[外電] WizFans 2007-2008 NBA Eastern Conference Preview

看板Wizards (華盛頓巫師隊)作者ymcdc (十八歲的薄荷綠)時間17年前 (2007/10/31 22:07)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

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WizFans 2007-2008 NBA Eastern Conference Preview Authored by Scott Shniderman - October 29, 2007 - 7:07 pm October 29, 2007 By Scott Shniderman The Basketball New Year is upon us; the NBA season tips off on Tuesday. Every team is still tied for first and at this point every fan thinks their team is a title - or at least a playoff - contender. The reality is that only eight teams from each conference make the playoffs and I will attempt to tell you which ones they will be. This article will break it down for you in order of predicted finish. Today I will break down the East – take some notes and let me know if you disagree. In a few days we will head West to break down the other conference. Get ready for some round ball talk, this is where predictions happen. CONTENDERS CHICAGO BULLS (54-28) I really can’t see any team in the East with a team as strong from one through ten as the Bulls. Their starting five looks to be the best in the East: Hinrich at the 1, Ben Gordon at the 2, Deng at the 3, Ty Thomas at power forward and Big Ben Wallace in the middle. They also have Andres Nocioni, Joe Smith, Chris Duhon, Thabo Sefolosha and lottery pick Joakim Noah off the bench. Deng is an emerging superstar-the Bulls were right to not trade him and Gordon for Pau Gasol at last season’s trading deadline. Nocioni, Thomas and Noah will provide plenty of energy and Joe Smith will bring his veteran presence to this relatively young squad. Sefolosha plays suffocating defense and Wallace, well, we all know how he can dominate in the paint. This is the year the Bulls go very far in the playoffs, possibly back to the NBA Finals for the first time since a certain bald-headed baller wore number 23 in Chicago. BOSTON CELTICS (53-29) Well, give Danny Ainge credit. He has made basketball relevant again in Beantown. In a town where the Red Sox just won the World Series and the Patriots have started out like gang busters, Bah-stahn sports fans are still talking about the leprechaun. If you haven’t heard, Ainge orchestrated a trade to get All-Everything PF Kevin Garnett out of Minnesota and into a Celtics jersey. Throw in the fact that the C’s traded the number five overall pick in last summer’s draft for Ray Allen, and you have the makings of a superstar triumvirate with reigning Celtic hero Paul Pierce healthy and ready to go. There are some lingering issues though. Are their enough shots for these three to stay happy? Do the Celtics have a legit point guard in Rajon Rondo? If the answer to these two questions are yes, watch out, Boston could do some major damage in the East this season. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (53-29) LeBron got jobbed last year. He was the real MVP. You are probably asking well, who was voted as MVP? Oh yeah, Dirk Nowitzki. Yes, the same Nowitzki who let his #1 seed lose to an 8 seed in the first round of last year’s playoffs. All King James did was lead his undermanned team to their first NBA Finals in team history. James should have been the MVP last year, but he will for sure win the award this year. Can the Cavs get back to The Finals? Now, that’s an entirely different question. Last year’s team sparkplug, Anderson Varaejo, not happy with his contract offer, has threatened to sit out the entire season. Same goes for underrated scorer, Sasha Pavlovic. If those two sit out the entire year, it might be a long season in Cleveland. Yes, Drew Gooden and Zyndrunas Ilgauskas are solid role players for this squad, but those two and LeBron are just not enough to go far in the playoffs. The Cavs need last year’s Finals hero, point guard Daniel “Booby” Gibson, to step his game to the next level. He is their X-Factor if the Cavaliers are to make it deep into the ’08 Playoffs. ALMOST THERE DETROIT PISTONS (49-33) Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Tayshaun Prince are as strong as any starting five in the league. And Jason Maxiell is a very underrated bench player. Draft picks Rodney Stuckey and Arran Afflalo will try to infuse some youth into the team and Nazr Mohammed and Jarvis Hayes can add some veteran stability to D-Town. However, the Pistons just don ’t have that “it” factor that makes me think they can do anything to really make a move in the post-season, but I’m sure the fans in Motown think I’m wrong. They have regressed from losing the NBA Finals in 2005 to losing the Eastern Conference Finals in 2006 and 2007. I can see them getting a year older and taking a step back, losing in the Eastern Conference Semis this year. MIAMI HEAT (47-35) The Heat sure got old in a hurry during last year’s playoffs, didn’t they? Shaq looked slow, D-Wade just didn’t look right and the Heat got swept by the Bulls 4-0 in the first round. But any team returning Wade and Shaq Diesel has to be considered a contender, even with Wade being injured and possibly missing up to the first month of the season recovering from knee and shoulder surgeries. The Heat made a trade this week acquiring proven scorer Ricky Davis and backup big man Mark Blount from the Timberwolves. This gives them some nice depth and if Jason Williams can stay healthy at the point this team has some talent. Throw in emerging youngsters Dorrell Wright and Chris Quinn with solid veterans like Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem and Miami could be heating up just in time for playoff season. JUST IN NEW JERSEY NETS (46-36) Any team with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson on their squad has to be considered a playoff contender. If Nenad Krstic can come back healthy after missing almost all of last year with a torn ACL, this Nets team will be better than people think. Kidd is a sure-fire Hall of Famer while Carter and maybe even Jefferson are on their way. The key to the Nets ability to win some games will be their health. VC played all 82 games last year for only the second time in his career. Richard Jefferson missed 28 games last year recovering from ankle surgery. Nets big man Krstic is still recovering from surgery as well. Youngsters from last year’s draft, Antoine Wright and Josh Boone looked very capable at times and Bostjan Nachbar had a few very solid playoff games in 2007. Their first round draft pick, Sean Williams out of Boston College, has been called one of the best athletes in this year’s draft. Adding Jamaal Magloire at the 4 can only help as well. If the role players gel and everyone stays healthy, this team can surprise in their next-to-last season in the swamps of New Jersey before moving into their new Brooklyn Arena in 2009-2010. WASHINGTON WIZARDS (45-37) Agent Zero. Hibachi. ’08 MVP? Whatever you want to call Gilbert Arenas this year, he is poised to break out in a big way. When Arenas went down with a torn meniscus in the last couple of weeks of last year’s regular season, the Wizards season was all but over. Now Gilbert is back and ready to show the league ’06-’07 was not a fluke. Gilbert is talking about 55 wins for the Wiz, but I need to see more consistency beyond the “Big 3” to be a total believer. Along with Arenas, Butler and Jamison, what do the Wizards have as part of their future? Is Blatche ready to step it up? Is Songalia finally healthy? Will Daniels and Stevenson continue their growth within the system? Is Nick Young an overrated or underrated mid-round NBA draft pick? What will the Wizards get out of last year’s pick, Pecherov? Are Thomas and Haywood ready to put their differences behind them? Only time will tell. TORONTO RAPTORS (42-40) I must admit, Raps fans are some of the most loyal on the planet. I received several emails from Toronto fans last year after giving them no shot at the playoffs. I was wrong, the Raptors made the playoffs, but a first round loss has Toronto hungry for more. Last year’s rookie breakout Andrea Bargnani, Jorge Garbajosa and Chris Bosh form a solid front court. T.J. Ford, Jose Calderon, Anthony Parker and Carlos Delfino form a nice backcourt. The Raptors also spent money on three-point specialist Jason Kapono from the Heat. I’m just not sold the Raps can do it again. I do think they will squeak into the playoffs, but they just don’t have the talent to advance. JUST OUT ORLANDO MAGIC (41-41) Rashard Lewis for $110 million. Looking at the number, it boggles my mind. Lewis is an injury prone, one-dimensional (scoring) ball player. How he could get someone to give him a max deal is beyond me, but I think his agent needs a hearty congratulations. Don’t get me wrong, Lewis is a solid role player, but can never stay healthy and has yet to show he has any moxie to be a team leader. Dwight Howard on the other hand is a beast. He is one of the best young players in this league, and I would not be surprised to see him win a league MVP one day. Throw in Jameer Nelson and you have the nice start to a good little team. New coach Stan Van Gundy should help. I just don’t think they are ready for the playoffs, but with uber-center Howard, you never know. MILWAUKEE BUCKS (39-43) The Bucks had major injury issues last year as practically every member of its starting five went down at some point in the year. Michael Redd missed 29 games with a knee injury. Bobby Simmons missed the entire year with foot surgery on his heel and Charlie Villanueva suffered through a torn labrum for most of the year. Bogut went down with a foot sprain for the last month of the season as well. What went right for the Bucks last year? Well, they found out they have pretty darn good guards in Maurice Williams and Charlie Bell. The Bucks made a big splash in the draft by taking the Chinese sensation Yi Jianlian even after he refused to work out for them in the pre-draft camps. After originally balking at going to the land of the Cheeseheads, Yi is in Milwaukee and ready to go. Milwaukee also re-signed former fan favorite Desmond Mason after his brief stint in New Orleans the last two years. With everyone healthy, the Bucks could contend for a playoff spot if everything were to break right. INDIANA PACERS (38-44) The Pacers continued to change the look of their franchise by trading away Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington to the Golden State Warriors for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. Indiana still has their superstar Jermaine O’Neal ready to go to work and young players Danny Granger, Ike Diogu and Shawne Williams ready to continue their growth curve. Throw in veterans Jeff Foster, Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels, with new coach Jim O’Brien, and the Pacers are going to try to make a final playoff run before they go into rebuilding mode. NO CHANCE ATLANTA HAWKS (35-47) The one benefit from finishing near the bottom every year is the high draft choices that go along with it. The Atlanta Hawks have been stockpiling young talent and are hoping that this is the year they make the leap. Joe Johnson, acquired in a sign-and-trade from Phoenix two years ago, is the best superstar you have never heard of. Young players Josh Smith and Marvin Williams will look to pair with Johnson and lottery picks Al Horford and Acie Law to make basketball exciting again in Atlanta. The Hawks have some solid role players in Sheldon Williams, Josh Childress, Salim Stoudamire and perhaps the best name in all of sports, Zaza Pachulia. Throw in some cool new navy blue uniforms and the Hawks could be very fun to watch this season. NEW YORK KNICKS (33-49) The punch line is just too easy here, so I will refrain from the whole Isiah Thomas-Jim Dolan mess that is the Knicks right now and keep my commentary to what happens on the court. The Knicks did make a tremendous off-season trade, at least talent-wise, getting perennial 20-10 player Zach Randolph from the Portland Trailblazers in June for Channing Frye and Steve Francis. If Randolph can stay out of trouble in the Big Apple - and that’s a big if from a player who was once caught on bereavement leave from the Trailblazers “ mourning” at a Portland strip club - he can be a great number one scoring option for the Knicks from the 4. Eddy Curry and David Lee provide some nice frontcourt play as well. The issue muddies a bit at the guard spots. The Knicks just have too many of them. Marbury is probably locked in at the point, so that leaves Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Fred Jones and Quentin Richardson all fighting for minutes at the 2. The whole Isiah front-office drama will linger all season as well. I can’t see how this Knicks team will win more than 35 games. I have conservatively put them on the board with 33. PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (30-52) This 76ers team sure looks different that those of years past. The face of the franchise, Allen Iverson, was traded midseason after an 11 year career with Philly. Chris Webber was a salary cap casualty. Steven Hunter was traded for Reggie Evans. Make no mistake about it, the Sixers are in rebuilding mode. Andre Iguodala is an emerging force in the league and Kyle Korver can flat out shoot the rock. Samuel Dalembert can protect the paint and lottery pick Thaddeus Young might start strong. The Sixers just have no depth and, outside of AI2, not much star power. It’s hard to conceive that the Sixers would somehow make it to the second season this year. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS (29-53) The Bobcats had a rough off and pre-season as injuries to Adam Morrison and Sean May have put them both out for the year. Michael Jordan made some bold moves this off-season by trading a lottery pick for Jason Richardson. Jordan is hoping that Richardson’s veteran scoring ability will provide some leadership for this young Bobcat squad. Felton at the 1 and Gerald Wallace at the small forward position will fill up the stat sheet nightly and Okafor will anchor the middle. There is not much beyond these four and the Bobcats will have to do everything they can to stay out of the cellar in the East this season. New coach Sam Vincent has a long season ahead of him. Be sure to come back to the site later in the week for when I preview the Western Conference. -- ███ ███ ███ ███ █ █ ███ 最新大碟★Unbreakable★即將發行 ▅▅█ █ █ █ █ ◢◤ █ █ ▅▅█ 台灣新好男孩官方部落格 █▅▅ ███ ███ █ █ █ █ █ █▅▅ http://blog.pixnet.net/bsbtw 新好男孩首波主打單曲Ｉｎｃｏｎｓｏｌａｂｌｅ -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 61.216.143.76