Western Conference Preview, Who Will Be The Top 8 Teams

Everyone knows that the Western Conference in the NBA is the more exciting conference then the Eastern. With 10 or 11 possible teams that can push to make the playoffs. The question is who will get in.? I predict its going to come out like this. I am a guy who is very big on Front Courts. I believe that in order to be a successful team in the NBA you must have a good Front court. So here go my Predictions

1. The Los Angles Lakers- All i have to say is KOBE BRYANT the best player in basketball.He can carry the team by himself, but he has got a lot of help surrounding him. A winning point guard in Derek Fisher, a 6th man of year candidate Lamar Odom and The KEY - FRONT COURT- ANDREW BYNUM and PAU GASOL both players will average a double -double and will be the key factor. The Lakers also have a lot of depth to the bench with, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Trevor Ariza. This year it could be the Lakers year to win it all. But they will definitely be the top seed in the West

2. The New Orleans Hornets- Lead by the second top vote getter in the MVP race Chris Paul, this team really has it all. With sharp shooters on the wings like Morris Peterson and Peja they will score a lot of points. THERE FRONT COURT- David West and Tyson Chandler. David West should be considered for an All Star bid he is a big part of the success of the Hornets. The Bench also has very solid depth this season. With the off-season acquisition of James Posey and Second year player Julian Wright, this team should be as good as they were last year, maybe even better.

3. The Houston Rockets- In my opinion the Rockets will be playing in the Western Conference Finals, as long as they stay HEALTHY.! With superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming they should be unstoppable. However people have been saying that ever since Yao and T-MAC were paired together. Every year they have gotten hurt. This season though the Acquired Ron Artest. While Artest does have a temper, he plays with heart, is a defensive machine, and can score 20 points a game. With Rafer "Skip to my Lou" Alston and Luis Scola rounding out the starting 5 this is a very dangerous starting 5. The bench is also very solid for the Rockets, with Second year players- Carl Landry and Aron Brooks and Veterans Brent Barry and Shane Battier, this team is dangerous on all cylinders. 

4. The Utah Jazz- Having 2 olympians on your team is always a good sign espiecally when they are your best players. Carlos Boozer and Deron Willams single handedly carried the Utah Jazz to the playoffs last year. However they are not the only ones. Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko are huge players for this team. A key midseason acqusition in Kyle Korver gave the Jazz a huge threat from behind the arc. The bench of the Jazz is ok not the Greatest with Players like Ronnie Brewer, Matt Harpring Cj Miles and some other young players.

5. The Dallas Mavericks - Dallas had a very disappointing season last season. Trading Devin Harris to the Nets for Jason Kidd. However this year will be different. Everyone of those players are determined to win. With a hall of fame bound point guarding leading the way, Josh Howard and Dirk are going to have huge seasons. I'm still forgetting Jason Terry and Erik Dampier rounding out the starting 5. Just like the Lakers this team has no weak links. Everyone that they put on the floor can be a threat. The bench starting with Jerry Stackhouse and Antoine Wright in the front court Gerald Green who is trying to start over, Brandon Bass. and Designa Diop this team could go very deep into the Post season , if Mark Cuban doesn't mess them up somehow. 

6. The Phoenix Suns- Usually the Suns are a 2 seed or a 3 seed but i have them as a 6. Not because i don't like the Suns but i just don't think they are going to be that good. With the departure of Mike D'antoni and the emergence of Terry Porter the Suns are no longer playing the "Run and Gun" style offense. They will slow things down. Don't get me wrong here, they still have great players. Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shaq you can never count this team out. With Leandro Barbosa and Grant Hill, and someone other young bench players the Suns once again have no depth and come Playoff time their starters will be tired and well lose in the first round to the Houston Rockets.

7. The Portland Trailblazers - I think they finally sneak in to the playoffs, along with the young players and the unbelievable bench this team is going to create havoc in the post season. Superstar Brandon Roy leads the way for this these young team.With Aldridge and hopefully a healthy Oden this front court is not only young but very talented. On the Wings they have Travis Outlaw who is extremely under rated and Martell Webster. The bench of this team is outstanding. Rookie Jerryd Bayliss and Spain's shooting star Rudy Fernandez these two guys are so exciting to watch. Also Channing Frye and Joel Przybella create big problems for many teams second units and also the first units.

The Eighth and Final team in the Playoffs goes to the Denver Nuggets 

8. The Denver Nuggets- I think this team is great. Yes they lost Camby in the off-season and yes there bench is horrific but this team has 2 superstars. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony can bring this team to the playoffs themselves. If there front court of Kenyon Martin and Nene Hillario can stay healthy this team is just as good as the 4 through 7 teams. They don't really have a point guard with Chuckey Atkins and Anthony Carter battling for the starting job. Even though there bench is horrific two players that stand out to me are. J.R Smith and Linus Kleiza both those guys are to me either starters on many other teams or 6th men. 

Yes this is only my opinion, and I am open to comments and questions on how i came up with what i did and where the SPURS are. So i hope you all enjoy and i look forward to hearing your comments..