Cleveland Championship Eve 2016

It's been a long time since I, or anyone else for that matter, has written an article on this blog. However, I had made a promise to myself back when the blog was started in 2004 that I would write an article next time Cleveland was in a championship-clinching scenario. So, without further ado, here we go:

With Sunday 6/19 becoming a possible Championship day for Cleveland sports fans, most Cleveland sports fans have emotions of dread and superstitution. This is what happens after 52 years of sports seasons coming and going with neither the Browns, Cavs, or Indians being able to bring home a championship. 52 years is such a long time in fact, that the majority of Cleveland sports fans have never themselves even witnessed a championship. Even if one has fathers/mothers, grandfathers/grandmothers, who did witness the last championship of the 1964 Cleveland Browns season, most of them have also grown jaded after Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The 1997 Indians losing Game 7 in extra innings after having a lead, The 2002 Cleveland Browns blowing a 17-point lead in a playofff game, the 2009 and 2010 Lebron-led Cavs losing in early rounds despite having the best record. Some of you are probably just amazed the Browns even made the playoffs once in the 2000s, but yes, it really did happen.

Some have even gone so far as to say the whole city is cursed. Many of these same people will be performing all sorts of superstitutions, during Game 7 to bring home a championship. Though they can rationally tell you that Lebron James and Coach Ty Lue don't have secret cameras watching them, they each believe that acting out superstitions such as the following will indeed impact the game:

1) Growing a playoff beard
2) Wearing the same underwear from Games 5 and 6 still
3) Sacrificing a chicken like Pedro Cerrano in Major League
4) dropping pizza on the floor, eating it, then cleaning it up, because last time that spurred a 10 point cavs run
5) encouraging their dog to sit on guests in the hopes the dog farts on a person, because last time the dog farted on a person, Dahntay Jones drew 2 fouls from Draymond Green
6) Saying the same random sentence they said when Lebron hit his previous 3
7) Telling their significant other to not talk to them during the game, because that's why the Cavs won
8) Telling their significant other to talk to them throughout the game, because that's why the Cavs won
9) Eating the same meal they ate before the Cavs wins of Games 5 and 6
10) Muttering words underneath their breath every time Golden State shoots the ball, thinking they are like wizards casting spells in Harry Potter affecting the outcome of a quidditch match

However, despite all the superstitions that fans have been practicing, it has been shown by fivethirtyeight.com that in the early 20th century through the 1960s, the city of Cleveland won more than its fair share of championships, proving that God Doesn't Hate Cleveland, it's just in the middle of a dry spell.

With this kind of rational perspective, that there is no curse, it allows you to forget about the dread and the superstitution, and instead focus on why we watch in the first place. The Cleveland Cavaliers are only 48 minutes from a championship. Are they playing a team with the best record in NBA History on the road? Yes. But we should still try to enjoy every moment of the game without worrying about the stench of our six-day old underwear, or having to throw a friend out of a watch-party for saying the wrong words at the same time that the Warriors hit a 3-pointer. What we each do individually won't affect how the balls bounce or the final score.

The long journey by the city between championships has actually caused the fans to appreciate each winning season even more. Everyone wants to believe that this Cavs team could be the team to end the championship drought, which is a thought that just makes me giddy. Game 7 will be exciting, so I hope that all the Cleveland sports fans can watch with the hope and belief that somehow, the Cavs will find a way to bring home what would be an incredible championship.

If you're a Cleveland sports fan, it's time to believe... believe in Lebron, Kyrie, Tristan, JR, K-Love, RJ, Shumpert, Mo, Delly, Dahntay, Frye, Mozgov, James Jones, Sasha Kaun, and even Jordan McRae! For some of you, it may be time to believe more in your lucky t-shirt for Game 7 and have a luck-changing shirt for the 2nd half on hand just in case, but that's okay too. Go cavs!

NBA Playoff Preview 2012

With only 1 day between the end of the season and the NBA Playoffs, I don't have time for my usual blowout analysis, references to old movies, etc.  This year, I will just do a quick preview so I at least have a record of what I was thinking.


Eastern Conference 


1-Chicago over 8-Philly - Even with the injuries, Chicago is deep enough to advance.
4-Boston over 5-Atl - Atlanta has homecourt actually.  Could be a tough series for Boston, but I think Boston can make at least the 2nd round, as they were playing better in the 2nd half.
3-Indiana over 6-Orlando - No Dwight Howard, no chance.
2-Miami over 7-NY - Yawn.  Should be easy.

1-Chicago over 4-Boston - If Boston's playing at top of their game, and PG Rose is still iffy, this could be a real exciting series!
2-Miami over 3-Indiana - Shouldn't be too bad for Miami, though I don't think Indiana is as bad as everyone else thinks.

2-Miami over 1-Chicago - Wanted to pick Chicago all season, and I was going to, but with Rose's injury situation, it doesn't make sense.

Western Conference
8-Utah over 1-SA - The spurs biggest weakness is opposing big men, as evidenced by the damage Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol did last year when the Spurs lost to an 8-seed.  The Spurs are improved in some areas this year (mainly due to the emergence of rookie K. Leonard), and should have Ginobili back... but neither of those players address their one weakness.  Unfortunately for the Spurs, the Jazz have started playing a jumbo a lineup of PF-Favors, SF-Millsap (who really is a PF) , C-Jefferson, and it has resulted in crazy efficiency numbers and amazing stats.  I think SA is going to become the 1st 1-seed to lose to an 8-seed two straight years.  If they had drawn a different team, it wouldn't have been a problem.  Granted, I still think the Spurs would lose to the Grizzlies again, even if they beat the Jazz this year.
4-Memphis over 5-Clippers - The Clippers' Blake Griffin doesn't play enough defense for me to believe.  And their coach is an idiot.
3-Lakers over 6-Denver - I don't have the balls to pick this episode.
2-OK City over 7-Dallas - Shouldn't be a problem.

4-Memphis over 8-Utah - Memphis is one of the few teams who may be able to handle at least two of the Jazz big men.  The key may be Conley and Tony Allen forcing bunches of turnovers.
2-Ok City over 3-Lakers - The Lakers have been too dysfunctional... and OkCity has just been too good.

2-Ok City over 4-Memphis - should be a great rematch of last year's 7-game slugfest. 

NBA Finals 
2-Ok City over 2-Miami - Does LeBron still get stage fright?  I'm guessing he does!  This can only happen if James Harden is healthy.  I'm guessing he should be 100% a month from now.

2011-2012 NBA Season Recap: The Year that 1 in 5 Coaches Had Already Coached the Cavs

The 2011-2012 NBA season was compressed, with teams having back-to-back-to-backs, 9 games in 12 days, and strange results due to the compression of the schedule.  However, there's one thing that has been overlooked in this maddening season...
the fact that one in 5 teams ended up with coaches who formerly coached the Cleveland Cavaliers!

If one stops to consider this, the first thought is going to be:  "wait a minute, outside of Mike Brown and Lenny Wilkens, who isn't coaching right now, what coaches were actually successful with the Cleveland Cavaliers?"

The answer to this first thought is the fact that the other coaches really have NOT been notable or successful.  However, in a bizarre twist of fate, these are the men which make up my favorite stat of the 2011-2012 season:  1 in 5 coaches are from the Cleveland Cavaliers!

1) Paul Silas, Charlotte Bobcats - Silas' tenure with the Cavs began with Lebron's rookie season.  It culminated in lots of yelling, dysfunction, and Lebron's 56-point outburst in a loss... resulting in Silas getting fired at the end of his 2nd season.  Silas somehow got the Bobcats to perform well in the middle of the 2010-2011 season, resulting in the removal of his "interim" status, but the Bobcats have since been on track to have the worst winning percentage in NBA history in this 2011-2012 season.  Partly due to injury, and partly due to Silas' incompetence I'm guessing.  I'm expecting he will be fired within 24 hours of the end of the season.


2) Keith Smart, Sacramento Kings - Keith Smart was an interim coach for the Cavs, sporting a nifty 9-31 record on the way towards "earning" ping pong balls to help get Lebron James.  This is amazingly the 3rd time he's been elevated to head coach (apparently he did the same thing in Golden State last year).  He supposedly is on contract for next season and is going to be brought back... but the Kings have a very bad record.

3)  Randy Wittman, Washington Wizards - Wittman is currently the interim coach for the Wizards.  He was coach of the cavs for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons.  He was very consistent - going 32-50 and 30-52.  There winning percentages of 39% and 36% are actually his two best seasons.  As coach of the Timberwolves for 2.5 seasons, he was worse (29%, 27%, and 21% before getting fired).  As coach of the Wizards this year, he is 16-31, for a nice 34% winning percent.  Sadly, I don't think he's getting brought back either.  In his defense, he hasn't really had much of a chance with any of the teams he's been given.  However, I will say from watching some Wizards basketball this year, I don't know if I've ever seen a lazier team when it comes to defense!

4) George Karl, Denver Nuggets - He actually counts as a Cavs coach!  Back when he was 33 years old, he got almost 2 seasons at the helm in 1984-1986... before Daugherty and Price were there!  He'll be in the playoffs with the Nuggets this year, as usual.


5) Mike Brown, Lakers - It's well documented and discussed the ups-and-downs of Mike Brown's career.  I will say this... he's still a great defensive coach and always improves his team defensively.  He will be judged thoroughly based on the Lakers playoff performance this year.

6) Byron Scott, Cavs - current Cavs coach.  He'll be back next year.  He will probably be expected to actually win next year, or at least show some progress.

While only 3 of the coaches on this list are likely to be back next year, all I can wonder is what the parlay payout in Vegas would have been of Smart and Wittman being named interim coaches and Silas SURVIVING the entire season in Charlotte!  Now, if only Mike Fratello would make yet another comeback....

NBA Preview 2011-2012: The NBA, It's Back!

I can't resist doing another NBA Preview. The 7 days of free agency have been insane, with David Stern completely overstepping his bounds, vetoing a trade, and then eventually letting Chris Paul go to the Clippers. More importantly we have like 66 games in 123 days approximately, and every team has about 3 back-to-back-to-backs. Let's take a look at what we have:

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
4-NY- (major moves: added C Tyson Chandler, PG Mike Bibby; Lost PG C. Billups)- The Knicks have a huge whole at PG. Bibby is too old to be a successful PG. But yes, they have a nucleus of Stoudemire, Carmelo, and Chandler. Should be good enough for a low seed in the playoffs. The backcourt is ridiculously weak though now, but if Baron Davis comes back healthy that will be huge for them.
6-Boston- (major moves: added two Purdue rookies (j. Johnson, E. moore), PF B. Bass; Lost: D. West, PF big baby Davis, Jeff Green (heart surgery - hope he has a good recovery))- Well, the bench got shorter than last year. Jeff Green being out for the season does not help, as there's no way Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen are going to be able to make it through this sprint of 66 games in 122 days. Should be a middling seed, and a tough out in the early rounds... but this could be the last hurrah for this bunch.
7-Philly- (major moves: lost Kapono, 3-point specialist) - I think this young team (outside of Elton Brand), with two young PGs (Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams), along with Evan Turner and T. Young is the kind of team that may be athletic enough and deep enough to survive the sprint through the season.
NJ- (major moves: amnesty of Outlaw, who they just signed last year) - The team is thin now. Traded most of the assets to get PG Deron Wiliams, may trade C Brook Lopez still to get Dwight Howard, though they got Mehmet Okur, who's coming off a major injury. I can't expect much from them this season.
Toronto- (major moves: added a bunch of spare parts; rookie #5 pick Jonas V. not here yet) - This is not going to be a good team. Not in the least. I said it last year, and it still holds true this year!

Central Division
1-Chicago- (major moves: added Rip Hamilton; ) - This is still a great team. MVP Derrick Rose trained hard all summer again with the same guy as last year, alongside his buddies R. Westbrook, K. Love, and A. Horford. Sky's the limit again for these guys. The best thing about them, is that they have Taj Gibson, and Omer Asik, to help soak up minutes in this sprint of an NBA season, who are more than capable of succeeding.
3-Indiana- (major moves: added PF D. West, Lost: Dunleavy, PF McRoberts, PG TJ Ford and waived Posey) - This is a great team, and they got a nice upgrade in PF David West, assuming he's recovered from his knee injury. With the East being so incredibly weak (relatively) after Chicago/Miami, it's not out of the realm of possiblity for the Pacers, yes the Pacers, to grab the 3rd seed.
Milwaukee- (major moves: added Mike Dunleavy, Stephen Jackson (yes, the guy who throws haymakers!), ; Lost Corey Maggette) - I think their crazy coach, Scott Skiles has once again lost his team. This happens in every stint (Phoenix, Chicago). First, he overachieves, then they do around .500, then the bottom falls out and he gets fired. This year's team, as far as I can tell, has PF-gooden/ilyasova; C-Bogut, SF S. jackson, SG Dunleavy, and PG B. Jennings
Cleveland- (major moves: added rookie PG Kyrie Irving, rookie PF T. Thompson, SF O. Casspri; Lost PF Hickson, PG Baron Davis) - I think the Cavs will be battling for the last playoff spot all season long (assuming they don't deal out Jamison and Mo). This team is much better than the forecast everyone else is saying, i.e. this is not the worst team in the East. Not by a long shot. They should be just below .500 and hit around 40 wins because a) they are going to be running all night long in their new system under Byron Scott and b) they still have some solid players in Jamison, Varejao, Mo, JJ Hickson and super fast PG Ramon Sessions.
Detroit- (major moves: added rookie PG B. Knight, ; Lost Rip Hamilton) - It's just an older team (Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince) with some players who don't play defense (Villaneuva, Ben Gordon) and then a few interesting younger players (Jerebko, B. Knight, A. Daye). This is not actually a winning formula. (note, I used the same recap as last year!)

Southeast Division
2-Miami- (major moves: added rookie PG N. Cole, SF S. Battier; the corpse of Eddy Curry; Lost Mike Bibby, Z, and Magloire) - Yes, they have Bosh, Wade, and LeBron. Mike Miller is the best player after that. At Center, they are in trouble. It's their only weakness... but it could really only be exploited by teams that have offensive centers (i.e. Orlando and the Lakers).
5-Atlanta- (major moves: added T. McGrady, V. Radmonovic; Lost J. Crawford)- The Hawks have seen their best days already I think... though I do think they have more athleticism than other teams, so surviving the regular season is more likely.
8-Orlando- (major moves: added Big Baby Davis, Lost PF Bass; Arenas) - It's hard to handicap them since traindg Howard is still possible... I still think they eke out a playoff appearance, though I have no idea who will be on the team by that point.
Washington- (major moves: added rookie J. Vesley (not sure if he's in the states though); PG S. Mack; LOST Josh Howard) - This team smartly decided not to amnesty Rashard Lewis, because it would have forced them to spend additional money to get back to the minimum. Instead, they can suck it up this year, get a good draft pick, then move forward with getting some free agents in next year's better class to surround John Wall with some talent (and hopefully not as crazy as A. Blatche).
Charlotte- (major moves: added PG Kemba Walker; SG R. Williams; SF C. Maggette; LOST SF S. Jackson) - May be one of the worst teams... they just have Kemba Walker and Maggette, and Maggette breeds losing.

Western Conference

Mountainous Division
1-Ok City- (no major moves) - All-World Durant plus super awesome PG Westbrook plus C Perkins and defensive force Ibaka plus Harden means they are the prohibitive favorites out West.
6-Denver- (major moves: added rookie PF K. Faried (he's got dreadlocks and was huge in that NCAA upset in the 1st round over Louisville); PG A. Miller; SG R. Fernandez, LOST (JR Smith, Wilson Chandler,); PG R. Felton ) - Interestingly, they were the top team after the Carmelo trade in offensive AND defensive efficiency. Granted, that team had Felton, JR Smith, and Chandler (all gone). So... I know they won't be the best team, but they should be good enough to mak the playoffs still. Ty Lawson is now the starting PG, they still have Nene, Afflalo, and Gallinari.
8-Portland- (added PG R. Felton, SG J. Crawford; lost PG A. Miller, B. Roy (retired), Oden (knee? - should I even mention this, or do we assume it?)) - This is a solid team, amazingly, despite all of the losses. They have PF Aldridge, SF G. Wallace, C Camby/ K. Thomas, SG W. Matthews, and PG Felton; plus Batum, and J. Crawford off the bench.
Utah- (added SF J. Howard, rookie SG A. Burks; LOST SG R. Price) - this is a retooling time... but if D. Favors pans out, they should be ecstatic about he D. Williams trade last year.
Minnesota- (major moves: added rookie stud SF D. Williams; PG R. Rubio; PG JJ Barea, C B. Miller ) - #2 overall pick Derrick Williams is coming off the bench. Rubio is finally here, so it will at least be interesting for these guys.

Texas Division
2-Memphis- (major moves: lost SF Battier (it's not that big a deal because he's old)) - I suppose this team has more athleticism and more weapons than Dallas, so they edge them out for a division title.
3-Dallas- (major moves: added PF L. Odom, SG V. Carter, SG D. West; LOST C T. Chandler, PG JJ Barea, ) - I think they will fall short of the division title, but will still be a tough out in the playoffs.
7-Houston- (major moves: added rookie PF Marcus Morris; PG J. Flynn; LOST PF/C C. Hayes, Yao; C B. Miller) - I still think Scola, Kevin Martin, and the defensive presence of Samuel Dalmbert should be good enough to make the playoffs!
San Antonio- (major moves: added rookie SF K. Leonard; PF TJ Ford; LOST PG G. Hill ) - Last year, I thought the spurs were done and took them out of making the playoffs. Instead, they got a #1 seed... then promptly got stomped in the 1st round. This year, I just think their stars will be injured and they won't have enough frontcourt depth to make it through the season.
New Orleans- (major moves: added C Kaman, SG E. Gordon; LOST PG C. Paul, PF D. West) - I think this division is brutal. The Eric Gordon, Kaman, Emeka Okafor team shouldn't be that bad... but they won't be that great either.
Pacific Division
4-Lakers- (major moves: SG J. Kapono, PF McRoberts; LOST PF Odom, SG S. Brown) - This is the end of the Lakers, in its current form. I'm just not sure how far they can go with their old players in this abbreviated season.
5-Clippers- (major moves: added PG C. Paul, PG Billups; SF C. Butler; LOST C Kaman; SG E. Gordon) - The Clippers are exciting, yes. However, it's all contingent on Chris Paul's knee holding up.
Phoenix- (major moves: added SG S. Brown, SG R. Price; LOST SG V. Carter; PG A. Brooks (in china)) - I'm guessing this is the year the Suns trade Nash to a contender? Not sure what will happen, but outside of Gortat dominating suddenly, I don't think they can make the playoffs.
Sacramento- (major moves: added rookie PG Jimmer (i hate him); PF/C C. Hayes; PF JJ Hickson; SG J. Salmons; LOST SF Casspri; PG. Udirh; C Dalembert) - If Tyreke Evans is healthy and re-finds his rookie year, this team could be dangerous. No idea if they will play defense (Tyreke, Jimmer, JJ Hickson, Salmons, Thornton), which will be a problem.
Golden State- (major moves: added rookie Klay Thompson; C Kwame Brown; LOST Radmonovic; Al Thornton; SG R. Williams) - This team is very hard to evaluate. They also don't play defense. They also wasted their amnesty on a $4 million player , in hopes of getting a big center. Instead, they chose backup Kwame Brown over Dalembert. Why is the entire league black-balling Dalembert? I don't get it.

Playoffs
1st Round
1-Chicago over 8-Orlando
4-NY over 5- ATL (Baron davis should be good by then)
3-Indiana over 6-Boston
2-Miami over 7-Philly
1-Ok City ove 8-Portland
5-Clippers over 4-Lakers (oh boy)
3-Dallas over 6-Denver
2-Memphis over 7-Houston

2nd Round
1-Chicago over 4-NY
2-Miami over 3-Indiana
1-Ok City over 5-Clippers
2-Memphis over 3-Dallas
Conf Finals
2-Miami over 1-Chicago- The biggest question I want to know is this: why can't the Bulls beat the Heat? Everyone remembers the fact that the Heat steamrolled the Bulls last year 4-1, but during the season, the Bulls went 3-0 against the Heat. Unraveling this matchup is the key to determining this year's NBA champion I believe. The Heat are the favorite, but the Bulls in my opinion, might be the only team capable of beating them. Luol Deng is one of the few players who can, for whatever it's worth, hang around with Lebron. Derrick Rose gives the Heat problems. Plus, the Bulls have lots of size which is a problem for the soft Bosh, Anthony/Haslem frontline. The 1st game took place on 1/15/11, but Chris Bosh got hurt during the game in the 3rd quarter and Lebron didnt play, and the Bulls won by 3, while outrebounding Miami 42-30. The 2nd game was another close one - a 4 point Bulls win. The Bulls outrebounded Miami 53-39. The Heat played a short 8-man rotation, but were missing Udonis Haslem. The Bulls Omer Asik caused many problems, getting 11 rebounds, going +17, in 21 minutes of play. The Bulls won the 3rd game, played 3/6/11 by only 1 point. In this game, the Bulls only outrebounded the Heat 36-30. Udonis Haslem was still not in this game either.
In game 1 of the playoffs, the Bulls won by 21, behind a 45-33 rebounding edge, Deng, Noah, and Taj Gibson all had huge games. In game 2, the Heat won by 10, won the rebounding advantage, played great defense, and shot well. It was pretty perfect. In game 3, the Heat won by 11, In game 4, the Heat won a nailbiter in OT. In game 5, the Heat won by 3. I also computed the following stats... the Bulls somehow had Chris Bosh chipping in at 60% FG% during the playoff series (well above his 47% for the playoffs last year). However, they held Lebron and Wade slightly below their playoff averages: Lebron was down from 46.6, to 44.6, but averages more assists (6.6 to 5.9); Wade was really down - from 48.5 to 40.5 and averaged even less assists than normal (4.4 to 3.7).
However, none of this information really matters. What does matter? The Heat and the Bulls have each shed one of their top 8 (Bibby, Bogans). The scary thing is, I wante to ask the question of whether Bibby's performance in the Heat relative to the rest of the team. If you throw out his garbage time in game 1's blowout, the Heat were exceptionally worse with Bibby in the lineup (i.e. Bibby always had a worse +/- compared to the team's performance for that day). Bogans? Other than the strange game 1, he did performed rather consistently with the outcome, if not slightly better. The most fascinating thing is this - Bibby posted a NEGATIVE win/shares in the playoffs last year (-0.029), despite his team winning most of their games! This is really hard to do. Bogans? He posted a respectable 0.117 w/share per 48 (where 0.1 is considered the average player). The question then becomes this - the minutes lost by Bogans are now taken by Rip Hamilton. Is Rip, at his age, going to perform that much better than Bogans? I'm not sure. However, the minutes lost by Bibby, are now taken by rookie PG Norris Cole. Is Norris Cole going to play better defense than Mike Bibby? I can answer that emphatically and say yes. Is Norris Cole going to help the Heat run even more fast breaks? I can answer that emphatically and say yes - because he's much faster than Bibby at this point. So, the switch of Norris Cole for Mike Bibby seems to help the Heat even more than the one of Rip Hamilton for Bogans. Now, one could argue that the addition of Omer Asik will really turn the tables for the Bulls. However, I don't think that's going to be the case because Asik, even though he was great for rebounding and defense last year, can probably only help with Bosh and/or the center position. So, sadly, I'm left with the outcome I dread, which is that Lebron overcomes his stagefright and wins the NBA Championship.

1-Ok City over 2-Memphis

NBA Finals
2-Miami over 1-Ok City

All-Gutsy Team
PF - B. Griffin, Clippers
SF - Durant, Ok City
C - M. Gasol, Memphis
SG - Wade, Miami
PG - LeBron, Miami

NBA Draft 2011: On the Verge of a Lockout

NBA Draft recap:

Winners
Boston Celtics - I like how they took both of Purdue's best players (JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore). Granted, neither of these players are going to really break into the rotation for Boston because Johnson is just not big enough to do much on the next level. Moore has more of a chance to contribute).

Washington Wizards - Got Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton, Shelvin Mack
Vesely is highly ranked, Chris Singleton is a rugged, awesome wing defender, and Shelvin Mack is a fantastic PG on the little team that could (Butler). I just love this draft!

Losers
Charlotte Bobcats - Fisrt, they traded one bad contract of a good player (S. Jackson) for a bad contract of a worse player (Maggette). Then by the end of the night they got a long-term project in B. Biyombo, who is a PF. They also got Kemba Walker to be the PG rotation with DJ Augustin. However, Kemba is more of a SG in a PG body, so the backcourt is kind of screwy. It sucks having an owner with no money, I think that's the bottom line.

Losers-
Sacramento Kings - You got rid of Beno Udrih for Jimmer Fredette. Tsk tsk tsk. They did get Tyler Honeycutt from UCLA who I like. I don't like Jimmer though. He doesn't like me either.

Loser selection -
Minnesota chose a guy in the 2nd round and they thought he was 21. He's actually 26. This is a problem because European players become undrafted free agents if they reach the age of 22... Minnesota's GM David Kahn always finds new ways to get in the news!

Unclear
Cleveland - Yes, Kyrie Irving is the choice at #1 and that's good. However, I'm not exactly enthralled about the selection of PF Tristan Thompson at #4. The Cavs apparently were scared off from J. Valanciunas, a bona fide center who won't be getting out of his European contract for a season or two. Personally, I'd rather the Cavs have done that because it sounds like J. Valanciunas had a higher upside, and its not like the Cavs are trying to win next year. The one possibility for hope is that PF T. Thompson is very athletic though offensively challenged outside of dunking. Cavs are probably trading either Hickson or Varejao I'm guessing. Jamison is worthless (but may become worthwhile once the season starts since he's a $15 million expiring contract)

NBA Finals 2011: The Aftermath

Normally, I wouldn't have much to say after an NBA Championship, but I can't resist bringing up a few interesting points.

1) Dallas Coaching Staff Includes a Stat Geek

I can't believe I didn't know this, but ESPN led me to discover that one of the members of their coaching staff is the founder of 82games.com, Roland Beech. This is his 2nd season on Dallas. Officially, Roland Beech is listed as the "director of basketball analytics." 82games.com is the first basketball website that I became aware of, maybe 5 years ago, that had "advanced" stats or non-traditional stats. Beginning with plus/minus, moving to efficiency, and even getting into win-shares, the advanced stats do a lot more to signify and explain in numbers what a player's impact is on the game (aside from just his shooting percentage). I wasn't sure how involved Beech is with the team, but apparently, according to ESPN's TrueHoop, Beech is involved in all film sessions and practices. This is a stunning and welcome development in my opinion. The fact that Dallas won an NBA championship with such a person involved in brain trust will probably cause similar positions to become available on other teams (outside of Houston, which is widely known to hire a number of statisticians).

2) Rick Carlyle Dominated The Playoffs and the Zone Defense is a Big Reason

I can't say enough about how great a job Rick Carlyle did this postseason. I really enjoyed watching his Indiana teams pre-Artest brawl (with Artest, J. O'Neal, S. Jackson). After the brawl, the Indiana team ended up getting rid of assets (Artest, S. Jackson) for nothing, and everything fell apart and Carlyle got fire eventually... but I always thought it wasn't exactly his fault and with a talented team he would be successful again. Carlyle is in the minority in the NBA in that he will employ zone defenses at times throughout the regular season and even in the playoffs. I think the different looks he provided with his zone really threw off the rhythm that LeBron and Wade had in this playoffs. Of course, it does help that he has the right personnel to do the system (relatively mobile big men, and a great defensive center tandem in Chandler and Haywood). However, I am excited for other teams to start copying Dallas to some degree and try to employ their own zone defenses. This championship represents a real positive for the league in that regard I believe. It's interesting in that zone defenses became legal in 2001-2002... but it took this long for a team to win a championship and be praised for its zone defense.
3) LeBron Needs a Sports Psychologist

I'm not going to delve too far into the thicket of LeBron talking points (because there are many, and there are many opinions). I really rooted against him this year but mainly because I did not want the trio to just believe that the 3 of them alone with a bunch of spare parts could win a championship immediately. I don't intend on rooting against LeBron again like I did this year (though I won't root for him). I think the adversity will be good for LeBron especially and their championship day is inevitable... but they still need another capable guard and big man (plus LeBron probably needs to see a sports psychologist after this series). If you want to read a great little article on LeBron, I really like Rosenberg's on Sports Illustrated, as he hopes LeBron learns humility.

Mike Brown, Clueless

Ignoring for a moment his reputation for being clueless as an offensive head coach, it’s new Lakers head coach Mike Brown’s staggering lack of understanding of PR that makes me believe he’s destined to fail in Los Angeles.

See the excerpt below, with italics for emphasis:

“We’re not going to run the triangle offense, but we will have bits and pieces of it that will be incorporated,” said Brown, adding that his offense will be tailored to 7-footers Bynum and Gasol, similar to what was run for big men Tim Duncan and David Robinson during his time as an assistant in San Antonio.

Brown was on the Spurs’ staff when they won the 2003 NBA title.

Brown ticked off his top three essentials on both offense and defense.

“If they don’t buy in right away, they will,” he said. “If they don’t, there’s going to be a problem because I’m going to hold people accountable.”

Really, Mike? You’re going to publically announce that you’ll run the offense through a duo that includes the oft-injured Bynum and the unmotivated Gasol? When you have one of the ten best players in NBA history on your roster? When that player – Kobe Bryant – is the key to whether you keep your job or not?

I get not kowtowing to a prickly, aging superstar and I get that you want to come in with the respect of your players – hence the line about accountability and everyone buying in – but you catch many more flies with honey than with vinegar and if there’s one thing we know about NBA superstars it’s that they don’t respond well to veiled threats, especially not from guys with no credibility in the league. Phil Jackson could be a smug bastard and take shots at his players through the media because he had 11 rings. Mike Brown is a nobody in basketball by comparison.

Mike, baby, learn your place. You were hired to be the coach but if you don’t know that Kobe calls the shots, you’re hopeless.

7th Annual NBA Finals Preview

Just as a recap, in 2005, my NBA Finals Preview used Star Wars quotes. In 2006, I used Indiana Jones quotes. In 2007, I used Back to the Future quotes. In 2008, I used Aliens vs. Predators quotes from both AVP1 and AVP2 (because I hated both teams and because there were hardly enough quotes from any AVP movie worthy of a blog entry.) In 2009, I used quotes from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story because I believed the Magic would topple the Lakers (though I was wrong as usual)... Without further adieu, it is time to analyze the classic NBA finals matchup that is before us. In 2010, I used quotes from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, mainly because I was sour that the Cavs didn't make the finals.

For the record, I have only been right in 2005 (Spurs) and 2007 (Spurs). This is pretty awful how wrong I am about the NBA Finals. I keep picking with my heart... 2006 (Mavs over Heat because I thought the Heat were too old), 2008 (Lakers over Celtics because I hated the acquisition of the big 3), 2009 (I believed in Dwight Howard too much), 2010 (I thought Bynum was injured).

This year, I really just need to laugh away the pain of possibly seeing LeBron and the Miami Heat win a championship in their 1st season without any suitable big men presence, so this year's movie choice? The Naked Gun! (Side note, I believe the Miami Heat would have had a lot more trouble with Orlando, Memphis, or the Lakers and their respective big men. Miami didn't have to play any of them due to the way the bracket shaped up.) Okay, enough about that, let's get to it!

Frank: Jane, since I've met you, I've noticed things that I never knew were there before... birds singing, dew glistening on a newly formed leaf, stoplights.

This goes out to Joel Anthony. I often make fun of the Heat center, but he actually is better at blocking shots and protecting the rim than I realized. Granted, I still think Tyson Chandler will outrebound him to no end, as Chandler had 17 rebounds in the 1st game between Miami and Dallas during the season (against 6 for Z and Anthony) and he then had 10 rebounds (against 10) in the rematch. Dallas won both games during the season... but Dallas also had Caron Butler in both games.

Frank: Interesting... almost as interesting as the photographs I saw today.
Jane: I was young! I needed the work!

This one goes out to Mike Bibby. He originally played for a crappy Grizzlies team, but he needed the money.

Frank: It's fourth and fifteen and you're looking at a full-court press.

This one goes to LeBron... because he usually does run into the paint with the velocity and power of a fullback hitting the hole.

Ed: Doctors say that Nordberg has a 50/50 chance of living, though there's only a 10 percent chance of that.

I think this is the odds of this NBA Finals working out for the Mavs... there is rationally a 50-50 chance of Dallas winning, but Dallas is probably only going to be picked by 10% of the public to win the series!

Frank: It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!

Dallas's biggest problem is that they probably are at a lack of athleticism on the wings when dealing with LeBron and Wade. However, Dallas likes to play zone (unlike many other teams). In fact, according to Sports Illustrated, LeBron and Wade shot only 3 for 17 against Dallas' zone during the season! Playing more zone might be the one ace up Dallas' sleeve that could turn this series... but I'm still doubtful.

The one other area that Dallas could end up winning is with Dirk. Who is guarding Dirk? Haslem did a great job on Dirk in 2006, as reported by SI and others, but Bosh got more of the assignment during the season. If Dirk can be very efficient in enough games, he could try to tilt the series in Dallas' favor... but I'm still doubtful.

Perhaps the other biggest problem for Dallas is that they have gotten great offensive production out of JJ Barea. However, if he's on the floor, he would have to be guarding Bibby/Chalmers. The problem is that the Heat have been moving more and more to a 4th-quarter lineup of Bosh-LeBron-Haslem-M. Miller-Wade. In that situation, Barea would be forced to give up many inches to M. Miller? Or to be stuck on Wade? These don't seem like good choices. Against Ok City, it seemed to not be as bad because Westbrook wasn't nearly as efficient as Wade.

Frank: Wilma, I promise you; whatever scum did this, not one man on this force will rest one minute until he's behind bars. Now, let's grab a bite to eat.

This one goes out to Dirk and Terry. They are the only ones left who have dealt with the nightmare of being up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against Miami and being up double digits in the fourth in game 3... only to blow game 3 and the entire series. It's up to them to not rest and to seize this improbable second chance at a championship!
Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to happen. The NBA is probably going to let the refs call a loose game where D. Wade and LeBron get away with more than they should and the Heat will probably roll to victory in this series because the Mavs have to rely on DeShawn Stevenson and old-man Shawn Marion to guard Wade and LeBron respectively. I don't think Dirk's history with Haslem is encouraging either. Miami Heat in 6.

NBA Conference Finals and other tidings 2011

It's been a while since I've written... so let's get to some NBA stuff!

Western Conference: Grizzlies run out of gas; Ok City in same position now?
The Grizzlies fell just short of knocking out Ok City after Durant literally carried Ok City in the crucial game 7 last week. The Thunder-Mavs conference finals has been interesting thus far, with Dallas leading 2-1. However, much has been made of Westbrook's meltdown then getting benched in game 2 for the 4th quarter, while OkCity ended up winning.

Westbrook vs. Maynor - pick your poison/positive trait?
While Westbrook's backup, Eric Maynor, played very well in the 4th quarter of game 2 (0 turnovers), he interestingly also had only 1 assist in his 19 minutes. In game 3, everything fell apart for OkCity, and Westbrook got in early foul trouble... and Maynor came in and for 6 minutes, OkCity went -11, and he had 0 assists and 1 turnover.

This led me to do some research...is Maynor more of a shooting guard and thus doesn't commit turnovers or assists, which could be destructive to the offense since no one is generating assists? Of course, as has been widely documented, Westbrook is maddeningly inconsistent. The answer: it appears that the coach is choosing between a wildly inconsistent player (who still generates offense), or Maynor (who takes less risk, but where the offense can get very stagnant, since he's not as adept at generating assists and getting easy shots for his teammates).

This conclusion is based on looking at the game logs. If you look at Maynor's game log, you will see that Maynor has two outlier games - one against Memphis when he played 22 minutes because OkCity beat them by 27 points, so Maynor racked up 9 assists in 23 minutes. The other was during a 17 point victory against Denver, when he racked up 5 assists in 15 minutes. Thus, he only has 19 assists in about 152 minutes, or just 4.5 assists per 36 minutes (and 2.8 turnovers per 36 minutes). In contrast, Westbrook has about 6.3 assists per 36 minutes (and 4.6 turnovers per 36 minutes). Interestingly, Westbrook gets you an extra 1.8 assists... and also gives up an extra 1.8 turnovers thus far. I think that the OkCity coach has to continue to pull Westbrook if he has a tantrum of course, but for OkCity to succeed and to generate some offence, it's more important that he's out there using his speed to help create and run the offense.

Back to the series at hand though... it looks like Dallas will end up winning... probably because Ok City has such trouble guarding Dirk.

Out in the Eastern Conference, we will see what happens tonight with the Bulls and the Heat... I hope the Bulls can get their swagger back, punish the Heat on the inside and the glass, and get another victory like they did in Game 1.

2011 Memphis Grizzlies - Keys to Success

The 8-seeded Memphis Grizzlies have been shocking the world, with their 6-game defeat of top-seeded San Antonio and already taking a 1 game lead against Oklahoma City. There are some very interesting things to note in this team's rise to shocking heights:

1) The Grizzlies are - WITHOUT Rudy Gay

This is the most important development with the team in the 2nd half. On February 15, Rudy Gay got injured and ended up having to miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. The Grizzlies won that game (against the 76ers) and ended the season 15-8 without Rudy Gay. This run included victories over San Antonio (twice), Boston, Ok City, Dallas, so it wasn't like they were just beating bad teams. The main reason the team is better without Rudy Gay is...

2) Tony Allen is playing more minutes

Tony Allen is averaging 13.3 ppg, 3.9 rebs, 2.2 assists, and 1.96 steals per game, in 29 minutes per game since February 15th (when Rudy Gay got injured). (Before-hand, he only played 17 minutes per game) Perhaps more telling is this though... Rudy Gay is averaging 0.123 win-share per 48 minutes and Tony Allen is at 0.152 Win-share per 48 minutes (which is at an All-Star Level, and I can't imagine what the win-share would be for just the latter part of the season, I just can't sort the data in that way). Despite what I originally exepected, Shane Battier is playing just 24 minutes per game on Memphis since playing on Feb. 26th, and only an average 0.097 win-share per 48 minutes.

Basically, Tony Allen is playing at an All-Star level if not beyond, because defensively, he has blossomed into one of the best defenders in the league. The best part was during Game 4 of the Spurs series with the game still close in the 3rd quarter, and there literally were 3 possessions in a row where Tony Allen either caused a steal, or a deflection that led to a steal. The most amazing part of his swarming defense was when Tim Duncan got the ball at the top of the paint, he faked left, and then immediately passed right, but Tony Allen KNEW THE PLAY, and ran at full speed to the location of where the pass was going to be, resulting in a 3-on-1 dunk. Tony Allen had no problems creating havoc for Ginobili, and in the Ok City game, he presumably helped out on Westbrook (9 of 23) and certainly on James Harden (2 of 5).

Tony Allen, as it turned out, may have been the most important free agent acquisition of 2010 (from Boston), outside of Miami and Boozer on Chicago.

3) Zach Randolph is... amazing after leaving New York and after 2009.

Zach Randolph's NBA career is mystifying. It started out with him hardly playing on Portland, then putting up huge numbers on a bad team, then becoming a character/problem issue, getting traded to the Knicks and doing absolutely nothing, getting traded to the Clippers and doing absolutely nothing, then the Grizzlies deciding to give him a chance, and Randolph suddenly becoming... an NBA All-Star?!?

His win-share /48 this season is a career-high 0.185, and in the playoffs is a preposterous 0.255. Zach Randolph used to never help you win... and now he's all about it!

I can't explain the sudden change the last two years, but it's funny because all I can think back to is the 2007 NBA draft, when NY traded for Zach Randolph and I didn't think too much of it because of Zach Randolph's negative influence. MJ thought it was a great trade because of Zach Randolph... as it turns out we were both right to some degree... it's just that Zach Randolph didn't prove to be a game-changer until he left NY, and I was right in that he had behavior problems then (just not forever).

I also have to apologize to the Memphis GM. I wrote a scathing piece when he acquired Zach Randolph's massive contract in 2009 (in exchange for a smaller, shorter expiring contract of Quentin Richardson). I said Memphis fans would throw up in their mouths... but I was really wrong. I'm not sure who's advising Zach Randolph or what has finally motivated him, but the Grizzlies are on a great ride, and it is due in large part to the acquisition of Randolph!

4) Marc Gasol is one of the best centers

I already knew this, but most of the league didn't. I think most of the league underestimated the amount of production Gasol and Randolph can do when it's the postseason and they play monster minutes. If OK City doesn't get Kendrick Perkins healthy soon, they too will be in serious danger against the Grizzlies.

Gutsy's Biased 2011 NBA Playoff Preview

The time has come... for the NBA Playoffs! There's not much excitement (on paper anyways) in the 1st round outside of a couple of Western Conference series. So... let's start out there:

Western Conference
1-Spurs vs. 8-Memphis - Yawn. Spurs will win. However, the Grizzlies will win their first playoff game in franchise history. Don't ask me how they got swept every other time.
Pick: Spurs in 5 (but huge Memphis moral victory)

4-Ok City vs. 5-Denver - This is the most exciting first round matchup in the entire playoffs. Ok City's record since acquiring Kendrick Perkins: 19-6. Denver's record since dumping Carmelo and picking up Felton, Galinari, Chandler, and that Center, T. Mozgov: 17-7. These have been the two hottest teams in the league the 2nd half. The teams most likely to spring a major upset and make noise in the playoffs... and unfortunately playing each other. The best part about Perkins for Ok City? Not only do they get a bona fide center, they get to slide Serge Ibaka to PF (a more natural fit). The best part about Denver's trade? They get insane, active minutes from super fast PGs (Felton and Ty Lawson, though Lawson just got injured in the season finale), and they upgraded depth at SG (Chandler) and now can run the entire damn game. Look, this should be a very fun series to watch no matter what happens, but I will just assume Kevin Durant begins his ascent to super-duper-stardom and wins this series.
Pick: Ok City in 6

3-Dallas vs. 6-Portland - A lot of analysts believe Dallas is ripe for another 1st-round letdown. I don't see it. Brandon Roy's knees still aren't great. Portland did get Gerald Wallace at the deadline, and he has been playing out of his mind, but Dallas has to seize the moment while they still have Tyson Chandler and B. Haywood (because Chandler's a free agent after the season). This series isn't as interesting as Denver-Ok City, but could prove to just be another sad moment for Dallas fans.
Pick: Dallas in 6

2-Lakers vs. 7-Hornets - The Hornets lost PF D. West to injury. They have no chance, even with PG Chris Paul.
Pick: Lakers in 5

Eastern Conference
1-Chicago vs. 8-Pacers - Pacers have no shot.
Pick: Bulls in 4

4-Magic vs 5-Hawks- The Hawks have been awful, the Magic have been inconsistent. Yuck. Magic should still pull this out, if for no other reason than because the Hawks still have no one who can guard Dwight Howard
Pick: Magic in 6

3-Bos vs. 6-Knicks - The Knicks don't play any defense and have holes all over the place after giving up most of their regulars to get Carmelo this season. Rondo will run circles around Billups.
Pick: Bos in 5

2-Miami vs. 7-76ers - The 76ers are certainly the biggest surprise for playoff teams this year. They GAVE UP their starting center (Dalembert) for nothing... and because of a healthy season of Brand, and better play from just about everyone else, here they are in the playoffs. The 76ers have Igoudala and T. Young to guard LeBron (which is better than most teams). Ah.. who am I kidding.
Pick: Miami in 5

I have to keep predicting... there's no way around it (especially this year, when the 1st round matchups are so uninteresting). It's tradition for me to pick... and pick incorrectly!

2nd round
1-Spurs vs. 4-Thundercats - I don't know what to make of the Spurs. They started out hotter than any NBA team in history... rested a lot of people, stumbled around a bit. I just honestly don't understand how they can guard Durant and Westbrook in the playoffs. In a bit of irony, the last game the Thunder played with Jeff Green was against the Spurs (which the Spurs won). The Spurs have yet to play the Thunder with Kendrick Perkins... and I think that could make a huge difference for them.
Pick: Thunder in 7

3-Mavs vs. 2-Lakers - The Lakers will beat whoever survives the Mavs-Blazers
Pick: Lakers in 5

1-Bulls vs. 4-Magic - This is a very important series... I think the Bulls need to win because they have enough bigs to dominate the Heat. Seriously though, it should be a great series and anything can happen. Howard should be able to do whatever he wants, and Derrick Rose will most likely be able to do whatever he wants. The Magic have just looked so out-of-sync since making all the acquisitions, and I just can't trust them this year.
Pick: Bulls in 6

2-Heat vs. 3-Celtics - It's so damn annoying that the Celtics don't have any healthy centers (Shaq injured, Kendrick traded, old men J. O'Neal and N. Krstic are all that's left. The Heat's biggest weakness, as shown again and again this season, is the fact that Chris Bosh is a terrible defender, and the center position is a huge weakness. Can KG, Big Baby, and whoever is healthy enough to play center cause enough trouble for the Heat??? Not the way the Celtics have looked of late. They really need someone to get healthy fast at center.
Pick: Heat in 6

Conference Finals
1-Bulls vs. 2-Heat - The Bulls should be able to smash the Heat. Between Noah and Boozer (and Asik and K. Thomas off the bench), the Bulls will own the glass, control the paint, and vanquish my personal nightmare of the Heat winning the NBA crown.
Pick: Bulls in 7

4-Thundercats vs. 2-Lakers - Let's read the latest on A. Bynum: Bone bruise in his knee (where else?) No one has any idea what kind of shape he'll be in (or what kind of shape he'll be in a month from now during the heart of the playoffs). The Lakers success depends on him, but I tend to think the Lakers will make this last run before yielding (plus, Ok City in the finals would be my emotional side going too far. They could just as easily lose to Denver in the 1st round!)
Pick: Lakers in 6

NBA Finals
1-Bulls over 1-Lakers. I'm just picking the Bulls... Bynum or not. The Bulls will win because the Lakers certainly don't have anyone to guard D. Rose.
Pick: Bulls in 7

NBA Notes 2010-2011: Surprises and Disappointments

With the NCAA Tournament finished, it's time to turn attention to the NBA...

Let's first look at some individual surprise performances for the season:

Biggest Surprises
1) Derrick Rose, Chicago - The offseason workouts of him, Kevin Love, and Westbrook were not only legendary for being grueling... but proved to have instant results for all three! Derrick Rose (25.2 ppg, 7.9 assists, improved to 33% on 3-pointers (was averaging 24% previously)). Was pre-ranked at 42, currently ranked 9th).
2) Kevin Love, Minnesota - Pre-ranked 41, currently ranked 5th. 20.2 ppg, 15.2 rebs, 41% 3-point shooting (previously 33%). He put up huge numbers on a bad team. Granted, these weren't just big numbers, they were mind-blowing numbers! 15.2 rebs! Damn! I love the 3-point shot he's developed too. My guess is no other leading rebounder has made that many 3-pointers... or lost this many games.
3) Elton Brand, Philly - Pre-ranked 82, currently ranked 20th. 14.9 ppg, 8.4 rebs, 51% FG%, career-low 1.3 TOs, career-high 77% FT%. Amazing. I never thought Brand would return to do anything... and instead he's been very efficient in all aspects of his game in helping the 76ers make a surprising return to the playoffs.
4) Dorell Wright, Golden State - Pre-ranked 140, currently ranked 17th. 16.4 ppg (last year 7.1!), 5.3 rebs, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, 38.6% 3-pointers. I actually couldn't remember this guy. He was on the Heat last year, but his rights were renounced... he then signed with Golden State for $3.5 million. That is one of the steals of the off-season!
5) Al Jefferson, Utah - His team may have gone in the tank, but his numbers (19.9 ppg, 9.7 rebs, 1.9 blocks) still were better than expected (pre-ranked 25, currently 8th).

Biggest Disappointments
1) Joe Johnson, ATL - As almost expected, Joe Johnson signed his max-contract... and then promptly had large declines in his production this year. Pre-ranked 27, he is currently ranked 97. His numbers 18.5 ppg, which is his first non-20ppg season since 2005, 0.7 steals (lowest since his rookie year), and... a despicable 30.1% 3-point shooting percentage! Ouch.
2) Aaron Brooks, HOU/Phoenix - This just makes me sad. Just two years ago, he was creating havoc in the playoffs for the Rockets and almost helped them take down the Lakers. Now... he played himself out of the starting job and into a backup job on Phoenix. Pre-ranked 55, ranked 220 (based on his average stats). 11ppg, 3.8 assists, 30% 3-point land, 37% FG%. Last year, he was at 19.6 ppg, 5.3 assists, 39.8% 3-point land, 43% FG%. Damn. What a lousy year!
3) OJ Mayo, Memphis - Pre-ranked 70, ranked 154 now. Almost got traded at the deadline, but paperwork filed incorrectly. Not even joking. His scoring dipped from 17.5 ppg to 11.3 ppg, assists from 3.0 to 2.0, FG% from 45.8 to 41.3.
4) Corey Maggette, Milwaukee - Talk about a bad acquisition... his scoring has dipped from 19.8 to 12.5; rebs from 5.3 to 3.8; assists from 2.5 to 1.3; FG% from 51 to 45%. Minutes have decreased, but turnovers almost the same! Ouch. Pre-rank 93, now ranked 252.
5) Mo Williams, CLE/Clippers - It pains me to raise his name, but it's true. His production wasn't as good and then he got injured for most of the year (which severely impacted his shot %). Pre-raniked 43, now ranked 157. 14.1 ppg, 30.4% 3point% (career 38.5% shooter).

Tarrence Kinsey Award
Back in the 2006-2007 season, my fantasy basketball team was in trouble, and it was the end of the season. I ended up picking up a guy I never heard of but who had been playing well. His name? Tarence Kinsey from the Minnesota T-wolves. The 6'6" SG Kinsey ended up averaging 18.9 ppg, 4.1 rebs, and 2.23 steals per game between March 24th and April 18th of that season. This amazingly unexpected production powered my team to the finals of my fantasy basketball season. Thus, when any person I've never heard of before goes ballistic during the last month of the season, I decide to give them the "Tarence Kinsey award."

This year, the award goes to someone I've heard of... but many other people probably haven't heard of him... Congratulations to Kris Humphries!

From Feb. 26 to March 30, Kris Humphries, a PF on the NJ Nets, has been averaging 14.3 ppg, 14.6 rebs, and 1.7 blocks! Congratulations!

NBA Trade Deadline 2011: Instant Analysis

NBA Trade Deadline 2011 was full of twists, turns, surprises, and lots of shock value. Here's a list of all of the trades, and here now are the highlights (or lowlights depending on your perspective):

Trade I can Hardly Understand:
Celtics trade Center Kendrick Perkins (and PG Nate Robinson) to Ok City for Forward Jeff Green and Center Kristic - Well, I can't understand this trade. ESPN reports the trade just involves the player. Sports Illustrated reports, via the Boston Globe, that the Celtics also get the 2012 Clippers 1st round pick (that Ok City owned). If this is true, then I could believe the theory that the Celtics thought: a) Perkins is not going to be 100%, b) he's leaving in free agency, c) Jeff Green, a stretch PF on OKCity, but is really a SF, can backup Pierce since Marquis Daniels is injured for the season, and d) they get a top-10 pick. The other possible conspiracy theory is that the Celtics really don't respect Dwight Howard and the Magic, and believe they don't need a center to beat the Bulls, Heat, Magic, or the Lakers. Yes, I hope the Celtics get the 1st round pick, because otherwise, this makes no sense and they should have just gone for the championship this season.

Second trade I can Hardly Understand:
Blazers get Gerald Wallace's poisonous contract in exchange for two 1st round picks and Dante Cunningham
I can understand the Blazers wanting to continue to amass assets... but I don't understand why they acquired Gerald Wallace. He plays PF/SF... but the Blazers already have PF Aldridge and SF Batum (who is quite good). I just don't get where everyone will play. I also don't understand why they gave up two 1st round picks. Eesh. Hope it works out, especially since it would be silly to believe Brandon Roy is ever going to be 100%, since he's had too many knee surgeries between high school, college, and now.

GM that has Mad Skills: Houston GM:
Houston trades Aaron Brooks for Goran Dragic AND a 1st round pick; Houston trades Shane Battier for Hasheem Thabeet AND a 1st round pick
Look, it was known that Houston was shopping Battier, and that Brooks had somehow fallen out of favor. But, to somehow pick up two 1st round picks, as well as two young players who could still pan out? That's pretty impressive, I must say. Granted, I think Thabeet sucks, but there are so few 7-footers out there, you mine as well give it a try. Darko has finally embraced the role of defensive center (albeit 8 years after he was drafted). Dragic is still an unknown commodity. He exploded in last year's playoffs in a crucial playoff game... and then he has been awful this year. Not sure what's up with him. Perhaps the more important aspect of this trade is the fact that Steve Nash may be leaving, soon. Maybe next summer? We shall see.

Trade that Only Makes Sense if You Have a Rich Owner
Cavs trade Mo Williams for Baron Davis and Unprotected 1st round pick
Well... Baron Davis blows, but this trade is not about Baron Davis. It's about the fact that each contract is for the same length. So, essentially, the Cavs owner is paying about $12 million to get a top-10 draft pick in 2011! Sounds awesome, until you remember that the NBA's labor problems could result in many players not going out to the draft this year. Cavs fans, keep your fingers crossed.

Trade that Shook Everyone to the Core
Nets trade PG Devin Harris, PF Derrick Favors, two 1st round picks, for PG Deron Williams
I think what was shocking at first about this was that no one had any idea Deron Williams was going to be available, especially after Utah's coach had suddenly retired in response to Deron's antics. As it turns out, this is a great move for Utah. They did it because it was clear to them that Deron wasn't re-signing with the team in 2012. So, instead they have a highly regarded player (Favors), two 1st round picks (which should be high picks), and an above-average, former All-Star PG, albeit one with an attitude problem. That was a pretty good take! This trade gets into a lot of other issues, i.e. how you don't want to end up like Cleveland/Toronto and go for it all, only to have your superstar leave you high and dry with nothing but a sign-and-trade and some 2nd round picks. The NBA may have different rules after the strike, but as of right now, its become apparent that NBA stars will force their way onto whatever team they want (and they tend to be large cities). So... small/mid-size cities need to do things like Utah, or Denver (getting PG Felton, SF Gallinari, SG Chandler, C Mozgov) to keep their teams competitive.

Trade that is based on a High Level of Confidence
Cavs get C Erden, F Harangody, in exchange for a 2013 2nd-round draft pick
Apparently, the Celtics traded two players in exchange for a 2013 2nd-round draft pick. I originally thought they did it in exchange for SG Anthony Parker. Nope. Just a draft pick! SI believes they did this so that the Celtics can then pick up a couple of players who get bought out (I'm guessing F Troy Murphy and SG Anthony Parker?). Granted, I find it funny how the rumor all week is that the Cavs demanded Erden for Parker, and both sides wouldn't budge... until Parker wasn't included in the trade! The Celtics must be pretty confident of some players becoming available. Either that, or this Turkish center is not as good as he was hyped to be!

Eat $h*t And Die, Reilly

Not that I am particularly enamored of Carmelo Anthony the person or Carmelo Anthony the basketball player and not that I think his acquisition by the Knicks will make them a decidedly better basketball team...

...but I hate these sorts of whiny, populist, anti-free market bullshit articles.

Free agency is here. It's been here for several decades now. If you can't accept that people have a right to choose where they want to earn a paycheck then you should probably not follow sports or move to Thailand where slavery and indentured servitude is apparently still accepted.

We don't have to like the way professional athletes behave and we don't have to condone the methods they use to extricate themselves from situations they don't want to be in but, frankly, anyone that has ever left one job for another has performed some version of the same wiggly dance that Carmelo Anthony just performed.

My message to Rick Reilly is simple: you're a millionaire and you quit Sports Illustrated to work for ESPN. You're a motherfucking phony. Perhaps Sports Illustrated should've put a "franchise tag" on you? The reality is, however, that no one at SI misses you because you sucked.

The Most Artificially Exciting (and Scripted) Dunk Contest Ever

For those who only saw the highlights, or who missed the NBA dunk contest this weekend, I need to address what really happened:

The 2011 NBA dunk contest was a scripted, WWF-style event
Each of the 4 participants (Blake Griffin, DeMar Derozoan, Serge Ibaka, Javale McGee) had a celebrity coach. The celebrity "coaches" (mainly Chris Webber and Kenny Smith) were the equivalent of early 1990s pro wrestling managers (think Jimmy Hart) who gave speeches and other bizarre things before dunks. I'm not joking. Aside from the fact that each had a coach/manager, the NBA decided that instead of relying on young athletes to somehow think of original dunks or original ways to provide showmanship in a dunk contest, the NBA also followed the lead of the WWF/WWE/WCW and MUST have had writers script each athlete's dunks. The 1st round of dunks were better than the last 5 years combined I believe! Here's what happened in the opening round:
1) McGee dunking two basketballs on two hoops standing next to each other
2) McGee following it with dunking three basketballs (two quickly, and tapping a 3rd one in on an alley oop)
3) Ibaka involving a young, 7-year old child actor who said "my toy is stuck on the hoop!" and Ibaka saying, "don't worry, I'll get it down," then Ibaka inadvertently knocking part of the stuffed monkey to the ground, requiring an NBA employee to get on a lift to re-install the stuffed monkey, so Ibaka then dunked the basketball and caught part of the toy monkey in his mouth, and then took it out of his mouth and gave the toy to the child actor
4) Ibaka dunking from the free throw line (a la Jordan)
5) Derozan actually doing unreal dunks (but less showmanship)
6) Blake Griffin doing worse dunks than Derozan, but advancing with the EXACT NECESSARY score because of his planned finale involving a gospel choir singing "I believe I can Fly" while Griffin jumped over the hood of a KIA car where Baron Davis threw a pass through the moon roof of the car.

In conclusion, the dunk contest was exciting. I just never thought I would see an event with more props (extra hoops, choirs, cars, toy monkeys, horrible child actors) and scripts than in all of the previous dunk contests combined. There's obviously no turning back now though. 2012's dunk contest will have to be even better. I think fire is the next obvious element to include!

NBA Update: About A Third of the Way In

Let's check in on the NBA...

Bona Fide Contenders:
San Antonio Spurs - I thought before the season that Tony Parker would be traded off as the Spurs refused to commit. I was really wrong. Instead, they signed him to an extension, and the Spurs are off to a ridiculous 23-3 start.

Boston Celtics - Off to a 22-4 start. Garnett playing very efficiently, in only 32 mpg.

Miami Heat - Slow start, but they are playing better now of course. As a Clevelander, I'm not allowed to write anything more about it at this time.

Dallas Mavericks - Tyson Chandler is finally healthy for the first time in what seems like 2 or 3 years. As a result... the Mavs have been fantastic. Dirk is also playing out of his mind (56% FG%, 42% 3-pointers, 25 ppg, 7.6 reb.)

Biggest Surprises:
Utah Jazz - Deron Williams and Millsap have been great. CJ Miles has been giving solid production off the bench surprisingly. Plus, Okur just came back from his injury. He's easing into the season, but they should get even better I assume.

NY Knicks - I tentatively have to mention them... though they don't play defense and I don't think they've beaten any good teams still. Stoudemire, Felton, and Gallinari have played well together.

Biggest Disappointments:
LA Clippers - 7-21 - They've won some games lately... but sheesh. Chris Kaman hasn't been good at all this season and has been injured. Blake Griffin's putting up big numbers... but everyone else other than Eric Gordon are playing awful.

Portland - 14-14 - Brandon Roy's knee problems have turned him into a below-average player. He should just rest up and not come back until he's healthy. Wesley Matthews has saved them a few nights... but Roy still has a higher ceiling of course.

Players: Biggest Surprises:
PF Kevin Love (T-wolves): A preposterous, 21 ppg, 15.7 rebs, and 2.3 assists per game!
PG Raymon Felton (Knicks): 18.4 ppg, 9 assists, 1.9 steals... and the Knicks are winning some games at least!
SF/SG Wilson Chandler (Knicks): Another big surprise, 17.1 ppg, 6.3 rebs, and 47% FG%.
SG Manu Ginobili (Spurs): An MVP-type season... and 19.8ppg, 4.9 assists, and 1.7 steals.

Players: Biggest Disappointments
Gerald Wallace (Bobcats) - Has struggled shooting (again), at 42%. 2.7 TOs per game, and only 8.1 rebounds per game... after getting like 12 last season.
Brook Lopez (Nets) - I'm just disappointed that this 7-footer is only getting 6.3 rebounds per game. That's terrible. If you look on basketball-reference, you'll see his rebounding percentage has been awful this season.
Chauncey Billups (Nuggets) - A few injuries. A super young PG playing great behind him (Ty Lawson). Billups age may FINALLY be catching up with him (35% FG%, 14.4 ppg, 5.4 assists, 2.9 TOs)
Joe Johnson (Hawks) - Here's a big surprise. The guy who really didn't deserve max money is playing poorly. Shooting 40% from the field and still not contributing much else (4.1 rebs, 5.4 assists).
Mo Williams (Cavs) - Shooting 41% from the field, and an awful 28% from 3-point land (despite being a career 40% from 3-point land). Boo.
Tyreke Evans (Kings) - The Kings have been awful so far this season. I thought Tyreke would make the leap to greatness this season... and I was really wrong. Shooting 39% from the field, only 17 ppg, 5.3 assists, and a whopping 3.1 TOs.

Orlando Trades Most of their Team: What is Otis Smith Doing?

I'm trying to wrap my head around the trades that the Orlando Magic's GM just did. I know why the Phoenix Suns did the trade (money). I know why the Washington Wizards did the trade (monye - Rashard Lewis only has 2 years guaranteed money due... Arenas = 4 years!). But why in the world did the Orlando Magic make all these moves... unless it's a compelte knee-jerk reaction by Orlando GM Otis Smith? Money-wise, Orlando took on a lot more commitments. Vince Carter's deal was expiring, and instead the Magic now owe 4 years to Turkoglu. Thus, the only way to say this trade is good is if it helps you win immediately.

Basketball-wise
Here is what the Orlando Magic gave up:
PF R. Lewis
SF Vince Carter
SG Pietrus
C Gortat
2011 first round pick
$3 million

Here is what they get: PF/SF Turkoglu, SG J. Richardson, PG/SG G. Arenas, PF Earl Clark (he's unimportant throw-in). So... they just lost four players, a first round pick, $3 million, their backup center (who is a starter on most teams), to get these 3 players:
Turkoglu, Richardson, and Arenas.

Their old rotation:
PF R. Lewis
SF V. Carter
C D. Howard
SG Q. Richardson
PG J. Nelson
6- PF -Bass
7-SG/SF -Pietrus
8- SG - Redick
9-C - Gortat

Their new rotation:
PF Bass (from the bench to being a starter)
SF Turkoglu
C D. Howard
SG J. Richardson
PG Arenas
6 - PG - J. Nelson
7 - SG - Q. Richardson
8 - SG/SF - Pietrus
9- PF - Ryan Anderson (who shoots 3s like Rashard Lewis)

Note: Arenas has been shooting terrible so far this season (39% from the field, and 32% from 3-point land). The more I think about it... I could see doing the Phoenix trade (giving up Vince Carter, Pietrus, and Gortat to get Turkolgu and J. Richardson). Turkoglu and J. Richardson are probably improvements in comparison to playing Vince Carter and Q. Richardson heavy minutes. The main variable would be whether Turkoglu plays hard enough or whether he doesn't care at all, like last season in Toronto. Judging by his performance at the World Championships this past summer, where Turkoglu looked amazing and helped Turkey reach the finals, I think Turkoglu still has something left in the tank, so he is an improvement in this system over Vince Carter.

However, the part of all this trading that makes no sense to me is this:
Why did you just trade Rashard Lewis to get Gilbert Arenas????

Okay, I actually don't like either player this much in their careers. In fact, Rashsard Lewis is having one of his worst seasons, especially if you look at +/- and win-share on basketball-reference.

However.... you know who else also sucks this season? Gilbert Arenas. He's having career-lows in eFG%, ast%. Rebound%, Win-share. Of course, some of this could be the fact that he's on a bad team. But Arenas has bad knees and is due 4 guaranteed seasons (not 2 guaranteed seasons and a partially guaranteed season). In addition, once Orlando brings in Arenas, doesn't this mean that Jameer Nelson's numbers are then limited? I just can't follow the logic for this trade.... and I can't justify it.

FINAL VERDICT: Not a good idea. Should never have traded Rashard Lewis for Arenas. Yes, Rashard is playing like dog-poo this season... but getting Arenas isn't going to help the situation. In facdt, it's going to make it more confusing!

KG Sucks

Is there anyone left on earth -- besides those who live in Boston -- that likes KG? I should hope that anyone reading this story realizes what kind of a disgusting person KG is.

It's hard to believe that just a few years ago, KG was one of the most popular and fan-friendly players in the league. It must be something about living in Massachusetts...

How did we miss this?!?!

Alas, we will not be able to call former NBA bust Shawn Bradley "Representative Bradley".

Darn.

NBA Preview 2010-2011: Everyone's had a facelift

It's almost Halloween meaning... it's time for an NBA Preview to start as the season starts a week from Tuesday! Almost every team has had major changes due to a combination of teams keeping flexibility to try to hit the jackpot in NBA Free Agency.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
3-Boston- (major moves: added Shaq, J. O'Neal, and Delonte West, lost Tony Allen)- Celtics should be able to survive the regular season with Shaq and Jermaine at center until Perkins gets back in February?
8-NJ- (major moves: added rookie PF D. Favors, SF T. Outlaw, SG A. Morrow, PF T. Murphy, PG J. Farmar, ; lost Yi, Courtney Lee, and Chris Douglas-Roberts) - I like the Nets to surprise people and make the playoffs. I think coach Avery Johnson is going to provide an immediate improvement defensively. Plus, Center Brook Lopez is very underrated. Add in the 3-point shooting of newcomers Morrow and Troy Murphy and I think this team should make the playoffs assuming PG Devin Harris starts playing in control again. And he should, because him and coach Avery Johnson are friends from their days together in Dallas.
NY- (major moves: added PF Amare Stoudemire, PG Felton, C Timo Mozgov (from Russia), SG Azubuike, PF A. Randolph, SG R. Mason, ; lost PG C. Duhon, SF A. Harrington, PF D. Lee)- I realize the Knicks got Amare and that's very exciting. However, it's hard to forecast this team. The new starting center, Mozgov, looked pretty good during the summer world championships but I couldn't tell you how good he will be once the NBA grind begins.
Philly- (major moves: added rookie SG E. Turner, C S. Hawes, SF Nocioni,; lost C Dalembert) - They dumped out Dalembert who was in his last season. It was a really dumb trade I thought... as they could have gotten a lot more for Dalembert who is a top-5 defensive center and one of the few people on the planet who was able to go toe-to-toe with Dwight Howard and actually be effective. Oh well. Should be an interesting team, assuming they keep Iguodala alongside Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner... I just think they are so soft inside with crappy centers and a past-his-prime Elton Brand that I can't forecast playoffs.
Toronto- (major moves: added SF L. Kleiza, rookie SF E. Davis, PG Barbosa, ; lost PF/C Bosh, SF/PF Turkoglu) - This is not going to be a good team. Not in the least.

Central Division
4-Chicago- (major moves: added PF Boozer, SG Brewer, SG Korver, PG CJ Watson, lost PF Hakim Warrick, C B Miller, SG Hinrich) - Boozer mysteriously broke his hand at home and no one knows exactly how. His current explanation is that "it was dark and he tripped over a gym bag, resulting in him breaking his hand." I don't believe it. You need more details for me to believe it. Like Brandon Marshall, the WR. He gave an explanation once of how he was wrestling with his brother and fell through a glass coffee table. See, that's believable! Anyways, this is a great team with PG D. Rose, Center J. Noah, PF Boozer, and SF L. Deng. Still can't matchup with Orlando as Howard owns Noah. However, against Miami??? That would be an interesting matchup if it happened in the playoffs.
6-Milwaukee- (major moves: added PF Drew Gooden, SG/SF Corey Maggette, SG Chris Douglas-Roberts) - This was a fantastic team down the stretch last season... until Bogut got injured. Bogut is back and should be ready to go. I'm not sure who will be starting and who won't be now that they added Maggette, but this team should not be taken lightly.
7-Indiana- (major moves: added PG D. Collison, rookie SG L. Stephenson, SG/SF J. Posey, lost PF T. Murphy) - Collison is a major upgrade at PG. Tyler Hansbrough is now the starting PF. Should be a much improved team based on Collison taking over at PG and in the East, this addition should be enough to get the Pacers in.
Cleveland- (major moves: added PG R. Sessions, C R. Hollins, lost Shaq, Z, LeBron, PG/SG Delonte West) - I think the Cavs will be battling for the last playoff spot all season long (assuming they don't deal out Jamison and Mo). This team is much better than the forecast everyone else is saying, i.e. this is not the worst team in the East. Not by a long shot. They should be just below .500 and hit around 40 wins because a) they are going to be running all night long in their new system under Byron Scott and b) they still have some solid players in Jamison, Varejao, Mo, JJ Hickson and super fast PG Ramon Sessions.
Detroit- (major moves: added the corpse of Tracy McGrady, lost the soulless body of Kwame Brown) - It's just an older team (Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton) with some players who don't play defense (Villaneuva, Ben Gordon) and then a few interesting younger players (Jerebko, R. Stuckey, W. Bynum). This is not actually a winning formula.

Southeast Division
1-Miami- (major moves: added LeBron, PF Bosh, SG Mike Miller, C Zydrunas Ilgauskas) - Yes, they have Bosh, Wade, and LeBron. Mike Miller is the best player after that. At Center, they are in trouble. It's their only weakness... but it could really only be exploited by teams that have offensive centers (i.e. Orlando and the Lakers).
2-Orlando- (major moves: added PG Duhon, SF Q. Richardson, ; lost SG/SF Matt Barnes) - Still a great team. I think they are off people's radars for some reason, but they are my pick to wreak havoc in the postseason.
5-Atlanta- (major moves: added rookie SG J. Crawford from Xavier)- Sadly, the worst decision by anyone in free agency may have been ATL's decision to sign Joe Johnson to max money. He's older and he really isn't that dominant. The Hawks will now be stuck for a while with a good team, but I'm not sure they can beat anyone in the top (heat, magic, celtics, bulls) unless they play the celtics.
Washington- (major moves: added rookie PG J. Wall, SG Hinrich, SF Yi, ; lost PG Foye, SG M. Miller) - let's not forget they got Josh Howard for Caron Butler last season, but then Howard tore his ACL 3 games in. Howard is due back in the end of November supposedly. I think they could battle for a playoff spot if Wall plays in control. I'm just not sure because he was rather erratic with his ball control at Kentucky.
Charlotte- (major moves: added PG S. Livingston, lost PG Felton, C Chandler, C Dampier) - Undersized DJ Augustin becomes the starting PG and Nazr Mohammed becomes the starting center. Major downgrades from last year (Felton, Chandler). They still have Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace but that won't be enough to make the playoffs this year.

Western Conference

Mountainous Division
3-Ok City- (major moves: added SG D. Cook, SF M. Peterson, rookie C Aldrich,) - All-World Durant plus super awesome PG Westbrook should bring a division title. Still have some questions at the other positions. Sadly, Jeff Green is a talented PF, but he's outclassed against most PFs. They got some nice play at center at the end of the season from rookie Serge Ibaka and I expect his growth to continue with nice results.
4-Portland- (major moves: added SG W. Matthews, ; lost M. Webster, J. Howard) - Marcus Camby is still prepared to be the starting center while Oden and Pryzbilla return from torn ACLs. Fantastic stacked team otherwise (Roy, Aldridge, Batum, Matthews, A. Miller).
7-Utah- (major moves: added SG R. Bell, C A. Jefferson; lost PF Boozer, SF/SG K. Korver, SG W. Matthews, C Koufos) - because this team is confusing with all of their moves, here is the new starting lineup:
PG - D. Williams, SG R. Bell , C - A. Jefferson, SF - Kirilenko, PF - Millsap. Note that Okur blew out his achilles tendon in the playoffs and probably is not returning until January. I realize they got Al Jefferson, but I'm only putting them in the playoffs, despite losing 3 major players, because Coach Sloan always finds a way to the playoffs.
Denver- (major moves: added SF A. Harrington) - I'm just going to assume Carmelo gets traded and this team ends up falling out of the playoff race.
Minnesota- (major moves: added SF M. Beasley, PG Ridnour, rookie F W. Johnson, C Darko, C Pekovic, C K. Koufos, C/PF A. Tolliver, ; lost C A. Jefferson, PG Sessions, SF Gomes) - Honestly, GM David Kahn is completely insane. Of all the trades he could have made, he swapped out Jefferson for cap savings and for K. Koufos. He could have gotten so much more! I'm not sure what the plan is for this team.

Texas Division
4-Dallas- (major moves: added C Tyson Chandler) - Dallas is a confusing team for me. They have the two of the best defensive centers in the league (Haywood and Chandler). However, they are really old! Here are the starters: PG Kidd, SG C. Butler, C Haywood, PF Dirk, SF S. Marion. I wish they had some younger players. I don't think PG Beaubois is that good because he was just awful defensively. They also still have SG Jason Terry off the bench. I'm only having them win the division by default, because Houston isn't planning on playing Yao enough during the regular season (no back-to-backs) to win enough games.
5-Houston- (major moves: added C B. Miller, SG C. Lee; lost SF/SG T. Ariza) - Well... the Ariza experiment only lasted one season. Putting Lee in the rotation is good for them though because he won't just keep shooting... and this team was able to get SG Kevin Martin at the trade deadline to score points. Yao is planning on playing but no in back-to-backs. I have no idea what will happen with Yao but that will certainly increase or decrease their win production.
San Antonio- (major moves: added PF T. Splitter, ; lost SG R. Mason) - I can't belive I'm doing this... but I'm not putting the Spurs in the playoffs. I'm expecting them to struggle during the season with their age and end up trading PG Tony Parker to rapidly begin their rebuilding process.
Memphis- (major moves: added SG T. Allen, SG X. Henry; lost SG R. Brewer) - This team fought for a playoff spot last season and should be in the mix again this season. I'm just not sure though, will newly anointed All-Star Zach Randolph still play like an All-Star this season?
New Orleans- (major moves: added SF/SG Ariza, SG Bellinelli, ; lost SF M. Peterson, PG D. Collison, SF J. Posey, ) - Sadly, I don't see Chris Paul's team making the playoffs. I love Chris Paul but just adding Trevor Ariza can't be enough.

Pacific Division
1-Lakers- (major moves: added PG S. Blake, SF M. Barnes, C T. Ratliff; lost PG J. Farmar) - Lakers are very good. They've won 2 in a row and have been to 3 straight finals.
2-Phoenix- (major moves: added PF Turkoglu, SF J. Childress, ; lost PF Amare, PF L. Amundson) - I really like this team still! Turkoglu is a great fit for this team and so is Childress (who is just returning from Greece). Surrounding Nash with all of these 3-point shooters should work yet again this season, and they still have big-man 3-point shooter Channing Frye, and let's not forget about the emergence of Goran Dragic as another scoring option (and as someone who can let Nash rest more during the season).
8-Sacramento- (major moves: added C Dalembert, rookie C D. Cousins, ; lost C Hawes, C Brockman, SF Nocioni) - This is my SUPER-DUPER SLEEPER team. Tyreke Evans is entering his 2nd season and should be even better. Plus, picked up Samuel Dalembert, one of the best defensive centers, to go along with Demarcus Cousins, their lottery pick. Last season, this team started out really well before falling flat. In addition, PF Jason Thompson had a solid 2nd season with 12.5 ppg and 8.5 rebounds. SF Omri Casspi also provided immediate help last season. They also have Carl Landry (from the Kevin Martin trade) and he put up crazy numbers for Sacramento (18 ppg and 6.5 rebs). I'm expecting big things from this young team, especially because I'm expecting Tyreke Evans to make the leap to All-Star status.
Clippers- (major moves: added SF R. Gomes, PG Foye; lost PG S. Blake, SF Outlaw, PF D. Gooden) - The Clippers are another team that should be fighting for a playoff spot all season long. I just have no idea what kind of shape Blake Griffin is in, since he hasn't played competitively in 1.5 years.
Golden State- (major moves: added PF D. Lee, rookie C Ekpe Udoh, SF D. Wright, PF L. Amundson; lost SF Maggette, SG Morrow, SG Azubuike, PF A. Randolph, C A. Tolliver, PG CJ Watson) - This team is very hard for me to evaluate as they changed almost all of their players and their coach. I think their new lineup is: PG S. Curry, SG M. Ellis, C Biedrins, SF D. Wright? PF D. Lee. I just don't know what to make of David Lee on this team or if anyone on this team will bother playing defense. Best move of the offseason was firing Coach Don Nelson who literally wasn't trying the last few years!

Playoffs
1st Round
1-Miami over 8-New Jersey - Not a contest.
4-Chicago over 5-Atlanta- Should be fun to watch Noah vs. college teammate Horford.
2-Orlando over 7-Indiana- Could Dr. Hibbert actually annoy Dwight Howard? This could be a fun series.
3-Boston over 6-Milwaukee- I think Milwaukee can give Boston trouble, but Jennings probably won't be able to stop Rondo. (not many people can).
1-Lakers over 8-Sacramento- Will be interesting only because of Dalembert and Cousins. They actually have the big-men to matchup with the Lakers. I have no idea who will guard Kobe though. However, the Lakers' Steve Blake probably can't keep up with Tyreke Evans.
5-Portland over 4-Dallas- No one on Dallas can guard Roy. The defensive centers all cancel each other out in this one (Camby/Oden/Pryzbilla vs. Haywood/Chandler).
2-Phoenix over 7-Utah- Phoenix should crush them.
3-Ok City over 6-Houston- This is an interesting matchup actually.... but I'm going with Durant to continue his dominance.

2nd Round
1-Miami over 4-Chicago- Exciting 7-game series.
2-Orlando over 3-Boston-Exciting 7-game series.
1-Lakers over 5-Portland-Exciting 7-game series, if Oden is healthy.
3-Ok City over 2-Phoenix- Phoenix has no answer for Durant, though Turkoglu may give him some trouble perhaps.

Conf Finals
2-Orlando over 1-Miami - Heat has no answer for Dwight Howard. Orlando can use Pietrus on LeBron, Nelson on Wade. Not sure how they guard Bosh. I hope this series happens, I'd be more excited for this than a Boston-Miami matchup.
1-Lakers over 3-Ok City - Ok City doesn't have the size to handle this.

NBA Finals
2-Orlando over 1-Lakers - Howard destroys all!

All-Gutsy Team
PF - Amare, NY (I'm assuming he puts up silly numbers w/o winning).
SF - Durant, Ok City
C - Dwight Howard, Orlando
SG - Kobe, Lakers
PG - LeBron, Miami