Western Conference seedings watch

Post #1 » by **Slava** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:47 pm

Right now looks like:

1. Spurs
2. Lakers
3. Mavs
4. Thunder
5. Nuggets
6. Blazers
7. Hornets
8. Grizzlies

Tonight we have:

Spurs vs Suns (pointless)

Lakers vs Kings. Will be emotional, last game at Arco against the arch rivals (atleast they think we are). No Bynum means throwing Gasol in the deep end in what could be a physical game with Dalembert and Cousins et al.

Mavs vs Hornets: Both teams will play their ass off. Mavs for home court and Hornets to avoid us. I don't think Nawlins can pull this off.

Grizz vs Clippers: This could be interesting, could they tank to avoid us? Very much a chance.

Ideally I'd like us to stay 2nd and play Hornets in round 1. Get home court against Dallas in round 2.

Mavs vs Blazers round 1 would be tough and I fully expect the Mavs to lose this one.

Thunder vs Nuggets, one athletic team gets taken out, good for us.

Spurs vs Grizz: Z-Bo/lil Pau to rough up Duncan and co. I like it and I'd love it more if Gay was healthy too.

We could play Blazers and Mavs and Spurs/Thunder if our luck goes rot or we could play Hornet and Blazers and Spurs/Thunder if our luck holds good.

Mighty interesting to see how the pieces fall here.

Post #2 » by **dockingsched** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:56 pm

i'm calling a lakers/mavs win and grizzlies win, matching up the 2. lakers vs. 7 grizzlies, and the mavs with the blazers who will be primed for an upset.

dunlop212 · Post #3 » by **dunlop212** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:48 pm

There are some players (Andre Miller for one) who worry about playing LA because of conspiracy theories (league will tell refs to pave the way for LA for ratings reasons). But other than that, I don't think many teams fear playing them at this point. Just about every other team in the conference is playing better, and is healthier. Respect, yes, fear, no.

Teams are going to hold out players who need to heal up. Nobody is tanking for playoff position, IMHO.

Post #4 » by **Slava** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:51 pm

Is that why George Karl would rather play the Mavs?

andrewww · Post #5 » by **andrewww** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:56 pm

SlavaMedvedenko wrote:Right now looks like:

1. Spurs
2. Lakers
3. Mavs
4. Thunder
5. Nuggets
6. Blazers
7. Hornets
8. Grizzlies

Tonight we have:

Spurs vs Suns (pointless)

Lakers vs Kings. Will be emotional, last game at Arco against the arch rivals (atleast they think we are). No Bynum means throwing Gasol in the deep end in what could be a physical game with Dalembert and Cousins et al.

Mavs vs Hornets: Both teams will play their ass off. Mavs for home court and Hornets to avoid us. I don't think Nawlins can pull this off.

Grizz vs Clippers: This could be interesting, could they tank to avoid us? Very much a chance.

Ideally I'd like us to stay 2nd and play Hornets in round 1. Get home court against Dallas in round 2.

Mavs vs Blazers round 1 would be tough and I fully expect the Mavs to lose this one.

Thunder vs Nuggets, one athletic team gets taken out, good for us.

Spurs vs Grizz: Z-Bo/lil Pau to rough up Duncan and co. I like it and I'd love it more if Gay was healthy too.

We could play Blazers and Mavs and Spurs/Thunder if our luck goes rot or we could play Hornet and Blazers and Spurs/Thunder if our luck holds good.

Mighty interesting to see how the pieces fall here.

hornets are tanking this one tonight for sure. there's a reason the mavs are an 11 point favorite tonight.

LA Forever · Post #6 » by **LA Forever** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:31 pm

The Mavericks play 3 hours before the Lakers do. They'll know whether to take it easy on Sacramento or not, lol.

Atmanne · Post #7 » by **Atmanne** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:57 pm

SlavaMedvedenko wrote:Mavs vs Hornets: Both teams will play their ass off. Mavs for home court and Hornets to avoid us. I don't think Nawlins can pull this off.

Grizz vs Clippers: This could be interesting, could they tank to avoid us? Very much a chance.

The Hornets don't have a reason to play hard. If they win, it guarantees a matchup with LA.

I think the Grizz made their intentions clear when they sat Randolph and Allen last night, and gave scrubs extensive minutes. They want SA.

Ideally I'd like us to stay 2nd and play Hornets in round 1. Get home court against Dallas in round 2.

Mavs vs Blazers round 1 would be tough and I fully expect the Mavs to lose this one.

Thunder vs Nuggets, one athletic team gets taken out, good for us.

Spurs vs Grizz: Z-Bo/lil Pau to rough up Duncan and co. I like it and I'd love it more if Gay was healthy too.

Agreed, and I think that's how the chips will fall.

Hunter103 · Post #8 » by **Hunter103** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:15 pm

Listening to podcasts today, several people said Lionel Hollins is gonna tank the Grizz tonight, since they want the 8 seed and SA.

What you want to watch for are the Thunder. If they lose, they're the 4 seed. If they win and the Mavs lose, they're the 3 seed and the Lakers are the 2 seed by default.

Best case scenario IMO is Thunder lose, Mavs lose (meaning Hornets win), Grizz tank (since they're locked in anyway with a Hornet win), and the Lakers rest guys for a meaningless game locked in at 2. Seedings stay the way they are.

What I think will happen is Thunder win, Mavs win (making Thunder the 4 seed), meaning the Lakers would have to actually win tonight's game to get the 2 seed. The Grizz still tank (a win would then make them the 7 seed and they want SA).

It's going to be an interesting night in any case.

vmor · Post #9 » by **vmor** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:28 pm

Brian Kamenetzky at ESPN says: "The Hornets represent an easier draw for the Lakers, but if L.A. can't handle Memphis in the first round -- the Grizzlies, by the way, are fighting accusations of trying to tank their way into eighth -- they're not winning a title, anyway.
The big thing is keeping the Thunder on the other half of the bracket, meaning a win for the Mavs benefits the Lakers."

That sounds about right to me.

Post #10 » by **Slava** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:37 am

Thunder win, Dallas win and now we're on the clock.

Hunter103 · Post #11 » by **Hunter103** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:50 am

SlavaMedvedenko wrote:Thunder win, Dallas win and now we're on the clock.

Thunder lost (not that it mattered after Dallas won)

Leor_77 · Post #12 » by **Leor_77** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 6:40 am

We are playing an undersized NO team without West. Have the chance to avoid the thunder and play the Mavericks or Blazers. Our toughest series would probably be the winner of San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the conference finals, and they might not even make it.

OKC has to play a Denver team that is unpredictable; Dallas has to play a dangerous Portland team that spanked them twice recently this year. I actually think Spurs have a pretty tough draw, considering they worked so hard for the 1st seed. They have to face a good defensive Memphis team, with a solid front line, and then have to possibly face the Thunder in the next round.

Obviously, there are a lot of great teams, and nothing will be easy. We'll just have to wait and see.

LAKESHOW · Post #13 » by **LAKESHOW** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 7:46 am

mission accomplished. regular season. i never thought we were going to get 1st seed, but thats just me. but we did get the top 2 in the west. im pleased with our seeding and best possible position with oklahoma vs. the spurs. not worried at all about dallas.

Hunter103 · Post #14 » by **Hunter103** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:16 pm

LAKESHOW wrote:mission accomplished. regular season. i never thought we were going to get 1st seed, but thats just me. but we did get the top 2 in the west. im pleased with our seeding and best possible position with oklahoma vs. the spurs. not worried at all about dallas.

I think most of us on this board got exactly what we wanted with these seedings, 4 of the 5 teams that I think could give the Lakers trouble are in the other bracket. The X factor is Portland. If they can upset Dallas, the second round is going to be wild. I'm not saying they will, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they did.