NBA Roundtable: Contenders or Pretenders?

Welcome to SportKop's second attempt at a Roundtable Discussion. Here we discuss whether or not these six teams are really competing for an NBA Championship or just putting on a show. Those partaking in this discussion are Hirsch Patel, Chengez Khan, and Benjamin Gauss.

HP- Hirsch Patel

CK- Chengez Khan

BG- Benjamin Gauss

Toronto Raptors

HP: Pretender- Outside of the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers, I don’t view anyone in the feeble Eastern Conference as a contender. While the Raptors have been a pleasant surprise after the Rudy Gay trade, they won’t be able to keep up with the superpowered teams mentioned earlier. They have bright spots in their athletic guards but C Jonas Valucunas has been regressing and if you want to stand a chance against either the Pacers or Heat you will need a strong center who grabs rebounds aggressively and keeps the opposition out of the paint.

CK: Pretender- Hirsch’s reasoning sums it up pretty nicely. Barring a major injury, you can count on a Miami Heat and Indiana Pacer rematch in the Eastern Conference Finals. While Toronto is a solid team, the Western Conference is once again a barometer to put their success in perspective. The Raptors would be in the playoff race, but would currently be in 10th place. Toronto’s defense has vastly improved under head coach Dwayne Casey, and there is some promising talent on the roster, but this young team has to build on their foundations this offseason to be considered a serious threat in the playoffs. 

BG: Pretender- You've heard it all season, and you are going to hear it again. If you are in the East, and you are not the Pacers or the Heat, you are automatically a pretender. Toronto is good, but without a dominant big man that can expose the rebounding weakness of Miami, you are not going to get anywhere. Valanciunas has regressed drastically from last season and does not appear to be the long term answer at the 5 for Toronto. I will not take anything away from the Raptors though. Ever since trading Rudy Gay, they have been a great team, and Lowry and DeRozan both deserve to be in the discussion for Most Improved player. But the simple answer is: Heat and Pacers. Pretender. 

San Antonio Spurs

HP: Contender- Every year the Spurs are overlooked and every year they prove to be legitimate contenders. The only difference is that this year they are moving the ball in an even better fashion causing them to average around 25 apg (putting them second in the league). Their players have slowly started coming back from injury and it shows in their successful play as they have won six games in a row and nine of their last ten. This team is stronger than it was last year with further development from Patty Mills and Kawhi Leonard too. Also consider this next part to understand how amazing head coach Greg Poppovich is in getting the best out of his players. SG Danny Green was cut from the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 but now he is one of the best three point shooters in the league. Had he been able to keep his hot streak going last year in the finals he would've been Finals MVP. Kind of a drastic change.

CK: Contender- I trust Gregg Popovich. How can you not? Tim Duncan continues to amaze at age 263 and the offensive system in place is a beautiful thing to watch: unselfish passing, movement without the ball, proper cuts, proper spacing, it’s it’s hard to imagine a player not rejuvenating their career or thriving under such a system if they buy in. And the defense remains steady thanks to the aforementioned Duncan and the infallible Kawhi Leonard. The only player who seems to remain in decline since last year is Manu Ginobli. Even Boris Diaw is a good, dependable player now. No one wants to see this team come playoff time and with good reason. They aren’t going to go down easily.

BG: Contender- When are the Spurs not a contender? They have simply shown again and again that age is just a number. And even then, they have the perfect balance of young athleticism and veteran savvy. They are also coached by arguably the greatest NBA coach ever in Popovich. Somehow, he is always able to get the most out of all of his players, and I can guarantee you that they will be a force again coming into the 2014 Playoffs.

L.A. Clippers

HP: Contender- The Clippers have all the pieces needed to make the jump to a contender. Blake Griffin has taken the necessary steps forward to put himself in elite class just as I said he would in my first SportsKop article, and DeAndre Jordan is backing up the strong claims Doc Rivers made at the beginning of the season. The only thing holding them back is disappointing play from the small forward position at times. Matt Barnes and Jared Dudley need to do a better job of providing outside shooting and smart defensive play. Danny Granger is still a big question mark because we don't know what he's fully capable of after coming back from significant injuries.

CK: Contender- Chris Paul finally has a proper chance at getting out of the first round. Doc Rivers has made Los Angeles a top 5 defensive team and Blake Griffin’s growth has been tremendous. His play elevated dramatically during the absence of Chris Paul, and he could see himself finish 3rd in MVP voting. The Clippers will need Griffin’s hot play to continue into the postseason if they want to have a legitimate shot at winning it all. Hirsch brings up a good point about the wing play. I’m not sure Danny Granger is the answer at small forward but more shooting is necessary if this team is serious about reaching the Finals. J.J. Redick’s return to the lineup may be paramount if this team is to be a true contender.

BG: Contender- I'll admit myself, I have never liked Blake Griffin, but the man has truly blossomed into an unstoppable offensive player, and the biggest development to his game this year is his ability to shoot the mid-range jumper. On top of that, I think that picking up Granger as a sixth man scorer will prove invaluable for the Clippers. As I'm writing this, he had just scored 14 and 18 points in his last 2 games with limited minutes. On top of that, Chris Paul is making a case for himself as an MVP candidate, and he continues to amaze me with his ridiculous assist to turnover ratio. Let us reminisce of the game where Cousins refused to let fellow teammate, Isaiah Thomas shake Paul's hand after the game because of Paul's ridiculous flopping instances throughout the game.

Houston Rockets

HP: Pretender- James Harden and the Houston Rockets have been scorching hot as of late and it’s hard not to get caught up in the moment. It’s just hard to fall in love with their play as they lack superior ball movement and are too dependent on three pointers. In fact, roughly twenty-five percent of the Rockets points come from long distance. Typically three point shooting teams struggle to do well in the playoffs as there are too many games being played without enough rest. Just ask the team being covered next.

CK: Contender- This team has a great starting lineup including an all-star center who draws double teams and is an excellent defender, a prolific scorer who may be the best shooting guard in the league, a tremendous on ball defender at the point guard position, and a jack of all trades player at the small forward. Dwight Howard’s offensive game remains limited, but his reputation and size still draws multiple defenders, and leaves shooters like Parsons and Harden open. The Rockets is another Western Conference playoff team that has greatly improved it’s defense. Houston’s best shot at making a deep run likely means avoiding Oklahoma City, who has their number. The Thunder have beaten each time they’ve faced each other this regular season, and beat them in the playoffs last year without Russell Westbrook. So while I believe Houston has a shot at doing something special this season, a lot of it depends on the Thunder getting upset and the Rockets avoiding a bad match-up.

BG: Pretender- Howard is a big cry baby, and I made a bold prediction to a friend several years ago that Howard would never win a ring, so I'm sticking with it. Harden and Parsons are pretty good though, and Lin is Taiwanese, and so am I. So therefore, they are pretenders.

Golden State Warriors

HP: Pretender- With all the players that the Warriors have they should be a “contender”. Their bench is starting to finally turn that corner with the addition of Steve Blake and the team has now won four straight. They even proved they can play well in away games as they faced a tough four game road trip and finished with a 4-2 record. Unfortunately, I don’t view them as contenders as the rest of the Western Conference is starting to look really dangerous and I’ve been less than impressed with the job Mark Jackson has been doing this season. It’s great that all of his players love him but he’s too soft on the team and lacks the fire that the best coaches have. Think about it this way: would Greg Poppovich allow All-Star Stephen Curry to average close to 4 turnovers a game, play subpar defense, and take multiple bad shots a game? Sure Curry is an astounding shooter and a complete joy to watch, but if his shot selection was better he could easily be a 50-40-90 player. Most importantly, the Warriors still haven't proved they can close out games consistently. There have been too many late game leads that have vanished because of sloppy turnovers, poor shots, and miscommunications on defense for my liking.

CK: Contender- It seems like this team has finally found the switch and is beginning to play more consistently. Hefty expectations and the up and downs of the long NBA season have made it seem like the Warriors have disappointed, but they could very well still win 50 games. What gives the Warriors a shot is the best ranked defense in the Western Conference, which becomes more important come playoff time. Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala, and Draymond Green are all elite defenders, and Klay Thompson is vastly underrated in that aspect of the game. What makes them more intriguing is the way they’ve played top Western opponents. They’ve won their most recent game against Houston, the only one in which Iguodala has played. They gave the Spurs all they could handle last season and are probably a better team at this juncture. Two of the three games against the Thunder have gone down to the wire, with the exception being the 54 point explosion from Kevin Durant. The Warriors’ tendency to play down to their poor opponents and play up to their good ones (they’ve beaten Indiana and Miami on the road and lost to Charlotte twice) makes me believe in them more come playoff time.

BG: Contender- The Warriors have a great all-around team. In my opinion, they made a great trade for Blake. They got a traditional ball-handling and playmaking backup point guard option to give Coach Jackson an option to pull out Curry whenever he goes on one of his little turnover sprees. However, I don't like Iguodala at all. I believe that he is one of the most overrated players on the team. Everyone that I have talked to seem to overrate his defensive efficiency to a point where they seem to mask out his offensive inefficiencies. The man is getting paid over $12,000,000 a year, and he fails to even average a measly 10 points. If he could actually make his free throws, maybe he could reach that double figures mark. Iguodala needs to take more of a charge on the offensive end to give the Warriors a more dynamic offense. I'm absolutely certain that the Warriors obtained his services expecting more than 9.3 points per game on top of his stellar defense. To put it into perspective, this is his worst scoring season in his career since his rookie season out of his 10 year career. Warriors do however have the best defense in the West as they have great defenders in Iguodala, Green, and Bogut, and defense does win champions, so who knows?

Portland Trail Blazers

HP: Pretender- I think this team is well coached and has valuable pieces but lack of experience could easily hold them back. Their offense is wonderous as the ball is constantly moving, giving every player their fair share of touches and shots. Unfortunately, their defense doesn't match this intensity but that's to be expected from young teams. While they may not have a real shot of winning it all this season, the team is certainly capable of making some noise and giving their opponents a scare (think of what the Warriors did last season). This team has a lot to look forward to in the upcoming years so they should at least celebrate that.

CK: Pretender- After a tremendous start to the season, the Blazers have come down to Earth. One of the top offenses in the league simply does not yet have the defense to match. Their core with Damian Lillard, Nicolas Batum, and Lamarcus Aldridge is strong, but a commitment to defense and some additional pieces will be necessary in the offseason to take the next step. Like the Raptors, this is a team that has exceeded expectations but isn’t ready to make a deep run in the postseason. Portland, however is still a dangerous team that could very well give their first round opponent a headache. They have a system predicated on three point shooting and Aldridge’s mid-range shot. While Robin Lopez has filled in the center position admirably, a front court addition with an inside game will give the Blazers a threat in the post and benefit them well.

BG: Pretender- After a hot start to the season that brought them to the very top of the west, they have finally hit a wall. Defensive liabilities continue to hinder the team from separating itself from the elite teams. As a very young team, they still have a lot of room to grow. However, this has also translated to losing many games in the last minutes of games as young teams typically struggle when closing out games. Although this season has surpassed anyone's reasonable expectations, they will not be a force to reckon with when playoff comes around. 

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