Preview NBA 2008-09 - Predictions

Time to make a fool of myself: Predictions time!
Don’t hold it against me come May!

Eastern Conference
1- Boston
2- Cleveland
3- Orlando
4- Toronto
5- Detroit
6- Philadelphia
7- Miami
8- Chicago

Western Conference
1- Lakers
2- Hornets
3- Spurs
4- Jazz
5- Rockets
6- Trail Blazers
7- Suns
8- Mavericks

East Champion – Boston Celtics
West Champion – San Antonio Spurs

NBA Champion – San Antonio Spurs

MVP – Lebron James

Rookie of the Year – Greg Oden

6th man of the Year – Manu Ginobili

Most Improved Player – Jose Calderon

Defensive Player of the Year – Bruce Bowen

Coach of the Year – Greg Popovich

Most Overrated Player – Gilbert Arenas

Most Underrated Superstar – Tim Duncan / Chris Bosh

Most Suspended Player – Rasheed Wallace / Monta Ellis

Most Exciting Player to Watch – Manu / Lebron / Wade / Kobe

Most Exciting Team to Watch – New Orleans Hornets

Preview NBA 2008-09 - Western Conference

Southwest Division
Spurs – San Antonio will have to play until December without its most exciting player and last year’s leading scorer. How will this affect the team? Well, for starters, it will be a worse team in crunch time, as Manu is the one that leads the team in those moments. But it will also make Duncan & Parker increase their numbers considerably. Roger Mason Jr. will be huge, but Michael Finley’s ability to provide something will be vital for the team’s success until the return of Manu. Odd year, so don’t count the Spurs out: they still have Duncan, they still have Popovich, and they will have a healthier Manu for the playoffs.

Hornets – Chris Paul. Any team led by a point guard of his caliber must be considered a contended. If you add last year’s all-star David West, the great rebounder and easy-points Chandler, and the complimentary skills of James Posey and Mo Pete, then you have a serious threat. I expect this team to be more than just great this season. We’ll see.

Rockets – Yao, T-Mac, Artest and Scola. Add the insatiable Shane Battier, the experience of Brent Barry and a decent point guard in Rafer Alston and the rockets can be good. But they can also be very bad. It’s up to the injuries, and Houston has been greatly hurt by them in the past years. So what’s new this year? There is a bit more depth that can certainly contribute during injury-plagued parts of the season. I’m not ready to jump on the Rockets’ bandwagon just yet, but I’m very close.

Dallas – Dirk and Kidd. A guy without personality and the king of the triple doubles. But they are still a very good duo. I expect this year to be the one where the Mavs step down of championship contention. I wouldn’t be surprised if they struggle to make it to the post-season, especially with teams like Portland and Clippers back in the run.

Memphis – No more players to give away. There is some talent in this team, but there is also so much inexperience that is hard to take them seriously. The destiny for them this year is 5th in their division and fighting for last spot in the West. Maybe they win the lottery next season…

Pacific Division
Lakers – Kobe Bryant & Paul Gasol are arguably the most exciting duo of the West. Of course, anybody with Kobe would be. But Gasol is good. He is not given enough credit for what he brings in day in and day out. That’s because he is the second guy in the team. But he is an important piece of the puzzle. The Lakers are good. Very good indeed. But there are many who think they would not have made it to the Finals last year had Manu been more than 40% physically. Hard to tell, but a very good argument that I can certainly see as a possibility.

Phoenix – this is the season where Steve Nash is supposed to decline, right? Well, we have been saying that for the past couple of years, ever since he got his second MVP. And I still don’t see the drop. He is one of the smartest players out there and can carry this team forward. Of course, they need to face the Spurs in the playoffs. If that occurs, don’t be surprised to see the Suns in contention. Shaq is old, but it’s still Shaq. Rebound machine and inside force. Just don’t get fouled big man.

Clippers – Baron Davis brings an excitement that this part of the city has rarely had in the past. Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman are great bigs but Ricky Davis can be key for this team’s success. The Clippers are going forward and may be playing for the last spot for the playoffs in April.

Sacramento – this is a bunch of good players without a star. And that’s why it’s very hard to see them in the playoffs this year. Artest is gone and with him many controversies outside the court. Beno Udrih, Brad Miller, Micky Moore are all good players, but it’s just not enough.

Golden State – Baron Davis is gone. But Stephen Jachson is still in town, along with Corey Maggette and Ronny Turiaf. This is an exciting team all around. They also have a good coach. The question is whether or not they can start playing as a team right away, with the exile of Davis. For fans hopefully they will do that soon, but all we can do at this point is sit and wait.

Northwest Division
Minnesota – Al Jefferson is once again trying to carry this team. But it will not happen. There is no enough talent here to make the playoffs. Maybe if they play as a team for a few games can end up 8-10th… but it’s a stretch.

Jazz – Deron Williams is fantastic. Great vision; great sense of physical capabilities and limitations; and a team player. Kirilenko must stay out of injuries, but Okur and Boozer compliment this team successfully. They might be a surprise and some think they even have a shot at winning it all in the West. Tough, but not impossible. This is a very talented and hardworking team. And they are very very strong at home (37-4 record last season)

Denver – Camby left. Iverson and Anthony are still there. And this team won’t be a contender this year. This is a two-man show and that’s about it. Fun to watch, but there is a lack of on-court discipline that will make them lose enough games not to make the playoffs.

Oklahoma City – First season in a new city. New (bad) name. Same story. Kevin Durant will run this team alone once again. He will put up great numbers, so if you are in a fantasy league don’t doubt to pick him up. But don’t count this team for the post-season.

Portland – Greg Oden is finally a rookie. Brandon Roy is still around. Rudy Fernandez is in town. All I can say is: this is a great young team. They will make the post-season this year, no doubt about that.

Predictions coming up Thrusday!!

Preview NBA 2008-09 - Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
Toronto Raptors – The arrival of Jermaine O’Neil gives the Raptors something they were missing: Depth with “bigs”. The departure of Ford guarantees Calderon the point guard position. The problem in this team is the backcourt and small forward rotation. Kapono, Graham, Ukic, and Salomon are not enough. The latter two are not even close to be ready to back Jose for 10 minutes. So one starts thinking if letting Delfino go was the best decision possible. And the answer is a clear No. Carlos would have covered a hole the team has right now and, even if others disagree, he could have stayed had Bryan Colangelo tried to keep him. But he did not and now the Raps are praying for Jose not to get injured and Kapono to be the Playoff Kapono. Some are even praying for a “good Joey and a good Humphries.” The truth of the matter is that the Raptors can be more than people think, or they can be worse. Everything depends on Jose.

Philadelphia – This team made great acquisitions during the off-season. Elton Brand and Sam Dalembert are a great duo up front and no one can take Iguodala for granted. He is not mature enough to be the undeniable leader of this team, that’s for sure. But with Brand and Sam, this is not a big issue right now. This is a nice team and looks to be the Atlanta Hawks of the 2008-09 season. I guess we will see.

Boston – The defending champs still have the Garnet-Pierce-Allen trio. They are all a year older… so what? The Celtics are the team to beat not only in the East, but in the entire league. Raja Rondo is a great player and this team is pretty much the same as last season. The repeat is up to Boston and only Boston!

New York – Mike D’Antoni is the best thing that could have happened to the Knicks. Nate Robinson and David Lee are the best this team has and the coach will most likely make them play better. It’s interesting to see how the individualities work together this year. Isaiah is not there anymore, which means we cannot make fun of them as much. Regardless, this city focuses more on wages than on performance. This is a shame considering the people of New York deserve a competitive team.

New Jersey – Richard Jefferson left; Jason Kidd had already left; and Vince Carter stayed. The Nets couldn’t have done worse. Carter will be a disappointment this year, only comparable to the last year in Toronto, when all he wanted was pack and leave. A terrible player and with a personality typical of someone without any morals or ethics and that does not deserve the salary he has. The good thing: he will be here in Toronto so we can boo him all we want. He deserves it anyway.

Central Division
Detroit – The Pistons have the most balanced starting line-up of the NBA. Billups, Hamilton, Prince and Wallace are lethal and have a great chemistry. This is a team that at times seems to not care. Maybe it’s time for a change. There is still plenty of time for the trade deadline, so we will see what happens. The bench is better than most think; they don’t play much, and that’s why people don’t know them well. Herrmann deserves a chance in this team. He showed he can bring important things in the court, but we must not forget that in Detroit, if you are not American it is very tough…

Chicago – The Bulls have a rookie coach: Vinny del Negro. There are many great things in this team: the rookie Rose and Hinrich at the point, Gordon, Nocioni, Hughes, Deng, Tyrus Thomas, and Noah. Lots of great players. The problem is the same as always, who will score from inside? The answer is nobody. We expect a trade before the deadline. Someone at the 1,2 or 3 positions will leave, and someone on the 4 or 5 will arrive. That’s what this team needs anyway.

Indiana – TJ Ford and Nesterovic are great acquisitions. Dunleavy and Murphy are nice propositions too. This team has enough to compete for the last spot in the playoffs. It will depend on how the new faces react and if injures stop them down. I do not expect much of the Pacers though…

Cleveland – Any team the King James goes from mediocre to great. The rule applies in Cleveland too. Varejao is tough; Ilgauskas is a tower up front; will Ben Wallace be the old Ben Wallace or just an old Ben Wallace? Delonte West and Daniel Gibson are key for this team. If one of them is even a little bit effective, the Cavaliers will be protagonists again. Regardless, beating Boston seems far away. But you never know... in the NBA everything is possible…

Milwaukee – If this was soccer, this team’s destiny would be relegation. And it’s sad. Michael Redd, Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva are an interesting trio. But in recent years this team suffered lots of injuries and Redd never seemed motivated enough. Will Jefferson change this around? The Bucks believe so. Hopefully that will happen, but I doubt it.

Southeast Division
Orlando – When a team has Superman, the only way to stop them is with kryptonite. Jokes aside, Howard is a tremendous player that can carry a team to victory. The experience with the US Olympic team probably gave him a sense of responsibility that everyone in Orlando hopes he will bring to the team in the court. The veterans in the Magic are key and Orlando can be a player again in the East. Still, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and Toronto are right now a step ahead.

Atlanta – The surprise of the last playoffs. Many talk about luck and maybe they are right. I hardly see this team in the top 8 of the conference. It’s missing star power, but it does have quality. Bibby, Horford, Johnson, Pachulia and Smith are all players that put the team first. And that’s vital. So you cannot sleep on the Hawks, or you won’t get the victory...

Washington – The Wizards renewed Arenas contract for an amount close to $113 million... He is a mediocre player and all he wants is media exposure. What did he win in his career? Absolutely nothing. And he even has the courage to criticize winners like Jose Calderon. A tragic shame for a team great team like Washington is to have a leader like Arenas. Good thing is that he is injured… so he won’t play all the games at least. My advice, win as much as you can until he is back!

Miami – A team with Wade is a team with guts and quality. If you add that he is healthy this year, Shawn Marion, and a group of young players starving for glory then we are talking about a team destined for good things in the East. Miami is going to improve a lot from last year (not too big of an accomplishment here…) and will be in the Playoffs.

Charlotte – This is a team that does everything backwards. When Herrmann had an amazing end of season a couple of years ago, they let him go and kept a disappointing Morrison. But this is a nice group of people: Jason Richardson, Gerald Wallace and Emeka Okafor are scary. The problem: nobody wants to play in Charlotte. Why? Because nobody knows how they are playing. The decision are very confusing, from the executives to the coach. Once this is solved, we can take this team seriously. For now, keep on trying.

This is all for now, Sunday the preview of the Western Conference is out, and Wednesday the predictions for the season!!

Better late than never...

Welcome back!
Sorry for the delay, beginning of September is usually agitated.

Lots of Sports going around these days

Tennis: Nadal is the #1, but Federer won the US Open with a superb 2 weeks and showed the world he is still the man! 1 more major and he ties Sampras for most grand-slams in history. I don’t know about you guys, but I think that’s remarkable! By the end of next season he could as well be holding the record by himself…

Baseball: What about the Jays, eh? 10 in a row record ended against the White Sox. Playoffs are still mission impossible (without Tom cruise and the special effects) but at least baseball fans in Canada are having some fun. They deserve it.

Basketball: Manu got surgery and will be out for at least the first 6 weeks of the regular season (that starts in Late October). Some fans and media in San Antonio are trashing his decision to represent his country in the Olympics. First of all, he got injured playing for the Spurs. Secondly, he was fit to play in the Olympics as the doctors said. Third, if there is something American people should learn is that there is life beyond the United States of America. The same way Kobe Bryan, Chris Bosh, Lebron James, and Chris Paul attempt to leave everything for their country, other players do for their own countries. Or even with more passion. So for those who opened their mouth (or moved their fingers) to trash this issue here is my solution: Resign from your job (if you are in the media), stop talking to people (if you are just a fan), and leave the rest of the world alone!

Soccer: European Leagues are under way and there are a few things to notice. Ronaldinho and Shevchenko are in Milan now, but the team has not been found yet. Inter will not do well as long as Crespo is not Ibrahimovic’s sidekick. English soccer is overrated in North America, no matter how you look at it! Barcelona will struggle to find their new pace with the exits of Deco and Dinho, but with Messi and Etoo there, it will not take long.

International Soccer: Somebody please remind me why Riquelme is still playing for the Argentinean National Team? Is he giving someone high-ranked some extra-favours or something? That would be the only logical explanation. I do not know why Basile is still managing the team. Like Maradona said, start the team from Mascherano, add a young exceptional goalie in Carrizo, include Zanetti, Demichelis, Gago, Messi, and a combination of hardworking professionals and you have a winning tea. Forget about Riquelme! Please.
On the other hand, Canada failed to get a point in Mexico. That is understandable considering Mexico’s history and richness in players. However what does not make much sense is Canada’s lack of passion, heart, and skills. The team played for nothing. Did not attempt to attack, move the ball or defend. Mexico should have won by more goals, but the goalkeeper saved the day. Multiple times.

That’s it for the week everybody, hopefully I’ll see you all next week!

Half Full or Half Empty?

It was a very interesting week
Olympics: I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to be wrong. 17 Medals (at the time this was posted) in a week is a great achievement for Canada. We already surpassed what was done in Athens and will probably end up 15-17 overall, which is not bad after such a poor start. Ironically enough, the flag bearer (which was supposed to bring an easy medal back home) left Beijing empty handed. Tough life!

This whole past week was about seeing the glass half full or half empty… Aside from all the medals won by Canada, the Argentinean Soccer team reaching the Gold Medal game after demolishing a very good Brazilian team 3-0 was certainly great. Also, the Argentinean basketball team made it to the semi-finals with a great and emotional game against the Greeks.
But then they lost earlier today against the Americans. And that's clearly not great.

Basketball: Watching that game caused as much pain as that picture (see above) caused to that guy. Argentina played a very good game, and was close for most of it even without Manu (who got injured in the first 5 minutes and never returned). How different could it have been had Manu played all game? We will never be able to tell, but an upset would not have been far from reality. Scola had a double-double with 28 points and 11 boards, while former Raptor Carlos Delfino pitched in 17 points. Chris Bosh had a terrific game once again by the way, showing the entire United States that he is really a superstar.

So was it a good week or a bad week? All-in-all it was a great week. Let’s just enjoy the good stuff.

Predictions: So far I’ve been correct in putting Nadal to win a medal in tennis (although a different colour one, but that’s just a detail). In Soccer I might go 2-of-3 (Argentina will be on their quest for the Gold Medal repeat tonight 12:00am ET, and Brazil is playing for Bronze). In Basketball I might even go 3-of-3, with Argentina and Spain alternating spots. And the rest we better forget, right?
Curiosity: Reading over the Toronto Star website and my eyes get caught on a headline: “Hooker wins pole vault gold medal for Australia.”
I know that you cannot change someone’s last name just like that, but at least portray it in a different manner. It’s supposed to be a serious newspaper, that’s just too amateurish.

Raptor: So far no news on the red mascot. Hopefully it/he/she is ok.
Baseball: the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 14-3. Yes, the Jays hit double figures!!

More Olympics: How can you tell a tournament’s set-up makes no sense? Well, just check if the rules are something like softball’s rules at the Olympics. After the round robin, 1 plays 2, 3 plays 4. The winner of the 1-2 game goes to the gold medal match, and the loser has to play the winner of 3-4. The looser gets the bronze, and the winner meets the winner of 1-2 for gold and silver. Stupid? Oh yeah.

That’s it folks, keep on posting comments. That’s the only way to feed this blog!
See you back soon

The Third

Week 2 of the Olympics is beginning, and there are a few curiosities worth mentioning.

Last weeks Predictions: 1 week into the tournament and I have already lost many of my bets. Thankfully I did not put any money on it!
- 2 of my 3 places in the Tennis podium are gone. Only Rafa(Nadal) is left there
- Same goes for my tennis doubles
- Canada is yet to record a medal… maybe they can get one in rowing or women’s soccer? Tough, but not impossible. The 11 promised medals are impossible. That’s for sure.
- Argentina has 1 medal so far. Soccer, Basketball, Field Hockey and some boating sports may still have some medal hope, but 10 looks like a stretch

The Phelps Legend: The other day I was looking over a forum on the Olympics and came to the realization that if Phelps was a country on its own he would be tied for 4th overall in most Gold Medals and 14th overall in Total Medals!!
This is nuts people! And then I remembered a picture from a couple of years ago (the one you can all see here), where a fan is cheering for an athlete to become the president.
Jokes and technicalities aside (Manu wasn’t born in the US), there is a bigger and more interesting issue here.
Have Sports & Entertainment reached such a prominent status in the everyday life of individuals that professionals in those areas are easily being carried over to other areas such as politics?
All around the World athletes and celebrities are taking over important roles in society: from a former referee as chief of Security in Sporting Events, to celebrities becoming senators overnight, to even the Terminator becoming a puppet (or the Governator, Governor, whatever you wanna call him) of one of the most important states in the US.
Is this the beginning of the end?

Spanish Team Pic: Come on people. Let’s chill-out here for a second. Whoever was taking the picture thought it was funny and went ahead with it. What is strange is that nobody from the 15th people in the picture was able to say something and/or stop it. But as long as they apologize is fine, right? No big deal. What a coincidence though that this is happening on the preview of the Spain-US match-up in Beijing…

Petition: The Raptor (yes, Toronto’s mascot!) is in Beijing. If anyone sees it (or him or her, although that would be kinda wrong) post a comment with a link to it! Would be fun to see which event is lucky enough

Tennis: Nadal will officially appear as #1 on Monday. Big moment for tennis. Roger that?

NFL: the Buffalo Bills played an exhibition game in Toronto last night. The entire deal gives the American Franchise about $10 million per game, while if they were to play those games in Buffalo that would give them no more than $4-5 million. Pretty good deal don’t you think? Is it a threat to the CFL? Who? What?

That’s it for this week, and don’t forget to post your comments, even if you think they are not great! You don’t need to sign up, just select the Name/URL option and just add you name/nickname/signature or whatever you like.

See you back soon!

And here is the second oneee

And Beijing is rolling!

Olympics:
Opening ceremony is history now, so it’s time for athletes to go and compete for their countries. Oh true, they have already started that on Wednesday…
Predictions for Basketball: Gold USA, Silver Argentina, Bronze Spain
Predictions for Soccer: Gold Argentina, Silver Brazil, Bronze who cares
Predictions for Tennis: Gold Federer, Silver Nadal, Bronze Nalbandian
Predictions for Tennis Doubles: Gold Bryan Brothers, Silver Nestor/Niemeyer, Bronze Nalbandian/Cañas
Predictions for Canada’s Medals: 11
Predictions for Argentina’s Medals: 10
Other Predictions: Not important

If you are lucky enough you will be able to find the sport you want to watch on TV. If not, you are stuck to whatever CBC and TSN feel like surprising you with.

Tennis:
Last week we said it was up to Nadal to become the new Tennis king. And he did not let us down. Semis in Cincinnati and the #1 is his. Congratulations!

Soccer:
Argentina’s Apertura (not the Clausura!) starts this weekend. Independiente has acquired many different new pieces to their puzzle. Racing is looking to survive one more year in the biggest and most important soccer league outside of Europe. Boca decided to keep the base of the team that almost (and the key word there is almost) won something last semester. River is trying to figure out if there is life after the Ortega scandal. Argentinos and Estudiantes will also be playing in the Sudamericana. San Martin de Tucuman returns to the main division after so many years. Intense; Passionate; Controversial; Delighting; The Apertura is on, sit and enjoy!

Basketball:
NBA Live 09 will have Tony Parker on its cover page. Are you serious? I rather it was blank. Unless the League and the Video Game Company are trying to promote selfish behaviour or media-filled lifestyles, this decision makes little to not existing sense.

See you back next week!