NBA 2004/05

[JediMAC]

OK, the new NBA season has officially started, and as such, I suppose it's time to finally move on from last year's thread and start anew.  So fire away with your picks, thoughts, and love for all things Kobe...   

I'll start out by saying I think the Lakers are going to still be pretty competitive this year, and are really going to surprise a lot of the naysayers who've been dumping on them and doubting them since Kobe forced out they got rid of Shaq and Phil.

We played surprisingly well in the Pre-season, going 5-2 I think, and got off to a pretty nice start against a highly overrated Nuggets team last night.  Kobe's been shooting like **** for the most part, so that's going to be a concern if he reverts back to not wanting to pass the ball.  But so far, he's been sharing it pretty well with his teammates, and to make up for his poor shooting %, he's been draining it from the line to the tune of about 12 per game (pre-season and last night).  So he's still getting his points, of course.  7 assists last night too, so that's a good sign.  But I'd guess he's coming out of the blocks on a slightly conservative level, so the national press doesn't dive down his throat for shooting it 30+ times per game.  And I'll add that without Shaq drawing the defense in, Kobe's definitely going to have a much harder time getting decent, open looks.  Gonna be seeing a lot more double and triple teams I'd imagine, so he better keep it up with the passing game he's been showing lately.  I'm definitely expecting a subpar shooting % from him this season though.   

Thing of beauty to see little known Chris Mihm come in for Shaq, and toss down career highs of 24 points and 12 boards last night.  Sweet!  Even better if Shaq's injured, and can't make Miami's season opener tonight.  If that continues (as it has for the past 3 seasons when Shaq's missed 15 games in each), that'll make Jerry Buss look a little better for not wanting to pay top dollar for perenially damaged goods (as if he had a choice)...

Anyway, I predict the Lakers will be fighting for the #4 spot in the West (with Dallas and Houston), and home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  I think the Spurs, Wolves and Kings should take the top 3 spots though.  I'll toss the rest of my picks in here later.

So what's the NBA vibe everyone else is feeling?

[Jeff]

I smell a repeat for KG. 

Oh, and a Championship too...


Western Conference Finals:
Wolves over Spurs (6 games)

Eastern Conference Finals:
Pacers over Pistons (7 games)

NBA Finals:
Wolves over Pacers (6 games)

 

[Scott]

Top 4 in the West:

#1 Spurs
#2 Wolves
#3 Kings
#4 Mavs
#5 Rockets
#6 Lakers
#7 Nuggets
#8 Jazz

East:

#1 Pistons
#2 Pacers
#3 Heat
#4 Who Cares

West Wolves Over Spurs
East Heat over Pistons
Finals Wolves over Shaq-Fu (finally!)

Not sold on the Rockets or the Nuggets either yet, I definitely think those two with the Lakers and Jazz in the West.  And its harder than hell to leave out the Grizz and Suns and Blazers.  

The East again is highly inferior to the West.  The Pistons more than showed the top two-three can hang with the West but the other teams suck ass

I like the Wolves chances with both the Pistons and Spurs and all three are equals IMO as far as chances of winning the whole enchilada this year.  Not happy with the Sprewell situation at all but their depth and starting 5 and KG make them a favorite.  Spurs are a better team IMO and they get the nod.  Barring injuries of course



Ahem...

Aaaaaaaaaawoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[JediMAC]

Could someone please photoshop Kobe's mug onto this shot.  That way we'll have a much more accurate picture of this year's real MVP...   

[JediMAC]

Alright, here's some quick picks here:

West:

1. Spurs
2. Wolves
3. Kings
4. Lakers
5. Mavericks
6. Rockets
7. Suns
8. Blazers/Jazz/Nuggets/Grizzlies   

East:

1. Pistons
2. Pacers
3. Heat 
3.5  I'm with Scott, after this, who cares?
4. Cavs
5. Nets
6. Knicks
7. 76'ers
8. Hornets

Realistically:
Spurs over Wolves
Pistons over Pacers

Spurs over Pistons

In my world:
Lakers over Spurs
Pistons over Pacers

Lakers over Pistons   

Additional notes:

I think all the bull**** contract squabbling in Minnesota is really going to ruin what could've been a great thing.  Two of their top three are being whiny little bitches, and are just going to create a bad vibe up there this season, I think.  That's unfortunate, 'cause I think they were ready to finally take that next step.

I'm surprised at how much everyone's been downplaying the Kings this year.  Sure, they'll screw things up in the middle of the playoffs, as always, but I think they'll definitely still be one of the top 5 teams in the league this year.  Aside from ditching Vlade, it's pretty much the same crew up there, which is still a formidable lineup.  I guess it kinda depends on Peja's mood, and how "into it" he's going to be, since he wants out.  But with Bibby, Webber, Miller, et al, they're still solid, if not mental.

I think Denver's probably the most overrated team in the league right now.  I think they overachieved last year, and yeah, they "bettered" themselves by adding Kenyon, but I just don't see them doing anything better than .500 this year, and probably missing the playoffs this time too.

Houston will be interesting to watch.  On the off chance that T-Mac and Yao can bond and blend well, they'll be tough with that 1-2 punch.  But I think it'll take a little while for that to happen.  Probably not this year.  But they'll be in the middle of the Western pack, fighting for homecourt at the 4 spot.

I'm praying that Miami fails miserably, though in the week East, I'm sure they'll have a pretty solid year, barring further injuries to Shaq.  If he goes down for any extended periods of time though, they'll be in trouble since they don't have much else left in the tank after Duane Wade and Eddie Jones.  Shaq's still a total bitch for FINALLY deciding after all these years that he's motivated enough to drop a TON of weight and get his fat, lazy ass into decent game playing shape again.  And he says no one ever asked him to do that in L.A., which is why he never did.  Yeah, sure.  Right.  Stupid fat ****.   

Christmas day is going to be pretty freakin' crazy here in SoCal this year, that's for sure!

[jjks]

I was going to post in this thread, but realized it wasn't an official General Windu Sports Thread, so I'm afraid I can't give it my blessings.

That said, go Grizzlies!

[JediMAC]

I was going to post in this thread, but realized it wasn't an official General Windu Sports Thread...

Heh.  He actually stopped by here a few days ago and started up a new account posing as Force_Guy.  Of course, we wiped out all of his posts, so it was a fairly fruitless effort.  What's wierd is that there wasn't even an Official thread amongst the bunch.

That said, I don't expect to see your Grizzlies overachieve quite as much as they managed last year.  I think they're gonna have one helluva battle on their hands for that last playoff berth.  But regardless of whether they make it or not, at least you've still got White Chocolate, so that's a good thing!     Too bad he's not nearly as exciting as when he used to run free in Sacto.  Better all-around player now, but not nearly as flashy...

[Morgbug]

This is going to be a difficult year for me   I *choke* almost have to support rapist Kobe thanks to him being on my fantasy team.  From that standpoint, I do hope he performs well all year to silence his critics.  But I gotta tell ya, I have more than a little fear that the petulant little baby is going to come out at just the wrong times.  I'm loaded up with shooting guards right now, so it won't kill me anyway. 

I'm cheering for the pups.  Celtics remain in my heart, but geez guys, Len Bias was what? 15 years ago or so?  Get over it and get back to it.     I'm gonna start a bring back Red Auerbach campaign.  Yeah, the team will end up being mostly white, but they might make the second round of the playoffs.  Not sure how, but they might.

[Jeff]

So far, so good...

Wolves 99, Knicks 93

 

Also nice that my Fantasy Point Guard had 19pts, 11 assists

Jeff

[JediMAC]

Alright, here's some quick picks here:

West:

1. Spurs
2. Wolves
3. Kings
4. Lakers
5. Mavericks
6. Rockets
7. Suns
8. Blazers/Jazz/Nuggets/Grizzlies   

Uh...  I think I'd like to revise my list here real quick:

1. Jazz
2. Clippers
3. Spurs
4. Wolves
5. Kings
6. Mavericks
7. Rockets
8. Suns

Yeah, that should do it.   

P.S.  You guys catch Kobe's SICK reverse dunk in the highlights tonight?  Damn.    Went for 38, but got zero help from the rest of the gang.  Probably more like what folks were expecting from our supporting cast...

[Brian]

Kobe's dunk...nice.  Not a fan, but the guy can play some hoop.  Along the same lines, anyone see Stevie Franchise's facials in the game last night?  Again, not a big fan, but he has got some ups.  Glad to see the Wolves open with a win, with KG being, well....KG.  I sure hope that Sprewell and Cassell aren't problems this year with their contract situations, hopefully they will at least play it out.  I'm not real high on Sprewell after his "feed my family" and "why should I help them win a title?" comments regarding his contract dispute.  I would think a real player would want to win a title himself too .  It does sound like he intends to play "hard" regardless of when it gets resolved.  I hope that holds true.

Glad to see the NBA season back in full swing.  It seems like the offseason flew by this year, probably partly due to the free agent frenzy and Olympic hoopage.  That Christmas day matchup will certainly be interesting.  How quickly you turn on your big fella Matty.  But then again, got to stick with your team.  Although they are both quite immature with that whole "relationship" situation, I do feel that Shaq (to me) comes out as more of the "good guy".  It seems like there are a whole lot more people coming out with the same type of comments about Kobe than do about Shaq.  It will be nice seeing Kobe finally have his "own" team, and we'll see how he does without the Diesel in the middle.  I fully expect him to lead the league in scoring, or come close, and probably shoot a low 40% in the process.  Also, another note from late night, nice to see Grant Hill play well.  I hope that he can stay healthy this season, the guy deserves it once.

Predictions....hmmmm...I'll give it a try:

West
1. San Antonio
2. Minnesota
3. Sacramento
4. Dallas
5. Utah
6. Houston
7. Los Angeles Lakers
8. Phoenix/Denver/Memphis

The bottom of the West is tough to shake out.  I think that the Lakers, Grizzlies, Nuggets and Suns will all be hanging around.  I'm actually not sold on Houston yet, but they'll probably eventually get it together and end up in the 5-7 seed range.  Denver could be tough if things pull together.  I think Utah looks good, maybe 5 is too high, but we'll see.  After last night it certainly looks possible, but its just one game.  Memphis might have a tough time repeating their success from last season.  Lakers will still be competitive, but that bottom part of the West will be tough.

East
1. Detroit
2. Indiana
3. Miami
4. Cleveland
5. Orlando
6. Boston
7. Philadelphia
8. Knicks/Wizards

The East really doesn't matter much after the top 3, unfortunately.  Hard to place Cleveland at 4, but I just don't know who is better.  4-8 is basically a crap-shoot.  I think Orlando will be better than people think, they really do have a good group of players if they play well together and if G. Hill stays healthy, that is just a bonus.  Miami isn't very deep, but if Shaq stays healthy (as well as D. Wade), they might not need to be in the East.  Could be a nice battle between the top 3 in the East.

Eastern Conference Finals:

Pistons over Heat

Western Conference Finals:

Wolves over Spurs

Finals:

Wolves over Pistons

[Morgbug]

  Went for 38, but got zero help from the rest of the gang.  Probably more like what folks were expecting from our supporting cast...

That's my boy.  If he wants to carry two teams, it's fine by me.

[SPIDERLEGS]

The new and formidable Mavs lineup is 2-0, yo! They had 6 players score double figures last night!

Go MAVS!

[aka DaBigKahuna]

Colman,

What made you drop my team (Suns) to eight ? 

For that the Lakers are doomed to a sixth place knocked out in the first round pf the playoffs year!

DBK

Alright, here's some quick picks here:

West:

1. Spurs
2. Wolves
3. Kings
4. Lakers
5. Mavericks
6. Rockets
7. Suns
8. Blazers/Jazz/Nuggets/Grizzlies   

Uh...  I think I'd like to revise my list here real quick:

1. Jazz
2. Clippers
3. Spurs
4. Wolves
5. Kings
6. Mavericks
7. Rockets
8. Suns

Yeah, that should do it.   

P.S.  You guys catch Kobe's SICK reverse dunk in the highlights tonight?  Damn.    Went for 38, but got zero help from the rest of the gang.  Probably more like what folks were expecting from our supporting cast...

[JediMAC]

Colman,

What made you drop my team (Suns) to eight ? 

Uh...  Perhaps you failed to notice the shift in the rest of my picks, after last night's games...