd
4. spurs: need to prove that they can win a back to back.
5. detroit: they will fire their coach and possibly lose a lot of confidence in their current team if they dont make it to atleast ECF.
6. Denver: AI's window is closing and their backcourt becomes a lot weaker without him
7. Lakers: They would love to win now for kobe's confidence but they have a lot of young under 30 players.

[Rooster]

dcash4 and miller31time know what time it is. I'd put Boston #1 though because of the hype that's been going on for months, the nice record, the history of the franchise, etc. Phoenix can at least lose now because of Shaq's injuries and lose in the playoffs because hey, when are the Suns ever supposed to win it all?