NBA Rapidfire Report: Top Writers Talk Up the Playoffs

The 2007-08 NBA season is buzzing with subplots and marquee matchups. With so much intrigue I rounded up some of the Bleacher Report's Top Writers to drop in their two cents on the topics of the day. Make sure to look for more Rapid Reports coming every week, each time with new questions and fresh writers, and please chime in with your own comments!

In the tightest West ever, who takes the No. 1 spot and how important is seeding?

Andrew Kneeland (Senior Writer, 58 articles): The popular pick would be Houston, but I'm going to have to say Los Angeles. The Lakers just have too many play makers on their team to be bested by the Rockets. Granted, Houston is on an extremely long streak, but weren't they out of the playoff picture before it started? I don't expect "the streak" to continue much further, and you should see the Houston Rockets come back to earth. Right about that time, Gasol will be back and healthy, and Kobe and Bynum should both be 100% by then. As for seeding, I don't think it really makes that much of a difference. Sure, teams want the highest seeds they can get, but, obviously, they have to play everybody if they want to make it to the Finals. All eight of the potential playoff teams can play extremely good at times, and I don't think you can tell when a certain player is going to have a great game. Seeding shouldn't be that big of a factor this year.

Chad Ridgeway (Contributor, 5 articles): In a West where the top 8 seeds have been separated by a week’s worth of games all season (and the grip only tightening) it's impossible to pick a #1 seed, even this late in the season. The Lakers haven't played good defense. The Rockets can't keep up their pace. The Spurs are surprisingly unsteady but are still boringly good. The Mavs and Hornets could get hot. It's all arbitrary at this point. Seeding, however, is more important than ever.

Erick Blasco (Senior Writer, 82 Articles): As has been the case all season, there are way too many excellent teams in the West to accurately predict the number 1 seed with any degree of certainty. The team that gets healthy and peaks in April will be the number 1 seed in the playoffs.

Seeding is crucial this year, to some teams more than others. The Spurs and Suns are veteran teams that know how to play on the road. Getting low seeding won't cripple those teams in the playoffs. However, teams like Dallas and Utah struggle so much on the road that getting a high seed and home-court advantage is imperative for their playoff successes.

Also, teams that are new to the postseason (New Orleans) are best served by having their first postseason games at home to help adjust to getting acclimated to the physicality and intensity of playoff basketball. With that said, the Spurs and Suns can succeed at any spot while Dallas and Utah need to be at home to win playoff series.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?