Everyone knows I have a weakness for the NBA...here are my thoughts on the season and the upcoming playoffs:
LOTTERY TEAMS
Atlanta Hawks - Quick...name a player on the Hawks other than Jason Terry? Didn't think you could. The Hawks need a Cleveland Cavalier-like lottery miracle so that they can grab local-boy/savior Dwight Howard. Think David Stern might be able to help arrange that?
Chicago Bulls - I had such high hopes for this team. If you catch them on the right night, Kirk Hinrich looks like a young Stockton, Jamal Crawford looks like and elite combo guard, Tyson Chandler plays like a poor man's KG, and Eddy Curry is the best true center in the East. But on most nights, Hinrich more closely resembles Bryce Drew, Crawford is a me-first, me-second, me-third player, Chandler is a broke man's KG, and Eddy Curry is Oliver Miller. You broke my heart, Fredo.
Cleveland Cavaliers - LeBron James actually exceeded
4-18-04 - Reena's Guest Column
4-17-04 - Poking Fun
4-16-04 - The Tonkawa Incident
4-15-04 - Sarah's Guest Column
4-14-04 - Luke's Guest Column
4-13-04 - Easter Beer Hunt
4-12-04 - Susan, Kevin, & Michelle
Archives
1) Accordian - Madvillain
2) Mad World - Gary Jules
3) Ever Fallen in Love - The Buzzcocks
4) I'm Good Now - Bob Schneider
5) Beautiful Girl - Pete Droge
6) Hey - The Pixies
7) Cry to Me - Solomon Burke
8) The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
9) Jellybones - The Unicorns
10) The Good Old Days - The Eels
Golden State Warriors - The current rumor is that Warriors' coach Eric Musselman is going to be fired any day now. Pardon my language, but what a crock of shit. The front office gets rid of his two best players, replacing them with the enigmatic malcontent Nick Van Exel who only played in 39 games. Despite this, the Warriors played hard down the stretch and finished only one game worse than last season...a season that was hailed as a raving success. I would be thrilled if the Rockets hired Musselman.
Los Angeles Clippers - First, the good. Elton Brand was solid, as always. Corey Maggette took a step onto the next level (averaging the quitest 20ppg in the NBA), and Chris Kaman wasn't quite the stiff everyone anticipated. Heck, you can't tell me that they wouldn't have at least been competitive for a playoff spot in the East. Unfortunately, that all was good enough for the worst record in the West and the guys that got away, Lamar Odom and Andre Miller, led their respective teams to surprise playoff berths. But Kobe may be on his way...
Orlando Magic - What happened here? Less than a year ago, these guys had Detroit down 3-1 in a playoff series, Tracy McGrady was arguably the best player in the league, and Doc Rivers was being hailed as a savior. This year...well, at least they are frontrunners in the Emeka Okafor sweepstakes.
Philadelphia 76ers - The downfall here should have been predictable. Allen Iverson has been taking a high level of punishment for years and it was bound to catch up with him. Replacing Larry Brown with Randy Ayers is roughly equivalent to casting Freddie Prinze, Jr. in a Al PAcino role. This team got old in a hurry.
Phoenix Suns - This team managed to go from one of the most disappointing in the league to one with a very bright future. This team was a hot pick to crack the top five in the West, but was dismantled after a horrible start. Thinks are looking up though. Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion are both stars, the greatly improved play of Joe Johnson was a bright spot, rookie Leandro Barbosa has a future, and they have the cap room to make a legitimate run at Kobe Bryant. If they steal him away from the Lakers, next year's Suns could be among the league's best.
Portland Trail Blazers - Stupid front office...since they traded away McInnis, Rasheed Wallace, and Bonzi Wells, I have lost all of my "A" material. No more Jail Blazers jokes:(
Seattle SuperSonics - I'm not sure they have a plan up in Seattle. All of their best players play the 2 or 3. This is a team in need of a trade or some luck in the lottery to take one of the two studs (Okafor, Howard). Think they'll trade the Rockets Rashard Lewis for Kelvin Cato and Maurice Taylor? Nah, me neither.
Toronto Raptors - Here is another team that desperately needs to be blown up. Keep Chris Bosh because he is a future stud, keep Alvin Williams because he is a nice role player, and keep Vince Carter unless you can get a decent return for him (highly unlikely). The rest of the team should be traded for fifty cents on the dollar. This is a definitely another team that needs some luck in the lottery.
Utah Jazz - Without a doubt, this is the lottery team that should be the proudest of their season. Before the season started, people were questioning if they would win twenty games. Other than Andrei Kirilenko, nobody on this team would start for most teams in the league. This is a team in need of a top shelf scorer. They have a ton of cap room, but attracting free agents to Salt Lake City cannot be an easy proposition. If only they could find a Mormon All-Pro...
Washington Wizards - So are you an optimist or a pessimist? An optimist sees Gilbert Arenas and Jerry Stackhouse as solid stars, Larry Hughes and Kwame Brown as young players on the verge of breaking out, and Steve Blake and Jarvis Hayes as draft day steals. A pessimist sees Arenas and Hughes as me-first scorers on bad teams, Stackhouse as past his prime, Brown as a bust, and Blake as a never will be. Personally, I'm closer to the pessimist's view, but I still have some hope for Kwame Brown. Everyone forgets he should have been a college junior this year...he still has time.
AWARDS
MVP - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves. Everyone seems to have decided that it is his turn this year, and who am I to argue with everyone. Runners-up - Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal.
Rookie of the Year - LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers. I love everything Carmelo Anthony brings to the table, he'll be an All-Star until he retires, but LeBron James is a once in a generation talent. The next fifteen years are going to be fun. Runners-up - Anthony, Dwyane Wade (do you think his parents might have misspelled that on his birth certificate, and just said, "Ahh, fuck it"?).
Coach of the Year - Rick Carlisle, Indiana Pacers. This division is the most competitive it has been in years, and Hubie Brown or Jerry Sloan will likely (and deservedly) win it. But let me give a nod to Carlisle. He takes an underachieving team leads them to the best record in the NBA by keeping them focused and on the same page all season. This just shows what a fraud Isiah Thomas is. Runners-up - Brown, Sloan.
Most Improved Player - James Posey, Memphis Grizzlies. I believe this is award should be for the player who improved the most, not the one who suddenly got more playing time (Zach Randolph, Carlos Boozer) or was asked to take on a bigger role due to the departure of a superstar (Michael Redd, Andrei Kirilenko). I watched Posey all last year with the Rockets and I never even saw a glimpse that he'd be capable of the way he played this year. When we replaced him with Eric Piatkowski, we all thought we upgraded! Umm, whoops. Runners-up - Erick Dampier, Jamaal Magloire.
Defensive Player of the Year - Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers. He can shut down anyone from point guards to powere forwards and then go score on them at the other end. He will be the key to the Pacers' playoff run. Runners-up - Ben Wallace, Andrei Kirilenko
All NBA -
First Team (Tim, KG, Jermaine, Peja, and Kobe)
Second (Shaq, Ben, Dirk, Cassell, Pierce)
FIRST ROUND PREDICTIONS
East -
# 8 Boston vs. #1 Indiana - I would normally say that any team with Paul Pierce has a punchers chance, but this is a lousy matchup for the Celtics. Artest will slow down Pierce and no one else is consistent enough to worry about. Danny Ainge was right...the Celtics would have been better off missing the playoffs. Pacers in 4.
#7 New York vs. #2 New Jersey - Ah, the battle for the allegiance of the fickle New York faithful. This is one of those series where there is a strong odor of an upset...the Nets 2 best players are slowed by injuries (Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin), they struggled down the stretch, and they are playing an opponent who is weary of all of their press clippings. That is not to mention hometown boy/big game player Stephon Marbury. Gotham will be rocking. Knicks in 6.
# 6 Milwaukee vs. #3 Detroit - The Bucks should be proud of their season...they outplayed everyone's expectations and have some nice building blocks in place. But they royally blew it when they allowed themselves to fall to the number 6 seed and a matchup with Detroit. The Pistons are clicking on all cylinders (my sincerest apologies for that awful cliche) and will not be stopped here. Pistons in 5.
#5 New Orleans vs. #4 Miami - Based solely on talent, the Hornets should be right there with the best teams in the East. Unfortunately, they seem to be a group of underachievers. The Heat, on the other hand, are a team that I have a crush on. They have been on fire (there I go with wordplay again...hehe) down the stretch and managed to earn home court despite a horrendous start. I like the direction Miami is going, but my gut tells me that their lack of playoff experience will be their downfall this year. Hornets in 6.
West -
#8 Denver vs. #1 Minnesota - Minnesota earned home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs which is a very good thing...they need it much more than any of the other contenders. In the Nuggets, they find themselves with an ideal first round matchup. The Timberwolves have been haunted by their first round ghost and they are very fortunate to play a team in "happy to be here" mode. And lucky for them it isn't Houston...the Rockets matchup well with the T-wolves. It won't be easy, but Minnesota will build confidence and move on. Timberwolves in 6.
#7 Houston vs. #2 Los Angeles - Woohoo! Houston's back in the playoffs! Woohoo! They got a team they matchup well with! Woohoo! Francis always plays his best against the Lakers! Woohoo! Cuttino Mobley does as good of a job on Kobe as asnybody in the league! Woohoo! Yao gets under Shaq's skin! Lakers in 5.
#6 Memphis vs. #3 San Antonio - The Grizzlies have had an incredible run this year and definitely could have been a solid spoiler in this years playoffs. Against any team other than San Antonio. Memphis has no answer for Duncan. San Antonio in 4.
# 5 Dallas vs. #4 Sacramento - For the third year in a row, this is the series to watch. Both teams play a fun brand of basketball...here's hoping the winner of the series goes on to win the championship (since the NBA is a league of copycats). One story that has been ignored this year is what an incredible job the Mavs did in the draft this year. Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels (he was actually a rookie free agent) are both steals of the highest order. One overblown story this year is how much better the Kings performed this year without Chris Webber than with him. The Mavericks have been playing good ball of late and definitely got the draw they wanted...just like last year, they wouldn't have to face the Spurs or Lakers until the conference finals. I really don't think that it will matter though. The Kings had the Mavericks last year before Webber got hurt...I think the Kings got better this year and the Mavs got worse. My heart says Dallas, but my head says...Kings in 7.
