Thursday, August 6, 2009

Western Conference Offseason : Winners and Losers

I´ve already talked about the winners and losers that the Eastern Conference has to offer, but what about the West? The Western Conference has been much more competitive than the East for the last couple of years and each year they try to get even better, but teams in the West shouldn´t get too cocky as teams in the East probably won´t make a playoffs with a record like 38-44 anymore. No more easy wins in Eastern Conference trips for the West. Let´s take a look now who has re-enforced their team enough and who just had somebody like Babcock working for them (Timberwolves).


Winners

San Antonio Spurs:The Spurs have been criticized over the years for having a team with players that just seem to be getting older and older while still winning championship year after year. Suddenly though the Spurs have dropped their level of play and didn´t even make it past the first round of the playoffs by losing to the Dallas Mavericks; however, having an injured Ginobili was a big reason why they lost. This off season things are looking a little brighter down in Texas. First things first let's talk about the Jefferson trade. All the Spurs had to give up to get the athletic small forward was three veteran players that are past their prime and wouldn't put up more points than Jefferson if you combined their averages. Apart from looking at his offensive game , Jeffereson, can be a good defense player when he is a complementary piece to a team like he will be in San Antonio and another very important thing is that Jefferson has playes 164 games in the last season. That's right, the small forward hasn't missed a single game in the last two years and if he can continue to be healthy then Popovich can give Manu a lot more resting time on the bench which would reduce the chance of him getting injured again or being burned out by the time the playoffs start.


This offseason the Spurs have also added to veteran big men (Antonio Mcdyess and Theo Ratliff) who will be good players coming of the bench to rebound and play defense. My only problem with the Spurs is that they still don´t have a legit center. Matt Bonner is an alright player, but not the type of starting center you want to bring into the playoffs.

Apart from that problem the Spurs have a strong team. This year at the Draft, The Spurs made a steal in the NBA draft by drafting the undersized power forward, Dejuan Blair, who despite being a short power forward he is built like a linebacker. Because of his strength he (Blair) can fight to get rebounds and has a good post up game, but Blair still needs to work on his defence, finishing around the rim and non-post up situations. I liked what the Spurs have done this off season and think we could see them once again at the Western Conference Finals (and even more).

Players coming in: Richard Jefferson, Dejaun Blair, Marcus Haislip, Antonio Mcdyess, Theo Ratliff
Players coming out: Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, Fabricio Oberto
Still Free Agents: Jacque Vaughn, Ime Udoka



Los Angeles Lakers: Being the NBA championship brings a lot of celebration and makes the whole organization relax for a month or two (just take a look at O´Bryant and Jackson going on the Tonight Show), but after the celebration is done the management has to a lot of pressure to choose which are the right players to add/trade away and keep to continue having a legit shot at a second title. Many General Managers fail to do that ( just take a look at the Miami Heat after winning the NBA Championship and then getting sweeped in the first round the next season) ; however, the Lakers have made their team even better by adding the veteran small forward, Ron Artest, who bring in top notch defense and with the 39% three point shooting he had last year he will get lots of open shots with all the shots he will get caused to Kobe being double teamed. Even though Artest isn't as athletic as Ariza he will be a big improvement since he can score at least double the points that Ariza is capable of and also has much more experience.
The only thing that seemed to keep the Lakers fro
m being a championship team once again is the fact that Odom could have signed with teams like Dallas or Miami, but now that he has signed for sure the team has very little to worry about. Extending Shannon Brown's contract was also a very intelligent move by Kupchak as he has lots of potential which he has already showed that he could be more than just a third string point guard. The Lakers are most likely going to reach the Finals this year again and have achieved that with this successful offseason.

Players Coming In: Ron Artest, Chinemelu Elonu *usigned draft pick*

Players Coming Out: Trevor Ariza, Sun Yue


Dallas Mavericks:Reinforcements! Nowitzki needed a couple of more players to have a team as good as the one that reach the NBA finals only three seasons ago. Mark Cuban should be happy with this team as he has gotten more depth and expirience. Signing Jason Kidd to an extended contract already makes me think that this team is going in the right direction by not making huge changes to the core.

Now lets talk about the trades and singings this team has made. The Mavericks were involved along with the Magic and Raptors in a three way trade, the Mavericks traded away Devon George and Antoine Wright and in exchange got Shawn Marion, Kris Humpries, Greg Buckner and Nathan Jawai. Even though Marion level has dropped a lot since his Pheonix Suns days he is still a decent defensive small forward. Add the fact that he has Jason Kidd as a point guard and he might even seem better than his two quick stints in Miami and Toronto. By getting Marion the Mavericks can put Josh Howard into the shooting guard role ( Howard is a tweener meaning he is able to play both the shooting guard and small forward role). Humphries and Jawai will probably be sitting at the end of the bench a lot this season since power forwards are plentiful in the Mavericks.

The Mavericks lost Brandon Bass to the Mavericks this off season, but have also signed Drew Gooden who bring in around the same type of production that Bass has with the Mavericks. Quinton Ross was also brought by free agency from the Grizzlies. Ross was a bench player that only averaged 3.9 points per game last season while shooting 38% from the floor; however, his contract is really cheap and there aren´t many good players you can really get for less than a million dollar.

Over at the Draft the Maverick made a steal by drafting the french point guard, Rodrigue Beaubois, who has quickness, foot speed, decent shooting and excellent passing skills. Rodrigue sometimes is careless with the ball and still has to work on his defense, but by learning from one of the best point guards of all time (Kidd), Rodrigue could become a decent backup in the future.

The Mavericks are back with thi
s team and will be in the top 5 teams this year in the Western Conference.
Players Coming In: Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Nathan Jawai, Greg Bucks, Rodrigue Beaubois, Nick Calathes *unsgined draft pick*, Ahmad Nivins *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Devan George, Antoine Wright, Brandon Bass, Ryan Hollins, Jerry Stackhouse
Still Free Agents: Gerald Green, James Single
ton



Portland Tr
ailblazers: The Blazers have been a young team that has been growing together each year and slowly removing the label of ¨Jail Blazers¨image from the Portland team into a much cleaner and admirable team. This off season the Blazers signed the free agent, Andre Miller, a veteran point guard coming from Philadelphia. Miller brings in more scoring and assists than Steve Blake had in the last season or might ever will . Also by having Blake coming off the bench means that the team has much more depth.

The Blazers had three draft picks, but didn´t bother to sign any of them so I won´t bother writing much about them. Another thing that was very important to keeping this team was extending Brandon Roy´s contract. Roy is now secured for at least five years.

With more development that the young players in this team will have (Roy, Fernandez, Aldridge, Oden and Batum) plus adding a veteran leader (Miller) this team will have more experience and players to improve from last year.


Players Coming In: Andre Miller, Dante Cunningham *usigned dradt pick*, Victor Claver *unsigned dradt pick, Jeff Pendergraph *unsigned dra
ft pick*
Players Coming Out: Channing Frye,
Still Free Agents: Michael Ruffin,
Raef La Frentz, Shavlik Randolph



Utah Jazz:Nothing big, nothing flashy, but at the same time this team ends up being a winner. The Jazz didn't trade or sign any new players, but instead made sure that Paul Milsap and Ronnie Price had their contracts extended. In my opinion this will make Utah a much stronger team than other teams that are adding new players since the team knows each other well and therefore has good chemistry. I think if Boozer was traded to Miami like some of the rumors said the Jazz wouldn't be such a strong team coming in next season.

The Only addition to this Utah team would be the point guard, Eric Maynor, who brings in some scoring, but limited passing ability. Maynor will probably be the third string point guard and can learn a thing or two from Deron Williams. This team will probably be better than just an eight seed team like last year.

Players Coming In: Eric Maynor, Guron S
utan *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Nobody Yet
Still Free Agents: Morris A
lmond, Jarron Collins, Brevin Knight



Los Angeles Clippers
:With the first pick in the draft the Los Angeles Clippers choose..... How many times have we heard that one befor
e? Surprisingly only twice in their who history. One would think that they would have at least a dozen with all the bad seasons they´ve had. Their first pick in 1988, Danny Manning, turned out to be an all star while their first pick ten years later, Michael Olowokandi, turned out to be a complete bust. So, the question is: How will Blake Griffin turn out? Griffin is an athletic power forward (freak of nature if you will) who can turn out to be one of the top ten players in the league due to his dominance in the boards, running the floor well, good post up game, good vision (getting teammates wide open shots and work ethic. Out of all these pros there are only a few cons like his need to improve his free throw and defense which should come as he becomes even stronger. He is no Olowondaki, that for sure.

Apart from being fortunate enough to get the first pick in the draft, The Clippers also managed to get rid of the team cancer Zach Randolph in exchange for Quentin Richardson and then trading him for Telfair, Madsen and Craig Smith. This was a great move by the Clippers as they now get a decent back up point guard for Davis, a backup point guard with much potential and a veteran bench scrub. Telfair and Smith will give the Clippers more depth which they desperately needed last season and at the same time they got rid of Randolph, who did more harm to the team than good.


Players Coming In: Blake Griffin, Craig Smith, Mark Madsen, Sebastian Telfair, Rasual Butler
Players Coming Out: Zach Randolph, Mike Taylor
Still Free Agents: Briank Skinner, Fred Jones, Steve Novak, Alex Acker

So-So


Oklahoma City Thunder:They are young, they are talented and are getting at least a top five draft pick each year. Let Durant, Green, Harden , Westbrook and the rest of the gang develop a bit more and this team is scary. First lets talk about their new addition to this young team, James Harden, a shooting guard out of Arizona. Efficiency is definitely something you could say is one of Harden´s pros as he averaged 20 points in an average of 12 shots per game. Despite not being the most athletic player, Harden still managed to finish inside the line and getting to the stripe. Harden still needs to polish his mid range game and take care of the ball more as he had 3.4 turnovers per game (which really came by being asked to do too much which won´t happen in Oklahoma). The Thunders are also bring the Congolese Serge Ibaka, who had been drafted in the 2008 draft and meanwhile had been playing in the Spanish league. Ibaka is a powerforward with a long wingspan that can block, good ball handling (only one turnover per game in Spain) and has a lot of athletism .

Bringing Ibaka and drafting Harden were great moves, but over at the free agency all the Thunder did was trade some of their junk for other junk. The Thunder traded both Atkins and Wilkins for Etan Thomas of the Washington Wizards were he struggled both this and last season. Thomas will probably be the back up PF next season and won´t have much to bring to the table. Their other signing is Kevin Ollie a shooting guard who has never had impressive stats and this probably won´t change in his 12 season in the league. The Thunders are in the right path because of their youngsters, but the management has to find a way to bring v
eterans with more skills that Ollie or Thomas.


Players Coming In: James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Etan Thomas, Kevin Ollie
Players Coming Ou
t: Chucky Atkins, Damien Wilkins, Earl Watson
Still Free Agents: De
smond Mason, Malik Rose, Robert Swift


Golden State Warriors: No big changes this off season over at Golden State. They got rid of Jamal Crawford who just went along with Don Nelson´s system and chucked the ball like there was no tomorrow. With such a low shooting percentage, Crawford, was doing more harm than good to Golden State and probably won´t make the Hawks a better team. My only problem with Mullin´s move is that they basically received two players that bring in nothing to the table (getting a player that scores at least more than five points would have been nice). Acie Law averaged 2.9 points and 1.5 assists while Speedy Claxton averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 assists per game. I know that Nelson´s system will get them to be a bit better in the offensive end, but still these two guys are bench scrubs. The second trade made by this team was also ill advisied by trading Marco Bellineli to the Raptors for Devean George. George is a veteran who is close to the end of his career and won´t bring much more to the table than the other forwards that this team already have, meanwhile, Bellineli only has two years in the league and even though he has had injuries putting him back he still has lots of potential.

The one positive thing that has happened to this team is drafting the combo guard Stephen Curry. Curry will fit perfectly into Nelson´s system as he puts down points in bunches with his tremendous range of shooting, shooting well of dribble and shooting of balanced. The combo guard also has good passing ability, but he really didn´t have any good players to pass to while at college. The only downside to Curry is that he is an undersized shooting guard at six foot three who despite having quick hands, he lack athleticism to defend bigger and tougher players. The Warriors still aren´t a playoff team, but will be in the future with the development of their young players.

Players Coming In : Acie Law, Devean George, Speedy Claxton, Stephen Curry
Players Coming Out: Marco Benilleni, Jamal Crawford, Jermaeo Davidson
Still Free Agents: C.J Watson, Rob Kurz



New Orleans Hornets:The Hornets had taken a step back this off season due to injuries and losing Posey so keeping Chris Paul happy was probably the main thing in the management´s mind. This off season thought the Hornets have not done anything spectacular that could make a huge impact on the team. First you have the ¨swap¨of Tyson Chandler and Emeka Okafor. I call it a swap because no team really gets a better player, but the Hornets do win in this trade since they get a shorter contract with Okafor plus Chandler has been fighting injuries the last season while Okafor hasn´t missed a game in in the past two season. The second addition to the team is Ike Diogu who has been hoping around from team to team each season while having some kind of injury. Diogu could help by coming out of the bench, but he is no Posey.

At the draft the Hornets drafted the under sized point guard Darren Collison who despite being a very quick player and having a high basketball IQ doesn´t have much size and strength to defend larger guards. Collison also has a very awkward and slow shot. Collison will have to fight for the back up position with Daniels. Then you have the shotting guard Marcus Thorton who was a scoring machine in college because he had a whole offense trying to get him shots and when he will have to look for his own shot things become ugly. Apart from that he also won´t be able to get inside as much in NBA since he is undersized. The Hornets haven´t gotten better or worse this off season and Chris Paul might not be a happy camper in the future.



Players Coming In: Emeka Okafor, Ike Diogu, Darren Collison,
Players Coming Out: Tyson Chandler, Rasua
l Butler
Still Free Agents: Melvin Ely
, Sean Marks, Ryan Bowen




Denver Nuggets: Did you hear that? it´s the sound of a pin falling in Denver, that´s how quiet things have been over there. The Nuggets have made two trades this off season: first one sending a second round pick in 2011 for Arron Afflalo and Walter Sharpe and the second trade was to get more cap space by sending Steven Hunter to the Clippers in exchange for a future second round draft pick ( Sharpe and Sonny Weems were later traded for Malik Allen). Both Malik Allen (veteran adding 3.2 ppg last season) and Afflalo (sophomore 6.2 ppg last season) showed very little playing time and gave back very little production or potential to be more than bench scrubs. These two guys will probably be sitting at the end of the bench for most of the season.

At the draft the Nuggets drafted the point guard, Ty Lawson, coming out of Michigan state. Lawson might be small ( six feet flat with shoes on), but makes up with a combination of speed, shooting ability and strength. I think Tyson could end up being a good backup point guard for Billups as the season goes on .

The Nuggets have kept the same core, as last year´s team got them into the Western Conference Finals; however, the Nuggets lost Linas Kleiza who was a role player coming off the bench. Kleiza brought both shooting and rebounding coming off the bench. The loss of Kleiza will make the team a little weaker off the bench, but they are still a top three team in the West.



Players Coming In: Arron Afflalo, Walter Sharpe
Players Coming Out: Linas Kleiza, Steven Hunter, Sonny Weems
Still Free Agents: Jason Hart, Anthony Carter, Johan Petro



Losers:

The Western Conference is very competitive so when a team suddenly decides to start to rebuild or has lots of injuries things can go downhill pret
ty quickly. Let's take a look at the teams that will most likely be playing for the ping pong balls or fighting for the glorious 8th seed because of the bad management.





Houston Rockets: Luck, Luck, Luck. That is something that the Houston Rockets have lacked this off season. First you have Yao Ming missing the whole season due to a foot injury and just to make it worse, Tracy Mcgrady will also be in the sidelines until around February. This is the only team in the Losers section where you can't blame the General Manager (in this case Daryl Morey) for having a bad off season. It must feel like the 05-06 season in Houston right now but worse since Yao and Mcgrady lost 70 games in total that season. This means that Luis Scola will have to play with a lot of intensity each game, but having Chuck Hayes and Brian Cook playing major minutes won't be pretty at all.

Thought that sounded bad already? Well as you know from earlier in the blog Ron Artest left the team and to make things seem a little better they signed the athletic small forward, Trevor Ariza. As good a role player Ariza can be its like trying to fix a bullet wound with a band-aid. The team also got a couple of steals by drafting the strong shooting guard, Jermain Taylor, in the second round of the draft along with the forward Chase Budinger, but what they lack the most are still are good big men. This team could have been amazing without injures, but like I sai
d earlier, "luck, luck,luck."
Players Coming In: Trevor Ariza, Jermaine Taylor, Sergio Llull *unsigned free agent*,
Players Coming Out: Dike
mbe Mutombo
Still Free Agents: Von Wafer

Sacramento Kings: So what did the Kings do to improve from last year's disastrous season? Apart from the draft this team was really quiet this off season. Mainly since they didn't have much cap space. Having to pay six million dollar next season for the washed up Shareef Abdhur-Rahim ( a player who passed his prime a long long long time ago). I'm not sure what Geoff Petrie was thinking about three off seasons ago.

Now let's talk about the main move that Petrie has done this season and that is drafting, with the third pick, the freshman shooting guard ( some say he could even be a big point guard) Tyreke Evans . By drafting Evans the Kings get a player who has great court vision and ball handling (main reason why people think he could be a point guard). Tyreke also has a facility of getting the line due to his strength and quickness. Tyreke´s only weakness is his perimeter shooting, 27% shooter from beyond the arc while at Memphis. If Tyreke improves that part of his game he would have the potential to be an all star. The other player drafted by the Kings is the Isreali Forward, Omri Casspi, who had a successful season in Meccabi Tel Avi last season. The 23rd pick in the draft has lots of athleticism, can consistently shoot 3 pointers and can easy box out and rebound with his length and height of six foot nine. Omri´s only weakness is that he doesn´t pass much, can´t defend bigger players due to lacking body strength and has a hard time creating his own shot.



Lastly in the free agency the Kings signed the former Blazer, Sergio Rodriguez, who has shown very little potential even as a back up point guard. Rodriguez has decent court vision, but lacks an offensive game. The second and also quite mediocre signing is the Kings acquiring Sean May from the Bobcats. Sean has only played 82 games in the last three seasons and has been dealing with weight problems. A player that seemed to have potential, but now just seems washed up. To quote a Bobcat Blog ¨The minute Sean May arrives in Sacramento, California will fall into the ocean.¨ If the Kings would have made a couple of better signing I would say their off season was actually a success.


The Kings have a team with lots of young players with potential (Martin, Thompson, Evans, Casspi and Hawes), but being a playoff team is still a long way off.


Player Coming In: Tyreke Evans , Sean May, Omri Casspi, Sergio Rodriguez, Jon Brockman *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Ike Diogu
Still Free Agents: Calbin Booth, Rashard Mcants, Bobby Jackson


Pheonix Suns: I wouldn't want to be Steve Nash at the moment. The veteran is reaching past his prime soon and is sticking with a team that doesn´t know whether it should stick to the same core or start rebuilding or even what type of game they should even play.
The Suns have traded away Shaq leaving the management, team and fans with a feeling of failure which bringing Shaq to Pheonix was. In return the Suns got Ben Wallace (waived), Sasha Pavlovic, draft picks and cash. So what did the Suns do to fill the center spot now that Shaw is gone? The signed Channing Frye. Now I know that Shaq was not fitting well with the run and gun style of play, but you could put both Channing Frye and Robin Lopez on the court at the same time and they wouldn´t do half of what the 37 year old Shaq can. Add the fact that Matt Barnes is leaving the team and the Suns front court is weaker than ever.

I don´t like the direction this team is going, but neither Grant Hill or Steve Nash are leaving and have extended contracts. If I were either of them I would try to have signed to a team for a veteran´s minimum for the chance of getting a ring. Time is ticking and soon enough they will have to retire.

At the draft the Suns drafted Earl Clar, a small forward/ power forward who despite having lots athletism and speed he mainly uses his jump shot or fade away to score. He can create mismatch problems because of his size and shooting, but will have to improve in getting into the line. They also got the ¨other¨ Griffin kid at the draft, but haven't signed him to the team yet.

The Suns probably won´t make the playoffs for the second season in a row and re-building will probably come afterwards (even though it should have been done this year)

Players Coming Out: Shaquielle O´neal, Matt Barnes
Players Coming In: Sasha Pavlovic, Earl Clark, Taylor Griffin *unsigned draft pick*


Minnesota Timberwolves: It´s been all about Ricky Rubio in Minnesota, but the question is will he stay or go? The Timberwolves say that they're doing all they can to bring him, DKV says he still owes them money and Barcelona and even Real Madrid are still trying to lure him. I wouldn't want to be a Timberwolves fan at the moment. Too much drama. If Ricky does come to the NBA then he will be a decent backup and if he stays he in Europe he will become an even better player while gaining more trade value. By drafting Johnny Flynn though the Timberwolves have ensured having a point guard with a bright future that won't have the legal troubles that Ricky has. Flynn is athletic and can could get into the lane easily in college, but at being six feet flat he will have to develop his jump shot and three pointer. Gonna have to work on controlling the ball too (3 turnovers per game last season).

The Timberwolves didn't do horribly at the draft, but had questionable trades. First they traded away Mike Miller and blank for three bench scrubs out of Washington (Darius Songaila,Oleksiy Pechero and Etan Thomas). Thomas was then traded for Atkins and Wilkings who won't bring in much production either. So far with these two move the Timberwolves have traded two legit NBA players who can contribute into a winning (sometimes) team and instead have brought in veterans and players who sit at the end of the bench in teams that did poorly last season (Washington and Oklahoma.)

Lastly you have the Etan Thomas for Quentin Richardson who was then traded for Blount of the Miami Heat. This is the third time that Kahn trades a player before they really became a Timberwolve. Apparently this trade was made for saving space in the cap since there have been rumors that Blount will be waived or even traded (doubt it) in the near future. Kahn has created a mess of a team with a leader (Jefferson) that won't have much help to work with. With some many changes I don't think this team will be successful next season.


Players Coming In: Ricky Rubio (possibly), Johnny Flynn, Quentin Richardson (traded to Miami for ), Sebastian, Ryan Hollins,Damien Wilkings, Chucky Atkins, Darius Songaila,Oleksiy Pechero
Players Coming Out: Etan Thomas, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Mark Madsen, Kevin Ollie, Shelden Williams
Still Free Agents: Rodney Carney, Jason Collins



Memphis Grizzlies: Finally the bottom of the barrel.....Yes the Memphis Grizzlies. Every time I hear the name I think of a failed Vancouver Grizzlie franchise that had to move to Memphis because of bad management, not winning any playoff games in the two time they made it and giving away Pau Gasol for peanuts. Now has this team done anything to come out of that shame? well no they're just sinking deeper and deeper. First lets start with their second pick in the draft, Hasheem Thatbhett, a player tha could have a lot of potential with his, but could also be a bust. Hasheem is seven foot three center who is blocking maching (4.5 blocks and altering at least 6 to 9 more shots per game), has lateral quickness and is getting better at the mid range shot. These three things make him a great player in the NCAA, but has a raw post up game. keeps the ball too low which leads to turnovers and can´t face big men with NBA type bodies. He had terrible games when he faced Dejuan Blair, one of the few players with NBA type bodies that the NCAA has. Just imagine when he has to face a player like Howard. If Hasheem manages to become tougher then he won´t go down the Kwane Brown road. The second player the Grizzlies drafted was the small forward DeMarre Carroll, at the 27th draft pick, who despite not being as good as other forwards in terms of shooting skill and ball handling he still brings in lots of toughnes and rebounding. Lastly you have Sam Young a defense specialists who with his athletismn and size could frustrate lots of players at the college leve, but will have to translate this int othe NBA. Apart from his defense, Young also scored 19 ppg last season while nearly shooting 50% from the field. Young will be a good back up for Rudy Gay (these two have a similar type of game).

In the market the Grizzlies traded Q-Rich for Zach Randolph. Most people would say that he is an out of shape team cancer while others say that he is a solid forward that still has the potential of being a 20/10 player like back in his Portland days. This is what I think of Randolph.



Randolph is a cancer for a team since he easily gets angry in the court (throwing a punch at Louis Ammundsen) and playing horrible defense. One could argue that he did score 27 points and got 11 against the Grizzlies in one game, but at the same time Kwane Brown coming in for a injured Darko go 10 points and 11 boards. Yes I am taking about THE Kwane Brown first round pick AKA mr.bust. As bad as that already sounds he has one last con to him. Games Missed. Last season he missed 32 games due to suspensions and injuries. This trend will not stop in Memphis. The Grizzlies despereatly needed a big man, but Randolph is not the solution. Can you say draft?

The other two accusisitions by the Grizzlies are Marcus Williams who is coming back from the Puerto Rican leaage, That´s right the Puerto Rican leauge and a smart move by trading second round draft picks for Steven Hunter. The Nuggets end up happy by saving some money and the Grizzlies get a role player. Sadly that´s the best thing they have done all offseason.


Players Coming In: Zach Randolph, Demarell Caroll, Hasheem Thabeet, Steven Hunter, Marcus Williams

Players Coming Out: Hakim Warrick, Quentin Richardson

For all those who liked my blog tell your friends that like basketball to check it out and for all those who didn´t like it then tell your enemies to check it out.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Summer of Colangelo







Every summer
around the NBA it's a time with high spirits in which teams can turn their team around with a couple of trades into a championship team(just look at how the Boston Celtics turned their team around two seasons ago). At this point of the Off season most teams have completed modifying their team with trades, signing free agents and waiving away players, but which General Managers turned their team around into contenders and which ones had moves that were a little bit more than questionable.

Let's start with the teams in the Eastern Conference that so far are having a good off season by picking up the right guys for their teams and then the fun begins with the talk of the "losers" in the off season so far:


Winners

Orlando Magic: You though this team was scary last year? Well then look at the roster now, adding Vince Carter adds the veteran experience with his slashing (something Turkoglu can't do as well) and versatility makes him a danger any time he steps into the court, even at the age of 32. At this point in his career, Carter, has matured into a player that no longer needs to be the face of a franchise or cause as much trouble like he did throughout his career in Toronto (statements of not dunking anymore, not giving 100% and coaching problems) and instead is just looking to get a ring before his career is over. The Magic have also added more depth in both the small forward and power forward spots by adding Matt Barnes a role player who brings in defense, rebounding and some scoring. The second addition is Brandon Bass coming from Dallas who is very much like Barnes in the sense that they're role players and have good defense and rebound skills except that Bass is a big man and can play the Power Forward role much easier than Barnes. Now that the Magic have filled up their team with more depth, which is something I thought they lacked starting last season (I actually thought they were going to be a middle of the board team, but they proved me wrong) . They now have a team that could ultimately win a championship if there are no major injuries.

Players Coming In
: Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson,Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass
Players Comi
ng Out:Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Tony Battie, Rafer Alston
Still Free Agents:Tyronn Lue, Adonal Foyle, Jeremy Richardson



Toronto Raptors:

When every Raptors fan started to question Colangelo's decisions with the weak bench in the 08-09 season and the Ford for O'neal trade that went downhill very quickly; however, Colangelo completely amazed everybody with every trade and signing he has

made this off season.

The "main" move that has the Raptors GM has made was trading for Turkoglu in a four team trade that finally got Turkoglu in Toronto. This was only made after Turkoglu decided to sign with Toronto instead of Portland (what would have happened if Turkoglu's wife didn't like Toronto as much as Portland?). By singing Turkoglu the Raptors get a veteran small forward that can handle the ball, shoot from beyond the arc and go into the stripe. Apart from Turkoglu the Raptors got Wright a shooting guard who can defend quite well and George who was later traded for the Italian Bellineli. Bellineli not only brings in another sharpshotter into the team, but also bring in more potential than George could have brought as his career is close to over. This would take more pressure off the rookie Demar Derozan.

Colangelo has also re-enforced the bench by adding two veteran big men (Nesterovic and Evans). You have to like Colangelo for bringing back Rasho who has been a fan favourite from the moment he got to Toronto. Both this big man will bring much needed rebounding that this team needed. Lastly, to fill the point guard role the point guard Jarett Jack has been signed from the Indiana Pacers, he is much better than Ukic, Douby and Banks who would have had to back up Calderon. I'm very happy with what Colangelo has done and I think this team has been turned from a bottom of the barrel team to a playoff team.

Players Coming in: Hedo Turkoglu, Jarett Jack,Marco Bellinelli, Antoine Wright,Reggie Evans, Rasho Nesterovic, Demar Derozan
Players Coming out: Shawn Marion, Nathan Jawai, Parker, Kris Humphries, Jason Kapono
Still Free Agents: Joey Graham and Pops Mensah Bonsu


Washington Wizards: Ernie Grunfeld sounds like the name of a car salesman, but really he is a highway robber and part-time General Manager of the Washington Wizards. That's right this man pretty much stole Mike Miller and Randy Foye for three bench scrubs (Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov and Songaila) and the 5th pick in the draft which was none other than Ricky Rubio.

The Wizards got what they wanted which was a shooting guard and apart from defense Miller brings good shooting, rebound and solid play making. While Randy Foye who was a good player in a bad team, but nevertheless has lots of talent and will be a good back up point guard for the Wizards (scored 16 ppg last season). Meanwhile Minessota do get better bench scrubs than Jason Collins, Brian Cardinal, Mark Madson, and Sheldin Williams. I think that the Wizards are now set to be at least the 5th seed in the East and have had a successful off season.
Players Coming In: Randy Foye, Mike Miller
Players Coming Out: Darius Songaila,Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov
Still Free Agents: Juan Dixon


Cleveland Cavaliers: Apart from Colangelo another General Manager who has been doing things right is Danny Ferry. Last season the Cavaliers didn't have much strength in the interior and half found a way to fill that hole by adding O'neal. Now Shaq isn't a long-term solution, but the Cavs will have Big-Z as their backup center instead of a washed up Ben Wallace.

Apart from getting Shaq, the Cavaliers have signed former Raptors Moon and Parker who are above-average defenders. Parker will bring his veteran experience and consistent three pointer off the bench while Moon, despite having a low basketball IQ, still brings length and athleticism at the small forward position. The Cavaliers have improved their team with a better front court and deeper bench which should make them an even more confident contender.
Players Coming In: Shaquielle O'neal, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Daniel Green *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, Tarrance Kinsey,Wally Szczerbiak


So-So
Apart from teams that quickly "ruin" or "improve" their rooster, there are also teams that feel happy with their teams and only make a couple of small moves (some turn out to be winners while others losers):

Philadelphia 76ers: The 76ers have stayed with the same core as last year of Igoudala,
Dalambert and Brand, but have lost their "glue guy", Andre Miller, who was consistent every night. In response all the team did was use their draft pick on Jrue Holiday and trading Reggie Evans for Kapono,who's a poor man's Kyle Korver. Eddie Jordan will have to will have to work his magic on this team like when he got the Wizards to the players with a bench full of injured players.
Players Coming In: Jason Kapono, Jrue Holiday
Players Coming Out: Andre Miller, Theo Ratliff, Reggie Evans
Still Free Agents: Donyell Marshall, Kareem Rush, Royal Ivey


Indiana Pacers: It's been quiet around Indiana like in most of their home game these days. Larry Bird decided to keep the same core of Ford, Granger and Dunleavy (who is returning in January) while losing a couple of role players. All that has been happening here is the signing of three bench scrubs: Dahntay Jones, Solomon Jones and Earl Watson. Out of the three Earl Watson will probably get the most burn along with the most contribution. With this team the lottery is around the corner. Oh and how could they let Rasho go? Bird has to get his priorities straight!

Players Coming In: Tyler Hansbrough, Solomon Jones, Earl Watson, Dahntay Jones,A.J Price *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Jarett Jack, Rasho Nesterovic, Jamaal Tinsley
Still Free Agents: Stephen Graha
m, Maceo Baston, Marquis Daniels



New York Knicks: So far it's been quiet over at New York, just a bunch of rumors about what will happen with Lee and a couple of rookies joining the team. Donnie Walsh probably has a sign up his sleeve, but even getting Allen Iverson won't make this team better.

The rebuilding of this team will be successful in 2010 when they have lots of cap space and many free agents are available. The days in which Isaiah Thomas was the General manager in New York were more interesting, but pathetic too.
Players Coming In: Chris Hunter,Toney Douglas, Jordan Hill
Players Coming Out: Chris Wilcox
Still Free Agents: David Lee, Nate Robinson

Chicago Bulls: Da Bulls! Da Bulls! Gotta make it exciting somehow. You know it's been a quite off season when the biggest move you make is bring Jennero Pargo from Europe to join your team. Apart from that the rookie James Johnson will be a decent back up for John Salmons. With a healthy Deng this team won't be much better or worse than last year and will end up fighting for a 7th/8th place.

Coming In
: Jennero Pargo, Taj Gibson, James Johnson
Players Leaving: Ben Gordon, Tim Thompson, Linton Johnson, Demarcus Nels
on, Anthony Roberson,
Still Free Agents: Aaron Gray


Losers:
Lastly the duds, yes the teams that had General Managers who tried giving the team a quick fix or over paying an all star while keeping a very thin core. These are the losers:

Detroit Pistons: Mr.Dumars, Mr.Dumars, Mr. Dumars....tsk tsk. How is it possible that one man can create a team filled with smart defensive stoppers and slowly start to fill it with turnover prone offensive minded players. The acquisition of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva were just quick fixes for the fact that Detroit no longer has Billups and Wallace like in the not so distant past. Gordon is a player that even though he scores 20 plus points a game, he cares very little about defence, gets 2 or more turnovers per game and also has poor rebounding skills. The former Raptors, Villanueva, was a good power forward in a bad team and even though he is inconsistent he is a better offensive player than the veteran Wallace.

Apart from making his PF and SG spots a little better, the Center position is still left very weak with Wilcox as a starter and Kwane Brown as backup. This will probably be the first time in eight years that the Pistons don't make the playoffs.
Players Coming In: Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Wilcox, Jonas Jerbko *unsigned free agent*, Dejuan Summer *unsigned free agent*
Players Coming Out:Arron Affalo,Fabricio Oberto, Rasheed Wallace, Walter Sharpe, Amir Johnson Still Free Agents (but coming out): Allen Iverson

New Jersey Nets: It seems like yesterday when this team was hyped up with their "Big Three" of Kidd, Jefferson and Carter; however, that team never even managed to pass the second round of the playoffs. Now that the last one of the trio remaining (Carter) has been traded it seems like "re-building" will be a word used by the Nets fans.

Adding Courtney Lee, Tony Battie and Rafer Alston will give the team some depth, but by having Devin Harris as their only all-star caliver next season won't be prosperous for this team.
Coming In: Tony Battie, Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams
Coming Out: Vince Carter, Ryan And
erson
Still Free Agents: Maurice Ager


Boston Celtics: This team filled with 7 players over the age of thirty is not looking for a long term solution, but a quick fix to have a shot at the Larry O'Brien Trophy and that's exactly what they're getting by singing the thirty-four year old, Rasheed Wallace, who bring in more defensive toughness than the team already has and a versatile center. If somehow the "Celtic Trio" (never going to call them the big three) or Rasheed Wallace manage to stay healthy all season and playoffs, then they might have a shot at being a better team than last year.

Most sport writers are kissing up to Danny Ainge for this mediocre move.....I never will. I declare the Celtic's off season a failure and this will be seen in the long run (next season).

Players Coming In: Rasheed Wallace, Lester Hudson *unsigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Gabe Pruitt
Free Agents (most likely coming out): Lean Powe, Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore


Miami Heat: Lots and lots of rumor about the team like Odom coming over (he has now re-signed with the Lakers) and even some rumors about Carlos Boozer being a Heat, nevertheless those were just rumors. Now that the team is over the cap space they should target some of the remaining free agents like Tinsley or Iverson, but Pat Riley has just waited too long and has brought the organization in to mediocrity (giving Magloire a new contract isn't exactly being an active GM).

Careless moves like trading a first round pick for Ricky Davis are coming back to haunt Riley and soon enough Wade will want to be traded. The Heat will be fighting for the 8th seed next season and
might get it with a healthy O'neal and determined Wade.
Players Coming In: Robert Dozier *unsigned draft pick*, Patrick Beverely *usigned draft pick*
Players Coming Out: Jamario Moon Still Free Agents: Luther Head




Atlanta Hawks: Jamal Crawford?! Jamal Crawford?! Is that really the best player you could get Rick Sund? Really? A player who has a low shooting percentage, plays no defense and turnover the ball more than 2 time per game. Is that the best Rick Sund could do? Even though having a core of Bibby, Smith, Horford and Johnson is superber, the addition of Crawford will do more harm than good. You have to give it to Sund for finding a way to getting rid of his junk and getting an "okay" NBA player. Still don't think it's the right move for the Hawks. Apart from this trade things have been quite in Atlanta.
Players Coming In: Jamal Crawford, Robert Dozier
Players Coming Out: Solomon Jones, Speedy Claxton, Acie Law)
Still Free Agents: Mario West, Marvin Williams, Ronald Murray, Othello Hunter, Thomas Gardner


Milwaukee Bucks: This team has taken a step back from last year by losing two of their main players, Villanueva and Jefferson and in return have done very little to make the team better. In return for sending Jefferson to the Spurs the Bucks got Bowen (waived), Kurt Thomas and Oberto (waived), so at the end of the day to have more cap space all they get is Thomas who is a veteran big man who has been fighting injuries the last couple of years. I wouldn't call this an amazing trade at all.

The Bucks got two players from the 2009 draft, first one was Jennings at the 10th pick was a steal since he is a point guard with a lot of potential and with more experience than your average freshman out of college as he has played for one year at Roma Lottamatica (this is a new trend that I think many players will follow). The second player is Jordan Meeks a senior shooting guard out Kentucky who could be a good back up for Redd. The latest and best move that the Bucks have done is singing free agent, Hakim Warrick, who is an athletic small forward that can even play power forward at times. These teams hasn't gotten much better and overall has had a mediocre off season.

Player Coming In
: Amir Johnson, Brandon Jennings, Kurt Thomas, Hakim Warrick, Jodie Meeks
Players Coming Out: Charlie Villanueva, Richard Jefferson
Still Free Agents: Damon Jones, Ramon Sessions, Keith Bogans




Charlotte Bobcats: Is this the year for the Bobcats? After 5 seasons of being an expansion team will they be able to make the right moves to become a playoff team? The answer unfortunately for basketball fans in Charlotte seems to be no. The main reason for this unsuccessful off season for the teams "meh" off season is the swap of Okafor for Chandler. Both players are the same age and bring in around the same amount of production, the only difference is that Okafor has a 5 year contract while Chandlet has a 2 year contract. Now this is good for the Bobcats except that they would have to pay Chandler a million more than they would have payed Okafor. Another downside of this trade is that Okafor has played 82 games in the last two seasons while Chandler has been dealing with many injuries, so the winners of this trade turn out to be New Orleans, also get this Okafor has been one of the three players along with Duncan and Howard to have averaged a double double in the last five seasons (Chandler has only done that once in his career).

The only other move that this team has done is drafting Derrick Brown, a small forward who didn't put up big numbers in his three years of college and probably won't put up big numbers in the NBA. I really liked this team after they traded Richardson to the Suns, but now it seems like the playoff hopes that the fan had by making the right moves is gone.

Players Coming In: Tyson Chandler, Derrick Brown,
Players Coming Out: Emeka Okafor, Sean May
Still Free Agents: Raymond Felton, Juwan Howard, Sean Singletary, Cartier Martin

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Motorcity Blues

The playoffs have been on for around two weeks now and this only my third blog. I shouldn't deserve to call myself a blogger. All kidding aside it's been two great weeks of good and no so good basketball. In the East all the series have been pretty battled out by underdogs and top seeds with the exception of the Cleveland/Detroit series which is already over. Meanwhile in the West almost all the series are pretty one sided for the exception of the Houston/Portland series.

A Smartass once said....
If you check my prediction of the Cleveland vs Detroit series two blog ago, I said that Cleveland would win in 6 games if the back court of Stuckey and Hamilton came in with their "A" game. Well it was actually much more quickly than that.....2 games quicker to be precise. That's right the team that had gotten to the Eastern Conference for the last 6 seasons was sweeped in the Quarter Fionals. This would have probably been a bad joke back in September. Trading Billups for Iverson was what completely destroyed the chemistry and motivation of this team. Time to rebuild for the Detroit Pistons! At least now most of the Pistons will get a chance to go to Jay Leno's free stand up comedy show for anybody that is unemployed in the Detroit Area. I think most people would be even more depressed after watching his show! He's getting a ten o'clock show now.....oh brother.

Now Lebron James and co. get to wait for the result of the Atlanta vs Heat series. I still think that the Heat win it in 7.


Da Bulls Strike Again!
Suddenly when the Celtics had all their confidence back by winning game two of the series with a three point dagger courtesy of none other than Ray Allen. The Bulls returned the favour of losing to the Celtics in the last game. It was a double over time thriller with lots of fast breaks, contact and trash talking to keep any fan happy.

In the past weeks I've become a real supporter of the Bulls mainly because of my
Reasons why I don't like Boston:

1. They Have Marbury!
2. They won the NBA championship last year.
3.Garnett and the rest of the crew are just so smug.

They're not great reasons, but I just hate them. Journalistically this sounds very unprofessional, but frankly I don't give a damn.

The game pretty much ended after Ben Gordon hit a three point dagger close to end of the second overtime.

Magic!
Only caught the last play of the Magic-76ers game in which Turkoglu getting a three pointer to steal the game away from the 76ers. This is probably the most interesting series so far after the Bulls-Celtics . This one will most likely go to game 7.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Da Bulls! Da Bulls! Da Bears! I Mean Bulls!

The playoffs have just started and there have been enough surprises from underdogs like The Bulls, 76ers and the Mavericks, but first how about a little Raptors talk?

Bryan Colangelo is being his usual smart self and is planning to give Toronto's Franchise Player, Chris Bosh, an offer to stay around for a little longer. The good thing about this is that Chris Bosh is not looking to be traded from Toronto and wants to be part of the solution around Hogtown instead of a problem. Seeing our second best franchise player leave would be devastating. Next thing you know we are back in the Araujo Era!

Next thing Colangelo need to do is sign Triano as the head coach and he is in a good path to winning.

DA Bulls
They surprised everybody by beating the Garnett-less Boston Celtics by 2 points with a 36 point performance by the rookie Derrick Rose. This just shows you that it isn't the Celtics defensive coaches that won them the title last year, but instead having Kevin Garnett play 40 minutes of tough basketball every night. The second game was barely won by the Celtics with a clutch 3 pointer by none other than Ray Allen. This series will probably go into the 7th game, but it's something the Celtics can afford to do like last year. I have a feeling that the Bulls could take it, it would make Chuck Swirsky the happiest man in Chicago.
Note: Celtics didn't loose any game at home last playoffs


We Want Tacos!
The Lakers were just toying with the Jazz in the first game having control all game. The amount of talent in the Lakers is just unbelievable. The one thing that made me upset was the fact that the Laker fans were yelling for tacos at the end of the game with 30ish seconds left when the Jazz had 98 points. Apparently they all get free tacos when the away team scores less than 100; however, Deron Williams got a steal and a bucket to shut them all up.

Personification of Domination
Just like the Lakers are dominating the Jazz, the Cavaliers are dominating the Pistons. High amount of unemployment and a crappy basketball team! It must be a terrible time to live in the Motor city.

Only the Good Die Young
Disappointing start in the playoffs for the Blazers. I thought that with all the talent in that that team, they would have no problem against the Rockets. Well my thought was wrong. The Rockets had a blow out win because of the veteran experience that Yao Ming, Artest and Luis Scola brought. That Aaron Brooks kid was also not too shabby.

No Heat
The Hawks dominated against the Heat. Both Wade and Chalmers just chucked the ball all game long and didn't play defence. This series could quite quickly. The Heat were bad like a Jamario Moon three pointer.

The Red Rocket! Plus Game I didn't really watch.
I didn't watch the Spurs vs Mavericks games, but all I know is that the former Raptor Matt Bonner is shooting lights out. 5-5 from the field to get 13 points(3-3 from beyond the arc).

The Nuggets came out strong in their first game with an impressive performance from Billups from what I've heard. The Pistons are kicking themselves for trading him for Iverson.

Finally the game I only saw until the third quarter was the 76ers vs Magic. When I turned the television of the score was 79-65 for the Magic and I thought that the game was pretty much done; however, that's just when the game started. The 76ers had an impressive 35 point 4th quarter thanks to Igoudala, Miller and Williams. 76ers ended the game with a buzzer beater 100-98. Former Raptor, Donyell Marshall, also put up 11 points coming off the bench. Meanwhile the Magic bench got 13 points all together. I thought the Magic would have had a terrible season with their terrible bench.

Well stay tuned as there is still a month or so of playoff basketball left.


Friday, April 17, 2009

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's Playoff time! It's the time in which the 16 best teams in the NBA show what they're made of and try to win the Larry O'Brien trophy. The team that sheds the most blood,sweat and tears will come out as the best (kind of exaggerated, but gotta get people excited).

So before I start my thoughts on the 8 series how about a song? Microphone!

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the all fans yelling
And everyone telling you "The Lakers win this year"
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those 7 game series and NBA sports show
When friends come to call
It's the hap- happiest season of all

Stop the insanity! The playoffs shouldn't be celebrated with parodies!

Now to the serious stuff.
Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs Detroit Pistons (8)
If you would have told me last year that the Pistons would be the 8th seed coming into the playoffs this year, I would have thought that it was a joke. The Pistons have at least made the Eastern Conference Finals in the last seven years, but Lebron and company could end this. The Cavaliers have a better front court by far than the Pistons and a mix of young & veterans coming off the bench to give the team a boost (Gibson, Smith and
Szczerbiak). The Pistons have a slight edge in the starting backcourt with Stuckey and Hamilton matching up with Mo Williams and Delonte West which could help them win one or two games max. Trading Billups for Iverson was the worst thing that the Pistons could have done.

Cavaliers Win in 6

Boston Celtics (2) vs Chicago Bulls (7)

The young guns vs the old guys is what the title of this sub-heading should really be. I think the Bulls have a better backcourt with Derrick Rose facing a very over rated Rajon Rondo who can't shoot the midrange jumper for his life. The Boston bench is also very thin and the Bulls have a slight edge with a Hinrich, Tom Thomas and Brad Miller bench compared to a House, Big Baby Davis and Moore bench. The one difference between these two teams are that Boston has two strong game changing while Chicago really has none. Paul Pierce with a little help of Ray Allen will walk away with the series. Without Garnett though there is no way that the Celtics retain their title though.

Boston Celtics in 7


Orlando Magic (3) vs Philadelphia 76ers (7)
I hate the Magic for what they did last year to the Raptors, but either way their an extremely good team. The Magic will dominate the front court with the brute force of Dwight Howard that Dalembert will have lots of trouble containing. The 76ers have an upper hand in the back court with Andre Miller being one of the most consistent point guards in the NBA. Both benches are quite weak having Williams as the 76ers biggest "X" factor and Orlando having the veteran Johnson. Van Gundy will just have the Magic playing a little zone with the worst three point shooting team in the NBA and it should be a quick and painless series. Orlando will reach the Conference finals this year. Book it.

Magic in 5


Atlanta Hawks (4) vs Miami Heat (5)

This is probably going to be the most interesting of the series which in my opinion will go down to the 7th game. Miami has bounced back from being the last team in the East thanks to none other than Dwayne Wade and his 30 points per night. I wouldn't want to be Joe Johnson at the moment that's for sure. Even though the Heat have a strong back court it's front court is nothing compared to the Hawks. Josh Smith and Al Horford will give Jermaine O'neal and Haslem a hard time. The thing about the Hawks is that their bench is not strong unlike the Heat who have Beasley and Moon for back up. I will follow this series closely to see how the former Raptors Moon and O'neal are doing.

Heat in 7


Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs Utah Jazz (8)
Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! Do I really need to say more?
Lakers in 4

Denver Nuggets (2) vs New Orleans Hornets (7)
Another series that will not fail to entertain I can guarantee. With the leadership with Billups the Nuggets have gone from barely being and 8th placed team to 2nd in a tough Western conference; however, will this team be able to win in the playoffs? In this case the answer is no. The Hornets have one of the most versatile players in the NBA, Chris Paul, as their leader and even Billups can't match up to him. CP3 is arguably the best point guard in the league. The Nuggets front court being leaded by Carmelo Anthony is good but David West and Chandler will bring their A game.

Hornets in 7

San Antonio Spurs (3) vs Dallas Mavericks (6)
A Ginobi-less Spurs will try to defeat a very confident Dakkas team. Only a couple of months ago I would have told you that the Mavericks would be that unlucky team to get the 9th spot in the West, but now are sitting comfortably in the 6th spot. The Mavericks have an advantage in the front court with Dirk and Dampier, but The Red Rocket can matchup pretty well against Dampier with consistent jumper and Duncan has more winning experience than Dirk. In the bench category the Mavericks have Jason Terry coming in with 19 points per game, but Drew Gooden will also be an impact coming off the Spurs bench. The two areas in which the Spurs have the upper hand in are the backcourt. I'll take Tony Parker and Roger Mason instead of Jason Kidd and J.J Berea. The other area is the coaching having Popovich who just simply has been in the winning side and knows how to stay there.

Spurs in 6

Portland Trailblazer (4) vs Houston Rockets (5)
I like this young Portland team who gives 120% in every game and is just filled with tons of talent. In contrast the Rockets are sluggish team filled with veteran experience, but without the Mcgrady playoff curse to hold them back. Despite being curse-less the Rockets still have no depth in their bench with Von Wafer and Landry while the Blazers have the Spanish stud Rudy Fernandez and Outlaw coming off the bench giving a one-two punch.

Trailblazers in 6

Remember anything can happen in the playoffs.
Let the fun begin!