NBA Second Half Predictions

The second half of the NBA season is underway and it's going to be something special to watch. Let me rephrase that, the second half of the NBA season is underway and the Western Conference will be something very special to watch.

From the Suns, Spurs, Hornets, Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets, Mavericks, Rockets, Warriors and Trail Blazers (who have the worst record among them at 28-24) represent the strongest crop of teams in one conference in my memory. Two of these teams will unfortunately not make the playoffs.

With this in mind, I would recommend to everyone to watch any game involving two teams from this list and witness high intensity playoff-style basketball. Everyone has been talking about how the West is shaping up and putting the spotlight on the fact that potentially a team with around 47 wins might miss out on the playoffs. This will produce some great games especially down the stretch as teams vie for home-court advantage.

Just to join in on the fun, I'll give my mid-point predictions on the final standings:

10th: Portland (currently 10th, 28-24)

From what I've seen of this team, they'll still be fighting until the end for a playoff spot but will come a bit short in terms of experience and overall team talent. Brandon Roy is coming into his own and a unique game. Sneaky quickness and athleticism put together with experienced poise.

9th: Houston (currently 7th, 33-20)

I like the Rockets, but just don't think they're deep enough. Yao is playing great but McGrady has had nagging injuries all year. In fact I think they probably play better without McGrady but they don't have enough all-round talent to keep it up. On top of that we all know that the Rockets have wilted under pressure in past playoff performances. So until they prove me wrong, I'm saying they don't make it in a pressure filled conference.


8th: Golden State (currently 9th, 32 -21)

They'll soon realize Chris Webber is useless for them and go back to their old lineup. This means rock'em sock'em type basketball and it'll be enough to just get them into the playoffs.

7th: Denver (currently 8th, 33-20)

Denver's missing a post presence and a good 6th man off the bench. Having Camby, Carmelo and Iverson are enough to make them a good team and competitive though. Amazingly I remember hearing last season about how deep they are in the front court. Unfortunately cumulative injuries have just decimated the production potential from the PF spot.

6th: Dallas (currently 6th, 35-19)

Adding Jason Kidd adds the intense mentality they've been missing. However I question this team's makeup especially considering how weak they are with post offense. Remember that Devin Harris provided decent offensive production at 14 ppg and 5 assists plus the ability to play solid man to man defense against quick point guards.

Jason Kidd improves them by facilitating points for his team, but compared to the improvements other teams have made, it's not enough.

5th: New Orleans (currently 1st, 37-15)

This team is completely based on Chris Paul. You take him off the team and replace him with an average PG and they're out of the playoffs. That's not to diss the other players on the team, but I can't think of anyone here who can create their own shot. David West is a great player, but I don't see him being the focal point of an offense.

The reason I put them lower on this list is that they're going to be facing the post-good year don't ignore this team syndrome now. Meaning teams in the first half probably didn't fear the words New Orleans on the schedule the way they would with the Suns. With teams aware of how good they are, the Hornets are now going to face stiffer competition.

4th: Phoenix (currently 2nd, 37-16)

The Suns are just going to be getting ready for the playoffs, meaning learning how to incorporate Shaq into their team. Just watched the Phoenix-LAL game, please Shaq don't run with the rest of the team.

Keeping the aging Suns rested vs. competing for playoff position is going to be a tough task for coach D'Antoni.

3rd: Utah (currently 4th, 35-19)

The Jazz have an incredibly solid team 1-5.
PG - Deron Williams can be just as good as Chris Paul in different ways
SG - seems this is more of a rotation position with Brewer-Harpring-Korver, but I'm a fan of having defensive minded SG instead of a highly paid offensive minded one like Carter, McGrady, Redd, etc. Even though they can produce instant offense, they usually score at a low clip and take shots that really should go to low post players. Give me a cheap defensive 2 who can shoot 3s and a star forward anyday (save for Kobe).
SF - Kirilenko's got a great all around game and fits this team well with his shot-blocking, passing and length.
PF - Boozer's an all-star on offense.
C - Seems a bit awkward to have a 3 ball shooting centre, but Okur's been playing like he was last year and it really throws defenses off.

2nd: San Antonio (currently 5th, 35-17)

Last year's champs, got some valuable experienced help from Kurt Thomas which fits perfectly. I watched this team a few weeks ago against the Raptors and were amazed by their ball movement. This isn't something I usually think of from the Spurs, but I guess they just surprise you with the high level of execution on every aspect of the game.

1st: Los Angeles (currently 3rd, 36-17)

Of all the recent acquisitions, Pau Gasol is the most important. The guy is still young, in his prime and now playing with Kobe Bryant in Phil Jackson's system. I think everything fits here. When Bynum gets back, I don't expect him to do anything except grab alley-oops, putbacks and provide an athletic body to rebound and that'll be enough.

Plus this team's bench is impressive. It's not impressive on paper, but rarely does the bench play and the overall quality of the game goes down.


So that's the mid-season western review. Let's check back later and see the folies of my ways....