NBA Season 2009-2010

[Tiger Hawk]

Like the rest of the Spurs I guess, the key is keeping him healthy. I still like them for the West ahead of the Lakers, I just feel the Lakers will self-destruct somehow. Odom is a headcase, Artest is nuts and Kobe is older. Meanwhile Farmar took steps backwards last year, Fisher is somehow still a starter in the league and some fan will eventually shoot Vujacic. That leaves it to Gasol (pussy), Bynum (only plays 60 games) and Walton to carry them. They're done, put a fork in them.

 

[Ridders]

Lol.

The biggest worry for me is Fisher. Those two shots he hit in Game 4 against Orlando made people forget that LA had to carry him for the entire playoffs.

We are going to get killed all year by any penetrating point guard. I might actually be reduced to tears when we come up against Chicago and face Rose.

I really would like to see Shannon Brown get more time there. Guy is a wonderful athlete who has the potential to be a decent starter.

Imo we'll see a repeat of the LA vs Orlando Final, although Boston's depth has me intrigued.

 

[Ridders]

Another thing about the current Big 5 in the NBA (LA, Boston, Orlando, SA, Cleveland), you only have to look at the respective teams rosters to see how great Lebron is going to have to be to make it to the Finals.

Let go through respective rosters by depth. Everyone of those teams have at least two or 3 blue chippers plus a couple of high quality supporting players.

Lakers - Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, Odom, Artest
Boston - Pierce, KG, Rondo, Allen, Sheed
Orlando - Dwight, VC, Lewis, Nelson
SA - Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson

while Cleveland has

Lebron, Shaq, Mo, ...........

I will be amazed if Cleveland can make it to the Finals. And i'm not saying this because of their 0-2 start, I've always had Orlando coming out of the East

 

[Ridders]

Like the rest of the Spurs I guess, the key is keeping him healthy. I still like them for the West ahead of the Lakers, I just feel the Lakers will self-destruct somehow. Odom is a headcase, Artest is nuts and Kobe is older. Meanwhile Farmar took steps backwards last year, Fisher is somehow still a starter in the league and some fan will eventually shoot Vujacic. That leaves it to Gasol (pussy), Bynum (only plays 60 games) and Walton to carry them. They're done, put a fork in them.

Duncan's going down-hill. Ginobili will probably break his ankle or something. Parker can't shoot 3s. Jefferson will probably wonder all year why he's not shooting as much as he used to. McDyess will play 10 minutes a game. As a result Blair will probably try and steal McDyess's ACL's. Poppovich is probably still bitching about the Gasol trade. Bonner has red hair.

How about that for some expert analysis :sarcasm:

 

[McLovin]

Like the rest of the Spurs I guess, the key is keeping him healthy. I still like them for the West ahead of the Lakers, I just feel the Lakers will self-destruct somehow. Odom is a headcase, Artest is nuts and Kobe is older. Meanwhile Farmar took steps backwards last year, Fisher is somehow still a starter in the league and some fan will eventually shoot Vujacic. That leaves it to Gasol (pussy), Bynum (only plays 60 games) and Walton to carry them. They're done, put a fork in them.

In the meantime, they'll probably win about 65+ games...

 

[Tiger Hawk]

In the Cavs defence, we're two games into an 82 game season. Shaq is a notoriously slow starter and they're trying to integrate three new rotation players (Shaq, Parker, Moon) and cope with the loss of West. They finished first past the post last year and got nothing for it so I'm sure their eye is on the big prize this time around. Their biggest issue is whether Shaq adjusts, stays in shape and performs on D (pick and roll and transition being the key). If he doesn't, Cavs won't hesitate to ship him out of town - they had to roll the dice and if it doesn't work out, they'll be a team out there willing to rent him for half a year.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

Lakers talent is unquestioned. It's their chemistry & desire I'm worried about. Bynum will be massive this year, and if they all keep their heads they'll win again easily. Easily. There's just so many things that could happen though, should be interesting to see. There's a chance they could win more than 72 if they get all the breaks. There's also a chance Artest kills Vujacic, Kobe for once has an injury, Odom chases Kardashian around the world and Fisher comes back to life. Well that last one would be good I suppose.

 

[ByRd]

Great assesment of the Lakers there, how bout you just wait and see what happens instead of making those claims, you can make stuff up for any team if you wanted to.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

It's called satire princess.....

 

[McLovin]

Artest kills Vujacic...haha

tbh, i hope he does...The Machine fails more times than he succeeds...

 

[ByRd]

It's called satire princess.....

sorry tough guy

 

[Tiger Hawk]

That's ok, I'll be sure to make only serious posts from now on so as not to confuse you.

 

[ByRd]

Thank you for understanding

 

[Ridders]

And btw Tiger, If Ron Ron does kill Sasha, I'd love him even more. Maybe we could dump his contract if that were to happen.

I've wanted to assault Sasha myself on numerous occasions in the past.

I've always had the saying that nothing good ever comes out of the guy dribbling the ball.

In the Cavs defence, we're two games into an 82 game season. Shaq is a notoriously slow starter and they're trying to integrate three new rotation players (Shaq, Parker, Moon) and cope with the loss of West. They finished first past the post last year and got nothing for it so I'm sure their eye is on the big prize this time around. Their biggest issue is whether Shaq adjusts, stays in shape and performs on D (pick and roll and transition being the key). If he doesn't, Cavs won't hesitate to ship him out of town - they had to roll the dice and if it doesn't work out, they'll be a team out there willing to rent him for half a year.

Your right that there is still plenty of time to go and any team that has Lebron in it will always be a shout. I like the additions of Moon and Parker btw, Parker gives them a big 2 guard who can defend bigger permiter players while Moon is probably the only other great athlete on the team other than Lebron.

In regards to pick and roll defense, tbh that's one area were Cleveland hasn't really improved. One of Shaq's weaknesses has always been his pick and roll defense, even in the latter stages of his LA days. It will also be important to see how Cleveland manage his minutes, playing back to backs etc. But what the hell, they gave up the corpse of Ben Wallace and the enternal Sasha Pavlovic for him so even if the experiment doesn't work, it's not like they gave up much for him.

As you said, it is still early days and I'm sure they will be much better team when everything begins to click. Whether that puts them on the same plateau as Boston and Orlando is another question.

It's certainly going to be a fun ride!

 

[Ridders]

Chicago vs SA today at 11am. Should be a good one.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

And btw Tiger, If Ron Ron does kill Sasha, I'd love him even more. Maybe we could dump his contract if that were to happen.

I've wanted to assault Sasha myself on numerous occasions in the past.

I've always had the saying that nothing good ever comes out of the guy dribbling the ball.

If Ron did end up knocking Vujacic out, I could live with LA winning another title this year. Honestly, I hate that guy. He's like the Michael Ennis of the NBA.

You're spot on about the Cavs talent though. LeBron plus a past his prime Shaq is all they've got. Mo Williams is a nice role player, perfectly suited to playing with LeBron (catch and shoot guy) but he's not exactly a blue chipper. What they do have is the most depth they've had for some time, it's just getting everyone to mesh. I still think that as long as that happens before April they'll be happy, cause they've still got the best player in the game.

 

[Ridders]

Woah, easy there big fella with the Ennis hate. Ennis is a character of high quality and integrity and always carries himself with the utmost grace on the footy field..

Isn't it kind of sad that over-the-hill Shaq is most probably the best team-mate Lebron's ever had with the Cavs. If Lebron does leave Cleveland, the Cavs organization has to take alot of blame due to their inability to surround him with good young talent.

 

[The Dodger]

Lakers talent is unquestioned. It's their chemistry & desire I'm worried about. Bynum will be massive this year, and if they all keep their heads they'll win again easily. Easily. There's just so many things that could happen though, should be interesting to see. There's a chance they could win more than 72 if they get all the breaks. There's also a chance Artest kills Vujacic, Kobe for once has an injury, Odom chases Kardashian around the world and Fisher comes back to life. Well that last one would be good I suppose.

that prediction i can see coming true more than the others, cloesely followed by kobe getting injured.

 

[McLovin]

Bowen >>> Jefferson

 

[McLovin]

The Bulls are a crazy team this season. Really fun to watch...