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Wolverine, you made good points and everything, but I am not counting on the Spurs passing the second round. The only team that should for sure be in the Western finals is the Kings. If Tony Parker is playing, nobody can stay with him, but if he does what he did last year, they won't make it out of the second round.
Your 100% ruling out of the Timberwolves is also laughable. Past playoff success means nothing when your second best guy is Troy Hudson. This year the Rockets will probably lose in the first round because there players aren't good enough, that doesn't mean they will lose again next year...and the year after that...etc etc. The Timberwolves teams that lost in the playoffs in the past included the likes of Joe Smith, Anthony Peeler, Rasho Nesterovic, Marc Jackson, Dean Garrett, a few others, they are all gone now. Now they have Sam Cassell (two time NBA champion, all-star this season), Latrell Sprewell, Michael Olowokandi, Trenton Hassell, and Mark Madsen (former NBA champion). To even compare those teams is rediculous.
I am not saying the Timberwolves will win the NBA finals, make the NBA finals, or even make the Western Conference Finals, but I can guarantee you that without a doubt they will win their first round of the playoffs this year. Kevin Garnett is easilly the best and most dominant player in the league, he has a supporting cast much more talented than Tim Duncan does, and in a SI coaches poll, they were voted as having the best zone defence in the league, no other team even got votes. So when it all comes down to it, the Wolves have a good defense and a player who matches and betters Tim Duncan. I hate the Spurs by the way.
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