The NBA is starting its regular season and I am stoked. Here’s my take on the upcoming season. I’m not an expert on basketball nor am I a regular basketball player. What I can say is I’m an avid NBA fan and I like watching NBA basketball. So here’s Mr. A’s NBA 08-09 season preview.
Before I begin a team by team summary, here’s what to look forward to this coming season:
Defending the Championship
Sorry Laker fans, the Celtics will repeat.
Boston will try to defend the championship and I’m expecting them to return to the NBA Finals. NBA Marketing, I would assume, wants this to happen against last year’s West Champs, the LA Lakers. A Celtics – Lakers Finals repeat would be the easiest sell for them.
The Challenge
Expect a challenge coming from the Houston Rockets and New Orleans Hornets from the West and the Cleveland Cavaliers from the East.
The West would again be the deeper conference this season with Houston acquiring the services of the hopefully sane Ron Artest and New Orleans adding a year of experience and multi-ring owner James Posey. The San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and probably the Dallas Mavs will still be dangerous. A few breaks going their way would surely make the Western Conference more competitive just like last year. Also watch out for the Portland Trailblazers and Baron Davis led LA Clippers to give a good run. I expect the Western Conference teams to battle it out for playoff positioning until the last few days of the regular season just like what happened last season.
The Celtics would again be the favorites to end up as the Eastern Conference Champions but they have to contend with Lebron James and the Cavaliers first, the unchanged lineup of the Detroit Pistons and the Jermaine O’neal improved Toronto Raptors. Superman Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic and the Elton Brand reinforced Philadelphia Sixers will also be in the mix.
Teams to Watch
The Portland Trailblazers will be the team to watch with their young and exciting lineup. Also keep your eyes on the New York Knicks. They may not win a lot but they will sure be entertaining with the hiring of Coach Mike D’Antoni from the Suns. Of course, there are always the superstar laden teams like the Celtics with the Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Allen, the Lakers with Kobe and Pau Gasol and the Suns with Shaq, Amare and Steve Nash.
The Teams
Here’s a brief summary of the teams in order of how I project them to place in the standings:
Eastern Conference
1. Boston Celtics – The Celtics will again be led by the Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Allen. They lost the services of James Posey to the Hornets but a more experienced backup crew of Rondo, Perkins, Leon Powe, Tony Allen and Glen Davis will more than make up for the loss.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers – Lebron James will be this year’s MVP and he will again lead his team to the Eastern Conference Finals. With the addition of Mo Williams at point, the Cavs have another scorer to backup King James. The Cavs will also be more cohesive this year as evidenced by their resurgence in the second half and playoffs of last season.
3. Detroit Pistons – It’s still Rasheed, Billups, Tayshaun, Rip and McDyess all over again for this team. Add to this lineup the more experienced Zoo Crew and you have a very formidable East team. I don’t know how much the coaching change would affect the Pistons but one thing’s for sure, they will be contenders again. I won’t be watching too much them of though as they have become boring in my eyes.
4. Toronto Raptors – Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’neal at the front and Jose Calderon as the main PG, Toronto looks good. They just need more contribution from Andrea Bargnani who seemed to regress last season. If Jermaine O’neal reinjures himself then Toronto would definitely go down in the standings.
5. Orlando Magic – Superman Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Tukoglu will make Orlando a contender but they would need more experience and more bench depth.
6. Philadelphia 76ers – With a core of Elton Brand, Andre Igoudala, Samuel Dalembert and Andre Miller and young backups like Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young, the Sixers would be a very exciting team to watch. I expect them to place higher than sixth if they all their pieces fit well together and no injuries from the key players go their way.
7. Washington Wizards – Gilbert Arenas is injured but they will compete when he comes back. What’s an Eastern Conference Playoff without Washington vs Cleveland?
8. Atlanta Hawks – They placed 8th last year and went 7 games against Boston. But somehow I’m not that confident they can do it again.
9. Charlotte Bobcats – Larry Brown and Michael Jordan is at the helm of the Bobcats. That only means they do very well or they self destruct. Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson will be exciting to watch though.
10. Miami Heat – Dwyane Wayne is back. Shawn Marion doesn’t know if he belongs. Michael Beasley could live up to his hype or could end up as a distraction not unlike Ron Artest. They have the youngest rookie coach in Fil-am Eric Spoelstra. So what’s next for the Miami Heat? I don’t know and I don’t think they know either.
11. New York Knicks – Mike D’Antoni’s style of play will make the Knicks very fun to watch. However, the roster mess that Isaiah Thomas brought to this team would be hard to fix. It’s a good thing D’Antoni likes to play small ball as they have a lot of guards. In a recent preseason game, they had to start Stephon Marbury at small forward. I’m also not a fan of Nate Robinson’s shoot now pass later play and Chris Duhon is not D’Antoni’s Steve Nash.
12. Chicago Bulls – They’re lost and they will lose.
13. Indiana Pacers – It’s hard to look up to a team where the franchise player is Danny Granger.
14. New Jersey Nets – Let’s talk about New Jersey when they get Lebron in 2010.
15. Milwaukee Bucks – I will watch them because I want to hear how the commentators will pronounce the Bucks rookie Luc Mbah a Moute.
Western Conference
1. New Orleans Hornets – Yes, they will go to the NBA Finals and yes they would beat the LA Lakers in the Playoffs. Chris Paul and David West would be better and more experienced. James Posey will be their defensive leader. Tyson Chandler will block everyone’s shots and Peja will shoot the lights out. What more can you ask for?
2. LA Lakers – A recent GM survey in the NBA put the Lakers as the favorite to win it all this year. I hate the Lakers that’s why I didn’t put them in first place. If I’m not biased I would’ve put them on top of the West with the return of Andrew Bynum and a more assimilated Pau Gasol.
3. Houston Rockets – With the acquisition of Ron Artest, the Rockets are favorites in some analysts’ scorecards. Remember, they notched 22 straight wins last season, and most of those victories without Yao Ming. Two things may go against them this year – injuries and Ron Artest’s demons. And as my friend Mr. AJ with the Blackberry from Globe would say, “That’s inevitable.” I’m still placing them third until someone gets injured the whole season or Ron Artest attacks someone.
4. Utah Jazz – The Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer combination is a throwback from the Stockton – Malone era. Add to this pair a backup crew of Andre Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur and all other good players who are willing to work in Mormon country and you have a very solid team with a very solid coach in Jerry Sloan. I really hope he gets the Coach of the Year award this year after a lifetime of successful coaching.
5. San Antonio Spurs – They’re old, slow and boring. But they will win. They are still a lot better than most teams in the NBA with their trio of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker. I don’t believe they can continue their odd-numbered-year championship streak though. Not with the competition facing them.
6. Portland Trailblazers – This is my team. If you want to root for an NBA team and haven’t decided yet, then the Blazers would be it. They have the most talented young squad in the NBA. They are still growing yet you can be sure that they would be winning games. They were a .500 team last year with All-Star Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge leading the way. With the addition of Greg Oden, Jerryd Bayless and Rudy Fernandez, the Blazers would be very fun to watch. The Blazers’ only problem? They’re too talented and some guys would have to sit down. Let’s just hope it’s not Rudy Fernandez as I would like to see him dunk on Dwight Howard again. Doh! They just got clobbered by the Lakers and Greg Oden is injured again.
7. Phoenix Suns – They still have Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and Shaq. That’s still a playoff-bound combination if you ask me. The Suns new emphasis on defense with new coach Terry Porter will mean a departure from the 7 seconds or less offense. The question for everyone is can the Suns adjust?
8. Dallas Mavericks – Rick Carlisle is coaching this year (which is a good thing). Dirk Nowitzki is still a choker and the only reinforcement they have is Gerald Green (not very good). That’s why there’s a possibility that they might not make it to the playoffs this year if injuries don’t hamper the….
9. LA Clippers – Their lineup looks solid with Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman, Al Thornton, Cuttino Mobley and Ricky Davis. The LAC jinx and injuries mind keep them away from the playoffs though.
10. Denver Nuggets – This is still a very good team with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. They gave away their best defensive player in Marcus Camby when they are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Things are not looking good for Coach George Carl.
11. Golden State Warriors – Coach Don Nelson’s run and gun style would still be fun to watch but without Baron Davis’ Leonidas, the Warriors don’t have the 300 Spartans character they used to have.
12. Minnesota Timberwolves – Al Jefferson would be a stud in any fantasy league. Don’t expect them to do any better though as they are still rebuilding after giving away Kevin Garnett to the NBA Champs Celtics.
13. Memphis Grizzlies – This used to be my favorite team back when Hubie Brown was coach and Jerry West was the president but the way they gave away Pau Gasol to the Lakers left a bad taste in my mouth. Now rebuilding, and with a lot of point guards in the roster, they are a few decisions away from getting Ricky Rubio in next year’s lottery and getting back into contention. At least, they have all the Iranians in the world rooting for them this year when they signed Iranian 7′2″ center Hamed Haddadi.
14. Sacramento Kings – Let the race for Ricky Rubio begin.
15. Oklahoma City Thunder – I’ll write about them when they realize the fact that a multi-million dollar franchise deserves a more creative color scheme and logo.
NBA Champions
Boston Celtics
MVP
LeBron James
Playoff Scenario
Western Conference
- New Orleans Hornets
- LA Lakers
- Houston Rockets
- Utah Jazz
- San Antonio Spurs
- Portland Trailblazers
- Phoenix Suns
- Dallas Mavericks or LA Clippers
Eastern Conference
- Boston Celtics
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Detroit Pistons
- Toronto Raptors
- Orlando Magic
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Washington Wizards
- Atlanta Hawks
