Wednesday, October 10, 2007

NBA

The NBA pre-season started this past week so who are the favorites for the 2007-08 season?

Let's start in the East where my favorite team, the Bulls, reside. I'll get to the Bulls in a minute.

Will the Celtics be able to capitalize on their new big 3 of Garnett, Pierce, and Allen? I'm not convinced this team will be the best in the East. Garnett is a beast and I think he still has a few good years left even though he has a lot of mileage on his body. He's the real deal so I think he's definitely a good addition. I like Ray Allen's offense but his defense is atrocious. And Paul Pierce is also not known for his defense. Garnett is a great defender but I'm not sure he can make up for Pierce's and Allen's deficiencies. And there's only one basketball so we'll see which of these guys gets pissed off first when he doesn't score enough.

Cleveland went to the finals last year with LeBron and nobody important so can they get over the hump this year and win it all? Not only do I think the answer is no, I think they won't even sniff the finals. I think LeBron is a fantastic player, top 3 in the NBA, but he needs some help. Larry Hughes has never lived up to his potential. Ilgauskas looks good for a few games and then disappears. Drew Gooden is a good defensive player at best. And perhaps their best energy guy, Anderson Varejao, is still unsigned because the Cavs have some salary cap issues. Because of those cap issues, the Cavs didn't help themselves in free agency and I think took a step backwards.

Detroit re-signed Chauncy Billups and kept all of their other important players. Rip Hamilton is a beast who can cause mismatches with his length and athleticism at the 2 guard. Tayshaun Prince has freakishly long arms (and no neck, what a weird body) and scores in bunches. Chris Webber has not resigned with the team which may be a big loss as C-Webb was huge for them down the stretch and in the playoffs. I think Rasheed Wallace is finally on the decline but even though the guy is a whack job, he seems to get the team to rally around him. They may be the cream of the crop in the East.

And now for the Bulls. I think the Bulls may be the best in the East this year. While they didn't land Garnett (even though it's been reported they offered a better deal than Boston did - hello, Kevin McHale, what the hell are you thinking???) or sign another top flight free agent, the Bulls had a nice draft and have their core players together for the 4th year. Gordon, Hinrich, and Deng should be even more comfortable playing together. Throw in a second year for Ben Wallace and this team should be good on offense and defense. I like their draft this year too. Joakim Noah is a hustle guy who knows how to win. Aaron Gray is a big body that the Bulls haven't had in years. JamesOn Curry was a guy that Paxson liked before the draft and found a way to get him in the second round. Joe Smith should be able to replace PJ Brown both on the court and in the locker room. He should provide some more offense and at least as much defense since Brown wasn't much help last year. I'm really excited about Luol Deng this year. I think he's a freak of nature with his long arms and he's a really smart player. I always thought Deng would be a perfect 2 guard with his length, shooting ability, and slashing to the basket. And Skiles said he'd try him at 2 guard this year so I'm excited to see the results. I think he's an all-star this year. If the Bulls play the way they should, I think they can get over the hump and get to the Eastern Conference finals, if not the NBA finals.

What do you think?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you think of the Knicks owner and I. Thomas? This once proud franchise is at an all time low. They might need to find John Starks.

Suburban Chicago Sports Fan said...

I think the Knicks are the laughing stock of the NBA and maybe all of sports, both for the owner and Isaiah.

Thomas is easily the worst general manager in the NBA. I can't think of any trade that he's made that was good. The Eddie Curry trade to the Bulls was brutal. Curry is a stiff with a bad attitude who will never amount to anything. Thomas' trade of Frye and Francis to the Blazers for Randolph, Dickau, and Jones was OK except that Randolph is also a stiff with a bad attitude. Maybe Isaiah is looking to collect a whole team of stiffs.

And then this year Isaiah drafts Wilson Chandler from DePaul in the first round. The guy was barely anything at a second rate program; why the hell would you draft him in the first round and give him all that coin? S-T-U-P-I-D

Speaking of stupid, Dolan keeps Thomas around why??? The guy just was found guilty of sexual harassment and cost the Knicks $11 million. And that's the latest dumbass move. Add in all the bad trades and awful contracts and he'd be lucky to have a job selling hotdogs at he Gahhhden....BRUTAL!!!