The Division we wish we could all forget
Time to investigate a new division and we'll be moving out towards the left coast today to take a look at the Northwest Division. The last division we looked at was the Southwest, which if you remember was one of the most competitive in the league. Well the Northwest is almost a mirror image, not only in name but also in the quality of the teams which is damn well near the opposite. If the NBA divisions were each attached to beer that designated their overall quality, the Northwest divsion would be the Natural Ice of the NBA. So let the sarcasm begin as we delve into the seedy northwest.
NORTHWEST DIVISION
Denver Nuggets: The defending division champion, they were bounced by the new look Clippers in the first round of the playoffs last season. Carmelo Anthony is the big name on this team and he'll put up big numbers in the scoring column and that is part of their problem. Anthony will score regardless which means when he doesn't score early and often, he'll stagnate the offense as he still tries to get his shots/points. On the plus side point guard Andre Miller runs and offense very well, distributes the ball evenly and can penetrate and finish on the way to the rim. On the downside his jumpshot would have a hard time hitting the ocean if he shot it off a dingy. Their front court is anchored down by Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin. If this is 1998 it would be reason for excitement, but again we're in 2006 so lets not get too excited. Camby, when healthy isn't a bad option to have in the middle. Last year he averaged 12.8ppg 11.9rpg and 3.29blocks-per-game. The problem is, his body is apparently made of tissue paper. He's played in over 70 games only once and over 60 games only 4 times in his NBA career. These are the kind of things that happen when you're 6'11" and only weigh 220lbs. Martin meanwhile was last seen doing nothing for the Nuggets after being suspended during the playoffs for cursing out his coach during the 2nd game of their series. That's the kind of verteran leadership you want. The logical thing to do would be to trade Martin and cut their losses. Unfortunately for them, no one wanted the 28-year old with a bad knee in the third year of a seven season $90million contract. Can't imagine why also given his naturally cheery disposition. For excitement off the bench they have the 5'5" Earl Boykins, who is honestly more than a novelty item. He gets up and down the floor like lightning and he can shoot it pretty well. There's not much on the bench either, unless you count Joe Smith as something and last I checked most people didn't. I do like Eduardo Najera, tough defender, plays hard and always give a good effort....makes you kind of wonder how he ended up on the Nuggets. J.R. Smith is another interesting player on this team. Very athletic, can finish when he takes it to the rim and actually has very good range on his jump shot. On the downside he has very poor shot selection and this is not the team to learn it on. It's like sending a blind guy to learn sign language from a deaf guy, nothing good will come of it. If they run they'll be effective, if not they're in trouble because they sure don't have much of a halfcourt offense. Plus with George Karl coaching this team, there is sure to be a player mutiny at some point this season...I'm voting for sometime right around the trade deadline. Good times.
Seattle Supersonics: In 2004-2005 the Sonics won 52 games. Last season they remembered they were the Sonics and went 35-47. The Sonics can score, they were third in the league with just over 102 points a game, but they also couldn't stop a 35-and over YMCA men's league team from matching them. Ray Allen may have the best jump shot in the league and he can get it off so quickly it doesn't matter how tightly you defend him. Unfortunately his passion doesn't carry over to the defensive end, not that it ever has so lets just leave it at that. Luke Ridinour runs the great, it's almost like the ball is an extension of his arm when he's on the court....plus he can shoot it a little bit too which is a big plus for point guards. But much like Allen defense is not his friend. It's not for lack of effort per se....some people can defend some can't and he is definetly one of the latter. His back-up Earl Watson is a good defender however which raises the question, who do you have on the court during crunch time? Do you have the guy you know will get you points out there, or the guy that can lockdown the opposing teams' point? Have fun with that one Bob Hill. Their best defender is most likely Nick Collison, their back-up powere forward....no snarky comment hear, just stating a fact. Their starting power forward Rashard Lewis is a big, rangy power forward who is really more of a shooting guard in a power forward's body. Chris Wilcox will also be in their frontcourt and he actually showed signs of life after doing nothing for the better part of 3 and a half season with the Clippers. In his defense, no one did much of anything with the Clippers for a while, so he can't be judged solely upon that. They also have one of my least favorite players in Danny Fortson who plays as though he wants to injure whoever gets in his way. I have no problem playing with intesity but when that intensity makes Mike Myers from Halloween look like Rainbow Bright, well you have issues....much like the Sonics do as a basketball team.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Garnett is knicknamed The Big Ticket. Well, the only ticket he's looking to get is one out of town. Four years ago they reached the Western Conference finals, now their looking to climb out of the bottom of the barrel. Garnett has always played with something of a scowl on his face that just seemed to showcase his intensity. In the past couple of years the scowl has become genuine methinks and me also thinks that a full season of playing with Ricky Davis will cause Garnett to decapitate some one before the season is out. Don't get me wrong, Davis is a good player, in fact he was a good citizen during his time with the Celtics. He just requires a lot of touches and shots and at times he can bog down an offense as he can force shots and passes so he can pad his assist totals. Trenton Hassel is a essentially a poor mans version of Bruce Bowen....guy who can defend really well and any offense you get is a bonus. Mike James was brought in to help hold down the point guard position and while he's a capeable guy I just don't know how effective he'll be. He not much of a play maker, then again Minnesota has a lot of individual offensive players so they don't neccisarily need one. Mark Blount will score 10 points a night and grab 5 boards which doesn't sound bad, but when you consider if he played to half his potential those numbers could easily be 18 and 8. But since he signed a big contract a couple of years ago, don't expect anything else out of him. If KG picks someone to fight with my vote is Blount....more or less because I want someone to deck Mark Blount. I will give them credit for drafting Randy Foye who everyone seems to have hard-on for and with good reason. He can play either guard spot, he can shoot and pass and he always plays hard. Also, kudos for taking Craig Smtih out of Boston College. Undersized power forward but really rugged and isn't afraid to bang away on the blocks. So there could be a bright future in Minnesota....if the current band of mis-fits don't taint the young'uns too much. Just to run through some of them......
Ricky Davis: He once tried get a triple double in a game by throwing a ball off the back board to himself....on the basket his team was defending. It warrants mentioning that the rebound didn't count so he didn't get the triple double. It also warrants mentioning he was a good citizen in Boston, none of the distractions he had in Cleveland, but he's not exactly the kind of guy you want setting the example for the younger fellas. He has like a 2-2 1/2 season window of productiveness without being a dispruption so the key is not to keep him around too long.
Eddie Griffin - No, not the comedian, but his comedy of errors is almost as funny. While in college at Seton Hall got into a fist fight with a teammate after a game, amongst other issues he had at school. Most recently, he was picked up for driving under the influence this past off-season while watching an "adult" movie inside his SUV.....outstanding.
Mark Blount - I will rant about him at length another day....lets just say his work ethic is questionable at best and he has mood swings worse than a woman during "that time of the month" that affect his play greatly.
Marko Jaric - Nothing character wise about him, he's just a terrible NBA point guard....don't let him near Randy Foye so he doesn't taint him.
Rashad McCants - He's kind of like a rubic's cube, just when you think you've got the thing figured out, you realize you're not even close. He's got all the ability in the world it's just hard to read the guy.....for lack of a better word he always seems surly for no good reason. Again, he could snap at any moment, great to have him along for the ride.
Vin Baker - Vin Baker is on an NBA roster? Well apparently he is for the time being. For those of you not familiar with Baker, he was drafted by the Milwaukee in 1993 out of the Univeristy of Hartford. By his second season, he was an All-Star, the first of his 4 appearance in the game....3 with Milwaukee and one with Seattle after he was traded there before the 1997-98 season. Then came the NBA lock-out the next year and Baker decided to gain aprroximately 300lbs (alright maybe closer to 50lbs). It was somewhere around this time when he also started abusing alcohol and well it was all downhill from there. He was last seen collecting dust on the Clippers bench last season....by the way LA is not a good place to be if you have a substance abuse problem, just thought I'd throw that out there. Maybe he's there as a cautionary tale, saying "Dont let this happen to you."
To say the T-Wolves are a mess is a slight understatement. But hey, there is the potential for a potential soap opera type disaster so that could be fun.....too bad it'll happen in Minnesota though because if it happens there, no one will notice.
Portland Trailblazers: This was once a model NBA franchise. Perennial playoff team, talented, loved by the community, seemed to love the community back. Well it's been a nightmare in recent years. From JR Rider to Damon Stoudamire to Ruben Patterson to Zach Randolph to Qyntel Woods to Bonzi Wells to Nick VanExel....if you want to know what they've all done just use google their names with random crimes after them and you'll most likely find something, plus it'll give you a way to kill some free time. This team is in such disarray that Bill Walton is speaking clearly and coherently. (If you don't get that joke, leave a comment and I wll clarify at a later date). They do have a stud in the form of Zach Randolph, but he is one of the listed above. He seems to have issues not getting high as a kite and carry weapons for which he is not permitted to carry, amongst other things. Darius Miles will be doing them no favors either as he somehow secured a multi-year from the team so he's pretty much going to be in cruise control from now until the deal expires. They do have some good young talent. Martell Webster is a good shooter, who if he works on his shot off the dribble could be in the league for a long time. They also have Brandon Roy, who is a rookie, but a guy that I absolutely love, not only because he's a smooth offensive player that can slash and shoot, he's also a damn good defender....too bad he plays three time zones away on a team that won't be on national TV. They also acquired LaMarcus Aldridge, another rookie, on draft day and Aldridge is quite simply a beast down low, well at least he was in college and hopefully that will carry over to the NBA. As a Celtics fan, I am very grateful they took on Raef LaFrentz and the remaining years on his bloated contract (thanks for that Mark Cuban). No offense to Raef, whose career was throttled by injuries (mainly his knee, changed the way he played) but he was essntially a seven foot shooting guard in past year, though his arms are really well defined if you like looking at that kind of thing (did that last comment creep you out? yeah, me too and I wrote it, how weird is that?) Good luck kind people of Portland, you have a rough road ahead of you....again. Well at least you have the.....um.....uh......nope their all you've got, good luck with that.
Utah Jazz: Someone has to win this division right? Well I'm thinking it's the Jazz. Honestly, I don't think the Nuggets are quite as bad as I made them out to be in the beginning of this and I wouldn't be too surprised if they made a run in this division, I'm just thinking the Jazz are due. Andrei Kirilenko makes Calvin Klein models look fat, but damn the man runs like a gazelle, can shoot, involve his teammates on offense and he's a sneaky good shot blocker. As long as he's healthy they have a shot to be good. Speaking of health, Carlos Boozer needs to stay healthy. He's only play in 84 games (33 last season) for the Jazz since coming to Utah two years ago. If he's healhty it will not only give them a viable option at power forward, it will also allow Kirilenko to play more on the wing where his body will take less abuse. Matt Harpring also gives them a solid scoring option off the bench and Derek Fisher.....well he's a verteran I guess, should give them some presence off the bench, I dunno, never been that big into Derek Fisher, moving on. Apparently the Jazz brass really liked that Illinois team from a couple of years ago that went undefeated for a long time because they have three former team members on their roster. Second year player Derron Williams, will be running the point and if he can improve on what he did last year they'll be good to go in that department. Not only does he run the offense well, he also plays some solid defense. Rounding out the Illinois contingent is Williams' former backcourt mate Dee Brown (not to be confused with former dunk champ and Reebok Pump Shoe endorser Dee Brown), who the Jazz picked up in the second round of the draft. I loved Brown in college, how he'll be in the NBA, not too sure, but he plays with a lot of energy and always goes all out, so I hope he sticks around. Last but not least is small forward Roger Powell who I would guess is happy to be along for the ride right now, so enjoy it while it lasts. Mehmet Okur is holding down the middle and while not a traditional down on the blocks guy (not that many of those exist anymore) he can play in the post some, plus he can strech the defense because he's very solid on the perimeter. There will be no more Greg Ostertag and his Fred Flintston tattoo and while is sad, not to worry because Rafael Araujo, acquired in a trade with Toronto, will more than amplely fill the roll of "overweight, slow, offensively and defensively challenged and flabby seven foot white guy who plays center for the Jazz". On the plus side, Araujo has significantly more tattoos which should go a long way to scaring those folks in Utah....do you think they know Kennedy was shot yet? Yeah, me neither. But back to the point, the Jazz should be a good team this year, fun to watch and maybe they could make some noise in the early rounds of the playoffs. Although I do hope this is the year the people of Utah will discover what jazz is and then demand that the Jazz change their name simply because the concept of jazz music scares them. Wow, knew I was so bitter towards Utah?
There we have it, the Northwest division. What you see is what you get with this one and well, if you see a pile of junk you don't need to get your eyes checked. So lets not wast anymore time with it and just get on to the division finish predictions.
1. Utah - If healthy it's their division to lose, if not healthy....well it's still their division to lose
2. Denver - They could push for the dvision crown, I just think dysfunction will do them in
3 or 4 - Minnesota/Seattle - Too close to call....part of me wants to say Minnesota because they made more productive moves, but there's to much volitility in Minny to put them ahead of Seattle, so flip a coin on this one, if you care enough about it too...my guess is that you don't
5. Portland - Lets put it this way, in their projected starting five, they have one guy who average double figures in points last year....again to the good people of Portland, my apologies.
That's it for the Northwest, probably too much on it, but hey if anything I wrote here was short concise and made sense, you would know that I didn't write it. Another divsion in a day or two, so until then.....
NORTHWEST DIVISION
Denver Nuggets: The defending division champion, they were bounced by the new look Clippers in the first round of the playoffs last season. Carmelo Anthony is the big name on this team and he'll put up big numbers in the scoring column and that is part of their problem. Anthony will score regardless which means when he doesn't score early and often, he'll stagnate the offense as he still tries to get his shots/points. On the plus side point guard Andre Miller runs and offense very well, distributes the ball evenly and can penetrate and finish on the way to the rim. On the downside his jumpshot would have a hard time hitting the ocean if he shot it off a dingy. Their front court is anchored down by Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin. If this is 1998 it would be reason for excitement, but again we're in 2006 so lets not get too excited. Camby, when healthy isn't a bad option to have in the middle. Last year he averaged 12.8ppg 11.9rpg and 3.29blocks-per-game. The problem is, his body is apparently made of tissue paper. He's played in over 70 games only once and over 60 games only 4 times in his NBA career. These are the kind of things that happen when you're 6'11" and only weigh 220lbs. Martin meanwhile was last seen doing nothing for the Nuggets after being suspended during the playoffs for cursing out his coach during the 2nd game of their series. That's the kind of verteran leadership you want. The logical thing to do would be to trade Martin and cut their losses. Unfortunately for them, no one wanted the 28-year old with a bad knee in the third year of a seven season $90million contract. Can't imagine why also given his naturally cheery disposition. For excitement off the bench they have the 5'5" Earl Boykins, who is honestly more than a novelty item. He gets up and down the floor like lightning and he can shoot it pretty well. There's not much on the bench either, unless you count Joe Smith as something and last I checked most people didn't. I do like Eduardo Najera, tough defender, plays hard and always give a good effort....makes you kind of wonder how he ended up on the Nuggets. J.R. Smith is another interesting player on this team. Very athletic, can finish when he takes it to the rim and actually has very good range on his jump shot. On the downside he has very poor shot selection and this is not the team to learn it on. It's like sending a blind guy to learn sign language from a deaf guy, nothing good will come of it. If they run they'll be effective, if not they're in trouble because they sure don't have much of a halfcourt offense. Plus with George Karl coaching this team, there is sure to be a player mutiny at some point this season...I'm voting for sometime right around the trade deadline. Good times.
Seattle Supersonics: In 2004-2005 the Sonics won 52 games. Last season they remembered they were the Sonics and went 35-47. The Sonics can score, they were third in the league with just over 102 points a game, but they also couldn't stop a 35-and over YMCA men's league team from matching them. Ray Allen may have the best jump shot in the league and he can get it off so quickly it doesn't matter how tightly you defend him. Unfortunately his passion doesn't carry over to the defensive end, not that it ever has so lets just leave it at that. Luke Ridinour runs the great, it's almost like the ball is an extension of his arm when he's on the court....plus he can shoot it a little bit too which is a big plus for point guards. But much like Allen defense is not his friend. It's not for lack of effort per se....some people can defend some can't and he is definetly one of the latter. His back-up Earl Watson is a good defender however which raises the question, who do you have on the court during crunch time? Do you have the guy you know will get you points out there, or the guy that can lockdown the opposing teams' point? Have fun with that one Bob Hill. Their best defender is most likely Nick Collison, their back-up powere forward....no snarky comment hear, just stating a fact. Their starting power forward Rashard Lewis is a big, rangy power forward who is really more of a shooting guard in a power forward's body. Chris Wilcox will also be in their frontcourt and he actually showed signs of life after doing nothing for the better part of 3 and a half season with the Clippers. In his defense, no one did much of anything with the Clippers for a while, so he can't be judged solely upon that. They also have one of my least favorite players in Danny Fortson who plays as though he wants to injure whoever gets in his way. I have no problem playing with intesity but when that intensity makes Mike Myers from Halloween look like Rainbow Bright, well you have issues....much like the Sonics do as a basketball team.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Garnett is knicknamed The Big Ticket. Well, the only ticket he's looking to get is one out of town. Four years ago they reached the Western Conference finals, now their looking to climb out of the bottom of the barrel. Garnett has always played with something of a scowl on his face that just seemed to showcase his intensity. In the past couple of years the scowl has become genuine methinks and me also thinks that a full season of playing with Ricky Davis will cause Garnett to decapitate some one before the season is out. Don't get me wrong, Davis is a good player, in fact he was a good citizen during his time with the Celtics. He just requires a lot of touches and shots and at times he can bog down an offense as he can force shots and passes so he can pad his assist totals. Trenton Hassel is a essentially a poor mans version of Bruce Bowen....guy who can defend really well and any offense you get is a bonus. Mike James was brought in to help hold down the point guard position and while he's a capeable guy I just don't know how effective he'll be. He not much of a play maker, then again Minnesota has a lot of individual offensive players so they don't neccisarily need one. Mark Blount will score 10 points a night and grab 5 boards which doesn't sound bad, but when you consider if he played to half his potential those numbers could easily be 18 and 8. But since he signed a big contract a couple of years ago, don't expect anything else out of him. If KG picks someone to fight with my vote is Blount....more or less because I want someone to deck Mark Blount. I will give them credit for drafting Randy Foye who everyone seems to have hard-on for and with good reason. He can play either guard spot, he can shoot and pass and he always plays hard. Also, kudos for taking Craig Smtih out of Boston College. Undersized power forward but really rugged and isn't afraid to bang away on the blocks. So there could be a bright future in Minnesota....if the current band of mis-fits don't taint the young'uns too much. Just to run through some of them......
Ricky Davis: He once tried get a triple double in a game by throwing a ball off the back board to himself....on the basket his team was defending. It warrants mentioning that the rebound didn't count so he didn't get the triple double. It also warrants mentioning he was a good citizen in Boston, none of the distractions he had in Cleveland, but he's not exactly the kind of guy you want setting the example for the younger fellas. He has like a 2-2 1/2 season window of productiveness without being a dispruption so the key is not to keep him around too long.
Eddie Griffin - No, not the comedian, but his comedy of errors is almost as funny. While in college at Seton Hall got into a fist fight with a teammate after a game, amongst other issues he had at school. Most recently, he was picked up for driving under the influence this past off-season while watching an "adult" movie inside his SUV.....outstanding.
Mark Blount - I will rant about him at length another day....lets just say his work ethic is questionable at best and he has mood swings worse than a woman during "that time of the month" that affect his play greatly.
Marko Jaric - Nothing character wise about him, he's just a terrible NBA point guard....don't let him near Randy Foye so he doesn't taint him.
Rashad McCants - He's kind of like a rubic's cube, just when you think you've got the thing figured out, you realize you're not even close. He's got all the ability in the world it's just hard to read the guy.....for lack of a better word he always seems surly for no good reason. Again, he could snap at any moment, great to have him along for the ride.
Vin Baker - Vin Baker is on an NBA roster? Well apparently he is for the time being. For those of you not familiar with Baker, he was drafted by the Milwaukee in 1993 out of the Univeristy of Hartford. By his second season, he was an All-Star, the first of his 4 appearance in the game....3 with Milwaukee and one with Seattle after he was traded there before the 1997-98 season. Then came the NBA lock-out the next year and Baker decided to gain aprroximately 300lbs (alright maybe closer to 50lbs). It was somewhere around this time when he also started abusing alcohol and well it was all downhill from there. He was last seen collecting dust on the Clippers bench last season....by the way LA is not a good place to be if you have a substance abuse problem, just thought I'd throw that out there. Maybe he's there as a cautionary tale, saying "Dont let this happen to you."
To say the T-Wolves are a mess is a slight understatement. But hey, there is the potential for a potential soap opera type disaster so that could be fun.....too bad it'll happen in Minnesota though because if it happens there, no one will notice.
Portland Trailblazers: This was once a model NBA franchise. Perennial playoff team, talented, loved by the community, seemed to love the community back. Well it's been a nightmare in recent years. From JR Rider to Damon Stoudamire to Ruben Patterson to Zach Randolph to Qyntel Woods to Bonzi Wells to Nick VanExel....if you want to know what they've all done just use google their names with random crimes after them and you'll most likely find something, plus it'll give you a way to kill some free time. This team is in such disarray that Bill Walton is speaking clearly and coherently. (If you don't get that joke, leave a comment and I wll clarify at a later date). They do have a stud in the form of Zach Randolph, but he is one of the listed above. He seems to have issues not getting high as a kite and carry weapons for which he is not permitted to carry, amongst other things. Darius Miles will be doing them no favors either as he somehow secured a multi-year from the team so he's pretty much going to be in cruise control from now until the deal expires. They do have some good young talent. Martell Webster is a good shooter, who if he works on his shot off the dribble could be in the league for a long time. They also have Brandon Roy, who is a rookie, but a guy that I absolutely love, not only because he's a smooth offensive player that can slash and shoot, he's also a damn good defender....too bad he plays three time zones away on a team that won't be on national TV. They also acquired LaMarcus Aldridge, another rookie, on draft day and Aldridge is quite simply a beast down low, well at least he was in college and hopefully that will carry over to the NBA. As a Celtics fan, I am very grateful they took on Raef LaFrentz and the remaining years on his bloated contract (thanks for that Mark Cuban). No offense to Raef, whose career was throttled by injuries (mainly his knee, changed the way he played) but he was essntially a seven foot shooting guard in past year, though his arms are really well defined if you like looking at that kind of thing (did that last comment creep you out? yeah, me too and I wrote it, how weird is that?) Good luck kind people of Portland, you have a rough road ahead of you....again. Well at least you have the.....um.....uh......nope their all you've got, good luck with that.
Utah Jazz: Someone has to win this division right? Well I'm thinking it's the Jazz. Honestly, I don't think the Nuggets are quite as bad as I made them out to be in the beginning of this and I wouldn't be too surprised if they made a run in this division, I'm just thinking the Jazz are due. Andrei Kirilenko makes Calvin Klein models look fat, but damn the man runs like a gazelle, can shoot, involve his teammates on offense and he's a sneaky good shot blocker. As long as he's healthy they have a shot to be good. Speaking of health, Carlos Boozer needs to stay healthy. He's only play in 84 games (33 last season) for the Jazz since coming to Utah two years ago. If he's healhty it will not only give them a viable option at power forward, it will also allow Kirilenko to play more on the wing where his body will take less abuse. Matt Harpring also gives them a solid scoring option off the bench and Derek Fisher.....well he's a verteran I guess, should give them some presence off the bench, I dunno, never been that big into Derek Fisher, moving on. Apparently the Jazz brass really liked that Illinois team from a couple of years ago that went undefeated for a long time because they have three former team members on their roster. Second year player Derron Williams, will be running the point and if he can improve on what he did last year they'll be good to go in that department. Not only does he run the offense well, he also plays some solid defense. Rounding out the Illinois contingent is Williams' former backcourt mate Dee Brown (not to be confused with former dunk champ and Reebok Pump Shoe endorser Dee Brown), who the Jazz picked up in the second round of the draft. I loved Brown in college, how he'll be in the NBA, not too sure, but he plays with a lot of energy and always goes all out, so I hope he sticks around. Last but not least is small forward Roger Powell who I would guess is happy to be along for the ride right now, so enjoy it while it lasts. Mehmet Okur is holding down the middle and while not a traditional down on the blocks guy (not that many of those exist anymore) he can play in the post some, plus he can strech the defense because he's very solid on the perimeter. There will be no more Greg Ostertag and his Fred Flintston tattoo and while is sad, not to worry because Rafael Araujo, acquired in a trade with Toronto, will more than amplely fill the roll of "overweight, slow, offensively and defensively challenged and flabby seven foot white guy who plays center for the Jazz". On the plus side, Araujo has significantly more tattoos which should go a long way to scaring those folks in Utah....do you think they know Kennedy was shot yet? Yeah, me neither. But back to the point, the Jazz should be a good team this year, fun to watch and maybe they could make some noise in the early rounds of the playoffs. Although I do hope this is the year the people of Utah will discover what jazz is and then demand that the Jazz change their name simply because the concept of jazz music scares them. Wow, knew I was so bitter towards Utah?
There we have it, the Northwest division. What you see is what you get with this one and well, if you see a pile of junk you don't need to get your eyes checked. So lets not wast anymore time with it and just get on to the division finish predictions.
1. Utah - If healthy it's their division to lose, if not healthy....well it's still their division to lose
2. Denver - They could push for the dvision crown, I just think dysfunction will do them in
3 or 4 - Minnesota/Seattle - Too close to call....part of me wants to say Minnesota because they made more productive moves, but there's to much volitility in Minny to put them ahead of Seattle, so flip a coin on this one, if you care enough about it too...my guess is that you don't
5. Portland - Lets put it this way, in their projected starting five, they have one guy who average double figures in points last year....again to the good people of Portland, my apologies.
That's it for the Northwest, probably too much on it, but hey if anything I wrote here was short concise and made sense, you would know that I didn't write it. Another divsion in a day or two, so until then.....
posted by MC at 3:11 PM
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