Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks: Top Contenders for Western Conference Playoffs - NBA Feature (Part 1)
8. Dallas Mavericks:
Coming through a tough season after the 2011 NBA Finals win, Dallas have started to rebuild in the right direction with a number of intelligent signings before the start of the 2012-13 season. Players like O.J.Mayo and Elton Brand
might need some momentum before they can really let excel but once in to the later part of the season and in to the play-offs, Dallas can emerge as good competition in an otherwise tough Western Conference.
Their biggest asset will once again be Dirk Nowitzki and while age and motivation may be a concern, his presence on the court will make them a team worthy of progress in the play-offs.
7. Memphis Grizzlies:
The Grizzlies definitely lack that one major scorer but their points are so evenly distributed that they can keep winning throughout the regular season without even getting noticed. Led by Rudy g*y, the Grizzlies were the team
nobody wanted to play in the last post season and their first round loss to the Los Angeles Clippers came as a surprise.
The transformation and growing post presence of players like Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph has made them very formidable in defense. In Tony Allen, the Grizzlies have one of the best defensive small forwards but what they probably
need the most is some bench strength which can see their major stays play the full season without being injured. A conference final may be a farfetched dream but the Grizzlies can definitely create a few ripples once they are in to the play-offs.
6. Denver Nuggets:
Only if they discover how to stop other teams from scoring, the Nuggets can turn into a consistently winning unit who are already very well endowed when it comes to offense.
For the Nuggets to get any better at defense, JaVale McGee has to mature as a player and transform himself from a potential great to an effective centre who knows how to stop the opposing attacks instead of trying to keep his own
scoring on the higher side.
The biggest highlight of the off-season for the Nuggets however has been the inclusion of Andre Iguodala into their set up which can make a huge difference when it comes to perimeter defense and he might as well be the reason why
the Nuggets progress much farther than anyone can predict.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves:
It is strange how some pundits refuse to give the Wolves a chance in the Western Conference. With last season’s impact performers like Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio still a part of the setup, it is tough if not impossible to rule
the Wolves out of the race for the Western Conference. However, they may need a little bit of depth if they need improve their chances even further into the competition especially on the offense. The inclusion of Brandon Roy, Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved
has made them mighty strong and to provide the finishing touch Kevin Love needs to be at his best, and along with his scoring and rebounding, he needs to be the leader of the team.
If he manages to do that, we might as well be seeing a top contender for the MVP spot. All these things taken care of, the young side can be a very tough to beat even for the more experienced sides in the Western Conference.
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