Who Will the Wolves Pass in the Standings?
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bleedspeed
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Re: Who Will the Wolves Pass in the Standings?
LST - I thought we are talking about race to the bottom.
Re: Who Will the Wolves Pass in the Standings?
Pels and Houston are now in the rear view mirror and the Wolves are .5 game out of the playoffs. The East has been doing a nice job helping us get back into this thing. It's a whole new season folks let's see how we do in this next stretch.
Re: Who Will the Wolves Pass in the Standings?
Time to revisit this thread now that the Wolves have dug themselves out of the deep hole they dug for themselves during the Butler fiasco. If the season ended today, the Wolves would be in the playoffs as the 8th seed. So although the Wolves are just barely above ground in 8th place with a .500 record, it's fair to talk about the Wolves playoff prospects.
The West is tighter top to bottom at this point than most would have expected. But teams tend to find their respective levels over the course of the long NBA season and I think we'll start to see some separation in the months ahead. The Kings are clearly better than last season, but they're already starting to find their lottery level. As the current last-place team in the West, the Suns are where we'd expect them to be. I'm not ready to write of the Spurs yet even though they look like they may be lottery-bound this season. Dallas looks like they're for real as a potential playoff team.
Assuming no serious injuries, I have a hard time seeing any of the current top 7 ahead of the Wolves falling out of the top 8. If any of those teams were to drop down into the lottery, I think it would be Memphis. I could see the Lakers dropping down as well. But I also don't see the Rockets not making the playoffs. And I think Utah will find itself and surge. They've already won their last two games. Korver will be a nice addition to the Jazz roster. I can also see the Pelicans jumping into the top 8. Those three teams - Rockets, Jazz and Pelicans -- are currently only a half game behind the Wolves while the Mavs are actually tied with the Wolves.
Bottom line is that there's no margin for error if the Wolves want to make the playoffs this season. The good news is that the Wolves are definitely in the mix.
The West is tighter top to bottom at this point than most would have expected. But teams tend to find their respective levels over the course of the long NBA season and I think we'll start to see some separation in the months ahead. The Kings are clearly better than last season, but they're already starting to find their lottery level. As the current last-place team in the West, the Suns are where we'd expect them to be. I'm not ready to write of the Spurs yet even though they look like they may be lottery-bound this season. Dallas looks like they're for real as a potential playoff team.
Assuming no serious injuries, I have a hard time seeing any of the current top 7 ahead of the Wolves falling out of the top 8. If any of those teams were to drop down into the lottery, I think it would be Memphis. I could see the Lakers dropping down as well. But I also don't see the Rockets not making the playoffs. And I think Utah will find itself and surge. They've already won their last two games. Korver will be a nice addition to the Jazz roster. I can also see the Pelicans jumping into the top 8. Those three teams - Rockets, Jazz and Pelicans -- are currently only a half game behind the Wolves while the Mavs are actually tied with the Wolves.
Bottom line is that there's no margin for error if the Wolves want to make the playoffs this season. The good news is that the Wolves are definitely in the mix.