Quote:
Originally Posted by Underdog
I didn't see anything special about last year's team until the playoffs rolled around...
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Last year's team started 24-5 and had an 18-1 stretch midseason. Their record suffered in the last month of the season, but that was mainly due to 1-point losses and other heartbreakers. On top of that, they were consistently good on the road, tying their eventual Finals opponent for the best road record in the league. They did show the signs; you just apparently missed them.
This year's team has done what, won six games in a row once? They're 7 games over .500. They have more losses than last year's team, even with 16 fewer games on the schedule. On top of that, they have a terrible road record. About the only similarity you can point to is the heartbreakers near the end of each season, but are you really going to point to
losses as a positive sign? At least the 2011 team showed a lot of promise before that, while this year we've just had heartbreakers throughout. You could also point to Odom's departure and hope that's a sign of good things to come, but the total impact that will truly have on the court is still up to speculation.
Due to the wonky schedule and the injuries and the depressed pariah, this team is probably better that your average #6 or #7 seed. But it hasn't shown any genuine signs of being an elite team either. While there have been slumping teams in the past that magically caught fire at the right time like the '99 Knicks and the '10 Celtics, there's no reason to believe this is one of those teams until they go out there and prove it.