April 20th, 2007

April 3rd, 2007 – Can the Celtics turn it around?

Ahh damn, my Celts were recently finally eliminated
from playoff contention mathematically. With the second worst
record in the NBA (23-50), and all the NBA experts proclaiming
this a terrible team and organazation wouldnt it seem everything
is hopeless with this organazation? Nope.
The Celtics have had amazingly bad luck with injuries this year,
losing Paul Pierce, Wally Szczerbiak, Tony Allen for huge chunks
of the season. Szcerbiak, a perrenial great shooter who can put
up 20 points a game, and Allen, a great defender who came into his
own scoring 20 a night when Pierce was injured have played a combined
65 games this year, and won’t play anymore. Jefferson has missed some
time due to injury, Delonte West has also, Perkins has also, and he had
to play through his for much of the season(plantar fasciitis), which
severly limited his effictiveness. Theo Ratliff, the major accustition
of the offseason, played two games this year. This type of string of
injuries can’t continue, so next year lets look at the Celtics assuming
they are somewhat unridden by the injury bug, but also assuming Tony
Allen doesn’t come back since he suffered a major knee injury. The
Celtics are going to get either the number one or two overall pick,
or else they are probably going to use it in a trade for an all-star
player like Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O’Neal. Say they get O’Neal, a very
real possiblity since he is unhappy in Indiana and things are getting
worse there and it is going to continue for the forseable future. Celts
trade the first round pick, Ratliff’s expiring contract, Ryan Gomes to fill
O’Neal’s shoes a little bit, and Delonte West/future first round pick. A
reasonable trade for both teams. Indiana gets younger and frees up cap space,
and Boston becomes an immediate contender.

C – Jefferson
PF – O’Neal
SF – Sczerbiak
SG – Pierce
PG – Rondo
6 – Green
7 – Perkins
8 – Telfair

Now your telling me that team cant contend? Add in a 2nd round pick and maybe
a veteran signed during free agency and the bench is solid and this team is a
TITLE contender. Even if they dont do a trade and instead end up with Oden or
Durant, there lineup looks like this, again assuming Tony Allen is not able to
heal from his injury but Wally does heal.

C – Oden
PF – Jefferson
SF – Sczerbiak
SG – Pierce
PG – Rondo
6 – Green
7 – Gomes
8 – West
9 – Perkins

or

C – Jefferson
PF – Gomes
SF – Durant
SG – Pierce
PG – Rondo
6 – Sczerbiak
7 – Green
8 – West
9 – Perkins

Any of those scenarios is to drool over if your a Celitcs fan, so keep your
head up Boston, this year was a FLUKE.

March 31, 2007

Houston Rockets, the most underrated team in basketball.

You always hear about the Mavericks, Suns, and Spurs as the elite 3 in the west,
the teams poised to win a title and no one in the west besides them can do it.
But that is just dead wrong, what about the Houston Rockets? This is a team built
for the postseason, they are tough, they have great inside presence, they play
great defense, they rebound, and they have the best center in the league and the
best backup center in the league. That is the definition of a team that plays its
best in a grind it out seven game series in the playoffs. They are 47-26, despite
losing Yao Ming for for almost half the season in the tough western conference. Their
inside presence, Yao Ming putting up 25 and 10, and Mutumbo coming off the bench and
grabbing 7 boards in less than 20 minutes a night, is just flat out outstanding. Only
Shaq in his prime 4 or 5 years ago beats that tandem. They have a terrific scorer in
Tracy Mcgrady, who also is an underrated playmaker and defender, remember 2 years ago
when he shut down Dirk Nowitzki in the 1st round? Shane Battier is possibly the most
underrated defender in the league, he is in that elite group of on the ball defenders.
Hes not going to get 4 steals or block 3 shots, but when Dwyane Wade or Manu Ginobli
or Kobe Bryant looks up at the scoreboard and sees hes shooting 7-20 from the field
and the Rockets are winning, don’t think that will really matter. Have you ever heard
of Chuck Hayes? A 6′6″ forward, he grabs close to 7 rebounds a night, in 21 minutes.
Thats almost a rebound every 3 minutes, for a 6′ 6″ forward, talk about being tough
and outworking people. You have great outside 3 point shooting from Luther Head (42%
from 3), Battier(43% from 3), and Alston(37% from 3) to complement Mcgrady’s slashing
ability and Yao’s inside dominance. You have Bonzi Wells coming off the bench,(sometimes
when he actually is alowed to play, whether thats his fault or Van Gundys is your opinion)
another tough guy who rebound very well for his size and his offense comes from taking it
to the hoop and drawing fouls. He is a poor free throw shooter (55% this year), but put him
in a playoff game early in the 4th quarter when Shaq has 5 fouls and ill take missing 1 of
2 free throws when Shaq is kicked out with 6 fouls. If theres one weakness on this team, it’s
that they dont play much fast-break basketball, but everyone says you have to slow it down in
the playoffs to win, like the Rockets always do, so why isnt anyone giving Houston a chance
to go to the chosen land in June?

March 29th, 2007

Hey, this is my first post everybody and I am an avid NBA fan, and at least once a week
I will write in my opinions and predictions of the NBA season and future. Please read
and enjoy, and maybe comeback for more .

The NBA season is coming to a close in a few weeks and the playoff race is heating up.
In the west the fight for the eigth seed is getting good with the Clippers finally
playing like we expected them to do this year, while finally showing some passion for
the game. Golden State is two games behind but playing well as of late also, while the
Hornets sit at the tenth seed barely clinging to their playoff lives due to the loss of
Peja.

NUGGETS FATE

Denver is a team to watch. They have been inconsistent and underperforming with Caremlo
and AI, but as of late they have played better and Carmelo is playing much less selfishly
than he did before coach Karl ripped him in the media. Since then he has averaged around 23
points a night, seven less than he previously did, but the Nuggets are 7-5 and are starting
to show signs of greatness. They dont play good defense, but Camby is a force inside and Nene
and Reggie Evans bang on the boards with Camby to clean up rebounds. Denver is a dark-horse
title contender, and they are capable of beating anyone, anytime, anywhere, period. I expect
them to up there game in the playoffs and push the Suns to at least six games, maybe seven.

CLIPPERS FATE

LA should take the final playoff spot and maybe take seventh too if they keep playing
with passion but they have not done that this year untill recently. Dunleavy has finally
given Corey Maggette the playing time he deserves and he is putting up 18.9 points a game
in March in 34.5 minutes. Not suprisingly, the Clips have won four out of five. Sam Cassell
has been out with back issues of late, and if the Clips make the playoffs and he isnt playing,
they will struggle to win one game. If Sam comes back though, the Clippers CAN challenge the
Mavericks in a seven game series, and I would expect them to win two games.

WARRIORS FATE

The Warriors are playing good ball as of late, but two things hold them back from being in the
playoffs, lack of defense obviously, and the terrible play of Jason Richardson this year. The
former 20 point a game scorer has struggled mightly this season, partly due to less isolation
plays for him this year with the emmergence of Monta Ellis and others, and also just due to plain
bad shooting. He has also been terribly inconsistent, often looking to snap out of his season long
funk with a 30 point game, then putting up a 6 point 1-10 FG night the next. If Richardson over the
last 11 games puts up 20 a night, the Warriors have a great shot to make the playoffs,
they are 5-3 when he tops 20 this year. The defense wont improve, they just dont have
any defensive players on the team besides Peitrus. The Warriors just look to out-score you,
so in the first round (if they make the playoffs) they will probably steal a game against the Mavericks,
but even though they have the Mav’s number and think they can beat them, you have to play some defense
and rebound a little bit to win a playoff series, and Golden State has not shown they can do either, AT ALL.

NEW ORLEANS FATE

The Hornets are a tough team, who somehow have stayed in the playoff race despite crippling injuries
this year, highlighted by Peja Stojakovic only appearing in thirteen games. The Hornets are tough
and will not give up, but they just don’t have enough scoring punch without Peja in the lineup to
make it. Chandler has risen his game to new heights though, putting up monster numbers in February
(13.2 PPG, 16.2 RPG), and March (12.6 PPG, 12.4 RPG). Chander is turning into a franchise center,
and with his emergence next year the Hornets will be a 50 win team if healthy. If the Hornets somehow
make the playoffs then they will play the Mavericks tough but will at most win two games just due to
lack of scoring. Unless, Chris Paul can elevate his game in the playoffs like Dwyane Wade, which we
don’t know yet.

KINGS FATE

Sacramento is a team in turmoil with the head coach Mussellman possibly not returning next year,
Artest causing many problems highlighted by his domestic assault arrest recently. He has even
talked about retiring after this year. Sacramento has almost no hope of the playoffs, all they
can hope for is that Mike Bibby plays like he did against Phoenix Sunday (37 points, 9-12 3’s)
or they are done. The Kings are a team that I see unfornatuely going on the downhill and possibly
heading for some real rocky seasons the next couple of years. Artest, who knows whats gonna happen
there, Bibby possibly on the way out, Brad Miller is declining fast, and the only real bright spot
is Kevin Martin. Kevin Martin maybe be the 2008-2011 version of Mitch Richmond for the Kings, lone
star on a bad, bad team.

(7)Denver 35-35
(8)LA Clippers 34-37 GB
——————————
(9)Golden State 32-39 2.0
(10)New Orleans 32-40 2.5
(11)Sacramento 30-40 3.5