Somebody had to start this thread...Playoffs?

[Phenom]

Fire up the Klunk-O-Meter! ! !

[Monster]

I think they're a year or two away yet . The fun thing about this year will be a lot like KGS first couple years . Following Towns when he's on the court. Hoping he touches the ball on every offensive series and thinking hell do something special at any moment. Wins aside having a shiny new toy like him makes every game enjoyable. I love having winning teams but having a great player to watch makes me tune in every night.

KG was in the playoffs his 2nd season. :)

[maelstrom11 [enjin:6599701]]

McHale will regret not going to the funeral. I hope he had a discussion with Flip's wife Debbie about this and let her know what his feelings are.

I don't think he ever did put everything behind him with Flip after the firing and i'm not sure Flip did either. Flip was thankful i'm sure of McHale getting him his start but after that I think some ego gets involved. So far I'm putting Flip ahead of McHale in the POBO category but looking back McHale looked pretty studly early on as well after drafting KG and Steph.

Even though it was said on KFAN they were starting to make amends and talk again there was probably a lot left to heal. I wonder if Flip attended McHale's daughters funeral when that tragedy occurred?

[maelstrom11 [enjin:6599701]]

Now regarding the thread Long....

I'd agree with you that Spurs, Warriors, OKC, Clippers are locks.

I'd add Memphis and Houston as locks even though the Rockets seem to be troubled right now. Probably because of Harden and his new GF? What a distraction for James....

I'd put the wolves in a race with the following for the last 2 spots.

Pelicans
Kings
Nuggets (these guys are better than everyone thinks with Gallinari, Mudiay around)
Mavs



These 4 have little chance in my mind...

Suns
Jazz
Lakers
Blazers


As my wins prediction indicated. Wolves will get the 8 spot. Lose to Spurs in 7 in round 1.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Maelstrom, Houston is a mystery right now, because they are playing really poorly. My guess is it has more to do with adjusting to Lawson than the absence of Howard or anything happening with Harden, but maybe it's a combination. I'm interested in seeing if they can get the wheels back on the track tonight in Miami.

I'm surprised that you have both the Suns and the Jazz in the "no chance" category. Both have started out 2-1 and look pretty solid. Even though I still haven't seen him play, the board has turned me around on Gobert...what he did to Okafor a couple nights ago should be criminal. He doesn't have much offense, but man can he impact another team's offense.

Anyway, I like your playoff prediction...a series against the Spurs would be fun!

[60WinTim]

I watched a lot of the Suns-Blazers game last night. Both teams start with a two-PG lineup, Lillard/McCollum and Beldsoe/Knight. While the Blazers seem to play tough (it was at home), McCollum is a ways from being a consistent starting SG, and will likely be combo guard off the bench in the future. I thought the Suns looked pretty good, with both Bledsoe and Knight looking dynamite. It will be very interesting to see how our starting lineup matches against both of those teams. While we have the size advantage on both teams, will we have a scoring/efficiency advantage?

We will find out against Portland tomorrow...

[60WinTim]

Fire up the Klunk-O-Meter! ! !

I thought about calling it the "Flip-O-Meter", where the "anti-klunkers" are now called "flippers"...

[maelstrom11 [enjin:6599701]]

Great idea Tim..we need as many memories of Flip as we can get!!

[maelstrom11 [enjin:6599701]]

Maelstrom, Houston is a mystery right now, because they are playing really poorly. My guess is it has more to do with adjusting to Lawson than the absence of Howard or anything happening with Harden, but maybe it's a combination. I'm interested in seeing if they can get the wheels back on the track tonight in Miami.

I'm surprised that you have both the Suns and the Jazz in the "no chance" category. Both have started out 2-1 and look pretty solid. Even though I still haven't seen him play, the board has turned me around on Gobert...what he did to Okafor a couple nights ago should be criminal. He doesn't have much offense, but man can he impact another team's offense.

Anyway, I like your playoff prediction...a series against the Spurs would be fun!

Yeah, I don't have any faith in Utah or Phoenix. Call me crazy but so be it.

With the Jazz I don't like Favors....(As Kevin Love once said...Favors? Favors? What has he ever done)
Gobert provides defense but as the late great Flip Saunders has told us..you need 2 way players to win.
Hayward...nice player, should have great stats but he cant do it alone.
Burks and Burke....average to below average at best.


With Phoenix....I like Bledsoe, everyone else is average or aging...Tucker? Chandler? Morris? Nobody moves the needle for me on that team. I'll take KAT, Wiggins, Ricky, Martin, KG, etc etc anyday.



Of the 4 contenders.....

I'll go with New Orleans as the 7 seed. Anthony Davis is a STUD. He can do it alone if he has too. Gordan and Holiday are solid. Ryan A can add some scoring. These guys are a STUD and 5-6 solid contributors. Forgot to mention Asik too. He can get it done when needed.

Mavs....Aging and ready to re-build. Dirk is a legend but getting old. W Mathews, ok but not Wiggins. D Williams has never done anything. Is he playing point? or SG? Wolves are better than this lineup.

Kings....Cousins, Gay, McLemore, Rondo, Koufus...on paper very good. If anyone steals our spot it may be these guys. CAn George Karl work his magic? If New Orleans doesnt heal fast enough i'll pump the wolves up to 7 and put these guys at 8.

Nuggets...Gallinari, Mudiay, Manimal, Harris.......A nice young team. Malone is a good coach. I'd expect these guys to be 3-5 out for the 8 spot by the end.

Thats my 2 cents.....

[Monster]

McHale will regret not going to the funeral. I hope he had a discussion with Flip's wife Debbie about this and let her know what his feelings are.

I don't think he ever did put everything behind him with Flip after the firing and i'm not sure Flip did either. Flip was thankful i'm sure of McHale getting him his start but after that I think some ego gets involved. So far I'm putting Flip ahead of McHale in the POBO category but looking back McHale looked pretty studly early on as well after drafting KG and Steph.

Even though it was said on KFAN they were starting to make amends and talk again there was probably a lot left to heal. I wonder if Flip attended McHale's daughters funeral when that tragedy occurred?

Have you listened to McHale's radio appearance talking about Flip?