Post by Benwallacedetroit3 on Oct 6, 2005 19:49:19 GMT -5
Aaron Reilly
Northwest Division Predictions – NBA
The great Northwest gave us some surprises last year. The Sonics surprised the basketball world and wound up taking the division while Minnesota came up on the short end of the stick. Other teams such as Utah and Portland played bad basketball and wound up getting two future stars in this years past draft. On top of that Denver was the hottest team in the league in the 2nd half before falling to San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs.
Northwest Division
Teams – Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Seattle Supersonics, Minnesota Timberwolves
1. Denver Nuggets (52-30)
The Denver Nuggets put on one of the most amazing comebacks last year with their second half performance. The team simply would not lose. Led by third year superstar Carmelo Anthony this team is destined to take over as the division winner this year. The three frontline players of Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, and Nene are simply too much for teams to handle. Each player is athletic, can play amazing defense, and can even put up their fair share of points. The backcourt of Andre Miller and Carmelo Anthony put points up in bunches. The Nuggets main weakness is lack of a true shooting guard. Voshon Lenard starts this year at the two but look for the Nuggets to make a move in mid season to bring in a veteran guard like Paul Pierce. The bench is stacked with two great point guards off the bench in Earl Watson and Earl Boykins. Nene and Greg Buckner give the team great defensive replacements. George Karl did an amazing job and after battling prostate cancer Karl looks to lead the Nuggets back into the playoffs and redeem their early exit.
2. Utah Jazz (44-38)
My surprise pick last year started off red hot knocking off some of the top teams in the league. An injury to their all star Andrei Kirilenko derailed their season as they took a turn for the worst. Despite this horrific drop-off the team wound up getting a great draft pick and took point guard Deron Williams. Williams will give this team their first legit point guard since the legend John Stockton. Williams in some people’s minds was the most ready NBA player and reminds people a lot of Jason Kidd. Carlos Boozer also returns to the Jazz a new man, reports say that he looks like he is in much better shape and eager to get out on the floor and start up. Matt Harpring and Memo Okur give this team more offensive punch. This team will win games this year because they have the best X’s and O’s coach in the game. Sloan makes his teams a finely tuned machine and with the talent he has this year this team should make it in the playoffs and make some noise, that is if Kirilenko stays healthy.
3. Seattle Supersonics (42-40)
The Sonics had a dream season under former coach Nate McMillan. Ray Allen stepped up his game in his contract season and led this team to the 3 seed in the playoffs. Rashard Lewis made his first all star game as Allen’s sidekick. Despite this Coach McMillan packed his bags and left for Portland to take over that young team. First year Coach Bob Weiss was assigned to take over McMillan and guide this team back to a 3 seed. Bob Weiss has his hands full this year because the depth the Sonics once had was depleted when backup guard Antonio Daniels and starting center Jerome James left the team. The team did resign Ray Allen and Reggie Evans but the depth that helped this team reach the 3 seed has now gone to other places, and this team will suffer.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves (38-44)
It’s extremely tough to think of a team with the best player in basketball to have a losing record but one look at this roster and it is self explanatory. When your second option is Marco Jaric I don’t care who is on your team you will not win ball games. I can see this team losing even more but I am giving them this good of a record just because Kevin Garnett is on the team and will single handily carry this team on his back. New coach Dwayne Casey will have a lot of work ahead of him. My big prediction for the year is Kevin Garnett will be dealt at the deadline….to the Detroit Pistons for Rasheed Wallace, Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo, and future picks. Their chance for a title is gone and they must rebuild as soon as they see this team not being able to compete. On a bright note they did get McCants from UNC who should develop into a 15-18 ppg scorer in his career.
5. Portland Trailblazers (28-54)
The days of Rasheed Wallace and that team are done…owner Paul Allen finally put a stop to all that spending and decided to start rebuilding. The Blazers had the #7? pick last year and took high school sensation Martell Webster. Webster and point guard Sebastian Telfair give this team a backcourt for the future. The surprise play of Joel Pryzbilla toward the end of the year gives this team hope that they will have a great defensive stopper in the middle. Zach Randolph hopes to come off an injury plagued season and get back to his 20/10 averages. The team can certainly make my predicted record look terrible but the young backcourt, new coach, and Randolph’s injury spell trouble this year for me.
This is it for tonight…I’m done with the predictions…more will come by the end of the weekend.
Northwest Division Predictions – NBA
The great Northwest gave us some surprises last year. The Sonics surprised the basketball world and wound up taking the division while Minnesota came up on the short end of the stick. Other teams such as Utah and Portland played bad basketball and wound up getting two future stars in this years past draft. On top of that Denver was the hottest team in the league in the 2nd half before falling to San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs.
Northwest Division
Teams – Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Seattle Supersonics, Minnesota Timberwolves
1. Denver Nuggets (52-30)
The Denver Nuggets put on one of the most amazing comebacks last year with their second half performance. The team simply would not lose. Led by third year superstar Carmelo Anthony this team is destined to take over as the division winner this year. The three frontline players of Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, and Nene are simply too much for teams to handle. Each player is athletic, can play amazing defense, and can even put up their fair share of points. The backcourt of Andre Miller and Carmelo Anthony put points up in bunches. The Nuggets main weakness is lack of a true shooting guard. Voshon Lenard starts this year at the two but look for the Nuggets to make a move in mid season to bring in a veteran guard like Paul Pierce. The bench is stacked with two great point guards off the bench in Earl Watson and Earl Boykins. Nene and Greg Buckner give the team great defensive replacements. George Karl did an amazing job and after battling prostate cancer Karl looks to lead the Nuggets back into the playoffs and redeem their early exit.
2. Utah Jazz (44-38)
My surprise pick last year started off red hot knocking off some of the top teams in the league. An injury to their all star Andrei Kirilenko derailed their season as they took a turn for the worst. Despite this horrific drop-off the team wound up getting a great draft pick and took point guard Deron Williams. Williams will give this team their first legit point guard since the legend John Stockton. Williams in some people’s minds was the most ready NBA player and reminds people a lot of Jason Kidd. Carlos Boozer also returns to the Jazz a new man, reports say that he looks like he is in much better shape and eager to get out on the floor and start up. Matt Harpring and Memo Okur give this team more offensive punch. This team will win games this year because they have the best X’s and O’s coach in the game. Sloan makes his teams a finely tuned machine and with the talent he has this year this team should make it in the playoffs and make some noise, that is if Kirilenko stays healthy.
3. Seattle Supersonics (42-40)
The Sonics had a dream season under former coach Nate McMillan. Ray Allen stepped up his game in his contract season and led this team to the 3 seed in the playoffs. Rashard Lewis made his first all star game as Allen’s sidekick. Despite this Coach McMillan packed his bags and left for Portland to take over that young team. First year Coach Bob Weiss was assigned to take over McMillan and guide this team back to a 3 seed. Bob Weiss has his hands full this year because the depth the Sonics once had was depleted when backup guard Antonio Daniels and starting center Jerome James left the team. The team did resign Ray Allen and Reggie Evans but the depth that helped this team reach the 3 seed has now gone to other places, and this team will suffer.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves (38-44)
It’s extremely tough to think of a team with the best player in basketball to have a losing record but one look at this roster and it is self explanatory. When your second option is Marco Jaric I don’t care who is on your team you will not win ball games. I can see this team losing even more but I am giving them this good of a record just because Kevin Garnett is on the team and will single handily carry this team on his back. New coach Dwayne Casey will have a lot of work ahead of him. My big prediction for the year is Kevin Garnett will be dealt at the deadline….to the Detroit Pistons for Rasheed Wallace, Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo, and future picks. Their chance for a title is gone and they must rebuild as soon as they see this team not being able to compete. On a bright note they did get McCants from UNC who should develop into a 15-18 ppg scorer in his career.
5. Portland Trailblazers (28-54)
The days of Rasheed Wallace and that team are done…owner Paul Allen finally put a stop to all that spending and decided to start rebuilding. The Blazers had the #7? pick last year and took high school sensation Martell Webster. Webster and point guard Sebastian Telfair give this team a backcourt for the future. The surprise play of Joel Pryzbilla toward the end of the year gives this team hope that they will have a great defensive stopper in the middle. Zach Randolph hopes to come off an injury plagued season and get back to his 20/10 averages. The team can certainly make my predicted record look terrible but the young backcourt, new coach, and Randolph’s injury spell trouble this year for me.
This is it for tonight…I’m done with the predictions…more will come by the end of the weekend.
