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Wild Wild West

September 25, 2008

You may have seen the poll that we’ve been running lately asking who will win the Western Conference.  Well, the results are in and they are a bit surprising.  The Lakers managed to take home 44% of the vote, followed by the Rockets at 18%, Other at 15%, the Hornets and Spurs at 11%.  I presume Other refers to teams like the Jazz, Mavs, Suns, and, of course, homers.  Now, it’s not surprising that the Lakers win this poll given they are the defending Western Conference champions, but it is surprising by how much they won.  They got more than twice as many votes as the 2nd-place Rockets.  So, are they that good with Bynum or are the fans just a bit overly optimistic?  Here’s how I rank the top four teams in the West:

1. Lakers - I do give the nod to L.A., but just barely.  With a healthy Bynum and the duo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, there’s no reason for the Lakers to not be competing for the trophy again this season.  It won’t be so easy, though, because even though the Lakers should be better, their competition will also be better, and that brings us to #2.

2. Hornets - The Hornets got better this summer by bringing in James Posey from the world champion Celtics.  Posey gives New Orleans that defensive stopper they’ll need to get far in the post-season.  Chris Paul is still going to give other teams fits and now that the Hornets have some playoff experience, they’ve got a good shot to survive the West.

3. Rockets - The Rockets enter the season with a great upside, but also a great downside after their acquisition of Ron Artest.  Artest, a gritty defender and third scorer, looks to be exactly what Houston needs, but he could bring chemistry problems as well.  Not to mention, T-Mac and Yao will need to be healthy come playoff time.

4. Spurs - The Spurs are aging and, like the Rockets, they have some questions of their own.  They’ll need Manu Ginobili to recover from his ankle injury and come back at full strength.  The regular season is not San Antonio’s forte, but they do know how to win in May and June so don’t count them out.

Who do you think will win the West?

Also, check out the new poll which asks who will win the East!

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Written by HoopsAvenue · Filed Under General NBA, Houston Rockets, LA Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs 

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One Response to “Wild Wild West”

  1. Beasts of the East - HoopsAvenue on October 8th, 2008 12:25 am

    [...] days ago we took a look at some of the best teams in the West and the Lakers emerged as HoopsAvenue’s favorite as well as the fans’ favorite [...]

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