I see them having a much better record than the mavs. As for 57 wins….I could see it if we stay healthy all year. Ask fatty to make sure he comes back before the season starts and have another prediction contest. I want to see how many times he types the words “Don Shula’s Steakhouse.”

He has to come back… He owes me a season of comments without grammatical errors…

and his substantial bbiq.

I hope he’s past the insults directed at bedge members.

He also said to book the Rockets at the beginning of last season.

They WERE starting to look good, but injuries can kill ANY team.

I’m going to say over 50 and unlike last year where I said we’d win a bunch up front and lose more towards the end, I think we’ll take some time warming up but then we’re going to be pretty consistent and increase our wins towards the end.

57 is pretty high, particularly over on this end of the universe.

Then again, I can see where he’s coming from:

Weaker next year:
Spurs are weaker
Suns… HAHAHAHA Porter might get something done but I think the window has closed. Shaq is too much of an anchor.
Rockets… those egos have to be filled with doubt as they’re certainly not filled with health.
Dallas… they have a lighter boat anchor in Kidd.

Stronger:
Lakers… with their center the Finals possibly go the other direction, but those Celtics were HUNGRY! I suspect that like Rocky who lost due to over confidence, the lakers might actually come back a bit meaner.
Blazers… Oden and Rudy… ‘nuff said.
Minnesota… Foye was out injured most of the year. I expect these guys to come back stronger and more of a cohesive unit… from 22 wins.
Seattle… Can they REALLY do worse? Durant should be bulking up and have built more strength which is his major hindrance.
Clippers… with brand they have to improve… but how much?
Utah… They’ll get better with more experience, but I don’t see their win totals going up even though they’ll be a stronger team.

Everyone else i think will be pretty much the same and New Orleans is one injury to Peja away from the deep dark abyss of a plummeting drop.

Still, what are those degrees of better vs worse and how do we stack up?

I think next year could end something like this on the west coast:

Lakers
New Orleans
Blazers
Utah

I expect the Lakers to achieve 60 plus wins IF they don’t crumble and they’re healthy with all the parts.

If new orleans is healthy, I think they can hit 56 again… just don’t blow on Peja’s back.

the blazers… if everything goes well/perfectly, I think we’re in the 54 range for a tie with Utah, but we’ll have owned them in at least three games again and so have the tie breaker. But things have to go perfectly for us. Oden needs to be in a grove after ten games. Chemistry needs to be good particularly with no playing time for good talent. Communication and skill levels need to have gone up a notch by all the young kids.

I’d say book over 50 and hope for more.

... fatty’s prediction track record isn’t exactly encouraging.

I think Portland has a good chance to crack the 50 win mark. We’ve seen 10 win increases (avg) the past two seasons. One more is not out of the question. 57 is over optimistic, even for me.

and then the return of fatty. It should be interesting to say the least. I think a 50+ win prediction is spot on. Fatty is just a bit of an optimist here sort of an anti-timbo. We love you timbo because you make us all feel like uber-positive homers.

Having fatty’s flame blown out makes mine burn bighter.

................ he’s got a catchy set-phrase, absolute confidence, and when he’s wrong—hey, no problem, he’s on to the next group of predictions, made with a catchy set-phrase and absolute confidence…

I was WAAYYY off about this season mostly due to injuries and monster trades at the deadline. I forgive fatty for his awful AWFUL prediction record. On the other hand if Yao isn’t hurt and that 22 game streak happens? Fatty is looking like some sort of genius.