the Seattle Supersonics??? How surprising is this team with a 13-2 record as of today. I don't think they will hold the top spot for the rest of the season, but it looks like theyre a lot better than people thought.

yeah the NBA is very different from the past seasons. just take a look at the division leaders (Knicks, Pacers, Heat, Sonics, Suns and Spurs)
among these, only Pacers and Spurs had good teams last season. anyway, I think that doesn't mean anything. the ring contenders STILL are Spurs, T'Wolves, Kings, Pistons, Pacers and maybe Mavs.

I wouldn't say they're the best team, but they're definitely turning a lot of heads & mine, the Cleveland Cavs. LeBron is having a great year thus far & the team is just playing great basketball.

Yeah, I dont think theyre the best teame either. They just have the best record in the league as of right now. I agree with you on Lebron. It seems like he is almost playing perfect basketball. Its amazing.

the Fans in Detroit

Ok, and what do they have to do with this topic?

speaking of the best team... will the Hornets ever win a game again? I mean, look at their starting lineup: Lynch, Freije, PJ Brown, Wesley and Garcia. UUUUUUGH!!
I just feel sorry for my fellow brazilian Alex Garcia, but I do hate the Hornets. after the Darrell Armstrong trade and their move to the west, I see them getting an amazing record like a 10-72 or something by the end of the season. I say that because I don't remember seeing such a sucky team in the NBA.

once Baron Davis comes back it won't be that bad.

but it will still be ugly

Too early to tell, but leaning toward Phoenix. I think Seattle will come back down to earth. The Pistons are not very cohesive, but still the defending champs and need to be dethroned before annointing anyone else.

I do like the play of the Cavs, but they too are only an injury or two away from being a .500 team. LeBron has been simply amazing this year and has elevated an already very good game by adding a more consistent jumper.

What team isnt an injury away from a .500 team??? You take away Garnett from the T'Wolves, Duncan from the Spurs, or Shaq from the Heat, these three teams would all be below .500 most likely. Those are just coming off the top of my head right now. Every team is an injury away from a worse record. Phoenix and Seattle are playing the best as a team in the West and Cleveland is playing the best as a team in the East and their records speak for themselves. Miami is playing well but we expected that and pretty much rely solely on Wade and Shaq. The other three teams are all surprises. Lakers have the 8th seed right now but I wouldnt be surprised if they lose it by the end of the season.

of course any team would be affected by the injury of an important player, but you can't compare some situations. if the Suns had some starting player injured, they would still probably be a tough team to beat in spite of getting a little worse. now imagine the Cavs with LeBron injured. that would make the Cavs one of the worst teams in the league.

about the Lakers, I agree they might lose that 8th seed. they had a light schedule, and when they start meeting stronger teams, Kobe will have to make miracles to keep them with a playoff spot.

Yeah, I have a good feeling the Lakers will be trounced when they play Shaq and the Heat. Kobe is gonna be scared shitless of Shaq and won't be able to win it on his own likes he's been having to so far. He says he's going to apologize to Shaq but we'll see about that.

The sonics and suns are tough this year, but i don't think either of them have what it takes to win an NBA Championship. I feel that seattle lacks players that can help backup Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen. Therefore, they won't be in the NBA finals. The suns have a better chance than the sonics, but Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire have no playoff experience and this will cause the suns to lose in the second round. This years NBA Champs will be the Spurs. Manu Ginobilli and Tim Duncan can't be stopped, and if they are in trouble they have tony parker and brent barry to help out. Not a Spurs fan, but this is their year.

GO BULLS!!!

Stoudamire and Marion were in the playoffs in 2003.

Yeah, thats right!! I forgot about that, but I'm still going to say that the spurs will win it this year.

everytime I see people saying that and the Spurs easily beating the Suns make me very scared. I HATE the Spurs, they can't win again. and although I fear these guys are right, I still say GO PISTONS!

I'm with you Tony, I HATE the Spurs too but in my eyes, Detroit was a fluke last year. Sure they have a good team but I feel Billups is overrated & they got lucky. I'm digging Phoenix b/c I LOVE Steve Nash & hope he wins the MVP and I'm happy for Cleveland b/c I like Bron-Bron as well.

did you see what Billups did last night? :p
I see why you say he is overrated, and although sometimes it seems you're right, I don't agree. I just think that the Pistons system don't allow someone to make 20 PPG, but if they need it, Billups will rise as a great player. that's what happened last night and many other times.

TM the Pistons offense does not allow a PG to be a 20 point guy.


I was reading in ESPN the Magazine how Larry Brown told Billups he is not a real point guard if he is looking to score- they gradually worked out their differences. Larry Brown wants a Stockton at PG in his offense pretty much just someone to pass the ball to the scorers.

yeah that's pretty much what I meant. there is no way to Billups play everything he can every single night.

Great win for the Sixers, beating the Sonics in Seattle. AI is having maybe the best season of his career. And Andre Iguodala is a strong candidate for ROY.

Hey guys I'm not a Spurs fan either, I'm actually a diehard Bulls fan. But I'm just saying that I think this is a good year for the Spurs and they will end up being the champs.
As far as Detroit being a fluke last year, I don't think thats true. They were one of the toughest defensive teams I have seen in a long time, and forced other teams to play their game. Thats why they were 2004 NBA Champs.

Sonics have a FAR better bench then the Suns. Vladimar Radman has been a 6th man canidate. Fortson has been awesome. So has Daniels, and Flip Murray is back from injury.

The Suns have NOTHING on their bench. If you look at the team averages from top to bottom, contribution goes down more significantly between starters and bench then it does on any team Ive ever seen. If PHX loses a single starter, itll cripple them.

Seattle has soft players who shoot well, and bruisers with no offensive game. Thats it. They can replace each other easily. Flip Murray had to step in for Ray Allen last year and the negative effects on the team were minimal. It didnt hurt nearly the way losing a Kobe or Pierce would to their respective teams

Just my two cents

The team with the best record in the west and the team with the best record in the east squared off last night in what could be a preview of the NBA finals. The Suns easily defeated the Heat 122-107 with Amare Stoudamire scoring 34 points. I still think the Spurs will be the team that comes out from the West. However, this Suns team continues to amaze me as they now have a 31-4 record and may be looking to make a run at 70 wins, making them only the 2nd team to accomplish this feat. I know we're not even half way through the season, but I don't think anyone could have predicted that the Suns would have the best record in the league this far into the season.

Seeing as how the allstar weekend just ended and we're 2/3 the way through the season, what's everyones opinion on the season thus far? Who will be MVP, Champs, 6th man, etc....

It's looking like a Spurs-Heat final to me. My vote for MVP would go to LeBron, Comeback Player to Grant Hill, and Coach of the Year to D'Antoni from Phoenix.

The best team in the NBA is The Pistons. No doubt about it. They are holding there opponets to 88 points or less witch I think is second behind The Spurs. We got Arroyo to back up Billups, who is a natural point guard, unlike Billups. Since the trade for Arroyo our bench has averaged 10 more points a game.

The reason why everybody thinks Detroit is a fluke is because we get no recognition. There are no "Stars" on our team. We dont need stars on our team. The Pistons are very balanced, as a Detroit fan I dont know who will score the most points in a game. One night its Tayshuan Prince or Rip or Sheed or Billups. But thats what Joe D. wants. Everybody is a go to guy on that squad.

We have a rookie named Carlos Delfino, who reminds me of a Manu Ginobli. The guy is awesome, There is so much Good talent on this team I wish some of you guys could see, but you wont because of the little recongition. Thats alright though, once the playoffs hit everyone will know that this team is no fluke

for sure this team is no fluke, but I doubt it will get the ring again. and don't get me wrong, I'm a big Pistons fan! I just hope I'm wrong.

The Miami Heat.