Basketball season is here! For people like me, we’ve been
waiting for it to start, suffering through the week trying to make it to the
football games on the weekends. But now there is something worthwhile to watch
throughout the week, plus more to watch on the weekends too.
Last season was the season of Lebron. He dominated the
league from start to finish and finally got his first ring. The scary thing is
that they may be even better this season after adding plenty of veteran help to
the bench, including Ray Allen.
But they weren’t the only team making moves in the
offseason. Out west, the Lakers added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash making them
a favorite as well. In the Howard deal the Nuggets picked up A.I. (the good
one, not the shot chucking retired one). The Clippers didn’t add any big names,
but they added some bench help and role players, plus get Billups back, and
they will be a threat now as well. Oklahoma City shocked everyone by trading
James Harden to the Rockets. Long term it was probably a good move but I think
it will hurt them significantly this year.
In the East, Brooklyn made the biggest moves by trading for
Joe Johnson, acquiring Gerald Wallace, and resigning their big men. The Knicks
parted with Jeremy Lin but did pick up veteran Jason Kidd. The Celtics lost Ray
Allen but acquired Jason Terry to fill in. And Philly could become a real
player now that they got Bynum in that Howard deal.
It should be a fantastic season of hoops, but also a tough
one to predict. I think there is so much depth across the league that any team
on a given night can beat any other. Even the teams we think will be in last
place have the talent to make a playoff push if things go right this year.
Nonetheless were here to analyze and give projections, and Greg and I give it a
go below:
Projected Eastern Conference Standings
Andrew:
1. Miami Heat
2. Indiana Pacers
3. Boston Celtics
4. New York Knicks
5. Brooklyn Nets
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Chicago Bulls
9. Cleveland Cavaliers
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Washington Wizards
12. Detroit Pistons
13. Toronto Raptors
14. Charlotte Bobcats
15. Orlando Magic
Greg:
1. Miami Heat
2. Boston Celtics
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Brooklyn Nets
5. Indiana Pacers
6. Washington Wizards
7. Philadelphia 76ers
8. Atlanta Hawks
9. New York Knicks
10. Toronto Raptors
11. Detroit Pistons
12. Milwaukee Bucks
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
14. Charlotte Bobcats
15.
Orlando Magic
Projected
Western Conference Standings
Andrew:
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Oklahoma City Thunder
3. Los Angeles Lakers
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Denver Nuggets
7. Memphis Grizzlies
8. Minnesota Timberwolves
9. Utah Jazz
10. Golden State Warriors
11. Portland Trailblazers
12. Sacramento Kings
13. Houston Rockets
14. Phoenix Suns
15. New Orleans Hornets
Greg:
1. Oklahoma City Thunder
2. Los Angeles Lakers
3. San Antonio Spurs
4. Los Angeles Clippers
5. Minnesota Timberwolves
6. Memphis Grizzlies
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Dallas Mavericks
9. Golden State Warriors
10. Utah Jazz
11. Houston Rockets
12. Portland Trailblazers
13. Sacramento Kings
14. New Orleans Hornets
15.
Phoenix Suns
And
the Champions Will Be…
Andrew: Lakers
over Heat in 6
Greg: Heat
over Lakers in 6
By: The Sports Guys
Couple things I find odd about your pre-season rankings:
ReplyDeleteEastern Conference:
Indiana Pacers finishing 2nd-They are actually a worse team than last year in my opinion. They lost Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones, and added Miles Plumlee in the draft...who is an exact clone of Tyler Hansbrough. Not to mention that Danny Granger is out indefinitely with a knee injury and is their best player. Call me crazy, but a team who's best player is Danny Granger will not finish 2nd in the east.
New York Knicks finishing 4th in the East. Amare Stoudemire is out 6-8 weeks, they do have Raymond Felton back (who was a good player there before) but lost Landry Fields. I think it will be a struggle for them to make the playoffs with the improvements in other squads.
Western Conference we have the same 8 teams making the playoffs so not much to disagree on there.
I was planning to comment and give analysis even before your comment. So here is full disclosure on all my picks:
ReplyDeleteEast:
Miami - Reigning Champs that likely will be better this year than last year. Will finish season with best regular season record.
Indiana - One of the best starting units in the NBA last year and they remain in tact. As long as Granger isn't out long, they will be fine. Bench added Gerald Green who is better than anyone they had last year. Augustin replaced Collison. Depth in frontcourt with Hansbrough, Bahimi, and now Plumlee (hated that pick though). Also, this is the year Paul George emerges!
Boston - Will play more guys in regular season to give vets a rest. That's why they are 3 and not 2. They do have to define some roles now that Allen is gone and Terry/Lee/Green/Bradley/Sullinger came in or are returning from injury.
Knicks - Have more talent than other East teams. Had a severe injury bug last year and it can't happen again (although Amare is out...). But with Felton and Kidd there the offense should flow much better. Carmelo and Amare will learn to share the court.
Nets - Have a great starting lineup but will need to gel and I have issues with the bench. That's holding them back from a top 4 spot.
Hawks - Despite losing Joe Johnson, they got pieces that give them more depth and plenty of scoring in the backcourt. Horford's return will be huge for them and Josh Smith will show the league he is more than a dunker.
Philly - As long as Bynum is healthy (big if), this team can be very good. He and Hawes both give size, Thaddeus gives them variety, Jrue and Turner form a dangerous backcourt that will break out this year.
Bulls - I know 8th is low, but with Rose being out for most of the year (if not all), I don't see them going anywhere fast. They were decent last year without him, but we saw in the playoffs they can't beat playoff caliber teams on a regular basis.
Cleveland - I picked them 9th, but wouldn't be shocked if they make the playoffs. Irving is great, Waiters has looked good in their one game and in the preseason, Thompson is underrated, and Varejeo knows how to play and win.
West:
Spurs - Have great depth and don't have to work in countless new pieces like other west teams do.
OKC - Were my top West team until the Harden deal.
Lakers - 0-9 now in preseason and regular season, so obviously they need to heal up and gel together. But they are too talented to drop below this. Come playoff time, they will be playing great and have two things the Heat don't have: Kobe (clutch) and Pau/Howard (size). That's why they beat Miami in the Finals.
Clippers - Tons of depth, but outside of CP3 they don't have any other stars (sorry Blake but all you do is dunk).
Dallas - Makeshift Mavs have nice pieces to succeed this year. They have a star in Dirk, size and speed, and a great coach.
Denver - I know they got A.I. now, but they still lack a star on the offensive end. Tons of depth will allow them to be successful though.
Memphis - With Randolph and Gasol inside, they are tough in the paint. I love Rudy and Conley too, but they lack a true outside scorer which keeps them from being higher on my list.
Minnesota - If health wasn't a factor, this team may be higher on my list. Love is beat up and Rubio is out for a while. They won't be surprising anyone this year but I still think they can make playoffs. I nearly opted to yank them out.
Utah - Arguably should be in over Minny. There frontcourt is loaded and deep. Had a decent playoff showing a year ago and could do the same thing again.
As for your predictions Greg, Bulls at 3 won't happen without Rose for a season, but the bigger issue I have is Washington? Seriously? What are you smoking? Knicks made playoffs last year with more injuries than basically every other team. They will make it in.
ReplyDeleteIn the west i don't disagree with your teams, but Minnesota at 5 is a stretch. If they make the playoffs it will be by the skin of their teeth.
Washington's starting lineup is: John Wall, Bradley Beal,Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor,Nene, and they have some nice pieces coming off of the bench. In the East I think they COULD be better than both Philly and Atlanta.
DeleteMinnesota learned how to win last year, and they will continue to improve on that this season.
Bulls will still win the Central Division,which puts them no lower than 3rd(though if they are 4 or 5 that wouldn't SHOCK me) and Rose is closer to coming back than you think(but my rankings are based on him not playing at all this season). You have a bias FOR Indiana and AGAINST Chicago. Indiana is at Best the 4th best team in the East, as they are clearly worse than Miami,Boston,and Brooklyn, and possibly even Chicago without Derrick Rose.
Indiana finished 3rd last year behind Heat and Bulls with Rose. They (and Miami) return a starting lineup that is completely in tact which is rare for the NBA. That lineup was one of the best in the entire league. And George will break out. They struggled to score off the bench last year and added Green which will help significantly... If I compare Indiana to Chicago without Rose here is how it turns out:
ReplyDeleteCenter: Hibbert is better than Noah
PF: West and Boozer are equal
SF: Granger is better than Deng
SG: George is better than Hamilton (or whoever they choose to start)
PG: Hill is better than Hinrich (or whoever they choose to start)
Bench: Since one guard now starts in place of Rose, what it leaves is a bench that at best is just equal to Indiana's.
Don't see it, sorry pal!
I disagree with you.
DeleteCenters are Equal
PF-Boozer is slightly better because he's in better shape.
SF-Deng is better because he's a better defender, shooter, finisher, and rebounder.
SG-Advantage Indiana
PG-Hill and Hinrich are even
Bench:
Indiana-Gerald Green, Tyler Hansbrough, Lance Stephenson, Sam Young, Ian Mahinmi, Jeff Pendergraph, Miles Plumlee, Orlando Johnson
Chicago-Marco Belinelli(may be less athletic than Green but I think is a better player),Taj Gibson(Better than Hansbrough),Jimmy Butler(Again, better than Stephenson),Nate Robinson(Better than Young),Nazr Mohammed(Equal to or better than Mahinmi),Vladimir Radmanovic(Better than Pendergraph),Marquis Teague(Will play very sparingly this year).
I'm not sure how you think Indiana is better. I'd rather have the Bulls roster trying to win than the Pacers.
Forgot Tyler's Brother Ben Hansbrough is also a member of the Pacers' bench- he hasn't played in a single NBA game yet, so he makes their bench even worse.
ReplyDeleteAgree to disagree. The only bench player worth anything on Chicago is Gibson. Although I think Teague will be good eventually. When comparing starters, your analysis is just silly. It actually made me laugh out loud
ReplyDeleteThat's ok. You usually laugh at sound logic, kind of like the financially genius move I made in the Farming Game that made you so mad because you didn't think of it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason that in the farming game Natalie and I both rejected your offer immediately and the only taker was first time player and extremely tired and out of it Kristine.
ReplyDeleteBut back to the NBA, Pacers won last night without Granger and with some other minor injuries on the road at Toronto. Solid but not exciting win. Bulls squeaked by also without Rose while playing Kings at home. So far they are even.
No, the reason is that neither of you had any financial sense, and the two people that handle the money in both relationships made the deal, because it made us both more money.
ReplyDeleteToronto will still finish last in their division, so not that impressive a road win. Chicago played uncharacteristically turnover-prone basketball and still won, though not as convincingly as maybe they should have. I think what the first couple of nights of NBA have shown us is that the league, so far, is much more even and balanced than it has been in the past. Far less top-heavy. Probably because the players are playing better knowing that David Stern's reign as NBA Commissioner has an end date.
I never said it wasn't a good deal for you. It was awful for her. Also it was illegal due to the double dipping issue. And since my wife is planning to become a financial planner, I think it's good practice to handle our money. I make it, she handles it. Although she makes it too :)
ReplyDelete