The Los Angeles Lakers made a statement last season. In the face of so many naysayers, Kobe Bryant proved that this team had what it takes to win a ch...
The Los Angeles Lakers made a statement last season. In the face of so many naysayers, Kobe Bryant proved that this team had what it takes to win a championship. Many fans and experts doubted Kobe Bryant once the Lakers lost Shaq.
The Lakers were one of the few teams in the NBA that showed what they did in regular season didn’t matter. The Lakers weren’t playing for more then 60 wins, having home court advantage or just a finals appearance, their whole season was based on winning the championship.
He also proved that he would win the next championship before LeBron James would, quieting critics who point out LeBron’s superiority with respect to that rivalry. And what a great rivalry this is!
More importantly, the Lakers have made a big acquisition during the off season and this has led many to believe that the team will dominate the league flat out during the 2009-2010 NBA basketball season.
Ron Artest, having come to LA by way of Houston, is one of the great defenders in the game of basketball, and a strong force on offense too. He’s said to be responsible for much of Houston’s success during the past two seasons, and his presence in LA bolsters an already strong roster. His veteran experience should feed well into the culture in Los Angeles, and many believe that the Lakers should run away from the competition this season.
After a wildly successful season, one has to wonder if the Lakers can do this again. Kobe Bryant will turn 32 this season, still young enough to play some very effective basketball.
Still, other teams in the league have steadily improved over the past few years, and some like Orlando, Cleveland, San Antonio, and Boston have all made worthy acquisitions too.
As long as Kobe continues to play at this level, the Lakers will continue to be contenders for another championship.
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The 2008-2009 basketball season brought us the breakout of a little known player to those not adamant about the NBA.
The Indiana Pacers’ Danny Granger had a breakout season, and put himself on the map as one of the best players in the NBA. Few people realize this, as the Indiana Pacers are a below average team that gets little coverage.
The 26 year old Granger made serious waves during his 4th season in the NBA. Always known to be a player with tremendous upside, Granger flirted with this potential during his first few seasons in the league. The 2008-2009 season, however, was a different story altogether.
The Pacers do have one of the best scorers in the entire NBA, Danny Granger. Granger averaged 25 points per game. Granger is a franchise player to build a team around.
Guard T.J. Ford had one of his best seasons to date with scoring 15 points per game and 5 assists. If the Pacers ever expect to compete in the same division as the Cleveland Cavaliers, their defense must improve and improve fast.
The Pacers will have to improve on their 36 win season if they expect to make the playoffs. The Pacers did draft A.J. Price and Tyler Hansbrough – what playing time they will see should probably be limited in the beginning of the season but increase as the season moves forward. Unless you are an outstanding rookie, rookies see little action their first season.
The Pacers lack a scoring big man. Mike Dunleavy averaged 15 points per game but at 6-9 he isn’t a true center but more a forward. Roy Hibbert should have a better year then he did in 08′-09′, as a rookie Hibbert averaged 7 points per game. If Hibbert can develop a more refined inside game he should be a force because at 7-2 he is one of the tallest players in the NBA.
Their draft this year looks like it could potentially solve this problem, but not right off the bat. Tyler Hansbrough has proven that he can play defense, but that’s at the NCAA level. It will take time to develop into a star in the NBA, but he’s got the potential.
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The Los Angeles Clippers lucked out this year. While the team didn’t have the worst record in the NBA last season, they were pretty downright bad. This was pretty surprising considering the fact that the team had signed both Baron Davis and Marcus Camby – two very big names.
Injury issues limited Davis, and even Camby to a degree. Still, the Los Angeles Clippers greatly underachieved, and ended up in a position that brought the franchise a number one draft pick.
His statistics still don’t show that he is completely healthy and playing at his high level again, but he has taken a leadership role. His numbers don’t need to be at his all time peak if his leadership role plays a big part of the team.
An extremely versatile player, Griffin’s power and forcefulness are the type that can positively impact any team. He’s a franchise player in the mold of a Tim Duncan.
Being picked number 1 overall doesn’t mean success for example – 98′ Michael Olowokandi draft by Clippers, 01′ Kwame Brown drafter by Washington Wizards, and 05′ Andrew Bogut drafted by Milwaukee Bucks. There have been many number 1 draft picks that have found success, its not a guarantee a player drafted number 1 will be great.
The Clippers have a very long history of failures and never found that core group of players that meshed long enough to make a serious playoff run. The leading scorer on the Clippers last season Zach Randolph, who isn’t on the team anymore. They only won 19 games with him as the leading scorer so it was time to make a change one would assume.
Griffin’s presence in the middle should easily free up the lane for Baron Davis, and create additional opportunities for players like Al Thornton to shine. He’s one of the strongest players coming out of college I’ve seen in a long time. Give him some time and he should be a stud.
It can be another long and painful season – or it can be a season where the Clippers change their culture and win some games.
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The Golden State Warriors were the feel good story of 2007. Everyone was rooting for them come playoff time. The slogan, “Ya gotta believe” was the theme going on out west.
Their defense the last two seasons has been one of the worst in the league – if not the worst. They can score when they want but don’t play any defense and let teams back in games.
If one thing needs to change it’s their defensive mentality, otherwise the Warriors will be the Phoenix Suns of old – a very exciting team but can’t make critical stops when the game is on the line.
The Warriors drafted and highly talented Stephen Curry – Curry made himself as the best scorer in college basketball. While he might not score 30 points per game on the professional he should be a key player on the team eventually.
Monte Ellis will need to have a huge year for the Warriors to go anywhere. Ellis only played 25 games last season and his absence was well missed -Ellis is a career 16 point per game scorer.
The Warriors play in the highly talented and strong Western Conference – in the West making the playoffs as the 8th seed will be a difficult task. If the warriors hope to play in late spring then they will need to improve on defense – no team that was last in scoring defense ever made the playoffs.
Monta Ellis is healthy, Andris Biedrins is ready for another season of basketball, and Stephen Jackson and Stephen Curry are both talented offensive players.
The Gold State Warriors are a “tweener” team – meaning they could have a fairly good season maybe be around .500 or their season can be a disaster and they are looking at a 30 win season at the bottom of the West.
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The Houston Rockets possibly over achieved last season stretching a 7 game series with the champs Los Angeles Lakers. They fought hard, but just couldn’t pull it out.
The Rockets defeated the young Portland Trailblazers team in the first round of the playoffs 4-2. The Rockets season ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games in round 2.
The Rockets have many good players such as Shane Battier, Luis Scola, Aaron Brooks, Trevor Ariza, Tracy McGrady (when healthy), and Yao Ming (when healthy).
Under the effective leadership of head coach Rick Adelman, the Rockets team from last year will return for another season of basketball; only one thing has changed. Ron Artest, an integral part of this team, will no longer be a Houston Rocket. In fact, he’s now with the very team that put an end to Houston’s season last year.
Will the Rockets still be the same, pesky team that scared so many NBA clubs last season? Or will Ron Artest’s move to the Lakers bridge the gap between the two franchises by that much more?
Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks, and the rest of the team have a lot of work cut out for them. These guys do like a challenge.
Tracey McGrady can’t stay healthy either. McGrady is only 30 years old but this is his 12th NBA season and his body has a lot of miles on it already. McGrady never played all 82 games in a season – the most was 78 games in the 04′-05′ season. McGrady’s scoring average has decreased every season 02′-03′ also.
Whether this has to do with having better players around him or issues with his health isn’t known, maybe both. McGrady’s scoring average always increased during the playoffs but he would face better teams and couldn’t make it out the first round.
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The Denver Nuggets were one of the surprising teams of the NBA last season. Things started to finally mesh for them.
Denver finished the regular season 1st in the Northwest division at 54-28. Denver was an excellent home team, 33-8, but an average road team at only 21-20. Denver was a top 6 team in scoring averaging with 104 points per game.
The knock on Denver for many years was they can score but refused to play defense – this wasn’t the case because Denver was’th is defense. Trading Iverson for Billups, definitely was a key move to fixing this problem.
There is no doubt that the Nuggets can score with the best team in the league – averaging 104 points per game, 6th in the NBA. When teams are great scoring team they typically don’t defend well. This was the case some years back for Denver but last season their defense improved dramatically.
Chauncey Billups came from the Detroit Pistons in a trade for Allen Iverson – the trade for Billups worked out well for Denver, not so much for the Pistons.
Carmelo Anthony emerged as a defensive player as well because of Billups. Anthony could possibly be the best pure scorer in the entire NBA – that includes Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Everyone knew ‘Melo could score but his improvement on defense was most impressive.
One who provided much “entertainment” for the Denver Nuggets was Chris “The Birdman” Andersen off the bench. The Birdman has become one of the best shot blockers averaging nearly 3 blocks per game. Look for him to have another great defensive season.
The Denver Nuggets have the same core of players that had last season and it wasn’t enough to beat the Lakers, maybe Denver can add one more piece to their team to give them a better chance this season.
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The Dallas Mavericks have maintained a steady presence in the NBA’s Western Conference. After years and years of disappointing seasons, Mark Cuban’s ownership of the franchise has resulted in many positive moves.
The team established itself as an elite force in the Western Conference and a heavy slew of talent has always been present in Dallas.
The last two seasons have been somewhat disappointing for the Dallas Mavericks compared to seasons past. Mark Cuban has realized this, and has elected to do something about it.
The Mavericks have had an extremely eventful off season, highlighted by some big name signings that may have a profound impact on the team.
The Western Conference is loaded with very good teams and winning the West will prove to be very difficult for the Mavs. Dirk can’t win games by himself all the time and will need even more help from players like Jason Terry, Josh Howard and newly acquired Shawn Marion.
It seems as if the Mavs can score plenty of points now – but can they stop anyone on defense. To win games in the playoffs teams must stop opposing teams in critical situations; the Mavs do not have a shut down type player. Opposing teams scoring average was in the middle of the league at 15th.
Shawn Marion has been on a few teams as of late but hopefully he can find success on the Mavs. Marion is a very good player who should give the Mavs another scoring threat. This will help open things up for Dirk.
The Mavs have won 50 or more games every season since the 00′-01′ season which shows great consistency. Dirk Nowitzki isn’t getting any younger and he might only have 2-3 more seasons where is he an elite player with an opportunity for a championship. The Mavs would like to get another shot at the NBA Finals – and this time finish their opponents.
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The Charlotte Bobcats are an interesting team entering the 09′-10′ season. Why is this so? The Bobcats played well at the end of the 09′ season and hopefully they can continue their end of the season momentum.
Larry Brown is an excellent basketball teacher and should keep the young Bobcats hungry for the playoffs. He’s the perfect coach for a team this young.
While there’s a decent amount of talent on the team, much of the credit has to go to Larry Brown, who joined the team as its head coach last season. Brown has a storied resume that includes stints in Detroit (where he won a championship), Indiana, Philadelphia (where he made the NBA finals), and other teams around the league.
Brown’s work ethic and discipline seems to have carried into the Bobcats last season, as they suddenly looked like a team that believed they belonged in the post season.
The Bobcats in the 08′- 09′ season were a pretty good team at home, 23-18 – but the road record is what prevented them from making the playoffs, 12-29. If the Bobcats can maintain a good home record like a season ago and improve their road record, they will be close to a .500 team.
The loss of Emeka Okafor may hurt the Bobcats in rebounding in the long term – Okafor was 10th in the NBA in rebounding averaging 10.1 per game.
The Bobcats did acquire Tyson Chandler – who can be an effective rebounder. Over the course of Chandler’s career he has averaged 9 rebounds per game. Chandler wasn’t happy initially about being a Bobcat at first but he should be a major contributor this season. If the Bobcats want to be a playoff threat, point guard D.J. Augustin must raise his game to a whole new level.
Keep an eye on the Bobcats this year. A young team that’s only getting better, they can definitely make some noise.
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The Boston Celtics are coming off a disappointing 7 game series loss to the Orlando Magic in the second round of the 09′ playoffs. All things consider, the Celtics should be pleased with their playoff run given they didn’t have team leader Kevin Garnett.
In 09′ – while the Celtics didn’t repeat as champions – they did give all something would remember for a very long time, a thrilling 7 game series with the Chicago Bulls in the first round. The Celtics showed why they are champions, when it seemed the Bulls had them beat the Celtics would always come back.
The Boston Celtics hope that everyone on the roster can stay healthy – especially for another championship run this season. The Boston Celtics finished the season with a 62-20 record despite Kevin Garnett missing 25 games – that shows how good the Celtics are.
Rajon Rondo – while a contributor in the 08′ championship – turned his game up a notch and became one of the best point guards in the NBA.
Originally the Boston Celtics had the “Big Three” with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen – points during the season last year it was the “Big Four” with Rondo included.
In the 08′-09 Wallace only averaged 12 points per game – his lowest scoring averages since his rookie year in 95′-96′.
Glen “Big Baby” Davis has his best season in 09′ making a game winning shot against the Orlando Magic in the second round. Davis will have to continue to improve his game if the Celtics expect to make another serious playoff push.
The clock is ticking until the start of basketball season. The Celtics can’t wait. Is this their year again?
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The 08′-09′ season for the Atlanta Hawks was bitter sweet for the most part. While the team improved upon their previous season, the playoff perform against the Cleveland Cavaliers wasn’t what the Hawks team hoped for.
The Hawks advanced through the first round of the playoffs, defeating the Miami Heat in round one, before meeting the Cleveland Cavs in the second round. The Cavs pounced on the Hawks, easily defeating them and putting an end to what was otherwise a successful season for the Atlanta Hawks.
The 08′ playoffs against the Boston Celtics proved that the Atlanta Hawks were on the rise and should compete for the Eastern Conference Championship in the near future.
The Hawks did improve on their previous season – many feel the Hawks took a step backwards in 09′. Not being able to win 50 games in the Eastern Conference isn’t very impressive by many accounts. If a team is a serious playoff threat -winning 50 games should be accomplished.
Joe Johnson is – while a very good player – must be put in the same sentence as Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard as one of the best players in the game if the Hawks expect to do anything this season. Joe Johnson averaged 22 points per game – Johnson must be more aggressive and average 24-25 points per game because the Hawks go in scoring droughts.
When you can’t score you must prevent the other team from scoring, the Hawks defense must improve because their opponent’s average for the season was 97 points per game – championship quality teams do not give up that many points.
The Eastern Conference has many championship quality teams such as the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers should be improved.
The Hawks might be a playoff team once again but the chance of them reaching the Eastern Conference Finals with their current team is doubtful.
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