[Seuss]

Vote for what you believe are the 5 top teams in this conference.
(Do it by posting your list)

Golden State Warriors Team:

PG: Bob Cousy
SG: Baron Davis
SF: Kevin Garnett
PF: Shawn KempCE: Amare Stoudamire

BENCH: Jamaal Mashburn, Jason Richardson, Stephen Jackson, Samuel Dalembert, Billy Owens

Los Angeles Clippers Team:

PG: Tony Parker
SG: Joe Dumars
SF: LeBron James
PF: Rasheed Wallace
CE: Nate Thurmond

BENCH: Adrian Dantley, Manu Ginobili, Andre Miller, Brad Miller, Danny Manning

Los Angeles Lakers Team:

PG: Tim Hardaway
SG: Pete Maravich
SF: Latrell Sprewell
PF: Carlos Boozer
CE: Patrick Ewing

BENCH: Byron Scott, Sven Nater, Clyde Lovellette, Kelly Tripuka, Slow Eddie Johnson

Oakland Oaks Team:

PG: Derek Harper
SG: Jerry West
SF: Bruce Bowen
PF: Dwight Howard
CE: Wes Unseld

BENCH: Nate McMillan, Ralph Sampson, Kenny Anderson, Rudy Tomjanovich, John Brisker

Dallas Mavericks Team:

PG: Kevin Porter
SG: Paul Pressey
SF: Elgin Baylor
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Vlade Divac

BENCH: Kevin McHale, Jamaal Wilkes, Ben Gordon, Norm Nixon, Caldwell Jones

Memphis Grizzlies Team:

PG: Alvin Robertson
SG: Eddie Jones
SF: Scottie Pippen
PF: Charles Oakley
C: David Robinson

BENCH: Rick Mahorn, Rodney McCray, Fast Eddie Johnson, Anthony Mason, Richard Hamilton

San Antonio Spurs Team:

PG: Michael Ray Richardson
SG: Allen Iverson
SF: Alex English
PF: Larry Johnson
C: Wilis Reed

BENCH: Spencer Haywood, Gus Johnson, Richie Guerin, Gail Goodrich, Rudy LaRusso

Minnesota Timberwolves Team:

PG: Gilbert Arenas
SG: Sidney Moncrief
SF: Julius Erving
PF: Derrick Coleman
C: Artis Gilmore

BENCH: Rod Strickland, Emeka Okafur, Josh Smith, Eddie Curry, Vinnie Johnson

Portland Trailblazers Team:

PG: Lenny Wilkins
SG: Drazen Petrovic
SF: Dominique Wilkens
PF: Connie Hawkins
C: Bob Lanier

BENCH: Chris Bosh, Reggie Theus, David Wesley, Wally Sczerbiak, Jeff Ruland

Seatle Sonics Team:

PG: John Stockton
SG: Jack Twyan
SF: Carmelo Anthony
PF: Bob Pettit
CE: Walt Bellamy

BENCH: Truck Robinson, Jim Jackson, Bob Rule, Doug Christie, Michael Adams

[Seuss]

My list.

#1 Grizzlies
#2 Clippers
#3 Warriors
#4 Oaks
#5 Spurs

[Pacers Fan]

1. Lakers
2. Spurs
3. Wolves
4. Warriors
5. Sonics

[jericho]

1. San Antonio
2. Seattle
3. Minnesota
4. Portland
5. Dallas

[BadBaronRudigor]

1. Clippers
2. Grizzlies
3. TWolves
4. Oaks
5. Mavs

[Diophantos]

1 LA Clippers
2 Memphis
3 Golden State
4 Dallas
5 Minnesota

[jericho]

Wow, I'm clearly out of synch with all the love for Memphis in this thread. They have a great collection of players, and they may have the best overall defensive unit, but I don't really buy Eddie Jones as a starter in this league, I love Alvin Robertson but he's not at his best as a full-time PG, and I don't see a significant scoring threat outside of Robinson. Where are the shooters and high-grade slashers to keep defenses from smothering the Admiral? Someone tell me where I'm out of touch.

[Marcus13]

1.Spurs
2. Sonics
3. Clippers
4. Grizzlies
5. TWolves

[Flash is the Future]

1) Grizzlies
2) Clippers
3) Spurs
4) Warriors
5) Lakers

[Sunsfan81]

Spurs would be better off with Goodrich starting instead of Richardson, but I still think they're the best team here.

1. Spurs
2. Sonics
3. Clippers
4. Lakers
5. Grizzlies

[Sunsfan81]

Originally Posted by jericho

Wow, I'm clearly out of synch with all the love for Memphis in this thread. They have a great collection of players, and they may have the best overall defensive unit, but I don't really buy Eddie Jones as a starter in this league, I love Alvin Robertson but he's not at his best as a full-time PG, and I don't see a significant scoring threat outside of Robinson. Where are the shooters and high-grade slashers to keep defenses from smothering the Admiral? Someone tell me where I'm out of touch.

I agree, I don't think they're as good as the credit they're getting. Robertson is out of position, and they'll have trouble scoring, plus their bench isn't too good. But they still might be good enough to sneak into the playoffs.

[tkb]

Offense wins games while defense wins championships.

We've got the best defensive team in the league in Memphis, and we've got unselfish players. We don't have a bunch of guys that will need the ball to be effective (which is a MAJOR flaw on a lot of teams here). We've got playmakers that will hit the open man. The notion that we have no shooters is flawed. Eddie Jones is close to a 40% 3p-shooter. Scottie Pippen is a 35% shooter from deep and has a nice mid-range game. Oakley had a nice mid-range jumper, as does Robinson (he doesn't need to be smack down on the low block all the time to score). Alvin is going to play a slashing role, and he was good at that.

Besides, you need to get in the paint. I'd rather have a team that can shoot midrange shots and get into the paint vs a team that can only launch 3p bombs. You don't get to the ft-line either by taking long range jumpers. Sure you get the extra point when you hit, but when you miss the long rebound makes it easier for the opposing team to fast break on you, you don't get to the line and you don't get as high percentage shots as you'd like if you fall in love with that line.

3p-shooting is a bit overrated anyway. What you want is a team that is willing to move the ball around to find the open man that has some range (out to 20 feet is usually more than enough to get proper spacing). There was a team not too long ago that did pretty well that had NO player that shot 35% or better from 3 among the players that played over 15 mpgs (one guy shot 38% and he averaged 13 mpgs and 4 ppgs). That team reached the NBA finals.

Oh, and the backup guards shoot 39 and 46% from 3 btw (the key here though is that they didn't take a ton of 3s, but when they were left open they burned you), so it's not like the 3p shooting is horrible on the team. Among the backcourt and wing guys we have these percentages from 3:

28%, 38%, 35%, 46%, 39%. If you concider that shooting bad, you need to look up some averages from good teams in real life. The key though as i already mentioned is that we don't have high volume 3p-shooters (with the exception of Eddie Jones). We'll hit when we're open, but we'd rather take the lane and get to the line or get high percentage looks.

And remember this: this is the regular season we're voting for here. If you guys don't remember what kind of player Robinson was back in the day in the regular season i'll say this: he was, and was concidered a better player than Hakeem Olajuwon in regular season games. And i say that as a fan that conciders Olajuwon as my favorite center of all time (not the best ever, but my favorite). In their head to head matchups in regular season games Robinson's team won 30 times out of 42 games. That record speaks for itself when it comes to the regular season.

Don't let flashy numbers fool you. They look good on paper, but wouldn't work too well in real life.

And Re: Robertson at point. The main ballhandler on this team isn't Alvin Robertson, it's Scottie Pippen. Pip did a great job facilitating the triangle offense under coach Jackson, and he'll do a wonderful job initiating our offense as well. Having 2 other guys in Robertson and Jones in the starting lineup that can take the ball up and help out a bit on the ballhandling responsibilities is just a bonus.

[Knick_Killer31]

1. Lakers
2. Warriors
3. Grizzlies
4. Oaks
5. Spurs

[TiMVP2]

lol
Offense wins games
defense wins championships

okay thats true BUT the real truth is
the best ballance of offense and defense wins championships which IMO is the Spurs I mean look at the Grizzlies mayne we would kill them in a game with that very little offensive team dude. I can see Iverson and Michael Ray taking some balls on the fast break and putting them in.

[jericho]

Well argued, tkb. I still don't like Alvin at PG, although his shortcomings there in this league could be mitigated by the offensive scheme you use. In a triangle or some other concoction that spreads ballhandling and playmaking duties, Pippen and Mason can really shine.