NBA talk 2008

[vonkaar]

My predicts:

EAST:

1) Boston
2) Cleveland
3) Detroit
4) Toronto
5) Philly
6) Orlando
7) Miami
8) Washington

West:

1) L.A.
2) New Orleans
3) Utah
4) Houston
5) Dallas
6) Portland
7) San Antonio (Ginobili out is going to really hurt this aging team)
8) Phoenix

MVP: Lebron James
Scoring Title: Lebron James
Most improved: Devin Harris
6th Man: AK47
Rookie of the year: Greg Oden
Defensive Player of the Year: Ron Artest
Coach of the Year: Rick Adelman

I guess the only 'crazy' pick is my eternal optimism for the Mavs. But, speaking of crazy...

Eddie Johnson lists his top 25 players in the league and leaves Dirk out... .

[recks]

EAST:

1) Boston
2) Philly
3) Orlando
4) Detroit
5) Cleveland
6) Raptors
7) Miami
8) Milwaukee

West:

1) New Orleans
2) L.A.
3) Houston
4) Jazz
5) Suns
6) San Antonio
7) Portland
8) Nuggets

MVP: CP3 (West conf winners)
Scoring Title: Lebron James (Obvious)
Most improved: Thaddeus Young (Brand will boost his game) Or Stucky (Can't decide)
6th Man: Barbosa (Nash's mins will shrink)
Rookie of the year: Beasley
Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Garnett (2nd year repeat!)
Coach of the Year: Nate McMillan (Blazers make the playoffs)

[vonkaar]

As broken as you might think the Mavs are... I can't see how you see the Nuggets as in any better shape. I gots no REAL beef with the rest of your picks. Though... I think Philly is overrated (BRAND isn't - the team is) and I liken the Bucks to the Warriors of the East. But otherwise... meh... no big argument. Denver over Dallas though?

[recks]

I agree it's a crazy pick. Denver's my team though so gotta throw them in there. Gotta love the way they think though. " We can't play D, what should we do?"... "I know, lets trade our only good defenders away for nothing!".

I have had a man crush on A.I. for years and years. I'm praying next season he signs with Philly for the mid level exception and then they go onto win the chip... prolly won't happen though... but a man can dream. A man can dream.

My good friend is a huge Dallas fan and we always used to root against each other, I never had any legitimate beef with them... until they fired Avery. They handled it fine, UNTIL they decided to make public the fact that most players wanted him off the team? WTF is with that? Name some names. Where was this talk when he had them 3-0 (or was it 2-0?) against Miami? It's not Avery's fault that Dirk has the leadership of a donkey or that Howard is a fucking moron. They can't win with that core... but hey, lets just put it all on Avery...

Anyway, season starts tonight and I can't wait, gonna be a good year.

Should be interesting to see Zan's list...

1) Raptors
2) Raptors
3) Raptors

????

Let's see if O'Neal can play more than 18 games!

[Zanchief]

How did I miss this thread?

I'm not great with team predictions but here goes

East

Boston
-I hate you so much. I still think if they hit a ruff patch those players that have such awesome chemistry are going to eat each other alive. Plus Doc Rivers is a terrible coach.

Cleveland
-I'm not entirely sold on the Mo Williams project, but he is a rich mans Daniel Gibson so they'll be a better team. They still don't have a big that can score in the post or run the floor.

Detroit
-I think they still have one year left in that team. They're getting close to being over the hill though.

Orlando
-If Howard improves his FT and gets a few more moves under the basket they could be crazy good. I'm really not a Jameer Nelson fan though.

Toronto
-I guess it all depends on O'Neil's health (which I'm not worried about). I think their bench is questionable (especially the back court). If they really want to make some noise Ukic will have to be ready to go since their backup PG spot is terrible. If we can get 10+ rebounds, 2+ blocks and 65 games from O'Neil we'll be fine.

Chicago
-I liked em last year when they imploded and for some stupid reason I like em this year. They're young, and athletic and their loaded with talent. They're small, but you can get away with that in the east, especially if you run alot, which they will.

Philly
-I don't get the love for Iggy. I never have. He doesn't score easily, he takes too many threes and he's not that good at it. He's a solid rebounder for a swing that scores a bit. He's like Corey Maggette. Which means you basically have the old Clippers team in Philly and their supposed to win 50+ games? Bring back the Kandy Man and then you'll make a believer out of me.

Miami
-One of the worst tank jobs since...well they year before with Boston. I don't think anyone really believes their record. They'll do well if Wade stays healthy. If not, they'll have a ton of trouble scoring.


West (I don't follow the west that close)

Lakers
-This is a no-brainer. They were the best team in the West last year without Bynum and they get him back and improve their bench by moving one of the best utility players in the league into a 6th man role. If they can only defend a bit they'll be the best team in the league.

New Orleans
-I was a fool for doubting Paul last year. I really wasn't sold but he works perfectly for this team. They probably take too many jumpers to make a real dent in the playoffs (even their bigs shoot jumpers - I know Toronto is the same way). They run, they defend and they shoot great. If West can learn to play with his back to the basket and Paul stays healthy they'll be scary.

Jazz
-Steady, solid, well coached, boring to watch.

Houston
-The only thing stopping them is health. If they can get 65 games out of Yao and McGrady they'll be fine. They probably won't though. Great team on paper though. I can't believe Rafer is still their starting PG (I had them at 3 but bumped them down when I looked up the Rafer thing).

San Antonio
-They're just getting older and older. Any team that has to rely on Matt Boner for heavy minutes is in trouble. They'll do well once Manu comes back.

Dallas
-I think of all the fading quality teams this is the one that still has something left. Dirk isn't that old and his game doesn't require a huge amount of athleticism. Howard is still a great two-way player. They still have some good depth. They team hasn't changed that much and they aren't that old (aside from Kidd). They just have to wakeup a bit.

Portland
-Oden being out will hurt them a bit, but these kids are just loaded. Plus the West isn't the kind of conference were a young squad is just going to get hammered like it was a few years ago (see NO last year).

Phoenix
-I'm not convinced. They're getting old, and their younger players are really banged up (Amare). I think Shaq is going to be wishing he'd stayed in Miami.

MVP: Kobe (same thing they did with Nash. He's going to put up better numbers so they'll have no choice but to give it to him)
Scoring Title: Al Jefferson (Why not?)
Most improved: Thyrus Thomas
6th Man: Odom
Defensive Player of the Year: Artest
Coach of the Year: Phil Jackson

[Hatak]

And I thought the OKC Thunder would be the top of everyone's list...

[vonkaar]

Toronto looked good last night. JO and Bosh work really well with Calderon, who appears headed for 'top5 guard in the east' status. Though, he's probably there already...

chauncey, wade & arenas are the only elite 1s, no? Miller? We're so stacked out here it's sick.

also, this is freaking funny: link

[Zanchief]

The reason we did so well last night was because we got some good minutes out of Ukic. If we can get some solid minutes out of him all year long and O'Neal stays healthy we'll be great.

[recks]

After watching Denver play last night... there's no way they're making the playoffs.

Also, L.A. looks unstoppable. Kobe can pretty much turn on the scoring whenever they're in a slump. Teams should try there best not to piss this guy off eg Pyrzbilla hard fouling him in game one and Kobe goes crazy good. Will be interesting to see how they come out after Houston, @ Dallas, @ N.O and Detroit.

Raptors looked pretty damn good, except for Moon... go figure. It was only game 1 but I think you might be right about Philly, Zan. Perhaps I overhyped.

Oden is made of glass.

Houston didn't look that good, hope it was just 1st night jitters, would love to see T-Mac make it out of the 1st round

Gay and Granger are both going to be BEASTS this year. Granger's line from last night :

FG%. 625 FT% .917 3PTM 2 PTS 33 REB 5 AST 1 STL 2 BLK 3

[Zanchief]

Raptors looked pretty damn good, except for Moon... go figure.

I think Moon's going to split time with Vonkaar's new favorite scrub Joey Graham. I think Smitch just prefers what Joey brings to the table (more rebounder tougher defender) then Moon.

[vonkaar]

watch my video damnit!!

[Zanchief]

watch my video damnit!!

HAHA I had heard of that. It's hilarious. I wonder if the extra foul mattered down the road.

Pops beard is scary.

[Gypsiyee]

Oden is made of glass.

[recks]

Pops beard is scary.

I like it. Hides the craters.

I laughed when pop did it. Didn't expect that kinda play outta him.

[vonkaar]

About the Mav's game last night...

One point from DallasBasketball covered my view pretty nicely:

I’m standing by my belief that Dallas needs help at backup-PG, especially now that I’ve seen the offense stagnate when Kidd isn’t in the game. He had six assists in a quarter and change – his on-the-break backdoor feed to Josh, finished by Howard in a spin of athleticism, was a work of art – and he finished with 12 dimes. He had more than a few of those “Are You KIDDing Me?’’ passes. But when he wasn’t in the game, the Mavs devolved into a jump-shooting team.
And what happens when the Mavs devolve into a jump-shooting team?

They shoot 3-of-13 from the floor over the first eight minutes of the final quarter. And then down eight with two minutes left, they close it up by shooting 1-of-5.

Said Howard: “We should have gone to the basket instead of just settling for jumpers in the fourth quarter.’’

That lament sounds so familiar. … I thought the new coach was supposed to teach these old dogs some fundamental tricks?

[Reynaldo]

Said Howard: “We should have gone to the basket instead of just settling for jumpers in the fourth quarter.’’


You're in the NBA Howard. You should make jumpers. Stop whining.

[recks]

Also Dirk turned it off in the 4th

[Phlegm]

The Warriors doesn't look too good this year.

[Zanchief]

Bosh player of the week.

I'm sure it's going to just keep the 2010 FA talk going.

I can't believe we'll be talking about this for the next 2 full seasons.