BOSTON THREE PARTY: The grass continues to get greener for a nation of Massholes.
The Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division-
Clearly, this is the Boston Celtics division to win. For a batch of teams referred to as the Titanic Division last season, it should take the injection of two superstars, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, into a team already consisting of one, Paul Pierce, to win the thing by default. The trio may take a little time to find its rhythm, but once the three of them get rolling, I think the Celtics are going to rack up winning streaks against the weaker parts of their schedule. Each superstar has their spot on the court to be fed - it will be up to Rajon Rondo to feed them. And it wouldn’t hurt for Kendrick Perkins to log in a solid season at center, allowing Kevin Garnett to play most of his minutes at power forward. This team should be as good as advertised.
As for last year’s division champs, the Toronto Raptors should still be a very sound basketball team that will make the playoffs, because they play smart basketball in the young and incompetent East. They have 48 solid minutes at point guard with T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon, the league’s best young big man in Chris Bosh, and last year’s number one pick, Andrea Bargnani, who finally began showing signs of his perimeter game late in his rookie season. I don’t know why analysts love gloating about Jorge Garbajosa’s garbage stat line (8.5. p, 4.9 r, 1.9 a) when praising this team, but I still like the Raptors to contend, and make that turbaned season ticket holder go nuts in his seat.
The New Jersey Nets are a schizophrenic team if I’ve come across one. At one point, they are ready to dump off Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson and rebuild, and at the next, they are focused on resigning Vince Carter, bolstering their frontline, and keeping those aforementioned players. With that said, if the Nets stay healthy, I like them this year. They are one of the smarter teams in the East with Kidd at the helm, and I really like Nenad Krstic at power forward if he can stay healthy and score in the high teens, which he did last year before getting hurt. This will allow Jamaal Magloire to focus on what he does best, rebound and log solid minutes at center. It would be a huge upgrade over Jason Collins, who the Nets have totally neglected their center position to for years now. This team, however, is one Kidd injury away from being a non-factor.
It’s too early to tell, but the Philadelphia 76ers could be the worst team in basketball this season, and a lot of it has to do with their dreadful lack of shooting. With the exception of Kyle Korver, who is not enough of a well rounded player to log serious minutes, this team cannot score outside of 15 feet for its life. Andre Iguodala is a nice, versatile player, who should make fantasy owners happy, but he scores his points with his feet. Andre Miller is possibly the worst shooting point guard in the NBA – he made 14 percent of his threes last year. Yes, 14. While this team had little chance to improve itself in the off-season, it’s a wonder why they took Thaddeus Young with their draft pick last June, an athletic freak that mirrors Iguodala’s game. It would have made much more sense to take another Young, Nick Young of USC, who is currently on the Wizards regular season roster. Thaddeus, on the other hand, is not expected to contribute minutes this season.
Finally, we are left with the New York Knicks. Anyone who reads me knows that I hold about as much positive bias for this team as the Winslows bestowed to their youngest daughter Judy on Family Matters. (And we wonder why she ended up in porn. Life’s mysteries). But this past draft day, when the Knicks dumped off a heap of wasted bench space for a 20-10 career headcase, I couldn’t find anything to complain about. The Knicks now have an abundance of low post scoring, over 50 points combined from Zack Randolph, Eddie Curry and David Lee. Many teams in the league would kill for half of that output. And for everyone worried how Randolph and Curry will share the load, it’s wise to know that Curry favors the right block, while Randolph sets up on the left, and can also shoot from Patrick Ewing territory. Scoring won’t be a problem. Neither will rebounding, if Curry can get his fat ass out of the way every once in a while. This team can’t block shots, it’s their cross to bear, and unless someone suddenly learns how - it’s going to be hard for them to be consistent on both sides of the floor. The key player in mind will once again be Stephon Marbury. It’s becoming a self fulfilling prophecy to think that a guy like Stephon could sharpen up his game and lead this Knicks team to victory. It makes it even harder to hope when he spends the off-season hosting a surreal late night talk show with the dialogue equivalent of a blunt cipher, while also claiming that he wants to play in Italy when his contracts up. Twenty bucks Marbury forgot what Italy is already. Nonetheless, I like the Knicks to squeeze into the postseason this year. An early season column on them, more in-depth, is inevitable.
Prediction: If all goes according to plan, the Boston Celtics should make it three in a row for Massachusetts pro sports teams winning their respective divisions, a feat I’m not sure has ever been done. (Come on Bruins, let’s make it four!) As for the rest, the Nets are the most dependable, the Knicks are the most talented, and the Raptors are the most likely to benefit from either of the other two’s mistakes. One of the three will take second though, and lock down a playoff spot. At least one will be the odd man out.
Central Division-
Not sure what all the commotion is about, but the Cleveland Cavaliers will probably win the Central again. Probably. They won it last year when everyone said LeBron was mailing in games, and that their coach looked more like Al Roker than a play caller, so what makes this year any different? Oh yes…the dreaded contract disputes of future hall-of-famers Anderson Varejo and Sasha Pavlovic. How can I forget. Look, I don’t want to totally discredit these guys, but Pavlovic is nothing special and Varejo is the kind of guy that can easily be replaced. He plays with great energy, and is a hassle on defense, but I’m pretty sure that there is a tough-nosed guy waiting in the D-League to fill that role. I just don’t understand why people feel the Cavaliers season is dependent on these two guys, who apparently are both not returning. The truth is that this is LeBron’s team. He just got them into the finals, and I’ pretty sure he want to get back. This team still has a solid trio of big men in Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden and Donyell Marshall, who all combine for underrated play upfront. Also, I am a Larry Hughes believer. People are way too hard on a guy who has dealt with family pain and injury, and it’s not like he was totally ineffective when he played last year (14.9 p, 3.8 r, 3.7 a, 1.2 s). Obviously, he needs to get healthy, but it’s ignorant to believe he can’t play second fiddle to LeBron. He’s never been a number one option, so why should an assumption exist that he wants to be.
The Chicago Bulls are probably the best young defensive team in basketball, and pardon my prejudice, but it’s funny that this is partly due to a white point guard, Kirk Hinrich, that absolutely hounds opponents. On top of that, their frontline is getting scary, with a still effective Ben Wallace, going into this season with two wing-span enhanced freaks, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, at his helm. Throw in a swingman with top basketball I.Q. in Luol Deng, and a dagger thrower in Ben Gordon, and there really isn’t anything not to like. However, there is. The Bulls, without a seasoned veteran scorer, just seem to lack a championship persona that even the All-Star inclined Pistons of 2004 were able to present. It seems ignorant to say, because I praise every inch of their lineup, but I still see this team as a very vulnerable competitor to anyone in the West. They are built better for the East, even with the addition of the Celtics, who they luckily don’t have to share a division with. I will say this - it wouldn’t shock me if the Bulls made a magical run to the Finals this season. Someone quote me on that.
Some Jabroni who contributed to the NBA Season Preview for Sports Illustrated said that the Detroit Pistons “don’t look as committed to the defensive end” under Flip Saunders. That’s funny, because the team gave up only 91.8 ppg last year, second best in the league. On the contrary, the Pistons scored only 96 ppg last season, which was good for 21st in the league. I’m going to be a real “stat guy” here, and say that their offense is the problem. On my scale of smart teams vs. talented teams, the Pistons rank high and low, and it’s because they’ve become so committed to their 1-4 starters, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace. They have formed a chain of teamwork and consistency that does not break, because they all have stayed relatively healthy in the past three years. They are weak at center though, and are often left without a crunch-time scorer. The problem is, Mr. Big Shot is not that. Billups is a fine point guard, top ten in the league, but his Finals heroics has left him with somewhat of an unfulfilled legacy. As for Rip, it may be time for Walt Frazier’s favorite masked man to lose said mask. His scoring dipped last year, but I still think he is a great mid-range shooter that should be scoring at least 22 points a contest. The team is high on its young talent in rookie Rodney Stuckey and third year backup Jason Maxiell. I’m going to plead ignorance on both of them, and let the regular season do the talking.
Who here is ready for the new Run-n-Gunning, Revving-n-Running, Indiana Pacers??? I hope the players are, because they are not the Phoenix Suns, and simply saying they are going to play like them won’t make it happen. It’s a novel idea I suppose, for a traditionally half-court team that is finally starting to realize Reggie Miller has retired. I just don’t like this team’s starting lineup one bit, and operation “whiteys for blackys” last year didn’t help. Regardless if Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson were bad for team chemistry, Larry Bird still should have gotten some talent in return for them, since they are both, you know…talented. If the Pacers want to run, Tinsley needs to be the guy to initiate. He can intercept passes, which is a start, but he is a shaky point guard and he doesn’t have Steve Nash’s three-point shot to fall back on. Let’s go on to the Amare of this equation with Jermaine O’Neal. OK, not bad, but Jermaine is going to need to stay healthy and he hasn’t for a few years now. I guess that makes Danny Granger the Shawn Marion. Also promising, since he’s not too bad at filling out a stat sheet. He’ll need to fill it out more. Umm, I guess those white guys from the Warriors make up the rest of this equation. Yeah…maybe they should just go back to slow basketball. It’s worth considering.
So, does anyone in the NBA want to play for the Milwaukee Bucks this year? I mean the spectrum is as broad as it can get – you have one seven-foot Asian guy (who should be happy he now owns his own pair of shoes) not wanting to play in the Cheese State, along with an African American up-and-comer who came this close to packing his bags for Miami. (Sorry Charlie, I feel for you). In Yi Jianlian’s case, it’s going to be hard for a guy who can’t speak English to answer to critics on the court and in the locker room after all of this, and I’ll be shocked if he is productive this year. The Bucks are simply not an elite team regardless, and a lot of that may have to do with Andrew Bogut turning out to be J.A.T.W.D. (or, just another tall white dude). OK, I take that back. He can pass, shoot and board well, but he isn’t worth a first pick, and I’m pretty sure the Bucks rather have someone named Deron or Chris right now. The Bucks do have a nice point guard in Mo Williams and a deadly shooter in Michael Redd, but that is literally about it. This team is prime for the gutter.
Prediction: I really hate LeBron haters. I don’t know why they still exist. The guy just took his team to the finals in his third season, but can’t escape the microscope of criticism. Sure his ego doesn’t help, but it didn’t hurt MJ. And in my opinion, LeBron is the next MJ. He’s more capable of single-handedly winning a title than Kobe, and let’s remember, Dwyane Wade won his with Shaq, not single-handedly. However, if LeBron wants to become the next MJ, he’s going to have to start racking up division titles with ease, and two in a row is a good start.
Southeast Division-
After the team you root for, the next thing a sports fan should lock-in on in any given season is their franchise fantasy sports star, and how they make or break your year. In my case, for two years running now in basketball, that man has been Gilbert “Hibachi, Quality Shots” Arenas of the Washington Wizards. I’m kind of obsessed with the guy. I knew him since college because my brother went to Arizona, and always assumed he was the least likely to succeed. He now enters the 2007-08 season, contract time, coming off a monster outing last year, where he scored 50+ points three times, including a 60 point performance against Kobe. He is cocky as all hell, and even had a YouTube video that suggests he might be clinically insane. He also leads the second best scoring trio in the league after Boston’s yet to perform three, with Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. Funny however, that while all three of them swipe more than a steal per game, the Wizards are horrible defensively. They are preaching to improve for this season, but Gilbert is still running the show. And he’s crazy. The Wizards will outscore you at will if all three are healthy, which didn’t work out to well by last season’s end. If they could stay intact this season, expect a division title, but not much else. This team is too much of a circus to compete for a title.
The Southeast was known for its hot starts and cold finishes last season, evident by the Wizards and also the Orlando Magic. Both teams were able to make the playoffs and both bowed out in the first round. It’s hard to believe that the Magic, still very incomplete, will drop off this coming season. If anything, the addition of a proven 20 ppg scorer in Rashard Lewis should improve the team’s chances, but not by that much. Lewis is one of the league’s best outside shooters, and he compliments his game by shooting a good percentage and collecting a decent amount of boards. I just don’t view him as a superstar, and everyone who disagreed with his mega-deal contract probably agrees with me. He is, for now, a good compliment to Dwight Howard’s post game. This is still the big guy’s team, as I think Howard has all the tools of a top post player in the NBA, including the horrible foul shooting. This should also be Jameer Nelson’s last chance to prove he can run the point. I think the team is lacking beyond its top three, and the inability to resign Darko Milicic may come back to haunt them. Regardless, I see them improving, and a 45+ win season seems realistic.
In my mind, this division holds the two best teams in the NBA as far as young talent is concerned – the only question being whether each has a shot at making the playoffs. First off it’s the Charlotte Bobcats, a team entering its fourth year now as a franchise. The plan has always been to build from the ground-up with the Bobcats, and avoid overpaying for aging veterans, in favor of stockpiling with young talent in the draft. The formula has proven to work well for the team, which despite not making the playoffs, has improved by at least seven wins in each of its last two seasons. The team is loaded with NCAA Final Four talent, and has now added its closest thing to a proven veteran, former Warriors guard Jason Richardson. That trade was at the expense of Brandan Wright, who I suppose the Bobcats would have kept if the Tarheels made the big dance this spring. The team also has the ultimate glue guy in Gerald Wallace, who if healthy, is an all-around force. I am equally impressed by Emeka Okafor as one of the league’s emerging big men. While the Bobcats will be without both Adam Morrison and Sean May this year, I think the losses are more of a gift than a curse, because it will allow the team to focus on a shorter rotation, still loaded with talent. In all honestly, I like this team’s steadiness, and despite its youth, I think the Bobcats will slip into the number eight seed this year, at the expense of a falling division mate.
The Atlanta Hawks are the second most talented young team in the league, but they haven’t shown the positive signs of growth that Charlotte has. This team is a fantasy basketball haven with Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, the problem is their loaded stat lines don’t translate into wins. Constantly bashed for taking forwards over a much needed point guard in previous drafts, the Hawks decided to continue the trend by drafting Al Horford third overall this spring. Lucky for Hawks fans, they also had the 11th pick and drafted Acie Law. I like him a lot. He’s a headstrong guy like Chauncey Billups, and needs to be given the keys to the jeep ASAP. I’m sorry, but I don’t see the need in giving Speedy Claxton or Tyronn Lue another chance. Law is a four year college veteran who led Texas A&M out of obscurity, and is the type of rookie willing for the challenge. Nonetheless, the Hawks still probably aren’t ready to make the leap. There problem is that they have a lot of talented forwards, and it isn’t certain who are the starters and who are the reserves yet, from a group that consists of Josh Smith (the most secure due to his breakout), Marvin Williams, Josh Childress, Shelden Williams and now Horford. That compiled wit Law’s growing pains will be enough to keep the Hawks out of the playoffs for at least this season.
There are three things you can count on in life. Death, taxes and Shaquille O’Neal providing hilarious material for any NBA column I write. This time around, it’s Shaq’s curious new preseason regiment. This past summer, Shaq practiced mixed martial arts everyday, according to Sports Illustrated. “UFC-style wrestling: fighting, punching in the face, choke holds,” Shaq told the mag. “I’m a big fan of the sport.” So that means, Shaq is more liable of getting fouled and putting Andrew Bogut in a rear-naked choke this season, than he is of salvaging whatever he has left of his lump of a body for another semi-productive season. I am speechless, yet I honestly can’t enough. Shaq’s twilight campaign in the NBA is reminiscent of the late Elvis years. They still had their glory (the Hawaii Concert, the Heat title) and they both ended up becoming fake cops. Unfortunately, Shaq is not Miami’s biggest concern. Dwayne Wade is nursing knee and shoulder injuries, and will miss at least the first month. When he gets back, and I have a feeling it may take longer, Wade will have to honestly contemplate changing his reckless style of play, which has now caught up to him. The problem is he is not a good long range shooter, and his game really relies on his aggressive drives to the basket. This could spell doom for Wade and the Heat, at least this season. The team is very weak beyond its no longer dynamic duo, and even traded for Ricky Davis to provide what should be some much needed scoring. All of this doesn’t bode very well, and because of it, mark my words…the Miami Heat will not make the playoffs. There’s my bold prediction for the preview. Mark my words!
Prediction: Yes, I wasn’t joking when I said the Heat will not make the playoffs. Shaq is pretty much done, and Wade is going to struggle all season I feel. And yes, I do believe the young Bobcats will snatch up their spot. As for tops in this division, the Wizards will probably win due to their high scoring attack, and the fact that Orlando clearly wont be able to keep up with them in that regard. Howard is a defensive beast, but the Wizards are a perimeter team. Nonetheless, I think this division is the weakest as far as world championship contenders are considered. If the Atlantic was last year’s Titanic, the ship has sunk down to the Southeast Division for the 2007 season.
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