2012-2013 WEST CHAMPION PREDICTIONS

[Eddy from Austin]

2012-2013 WEST CHAMPION PREDICTIONS

25 "Experts" picking Lakers:

Marc Stein ESPN.com
J.A. Adande ESPN.com
Chris Broussard ESPN The Mag
Chad Ford ESPN.com
Israel Gutierrez ESPN.com
Michael Wallace ESPN.com
Jackie MacMullan ESPN Boston
Henry Abbott TrueHoop
David Thorpe Scouts Inc.
Chris Palmer ESPN The Mag
Larry Coon ESPN.com
Tom Haberstroh ESPN.com
R. Shelburne ESPN LA
Adry Torres ESPN Deportes
Dave McMenamin ESPN LA
Maurice Brooks ESPN.com
Adena Andrews ESPNW
Arash Markazi ESPN LA
Nick Friedell ESPN Chicago
Chris Ramsay ESPN.com
Scoop Jackson ESPN.com
Tim MacMahonESPN Dallas
Mike Mazzeo ESPN New York
Chris Forsberg ESPN Boston
Ian Begley ESPN New York

9 "Experts" picking Thunder

1 "Experts" picking Spurs (John Hollinger ESPN.com)

[td4mvp2k]

Wow! I dont know what to say to that.... Ha!

[alh1020]

Originally Posted by td4mvp2k

Wow! I dont know what to say to that.... Ha!

The only thing I can say is John Hollinger is the only smart one of the bunch and is now on my Christmas card list.

[spurscrazed]

John Hollinger is Da Man!

He is the Smartest one of all!

I know I am a Homer. But JESUS! Those Expert guys need to get a clue we have the best coach in the NBA of all NBA Teams. And we have a very competetive TEAM. And we have the Most TEAM WINS on the ROAD (11-2)! HELLO!

But you know what... Better have have our Spurs fly under some kind of a radar till March as they start Spamming!

[Eddy from Austin]

Something has to be said about continuity, that's what the Spurs have and what the Lakers lack. Spurs have the same Roster + De Colo, no subtractions.
The core of the big 3 intact* for the last 11 years. And a Hall of fame coach with 15 consecutive trips to the playoffs.

On the other hand you have the Lakers, the opposite of consistency, they added 6 new faces to the Roster and traded or not resigned another 6. All just to try to get a quick fix. And ESPN eats it all up. Now on their 2nd coach who nobody thinks is a good fit, they'll be lucky if they make the playoffs.

The reason why they're loosing is because they're not familiar with each other or the system. It doesn't help that they're playing with a third string point guard (even though 1 & 2 can't play defense). And the fact that Kobe wants to do it all and they loose almost every time he scores 30+ points.

[spurscrazed]

Those experts are picking the Lakers and OKC over Spurs because they look at the Tremendous amount of Talents. ala Lakers have Kobe + Nash + Howard + Gasol... or OkC who have Durant + Westbrook + (Ibaka will make the All Stars this year imo). i.e. on paper those two teams look pretty darn good.

Digging deeper than the veneer as Hollinger did, one would see how the Spurs have all components to win it all albeit Spurs need to be better defensively and that would happen when we get all our guys healthy.

I am more surprised how no love for the HEAT or for the Knicks...

[td4mvp2k]

Originally Posted by spurscrazed

Those experts are picking the Lakers and OKC over Spurs because they look at the Tremendous amount of Talents. ala Lakers have Kobe + Nash + Howard + Gasol... or OkC who have Durant + Westbrook + (Ibaka will make the All Stars this year imo). i.e. on paper those two teams look pretty darn good.

Digging deeper than the veneer as Hollinger did, one would see how the Spurs have all components to win it all albeit Spurs need to be better defensively and that would happen when we get all our guys healthy.

Agree.