Post by Benwallacedetroit3 on Oct 9, 2005 17:42:52 GMT -5
Aaron Reilly
Southwest Division Predictions – NBA
The Southwest supplies the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs who actually went out and picked up two veteran guards off their bench. Houston, Memphis, and New Orleans all went out and shook up their rosters a bit while Dallas will have their first full year with Avery Johnson.
Southwest Division
Teams – Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks
1. San Antonio Spurs (57-25)
The San Antonio Spurs enter the upcoming season winners of three of the last seven NBA Titles. Led by all world players Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli, the Spurs seem destined to return and defend their title. On top of the two mentioned and Tony Parker the Spurs were able to pick up former all star players Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. These two players will pair up in the backcourt to give the starters some freshness for the stretch run. Perhaps the best coach in the NBA, Gregg Popovich talked about how excited he is to have this depth, he knows when June hits this team will be ready to go while others are on their last legs. The Spurs will be there in the end fighting with the likes of Miami, Indiana, Detroit, and Phoenix for back to back titles. Knowing from experience of watching the Pistons last year, every team will be out to beat the champs every game. If any team has the experience of knowing this, it’s the Spurs.
2. Houston Rockets (51-31)
Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming look to lead this team past the first round of the playoffs and hope to make some noise in this year’s playoffs. The All Star duo has finally added a complement player up front in Stromile Swift. Swift provides athleticism that this team never had (Juwan Howard, Clarence Weatherspoon, and Ryan Bowen all started at the 4 last year.) The Rockets also recently acquired Rafer Alston from the Raptors by trading backup point guard Mike James. Alston gives them a legit point guard and a nice distributor and outside shooter for the Rockets. In my view Yao Ming thus far hasn’t lived up to his hype. Ming is high on most people’s lists as the number two center behind Shaq but Ming hasn’t shown me enough to earn that spot. Yao just received a max deal from the Rockets and it is time to show why he deserved this deal. Yao Ming should be putting up 20/12 every night. This is the year for Yao to show why he deserved such a big pay day.
3. Dallas Mavericks (48-28)
The Dallas Mavericks’ big 3 are now down to the big 1. Dirk Nowitzki is the lone player from the famous big 3 Marc Cuban put together when he first purchased the team. This doesn’t mean that this team is anywhere near its end. New coach Avery Johnson has brought a defensive mindset to the team while keeping their offensive firepower. The starting lineup is as good if not better then most teams in the league while their bench provides a scoring punch when their starters are out. Dirk will still be the number one option providing many mismatches for most power forwards in the league. The number two scoring option is still up in the air. The Mavericks have the luxury of having a number of players who can put points up on the board quickly. Jason Terry, Josh Howard, and Jerry Stackhouse all start and are capable of putting 20 up a game. The Mavericks are also stacked at the center position with Eric Dampier and newly acquired DeSangia Diop. Diop has not proved his worth in this league yet but Don Nelson Jr. is very good at working with foreign players and articles have already talked about Diop showing much improvement from last year. With a new defensive mentality the Mavericks are going to make some noise in this year’s playoffs.
4. Memphis Grizzlies (34-48)
The new look Grizzlies come into the season with a new look backcourt. Eddie Jones and Damon Stoudamire will give the Grizzlies a nice outside shooting threat to go along with starting small forward Mike Miller. The problem with this team is their lack of a go to player. Pau Gasol is the closest thing to this but injuries plagued him last year. Gasol did take off the European Championships this summer to rest his injury so maybe he will go back to that 20 points per game player. The rest of their team is good; there are no solid players but a bunch of nice role players that will give this team help off the bench. I do believe Mike Fratello will have his hands full this year making it back to the playoffs especially with the likes of the Warriors, Clippers, and Lakers right on their tails. I believe the Grizzlies will be back in the lottery for the first time in a few years.
5. New Orleans Hornets (24-58)
The Hornets have picked up possibly the best player in the past draft in Chris Paul. Paul, along with JR Smith, give this team a backcourt that will be terrorizing the NBA for sometime. It just won’t be this year. The Hornets may be the weakest team in the NBA and will be in the lottery one or two years more until they start making some noise in the league. The frontcourt of PJ Brown and Jamal Maglorie are both very good players but not enough to make this team playoff contenders. Newly acquired Arvydas Macijauskas is a player that will remind Hornet fans of Manu Ginobli. Macijauskas is a great outside shooter who will throw his body around and do what it takes for the team. The Hornets will be extremely happy with him as a starting three or a backup 2/3. I expect this team to be out of contention early and move both veteran big men for youth and future picks. Paul and Smith will be a very nice backcourt to pay attention to this year.
The Pacific Division will be out in a few days…
Southwest Division Predictions – NBA
The Southwest supplies the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs who actually went out and picked up two veteran guards off their bench. Houston, Memphis, and New Orleans all went out and shook up their rosters a bit while Dallas will have their first full year with Avery Johnson.
Southwest Division
Teams – Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks
1. San Antonio Spurs (57-25)
The San Antonio Spurs enter the upcoming season winners of three of the last seven NBA Titles. Led by all world players Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli, the Spurs seem destined to return and defend their title. On top of the two mentioned and Tony Parker the Spurs were able to pick up former all star players Michael Finley and Nick Van Exel. These two players will pair up in the backcourt to give the starters some freshness for the stretch run. Perhaps the best coach in the NBA, Gregg Popovich talked about how excited he is to have this depth, he knows when June hits this team will be ready to go while others are on their last legs. The Spurs will be there in the end fighting with the likes of Miami, Indiana, Detroit, and Phoenix for back to back titles. Knowing from experience of watching the Pistons last year, every team will be out to beat the champs every game. If any team has the experience of knowing this, it’s the Spurs.
2. Houston Rockets (51-31)
Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming look to lead this team past the first round of the playoffs and hope to make some noise in this year’s playoffs. The All Star duo has finally added a complement player up front in Stromile Swift. Swift provides athleticism that this team never had (Juwan Howard, Clarence Weatherspoon, and Ryan Bowen all started at the 4 last year.) The Rockets also recently acquired Rafer Alston from the Raptors by trading backup point guard Mike James. Alston gives them a legit point guard and a nice distributor and outside shooter for the Rockets. In my view Yao Ming thus far hasn’t lived up to his hype. Ming is high on most people’s lists as the number two center behind Shaq but Ming hasn’t shown me enough to earn that spot. Yao just received a max deal from the Rockets and it is time to show why he deserved this deal. Yao Ming should be putting up 20/12 every night. This is the year for Yao to show why he deserved such a big pay day.
3. Dallas Mavericks (48-28)
The Dallas Mavericks’ big 3 are now down to the big 1. Dirk Nowitzki is the lone player from the famous big 3 Marc Cuban put together when he first purchased the team. This doesn’t mean that this team is anywhere near its end. New coach Avery Johnson has brought a defensive mindset to the team while keeping their offensive firepower. The starting lineup is as good if not better then most teams in the league while their bench provides a scoring punch when their starters are out. Dirk will still be the number one option providing many mismatches for most power forwards in the league. The number two scoring option is still up in the air. The Mavericks have the luxury of having a number of players who can put points up on the board quickly. Jason Terry, Josh Howard, and Jerry Stackhouse all start and are capable of putting 20 up a game. The Mavericks are also stacked at the center position with Eric Dampier and newly acquired DeSangia Diop. Diop has not proved his worth in this league yet but Don Nelson Jr. is very good at working with foreign players and articles have already talked about Diop showing much improvement from last year. With a new defensive mentality the Mavericks are going to make some noise in this year’s playoffs.
4. Memphis Grizzlies (34-48)
The new look Grizzlies come into the season with a new look backcourt. Eddie Jones and Damon Stoudamire will give the Grizzlies a nice outside shooting threat to go along with starting small forward Mike Miller. The problem with this team is their lack of a go to player. Pau Gasol is the closest thing to this but injuries plagued him last year. Gasol did take off the European Championships this summer to rest his injury so maybe he will go back to that 20 points per game player. The rest of their team is good; there are no solid players but a bunch of nice role players that will give this team help off the bench. I do believe Mike Fratello will have his hands full this year making it back to the playoffs especially with the likes of the Warriors, Clippers, and Lakers right on their tails. I believe the Grizzlies will be back in the lottery for the first time in a few years.
5. New Orleans Hornets (24-58)
The Hornets have picked up possibly the best player in the past draft in Chris Paul. Paul, along with JR Smith, give this team a backcourt that will be terrorizing the NBA for sometime. It just won’t be this year. The Hornets may be the weakest team in the NBA and will be in the lottery one or two years more until they start making some noise in the league. The frontcourt of PJ Brown and Jamal Maglorie are both very good players but not enough to make this team playoff contenders. Newly acquired Arvydas Macijauskas is a player that will remind Hornet fans of Manu Ginobli. Macijauskas is a great outside shooter who will throw his body around and do what it takes for the team. The Hornets will be extremely happy with him as a starting three or a backup 2/3. I expect this team to be out of contention early and move both veteran big men for youth and future picks. Paul and Smith will be a very nice backcourt to pay attention to this year.
The Pacific Division will be out in a few days…
