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!!