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NBA Predictions
I sent these predictions a few days ago on Twitter and just haven't really gotten a second to write them down and put a little reasoning behind it.
As most of us know, this NBA season is one of the most anticipated in the last 20 years or so and for good reason. Dwade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh decided to join forces and change the course of the NBA landscape, well, at least for the next six seasons. Will the Miami Heat have enough time to figure it all out and make a run for a championship this year? Time will only tell. Chris Paul is back healthy with the Hornets amidst a off season of feeling the Hornets were not making the right moves to be competitive in the West, Chris, through various sources in the know
The Lakers are looking for there second 3peat in the last ten years, Kobe is looking to tie Jordan, and with the additions of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and the improvement of Shannon Brown the Lakers look prime and ready to get back to the Finals. With that being said its not going to be so easy because we are witnessing the talent and skill set of Kevin Durant, who is the odds on favorite to win the MVP. The Thunder are this years trendy pick to challenge the Lakers for the West's best record and meet the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Lets not forget, that the Thunder were a rebound away from forcing a Game 7 in last years playoffs against the heavily favored Lakers. With the improvement of Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green along with a Super Star in Kevin Durant, I fully expect the Thunder to be in the hunt this season.
The East is going to be the Top heavy conference this season with the upgrades to the Bulls, Bucks, and Heat. The Magic and Celtics have reloaded, The Hawks resigned Joe Johnson, and the Knicks added Amar'e Stoudemire and
Breakdown
Eastern Conference
8.) Indiana Pacers/ Charlotte Bobcats
This one is going to be a tie with about 39 wins for each team, the reason I say this is because the Bobcats lost there underrated PG Raymond Felton to the Knicks and the Pacers finally added a decent PG in Darren Collison but lost Troy Murphy to New Jersey. With Danny Granger, Collison, and the hopefully "breakout" season for Roy Hibbert this team should be good enough to squeak in the playoffs. The same argument can go for the Bobcats who made the playoffs last season, but losing Felton and replacing him with D.J. Augustin can only be a downgrade in my option, look for Caption Jack (Stephen Jackson) and Gerald Wallace to really take over for this team and hopefully get them into the playoffs.
Prediction: 39 wins, 8th Seed
7.) The New York Knicks
Sure, nobody knows if Amare can single handedly carry a team into the playoffs without Steve Nash but luckily Amare isn't completely alone in this one. I like what the Knicks have in the backcourt with Raymond Felton and Toney Douglas, who I think is going to really shine in his second season in NY. On the wings you got Danilo Gallarni who proved himself last year to be an elite three point shooter which is only going to improve with the addition of Amar'e who is going to demand double teams at times leaving Danilo open to knock down threes, and in D' Antoni's offense you know Danilo has got to be a happy man. They also picked up Anthony Randolph, who D'Antoni was trying to get for years when he was in Phoenix, Mike loves the kid and Randolph is finally in a situation where he will get minutes to prove himself and his all around talents.
Prediction: 41 wins, 7 seed
6.) Milwaukee Bucks
Ok so everybody knows I am a HUGE Brandon Jennings fan, and I am very excited for the Bucks up coming season assuming Bogut will stay healthy the entire season. The Bucks will be one of the sleepers in the East this year. The backcourt of Jennings/Corey Maggette/ John Salmons is more then serviceable and has much needed depth in the EAST. Swingmen Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova will be looking to improve this season after playing well last year. The final piece will be if Bogut and Gooden can hold down the paint, facilitate, and take care of the glass. If they can the Bucks will be a team to be reckoned with.
Prediction: 43 Wins, 6 Seed
5.) Atlanta Hawks
After an embarrassing playoff performance that lost Mike Woodson his job, the Hawks look to bounce back with the Addition of a new Coach Larry Drew, resigning Joe Johnson, and implementing a shiny new Motion Offense. The frustrating thing with the Hawks over the years has been that they have all the talent to make a real run at the Eastern Conference Crown, but for one reason or another they have not made the jump. After taking Boston to a hard fought 7 games in Boston's Championship season, the Hawks were expected to be the second coming in the EAST and put them in the upper echelon of NBA teams. Since then the Hawks have been regulars in the playoffs only to disappoint with the plethora of weapons they have. They come into the 2010-2011 season with the usually suspects, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford. I look for Jeff Teague to finally emerge this season with the decline of Mike Bibby, and the Hawks newly acquired rookie Jordan Crawford the Xavier guard who dazzled in the NCAA tournament last year and infamously DUNKED on Lebron James in a Nike camp in his senior year in high school. Should be an interesting year for the Hawks to be quite honest.
Prediction 46 wins, 5th Seed
4.) Chicago Bulls
The maturation of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and the acquisition of Carlos Boozer is going to put this team in the Elite class of the NBA this season. We know Boozer is going to be out 12- 15 games with a hand/wrist injury but I think the supporting cast can hold down the fort until he returns. Chicago finally has a low post scorer, which is something they have been trying to come by for many years. Chicago always had the guard and wing play but never the Big they could rely on to score in the post. Not only that, but Chicago also added 3pt specialist Kyle Kover and a all around athletic 2 guard in Ronnie Brewer, and on the wing they still have Loul Deng who had a very underrated season last year. Deng has also improved on his three point shooting as well as his steadily improving rebound prowess, the Bulls should have a excellent front court who can defend and rebound. We know that the team will go as far as Rose can take them and we will see if the Gold Medal in the FIBA World Championships and playing with a superstar like Kevin Durant will light that fire under Derrick Rose to let him know they have the pieces to make a serious run this season.
Prediction 50 wins, 4 Seed
3.) Boston Celtics
After a devastating game 7 loss in the NBA Finals to long time rival LA Lakers, the Celtics will be back once again with something to prove. The Celtics decided to give it one more hard push with the BIG 4 BIG 3 still intact. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce resigned, Shaq and Jermaine Oneal we added to bolster the front court while Perkins recovers from injury, and Doc Rivers is coming back to give it another shot after hinting towards retiring and spending more time with his family. Rondo has to be yet again be playing with a chip on his shoulder, there was a lot of speculation about what happened at the World Championships and why he wasn't apart of the team that traveled to Turkey. Rondo says he withdrew, but most will tell you he was going to be cut and Coach K saved him the embarrassment letting Rondo opt out and withdraw. Nevertheless Rondo knows the real story and more than likely feels disrespected that he couldn't start over the likes of Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Chauncey Billups and Steph Curry. Luckily for him he has his own team that is fueled by his play and will get to shut up all the naysayers.
Prediction 58 wins, 3 seed
2.) Orlando Magic
The Magic have been one of the best regular season teams for the past few years and I dont not see that trend changing anytime soon. Rumor has it that Dwight Howard has been working on his game all summer and was very upset at all the experts talking about Miami and not the other team in Florida, who are just two seasons removed from the NBA finals. To be frank the Magic were embarrassed by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals and should have probably been swept in my opinion. Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis struggled and Jameer Nelson who was battling injuries last season struggled as well. The blue print for beating the Magic is very simple, if you have a guy that can play Dwight Howard one on one and just stay home on the shooters then you have a very good chance of beating them. Kendrick Perkins has bothered Dwight for years by not letting him get position easily and giving him any gimme dunks. Along with Perk holding down Dwight, Boston has several guys who can get out the wings and lock down shooters, it also doesn't help that the shooters and slashers Orlando had in place decided to play poorly. This season could be different however, Dwight allegedly has working out with Hakim and Patrick Ewing vigorously this summer working on his post work, they added Quentin Richardson, resigned Gortat, and are looking for the improvements of JJ Redick, Ryan Anderson, and Mickael Pietrus or "Peaches!" as Barkley likes to call him. The stat guys are also salivating over the Magic's Preseaon by the way they were able to score the ball at such a high clip, I'm not a big preseason guy but its good to know the Magic are ready to not make it so easy to take the Crown in Florida.
Prediction 61 wins, 2 seed
1.) Miami Heat
I mean you guys had to of seen this coming, this is something like we have never seen in our lifetimes. Three elite players all conspiring to play together on the same team that stemmed all the way back to 2006 in the Olympic qualifiers in the back of a bus traveling to practice. Unheard of. Say what you want about the way Lebron handled to whole situation and how he is front running, giving up, sidekick, whatever or what have you. The fact is that he is in Miami now for the next six seasons so lets all move forward, deal with it and get over it. No matter who you talk to they will more than likely agree that the Heat have two of the best 5 players in the NBA on there team in Lebron and Wade. I will go down in saying Lebron James in the best basketball player on this planet at the moment, crucify me all you want but its the honest truth in my opinion, I dont judge talent by personality, antics, off court endeavors or anything else. I grade strictly on what I see on the court and Lebron James is the most complete basketball player in the game.
I know people are going to rip into the Heat given the fact they lost their first game against the Celtics last night. But to play Devils Advocate let me voice my opinion on that game.First off that was the First game that all three, Lebron, Bosh and Wade had played together, most of us know that Dwade missed all of but 197 seconds in the preseason due to a hamstring injury. During the game Wade was shaking off noticeable rust. Secondly, Wade and Bosh combined for 7 for 27 shooting from the field, roughly 26%, I wouldn't count on that happening most nights. Even with that poor shooting effort it was still a three point game with 3 minutes to play, on the road, in a hostel environment against a superior defensive team that was a few months removed from a game 7 in the finals. With that being said its obvious that its going to take some time to figure it all out for Miami but when they do, look out.
Prediction 65 wins, 1 Seed and home court throughout.
Western Conference Preview/ Predictions tomorrow.
Western Conference Preview/ Predictions tomorrow.
The east should shake out like that
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