And that'll wrap it up
And now the end is here....it's the last division to look at. Who cares if the season is already two days old? It's not like this is groundbreaking stuff here so I don't think what little integrigty I have will be compromised by the fact the NBA is already underway. Well, our last division and possibly one of the more craptastic in all the league, the Atlantic is what we have left. I saved it for last because it is the division in which my beloved Celtics play and well, I wanted to save them and their division for last. So lets get it started and get this whole NBA thing over with.
ATLANTIC DIVISION
New Jersey Nets: This is a team that's been largely overhauled, yet remains very much the same. The bench is almost entirely new, which is a major plus for them, while the starting five remains intact, so there is the new and old all rolled into one. If they don't win this division handily then they have major issues. This is a team that won 49 games last year and with the improved bench they should no problem topping that mark considering the divsion they play in. Jason Kidd runs the show and he absolutely makes them tick. Behind Steve Nash, he might be the most important point guard to his team in the entire league. He rebounds extremely well for his position and he distributes the ball greatly. His only shortcoming now appears to be his defense. One a very good defender, age and injury are starting to catch up with him and well lets just say if you ever get torched by Anthony Johnson during a playoff series, the writing is on the wall. Still though, he's a good point guard and crucial to their operation because he gets people easy shots, which is key for keeping everyone happy. The Nets may also have one of the best wing tandems in the league in Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. Both have very good jump shots and both can finish around the rim, though I'd say Jefferson is much better at finishing in traffic. Carter doesn't quite like the contact going towards the hoop, or contact of any nature. While I don't want to really label him as "soft" I would categorize him in the likeness of ice cream that's been at the bottom of your freezer for like three months. While the ice cream isn't really soft to begin with, if you pound at it long enough it'll soften up. Same thing with Carter, he'll go to the hoop initially, but if you bang him hard a few times he'll hang out on the perimeter more. Still there is no denying his extreme talent and when he feels like turning it on he can be downright unstopable. In fact I believe he's in a contract year, so look for him to have it on about 90% of the time so he can sign a huge contract so he can go back to having it on 60% of the time. Gotta love the NBA. Their center is Nenad Kristic and while he may not be eye popping he's pretty good. He won't give them much defensively, but he's not there to do that. He has a good jump that can stretch out opposing defenses and Kidd is great at running the pick and pop with this guy. Basically, the Nets have three very viable options on offense and you really can't ask for much more than that on offense. Side note, what do you think the Nets players call Kristic? Am I the only person who thinks (well, hopes) that they call him Nad? C'mon, admit it, it's gotta be possible right? When I watch the Nets this year I'm going to listen really close to the background noise just to see if it happens. OK, back to the point at hand. Jason Collins will be starting at power forward and well he's pretty much there to guard the other teams center and set screens on offense. Since he stands 7' tall and weighs around 260lbs. he fit the bill. Moving on to the bench, the only real holdover from last year is Clifford Robinson who is still chugging right along. Uncle Cliffy, entering his 18th season in the league isn't the player he used to be, but he can provide some offense on some nights and he's been through it all in the league so you can count on this guy when things get gritty. Two rookies from UConn will also be coming off the bench. Marcus Williams, a point guard has a great mentor to learn from on how to play the position at the NBA level in Kidd. Williams is already a very good passer and he handles the ball extremely well. It's just a matter of him maintaing focus on basketball and not other things that could be his issue. He should prove to be a more than adequate back-up however and he'll have time to really develop into that role as time passes. Josh Boone is the other former Huskie and he'll be counted on to play some tough interior defense and rebound which is exactly his MO. Any points he scores will essentially be a bonus, but with Kidd and Williams they'll get him a couple of easy shots around the rim on a nightly basis. For offensive purposes off the bench they have Eddie House, a true gunner if such a thing exists in todays game. If he enters a contest, it's a good bet he'll have a shot up within a minutes time. This team really should win nothing short of a division title; anything less than that would be a shock. Williams gives them a solid back-up (no offense Jacque Vaughn) which means they'll be able to rest Kidd more often which means he should be less injury prone and fresher for the playoffs. Scoring for them won't be an issue, but stopping the opposition from scoring definetly is. Outside of Jefferson they don't have any real good defensive players. Kidd is heady, so he'll always come away with a couple of steals, but he'll have a tough time cutting off any penetration from opposing point guard. Carter could defend, he's certainly athletic enough, but defense requires contact and we've already covered that with him. It won't hurt them in the regular season, but playoff time it could be a problem. Still they could make a run in the east as they have an offense that's going to be tough to match. Now that we've finished discussing the good team in the division lets move on to everything else.
New York Knicks: I don't even know where to begin here. Maybe if I just close my eyes and mash the keyboard I'll come up with something....OK, here goes. 589y5j5oq8jqhi'jjmgj'iokvjk5v[ Yeah that didn't seem to work out too well, kind of like how Isiah Thomas put together the Knicks. I don't understand how this man is allowed to run a sports franchise. It doesn't just boggle my mind, it actually casues me physical pain to think about it. In Stephon Marbury they have a point guard who shoots first and second and passes third. Also, every team he has left via trade (New Jersey, Phoenix....you could even argue Minnesota) has done remarkably better after he is gone. Granted, that could conincidence, but lightning doesn't strike the same place that often. Steve Francis will be played at the shooting guard....even though he thinks he's a point guard, but really is just a shooting guard. I would never want to play on a team with these two guys as my starting back court. Good for me I'm not that great at basketball. For some inexplicable reason the Knicks signed away Jared Jeffries from the Washington Wizards for nearly $30million. Yup, makes sense to sign a guy who has average just over 6ppg and 4rpg to a big ass contract.....yay for Isiah. Eddy Curry starts for the Bulls at center an based soley on his size he's good for 14 points and 7 boards a night. Now if he actually cared about basketball and wasn't in the shape of a beach ball, those numbers would be a whole hell of a lot higher. He's essentially one of those guys that won the genetic lottery and he's cashed in, so don't expect much from him. Jamal Crawford is yet again another shoot first point guard who they can bring off the bench. Nate Robinson is a sparkplug, but his shot selection is suspect and he's a very big defensive liability. Quentin Richardson is essentially a spot up shooter these days due to injuries and the extra weight he seems to be carrying around with. The Knicks do have two players I enjoy though in Channing Frye and David Lee. Frye is a power forward with a good face up jump shot. His ability to score is what sets him apart. Lee meanwhile is a scrapper down low. A little undersized, what he lacks in height he makes up for in toughness and effort, two things this team needs badly. He rebounds well and will get some junk point around the rim. But he'll probably get burried on this team for no good reason. I wish I had time to get into the Jerome James' of this roster, but I don't. Oh yeah, interesting side note. Since the Knicks have like 4,256 wing players, they released Jalen Rose a few days ago, along with his nearly $17million remaining on the last year of his contract. Not only does this mean a mjaor cap hit to the Knicks and they have to pay the salary out in full, it means that they got nothing for him. There had to be some team out there that would have take Rose and his salary just so it would come off their books next year, right? That would seem logical, but alas, the Knicks do not deal in logic. All this being said, I think the Knicks will be a little better than last year. The players will not have the heavy hand of Larry Brown weighing down on them, so that should help ease tension for a little while at least. I can actually envision the Knicks getting off to a decent start, then everybody jumping on the Kincks playoff bandwagon and then the wheels come flying off because the bandwagon can't support that many people and the Kincks finish far from the playoffs. Again, you don't have to like basketball to be entertained by the NBA, gotta love it.
Toronto Raptors: I don't know quite what to make of this Raptors team. They have some interesting pieces, that's for sure. I have a feeling they'll struggle early on during the season and then get better as things progress. They do have a certifiable stud in Chris Bosh. He can finish at the rim, rebounds well and has a great jumper for a guy his size (6'10"). He's their building block for the future, no doubt. In Morris Peterson they have a steady veteran presence that can play either the shooting guard or small forward position (better suited for shooting guard) and he also seems to turn into the NBA's best shooter every time he plays the Celtics....why I don't know, all I know is that it annoys me greatly. Rasho Nesteroivc mans the middle and well, his assets about end with his height. He's slow, doesn't rebound very well and is pretty soft on the inside. Hooray for the Raptors. TJ Ford has been brought in to run the point and help Toronto become a better transition team. Ford is an interesting player. He's lightning quick and can get by anybody, But he doesn't really posess great passing skills for a point guard and his jumper isn't all that conisistent. He has all the tools to be really good, it's just a matter of him developing them. The Raptors do have number one pick Andrea Bargnani coming off the bench. Bargnani by all accounts posesses a good jump shot and overall offensive skills but he lacks bulk and good defensive instincts.....just like every other player to come out of Europe in the last 15 years. Why did they pick this guy number one again? Yeah, I don't know either. Nothing against the guy, just seems like an unusual pick. Fred Jones will also come off the bench for this team. He'll have some highlight reel dunks and he'll have a couple of games where he hits a bunch of threes and scores a bunch of points, but that'll be about it. He'll put up some numbers but do nothing special. Hard to believe somebody made this guy a mid first round pick....only Isiah Thomas would do something that stupid....wait a minute.....OK moving on. I do like Joey Graham coming off the bench for them. He can get to the rim a little bit and he plays some decent defense. Jose Calderon, the back-up point guard also warrants mentioning....no real reason though, just felt like I should mention him. In fact there really is no reason to mention the Raptors all that much, but they're in the division and the NBA so I had to say something about them, right?
Philadelphia 76ers: Can you say rudderless boys and girls? I honestly have no idea where the hell this team is going, other than down. Neither does Billy King for that matter it appears, but since he's the general manager of this team and I'm a sarcastic 24-year old un-employed wise ass living at home, I'd say it's more of a problem for him. Allen Iverson is still one of the most exciting players in the league and he's one of my favorite to watch. If his determination and heart were in the body of say someone like Vince Carter he would be completely unstopable, but alas it is not. Still though, he is pretty unstopable when he catches fire. The problem is that seems to be less often than it was in the past. I don't see how he finishes the season in Philly, but again with Billy King as the GM, that's a distinct possibilty as he somehow doesn't see the writing on the wall. Chris Webber provides the Sixers with some post offense and he's still a pretty good passing big man. He's essnetially playing on one leg too, so I don't want to knock the guy too much but he moves on the court like he's playing in an over 40 mens league. He also couldn't defend somebody in and over 40 mens league and at last check most NBA players were much more agile then the guys who get together at the Y on Wednesday nights. On the plus side, they have Andre Iguodala who is a very athletic and is also a very good defender. Most of his points though come from transition or slashing to the rim, but if he can develop a consistent jump shot he could be force. Some one who does not need to worry about his jumper is Kyle Korver who can flat out shoot. Too bad he can't do much of anything else. Samuel Dalembert is in the middle of this mess and he can block shots with the best of them and he can be a nuissance on the glass, but offensively he's very limited. His back-up Steven Hunter is even more offensively limited than Dalembert which is a scary thought for anyone who enjoys watching basketball. Rodney Carney, a rookie from Memphis should get a chance at regular minutes on this team not only because he is very athletic, but because who else is going to get minutes? This team went 38-44 last year and their only real addition was Alan Henderson....good luck Philly fans, good luck.
Boston Celtics: And we've finally reached my team, the beloved Boston Celtics. They could win 40 or more games this year or win less than 30.....OK maybe they won't win less than thirty, but you get the idea. They could do really well or they could be in the tank before we know it. Paul Pierce is coming off his best season of his career, hopefully he's hitting his peak as a player and we'll get another 2-3 years of what came last year. That's one hope. The other hope is that some of the young guys finally start to hit their strides this year. Al Jefferson came into last year with gigantic expectations and turned in a dissappointing performance. Kendrick Perkins showed some potential last season and he's gotten better every year with the Celtics, so here's to hoping that trend continues. Perk can bang down low and can be a monster on the boards if he can stay out of foul trouble, which still hasn't happened. Wally Szczerbiak was brought in to help lessen the scoring load for Pierce. While he is an established NBA player, he was bothered by a knee injury for much of last season that seemed to affect his shooting and he was bothered by the knee again in the pre-season, not exactly a good sign. Point guard has been an issue in Boston for a while now and the Celtics tried to address that need in the offseason by picking up two of them in Sebastian Telfair and Rajon Rondo. Telfair came over in a trade with Portland and he is certainly intriguing. He came straight to the NBA from high school with a great amount of hype and well things didn't quite work out in Portland so here he is. There is no doubting the ability this guy has or his speed, it's just a matter of it panning out and him looking to find others before shooting first and developing a more consistent jump shot. Rondo meanwhile is the better defender of the two and may actually be the better passer of the two. In a perfect world Rondo would start on this team, with Telfair coming off the bench so he could look for his shot a little bit more and give the 2nd unit some offensive punch. Delonte West, last years point guard is also in something of a situation as to where he will play. He's really more of a shooting guard than a pont guard, but he can handle point guard duties well enough. He also would be good coming off the bench because it gives them an offensive option in the 2nd unit, something they really didn't have last year. Ryan Gomes looks to improve on a rookie campaign that saw him make the all second rookie team despite only getting regular playing time in the 2nd half of the season last year. Gomes plays well on the blocks even though he is undersized, rebounds well for his size and he has developed a nice jumper from the 13-18 foot range. His play could really key in the C's success this year. Gerald Green and Tony Allen will be fighting for minutes this season....at least that's my guess. Allen is a solid defender who is OK on offense when he is under control, but at times (as in most of the time) he isn't, especially in transition. Green is definetly green around the gills (no pun intended), especially defensively, but he's very explosive offensively and he can really finish in transition. That all leads to the next point, transition. The Celtics want to get out and run this year and that I'm all in favor of. It's a question of whether or not they know how to do it. Perkins and Pierce are about the only guys who look up the floor when they rebound the ball, though Delonte West does too. Rondo and West also seem to get the idea that the quickest way to get the ball up the court is by passing it and they seem to have a knack for finding the right guy. Telfair seems to believe that the quickest to get the ball up the floor is by dribbling and while he's fast, he's not that fast, no one is really to try and dribble past the defense every time. They have some guys that can finish in transition (Pierce, Allen, Green, Gomes a little bit and Rondo and Telfair can both get to the hoop) and some guys that could benfit from the secondary break (Szczerbiak on the wings and Perkins and Jefferson coming through the middle), it's just a matter of whether or not they figure out how to run the break. The problem in the past in the half court offense, espcially down the strech, is that they look to get the ball to Piecre and then everyone else stands around. I have no problem with Pierce getting the ball down the strech, in fact I want him to have it, but the other guys on the floor have to do a better job of moving around so he doens't have to dribble out of double and triple teams. I'm sure there are million more things I could say about the Celtics right now, but I'll spare you for the time being as I will be talking about them in great detail many times over the course of the season. In fact I could go on about their coach Doc Rivers for another 200+ words, but like I said, they'll be plenty of that for another time. So yeah, they could be good, maybe and this is a big maybe sneak into the playoffs some how....that is if they get a set rotation, some offensive cohesion and a new coach.....whoops I slipped some Rivers rant in there....my apologies. All I can say is go green and do it for Red.
And that boys and girls is the Atlantic division. Kind of the like the Pacific, just not as horrendous...well maybe it is just as horrendous and I don't want to admit it....yeah it's probably the latter on that on. Anyways without wasting anymore time lets go on to the division finish predictions.
1. New Jersey - Nothing short of an act of God will keep them from winning this division and even with an act of God I still think they would squeak it out
2. Boston - This is totally me putting the team I like high up in the division because I'm trying to be optomistic so dont' read a whole lot into it....though I think they could end up here
3. Toronto - I have them here because I think they won't have the infighting the teams below them will have....that an a big year from Bosh
4. New York - Dysfunction junction.....remember they will start out well and then go down once everyone says how well they're doing.....mark me words
5. Philadelphia - As if Philly fans haven't suffered enough in the last 20+ years....Iverson will be gone before seasons end and this team will get worse before it gets better and cosidering how bad it's been for the past couple of seasons this could get uglier than Nicole Richie.
Done and done. Whew, that's a lot of rambling about something that only approximately three dozen people enjoy watching. So there it is, the NBA laid out in all it's glory. I'll do predictions at various points during the season about who I think will win awards and the championship, make the playoffs, you know all that good jazz and whatnot. Anyways, enough is enough for now so until later......
ATLANTIC DIVISION
New Jersey Nets: This is a team that's been largely overhauled, yet remains very much the same. The bench is almost entirely new, which is a major plus for them, while the starting five remains intact, so there is the new and old all rolled into one. If they don't win this division handily then they have major issues. This is a team that won 49 games last year and with the improved bench they should no problem topping that mark considering the divsion they play in. Jason Kidd runs the show and he absolutely makes them tick. Behind Steve Nash, he might be the most important point guard to his team in the entire league. He rebounds extremely well for his position and he distributes the ball greatly. His only shortcoming now appears to be his defense. One a very good defender, age and injury are starting to catch up with him and well lets just say if you ever get torched by Anthony Johnson during a playoff series, the writing is on the wall. Still though, he's a good point guard and crucial to their operation because he gets people easy shots, which is key for keeping everyone happy. The Nets may also have one of the best wing tandems in the league in Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. Both have very good jump shots and both can finish around the rim, though I'd say Jefferson is much better at finishing in traffic. Carter doesn't quite like the contact going towards the hoop, or contact of any nature. While I don't want to really label him as "soft" I would categorize him in the likeness of ice cream that's been at the bottom of your freezer for like three months. While the ice cream isn't really soft to begin with, if you pound at it long enough it'll soften up. Same thing with Carter, he'll go to the hoop initially, but if you bang him hard a few times he'll hang out on the perimeter more. Still there is no denying his extreme talent and when he feels like turning it on he can be downright unstopable. In fact I believe he's in a contract year, so look for him to have it on about 90% of the time so he can sign a huge contract so he can go back to having it on 60% of the time. Gotta love the NBA. Their center is Nenad Kristic and while he may not be eye popping he's pretty good. He won't give them much defensively, but he's not there to do that. He has a good jump that can stretch out opposing defenses and Kidd is great at running the pick and pop with this guy. Basically, the Nets have three very viable options on offense and you really can't ask for much more than that on offense. Side note, what do you think the Nets players call Kristic? Am I the only person who thinks (well, hopes) that they call him Nad? C'mon, admit it, it's gotta be possible right? When I watch the Nets this year I'm going to listen really close to the background noise just to see if it happens. OK, back to the point at hand. Jason Collins will be starting at power forward and well he's pretty much there to guard the other teams center and set screens on offense. Since he stands 7' tall and weighs around 260lbs. he fit the bill. Moving on to the bench, the only real holdover from last year is Clifford Robinson who is still chugging right along. Uncle Cliffy, entering his 18th season in the league isn't the player he used to be, but he can provide some offense on some nights and he's been through it all in the league so you can count on this guy when things get gritty. Two rookies from UConn will also be coming off the bench. Marcus Williams, a point guard has a great mentor to learn from on how to play the position at the NBA level in Kidd. Williams is already a very good passer and he handles the ball extremely well. It's just a matter of him maintaing focus on basketball and not other things that could be his issue. He should prove to be a more than adequate back-up however and he'll have time to really develop into that role as time passes. Josh Boone is the other former Huskie and he'll be counted on to play some tough interior defense and rebound which is exactly his MO. Any points he scores will essentially be a bonus, but with Kidd and Williams they'll get him a couple of easy shots around the rim on a nightly basis. For offensive purposes off the bench they have Eddie House, a true gunner if such a thing exists in todays game. If he enters a contest, it's a good bet he'll have a shot up within a minutes time. This team really should win nothing short of a division title; anything less than that would be a shock. Williams gives them a solid back-up (no offense Jacque Vaughn) which means they'll be able to rest Kidd more often which means he should be less injury prone and fresher for the playoffs. Scoring for them won't be an issue, but stopping the opposition from scoring definetly is. Outside of Jefferson they don't have any real good defensive players. Kidd is heady, so he'll always come away with a couple of steals, but he'll have a tough time cutting off any penetration from opposing point guard. Carter could defend, he's certainly athletic enough, but defense requires contact and we've already covered that with him. It won't hurt them in the regular season, but playoff time it could be a problem. Still they could make a run in the east as they have an offense that's going to be tough to match. Now that we've finished discussing the good team in the division lets move on to everything else.
New York Knicks: I don't even know where to begin here. Maybe if I just close my eyes and mash the keyboard I'll come up with something....OK, here goes. 589y5j5oq8jqhi'jjmgj'iokvjk5v[ Yeah that didn't seem to work out too well, kind of like how Isiah Thomas put together the Knicks. I don't understand how this man is allowed to run a sports franchise. It doesn't just boggle my mind, it actually casues me physical pain to think about it. In Stephon Marbury they have a point guard who shoots first and second and passes third. Also, every team he has left via trade (New Jersey, Phoenix....you could even argue Minnesota) has done remarkably better after he is gone. Granted, that could conincidence, but lightning doesn't strike the same place that often. Steve Francis will be played at the shooting guard....even though he thinks he's a point guard, but really is just a shooting guard. I would never want to play on a team with these two guys as my starting back court. Good for me I'm not that great at basketball. For some inexplicable reason the Knicks signed away Jared Jeffries from the Washington Wizards for nearly $30million. Yup, makes sense to sign a guy who has average just over 6ppg and 4rpg to a big ass contract.....yay for Isiah. Eddy Curry starts for the Bulls at center an based soley on his size he's good for 14 points and 7 boards a night. Now if he actually cared about basketball and wasn't in the shape of a beach ball, those numbers would be a whole hell of a lot higher. He's essentially one of those guys that won the genetic lottery and he's cashed in, so don't expect much from him. Jamal Crawford is yet again another shoot first point guard who they can bring off the bench. Nate Robinson is a sparkplug, but his shot selection is suspect and he's a very big defensive liability. Quentin Richardson is essentially a spot up shooter these days due to injuries and the extra weight he seems to be carrying around with. The Knicks do have two players I enjoy though in Channing Frye and David Lee. Frye is a power forward with a good face up jump shot. His ability to score is what sets him apart. Lee meanwhile is a scrapper down low. A little undersized, what he lacks in height he makes up for in toughness and effort, two things this team needs badly. He rebounds well and will get some junk point around the rim. But he'll probably get burried on this team for no good reason. I wish I had time to get into the Jerome James' of this roster, but I don't. Oh yeah, interesting side note. Since the Knicks have like 4,256 wing players, they released Jalen Rose a few days ago, along with his nearly $17million remaining on the last year of his contract. Not only does this mean a mjaor cap hit to the Knicks and they have to pay the salary out in full, it means that they got nothing for him. There had to be some team out there that would have take Rose and his salary just so it would come off their books next year, right? That would seem logical, but alas, the Knicks do not deal in logic. All this being said, I think the Knicks will be a little better than last year. The players will not have the heavy hand of Larry Brown weighing down on them, so that should help ease tension for a little while at least. I can actually envision the Knicks getting off to a decent start, then everybody jumping on the Kincks playoff bandwagon and then the wheels come flying off because the bandwagon can't support that many people and the Kincks finish far from the playoffs. Again, you don't have to like basketball to be entertained by the NBA, gotta love it.
Toronto Raptors: I don't know quite what to make of this Raptors team. They have some interesting pieces, that's for sure. I have a feeling they'll struggle early on during the season and then get better as things progress. They do have a certifiable stud in Chris Bosh. He can finish at the rim, rebounds well and has a great jumper for a guy his size (6'10"). He's their building block for the future, no doubt. In Morris Peterson they have a steady veteran presence that can play either the shooting guard or small forward position (better suited for shooting guard) and he also seems to turn into the NBA's best shooter every time he plays the Celtics....why I don't know, all I know is that it annoys me greatly. Rasho Nesteroivc mans the middle and well, his assets about end with his height. He's slow, doesn't rebound very well and is pretty soft on the inside. Hooray for the Raptors. TJ Ford has been brought in to run the point and help Toronto become a better transition team. Ford is an interesting player. He's lightning quick and can get by anybody, But he doesn't really posess great passing skills for a point guard and his jumper isn't all that conisistent. He has all the tools to be really good, it's just a matter of him developing them. The Raptors do have number one pick Andrea Bargnani coming off the bench. Bargnani by all accounts posesses a good jump shot and overall offensive skills but he lacks bulk and good defensive instincts.....just like every other player to come out of Europe in the last 15 years. Why did they pick this guy number one again? Yeah, I don't know either. Nothing against the guy, just seems like an unusual pick. Fred Jones will also come off the bench for this team. He'll have some highlight reel dunks and he'll have a couple of games where he hits a bunch of threes and scores a bunch of points, but that'll be about it. He'll put up some numbers but do nothing special. Hard to believe somebody made this guy a mid first round pick....only Isiah Thomas would do something that stupid....wait a minute.....OK moving on. I do like Joey Graham coming off the bench for them. He can get to the rim a little bit and he plays some decent defense. Jose Calderon, the back-up point guard also warrants mentioning....no real reason though, just felt like I should mention him. In fact there really is no reason to mention the Raptors all that much, but they're in the division and the NBA so I had to say something about them, right?
Philadelphia 76ers: Can you say rudderless boys and girls? I honestly have no idea where the hell this team is going, other than down. Neither does Billy King for that matter it appears, but since he's the general manager of this team and I'm a sarcastic 24-year old un-employed wise ass living at home, I'd say it's more of a problem for him. Allen Iverson is still one of the most exciting players in the league and he's one of my favorite to watch. If his determination and heart were in the body of say someone like Vince Carter he would be completely unstopable, but alas it is not. Still though, he is pretty unstopable when he catches fire. The problem is that seems to be less often than it was in the past. I don't see how he finishes the season in Philly, but again with Billy King as the GM, that's a distinct possibilty as he somehow doesn't see the writing on the wall. Chris Webber provides the Sixers with some post offense and he's still a pretty good passing big man. He's essnetially playing on one leg too, so I don't want to knock the guy too much but he moves on the court like he's playing in an over 40 mens league. He also couldn't defend somebody in and over 40 mens league and at last check most NBA players were much more agile then the guys who get together at the Y on Wednesday nights. On the plus side, they have Andre Iguodala who is a very athletic and is also a very good defender. Most of his points though come from transition or slashing to the rim, but if he can develop a consistent jump shot he could be force. Some one who does not need to worry about his jumper is Kyle Korver who can flat out shoot. Too bad he can't do much of anything else. Samuel Dalembert is in the middle of this mess and he can block shots with the best of them and he can be a nuissance on the glass, but offensively he's very limited. His back-up Steven Hunter is even more offensively limited than Dalembert which is a scary thought for anyone who enjoys watching basketball. Rodney Carney, a rookie from Memphis should get a chance at regular minutes on this team not only because he is very athletic, but because who else is going to get minutes? This team went 38-44 last year and their only real addition was Alan Henderson....good luck Philly fans, good luck.
Boston Celtics: And we've finally reached my team, the beloved Boston Celtics. They could win 40 or more games this year or win less than 30.....OK maybe they won't win less than thirty, but you get the idea. They could do really well or they could be in the tank before we know it. Paul Pierce is coming off his best season of his career, hopefully he's hitting his peak as a player and we'll get another 2-3 years of what came last year. That's one hope. The other hope is that some of the young guys finally start to hit their strides this year. Al Jefferson came into last year with gigantic expectations and turned in a dissappointing performance. Kendrick Perkins showed some potential last season and he's gotten better every year with the Celtics, so here's to hoping that trend continues. Perk can bang down low and can be a monster on the boards if he can stay out of foul trouble, which still hasn't happened. Wally Szczerbiak was brought in to help lessen the scoring load for Pierce. While he is an established NBA player, he was bothered by a knee injury for much of last season that seemed to affect his shooting and he was bothered by the knee again in the pre-season, not exactly a good sign. Point guard has been an issue in Boston for a while now and the Celtics tried to address that need in the offseason by picking up two of them in Sebastian Telfair and Rajon Rondo. Telfair came over in a trade with Portland and he is certainly intriguing. He came straight to the NBA from high school with a great amount of hype and well things didn't quite work out in Portland so here he is. There is no doubting the ability this guy has or his speed, it's just a matter of it panning out and him looking to find others before shooting first and developing a more consistent jump shot. Rondo meanwhile is the better defender of the two and may actually be the better passer of the two. In a perfect world Rondo would start on this team, with Telfair coming off the bench so he could look for his shot a little bit more and give the 2nd unit some offensive punch. Delonte West, last years point guard is also in something of a situation as to where he will play. He's really more of a shooting guard than a pont guard, but he can handle point guard duties well enough. He also would be good coming off the bench because it gives them an offensive option in the 2nd unit, something they really didn't have last year. Ryan Gomes looks to improve on a rookie campaign that saw him make the all second rookie team despite only getting regular playing time in the 2nd half of the season last year. Gomes plays well on the blocks even though he is undersized, rebounds well for his size and he has developed a nice jumper from the 13-18 foot range. His play could really key in the C's success this year. Gerald Green and Tony Allen will be fighting for minutes this season....at least that's my guess. Allen is a solid defender who is OK on offense when he is under control, but at times (as in most of the time) he isn't, especially in transition. Green is definetly green around the gills (no pun intended), especially defensively, but he's very explosive offensively and he can really finish in transition. That all leads to the next point, transition. The Celtics want to get out and run this year and that I'm all in favor of. It's a question of whether or not they know how to do it. Perkins and Pierce are about the only guys who look up the floor when they rebound the ball, though Delonte West does too. Rondo and West also seem to get the idea that the quickest way to get the ball up the court is by passing it and they seem to have a knack for finding the right guy. Telfair seems to believe that the quickest to get the ball up the floor is by dribbling and while he's fast, he's not that fast, no one is really to try and dribble past the defense every time. They have some guys that can finish in transition (Pierce, Allen, Green, Gomes a little bit and Rondo and Telfair can both get to the hoop) and some guys that could benfit from the secondary break (Szczerbiak on the wings and Perkins and Jefferson coming through the middle), it's just a matter of whether or not they figure out how to run the break. The problem in the past in the half court offense, espcially down the strech, is that they look to get the ball to Piecre and then everyone else stands around. I have no problem with Pierce getting the ball down the strech, in fact I want him to have it, but the other guys on the floor have to do a better job of moving around so he doens't have to dribble out of double and triple teams. I'm sure there are million more things I could say about the Celtics right now, but I'll spare you for the time being as I will be talking about them in great detail many times over the course of the season. In fact I could go on about their coach Doc Rivers for another 200+ words, but like I said, they'll be plenty of that for another time. So yeah, they could be good, maybe and this is a big maybe sneak into the playoffs some how....that is if they get a set rotation, some offensive cohesion and a new coach.....whoops I slipped some Rivers rant in there....my apologies. All I can say is go green and do it for Red.
And that boys and girls is the Atlantic division. Kind of the like the Pacific, just not as horrendous...well maybe it is just as horrendous and I don't want to admit it....yeah it's probably the latter on that on. Anyways without wasting anymore time lets go on to the division finish predictions.
1. New Jersey - Nothing short of an act of God will keep them from winning this division and even with an act of God I still think they would squeak it out
2. Boston - This is totally me putting the team I like high up in the division because I'm trying to be optomistic so dont' read a whole lot into it....though I think they could end up here
3. Toronto - I have them here because I think they won't have the infighting the teams below them will have....that an a big year from Bosh
4. New York - Dysfunction junction.....remember they will start out well and then go down once everyone says how well they're doing.....mark me words
5. Philadelphia - As if Philly fans haven't suffered enough in the last 20+ years....Iverson will be gone before seasons end and this team will get worse before it gets better and cosidering how bad it's been for the past couple of seasons this could get uglier than Nicole Richie.
Done and done. Whew, that's a lot of rambling about something that only approximately three dozen people enjoy watching. So there it is, the NBA laid out in all it's glory. I'll do predictions at various points during the season about who I think will win awards and the championship, make the playoffs, you know all that good jazz and whatnot. Anyways, enough is enough for now so until later......
posted by MC at 10:19 AM
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