Previews

As pretty much everyone has noted, the 2011-12 is the second abbreviated season and we are all trying to draw parallels to the first such season, 1998-99, to better understand what we might expect this time.  The lessons people have taken from good old 1998-99? -Older teams will struggle in the compressed schedule with fewer days off but youth will abide -Teams that have played together before could possibly hit the ground running, while teams with lots of new parts might … [Read more...] about NBA Preview 2011-12

After an unusually long off-season, 2010-11 is finally here!  And we better enjoy it.  While the Miami Heat will dominate everyone's attention the larger story is that the 2011-12 season is very much in doubt.  The labor stoppage seems likely and won't be pretty.  But let's not worry about the future.  This season is one of the more anticipated season in a while.  The Heat's new core is probably the most covered pre-season team since the 1995-96 Bulls that featured Michael Jordan in … [Read more...] about NBA Predictions 2010-11

We now reach the end of our seasonal preview and with the Pacific Division.  The Pacific is as clear cut a division as you'll find.  The Lakers are a title contender and the cream of the crop and no real contenders after that.  Let's take a look:  1.    Los Angeles Lakers:    The Lakers are the favorites to come out of the West again this year, as they were last year.  The success here isn't a mystery.  The team has few weaknesses (defending quick point guards is the only one that comes to … [Read more...] about NBA Preview 2009-10: Pacific Division

1.    Portland Trailblazers:    Most people agree that the Blazers are loaded with talent and that they are the likely up-and-coming team of the next decade.  What there is some disagreement about  is how quickly Portland will arrive and how high they will ascend.  The Blazers looked quite good look last year.  They won 54 games and had the expected record of a 56-win team.  In terms of how they did it, the Blazers had the slowest pace in the NBA last year but also had the most efficient offense … [Read more...] about NBA Preview 2009-10: Northwest Division

Last year, the Southwest Division was, by far, the deepest division in the NBA, with four of the five teams winning at least 49 games.  This year, the division should still be deep but not quite so.  Moreover, all four playoff teams are at some key points.  Dallas and San Antonio are trying to squeeze another run out of veteran cores, Houston is hoping to overcome injuries to stay competitive, and New Orleans has the best player in the division and is teetering on the edge of playoff participant … [Read more...] about NBA Preview 2009-10: Southwest Divsion