07-08 Season Prediction Thread

http://www.nba.com/news/nelsoninterview.html


While preparing for NBA China Games 2007, Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson chatted with NBA.com from Shanghai.

NBA.com: How’s the flight?

Jameer Nelson: Our flight was good, it was long but it’s good to be on the plane with my teammates and much I cared for. We have fun on the plane, as much as we could.

NBA.com: How do you think about China so far?

Jameer Nelson: I like it. Of course different from where I come from, but you know it’s good to see different places and different things.

NBA.com: Have you tried any Chinese food yet?

Jameer Nelson: Yes I did, I tried some last night. We went to a restaurant, I am not sure about the name of it, it’s pretty good, it’s a lot better than the Chinese food I ever had.

NBA.com: About Dwight Howard.

Jameer Nelson: I think Dwight is a young player, but he works so hard, if he is not the best right now, I don’t know who is.

NBA.com: What you looking for in the next 7-8 days?

Jameer Nelson: Well, you know we still in training camp, in preseason, so we have a lot of work to do as a team. But I also look for a little sight-seeing and explore the city a little bit and see what China’s life about.

NBA.com: You averaged 2.4 turnovers per game last season, but in the last 3 games, you sent out 20 assists and only 3 turnovers.

Jameer Nelson: Yes. I think that’s one of the focus that I had coming in this season, you know cut down my turnovers , take care of the ball a lot better and help my team get better score opportunity.

NBA.com: What are the biggest differences between this year’s training camp and the past?

Jameer Nelson: The new coach. No (laughing), this year’s training camp is a little more tense but it’s also a lot more fun. I think we got a lot more accomplish this year than I have in previous years. So like I said it’s all fun but at the end of the day we got a lot of works done.

NBA.com: What had coach Van Gundy told you, what he wants from you?

Jameer Nelson: He wants me to raise my tensity level, play with a lot of energy and play basketball with confidence.

NBA.com: What kind of player Rashard Lewis is? What he brings to the team?

Jameer Nelson: Rashard is unique. He is a big guy about 6-10, 6-11, and out there on the court he almost like a guard. You know you can give him the ball and he can make play for himself and others, which is unique because not many guys out there can do this. He is a great teammate, great person.

NBA.com: What you been working on this summer?

Jameer Nelson: I always work on my jump shot, this year I worked a lot on ball handling, and there is a lot of moves that help my decision made.

NBA.com: JJ. Redick has been doing great recently.

Jameer Nelson: Yes, I think it’s attribute to the offense that we run, you know we have a open court offense, we make a lot of plays, a lot of one-on-one play. And he is such a great shooter, when people collapse on Dwight, they come to defense Rashard, Hedo and myself, so he is wide open, he knows it’s a easy 3-point shot then.

NBA.com: I know you have a tattoo says “Accomplish Everything Without Fear”, so no fear?

Jameer Nelson: No fear! I don’t see any reason to fear anybody of anything, I think we are all human beings, you are doing the same things, so you reason to fear then.

NBA.com: What’s your personal goal for the next season?

Jameer Nelson: I don’t never say any individual goals, if I have to say something for myself I would definitely said I understand of myself to help my team, being in a better position they we were last year.

NBA.com: Which team is going to win it all from the West?

Jameer Nelson: I am not sure who gonna win from the West, but I can tell you who gonna win from the East.

NBA.com: Orlando Magic.

Jameer Nelson: Of course.

NBA.com: So the Orlando Magic is going to win the division?

Jameer Nelson: I don’t see why we couldn’t.

NBA.com: What is the biggest change of this team from last year?

Jameer Nelson: I think is the style of play. You know we up and down, we play a lot up-tempo. It’s just not throw the ball to Dwight and everybody watch. When he gets the ball, he is in score position.

NBA.com: Who is your favorite player before you joining the NBA?

Jameer Nelson: My favorite player of all time is Charles Barkley, but my favorite player in the NBA right now is Kobe Bryant.

NBA.com: To you, which player is the most difficult to guard?

Jameer Nelson: Myself (Laughing), Nuh…I think you have guys like Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, you know all of the guys in that category are very very good players, and hard to guard, hard to figure out. So what you have to do is play hard, play with intensity against those of guys, when they come at you, you just right back at them.

NBA.com: When you first signed with the Magic, did you envision your role being what it is today?

Jameer Nelson: I think so. I thought eventually I could be a starting point guard in the NBA, and for the Magic. You know, so far I accomplish, I accomplish that in my career, I want accomplish more.

NBA.com: When your shots are not falling, what do you do to keep your head up and maintain your confidence for the next shot?

Jameer Nelson: You shoot the next one. You know you can’t pass that shot because you missed five in a row. If you missed five in a row, you always have things positive think this sixth one is gonna go in.

So Jameer picks Orlando to advance. He would since he's the team leader for them. Did anyone notice that they are going up tempo with Stan Van Gundy? wow can two brothers JVG and SVG be any more different???

 

eastern conference finals: boston over chicago in 6
western conference finals: houston over san antonio in 6

finals: houston over boston in 7

mvp: yao
dpoy: camby
roy: durant
coy: adelman
6th man: bonzi wells

 

http://www.***************/Story.asp?story_id=5653


50 Predictions for the New Season


By: Joel Brigham Last Updated: 10/15/07 2:33 PM ET | 3297 times read



At the start of every NBA season, all the basketball fans in the world find their heads laced with tough questions. How well is my team going to play this year? Can my guys stay healthy? Will so-and-so be traded?

Part of the excitement of the season is seeing how all of these questions play out. But waiting for answers requires patience, and that's never really been my strong point. To help satiate our hunger for the official start of the season I'm making 50 bold predictions about the 2007-2008 campaign.

I'm no Nostradamus, but I'm looking forward to seeing which of these guesses receive the most praise, and which send the most angst my way. No matter what the real results of this season, a good debate never hurt anybody.

And so, without further ado, Brigs's 50 Predictions for the 2007-2008 Season:

Records

1. The Boston Celtics will not win 50 games. Why not? Someone in that big three is getting hurt at some point.
2. If I'm guessing, that someone is Kevin Garnett. He's had too clean a bill of health for too long, and with his luck he'd hurt himself during the season in which he's had arguably the best shot at winning a title.
3. The Detroit Pistons will finish third in the Central Division, behind Chicago and Cleveland.
4. The L.A. Clippers will be double-digit games below five-hundred by the time Elton Brand makes it back from his injury.
5. The Philadelphia 76ers will have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
6. But their record won't be as bad as Portland's, who will own the fewest number of wins in the West, as well as the entire league.
7. The Chicago Bulls will have more wins this season than anybody else in the East, including Boston.
8. However, they still won't surpass the win totals of the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and Houston Rockets. The state of Texas is going to own the league this season.
9. Toronto will not repeat as champions of the Atlantic Division. The easy pick there is Boston, but I'm also expecting New Jersey to finish with a better record than the Canadian franchise as well. Figure in the Raptors for third there.

Statistics

10. The Chicago Bulls will lead the league in opponents' field goal percentage for the third time in four seasons.
11. LeBron James will lead the league in scoring with over 33 points per game.
12. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony will average at least 55 collective points per game this season.
13. Tyson Chandler will lead the league in rebounding.
14. Gilbert Arenas will score 60 points at least once this season.
15. So will Kobe Bryant.
16. LeBron James, on the other hand, will not have an individual game in which he cracks 50.
17. Paul Pierce will be the leading scorer of the Boston Celtics' "Big Three."
18, LaMarcus Aldridge will be a 20-point, 8-rebound guy this season for the Blazers.
19, Utah will be an excellent team again this year, but it will be hard to build on last season's success in such a tough conference. Still, Deron Williams will be an All-Star guard this year, and he will average more points than Chris Paul.
20, Chris Paul, meanwhile, will average more assists than Deron Williams.

Trades

21. Jermaine O'Neal will not, any point over the course of the season, be traded. As much as the Pacers need to ship him out, they can't afford to let him go. It's the nastiest of Catch 22's.
22. Kobe Bryant will spend the next two seasons playing out his contract in L.A. That means he's not going to Chicago or Dallas this season. A trade for Mamba means giving up half of your team's quality guys, and no one's going to find that worth it, no matter how great Bryant may be.
23. But that doesn't mean that Kobe's done complaining. There will be several more headlines between now and season's end that adamantly voice his displeasure with L.A.'s lack of success. If (or perhaps more likely—when) the Lakers miss the playoffs, he'll push harder than ever for a trade out of Tinseltown.
24. Ricky Davis will demand a trade from Minnesota sometime before the deadline, and he'll probably get it. Put a stamp on that one.
25. Juwan Howard, despite already having voiced displeasure with his position in Minnesota, will still spend the year with the Wolves because of the size of his contract. He's got a player option in his deal for 2008-2009 worth well over $7 million, and a guy of Howard's age and deteriorating skill set isn't giving that up, so he can't even be moved as an expiring salary. He's staying put whether he likes it or not.
26. Shawn Marion won't be traded, but that won't stop the media from suggesting that he will be at least 700,000 times.
27. Ron Artest is going to look mousy this season compared to the frustration that Mike Bibby is about to voice. Few players have more of a chance to be dealt by February than him.

Rookies

28. Kevin Durant won't win Rookie of the Year. Predictions about who actually will come later, but it won't be him.
29. Yi Jianlian is not going to have a very fruitful season. The league is too strong physically, and he'll have a hard time keeping up until he bulks up.
30. Al Horford will lead all rookies in rebounds.
31. Luis Scola will be the resounding new international stud from the rookie class of 2007. More so than Yi Jianlian, Marco Belinelli, or Kyrylo Fesenko.
32. Just taking a stab in the dark here—the Minnesota Timberwolves will win the next draft lottery.

Individual Performances

33. Jason Richardson will struggle in Charlotte. He's still upset about the trade from Golden State, and I can see him throwing an occasional tizzy about the relative inexperience of his new squad.
34. Jamaal Tinsley will not be cited for any illegal activities over the course of the 2007-2008 season. He may have things to wrap up from past mistakes, but at least for this year, his nose stays clean.
35. Darko Milicic will not average double figures for points or rebounds this season.
36. By the end of the year Mike Conley will have established himself as the clear starter at point guard for Memphis. Despite the optimism surrounding 37. Kyle Lowry and Juan Carlos Navarro—who both should prove outstanding talents—Conley will beat them out and earn the spot clearly and competitively.
38. Despite the hype, Penny Hardaway will be a non-factor in Miami this season.
39. Same goes for Allan Houston in New York.
Shaq will have a Brett Favre-esque season this year, rejuvenating himself and making a lot of people believe he's about ten years younger than he actually is. Consider this the year of "Comebaq Shaq."
40. By late March, there will be rumblings of Darrell Armstrong coaching the New Jersey Nets next season.
41. Despite whatever jeers he might get at Madison Square Garden this year, Isiah Thomas won't be fired by the New York Knicks, as coach or as general manager.
42. Rashard Lewis, through massive criticism over the size of his contract, will be an All-Star for the Orlando Magic.
43. Chicago's Luol Deng also will be in New Orleans for this year's big midseason weekend as well, making him the first Bulls All-Star since Michael Jordan.
44. Robert Swift is going to surprise some people up there in Washington. He'll be the winner of the unofficial "Where'd This Guy Come From?" award.
45. The All-Star weekend in New Orleans this season will not result in the law-breaking nightmares that were associated with the Las Vegas excursion last season. Louisiana will prove an affable host for this event.

Playoffs

46. Atlanta's new uniforms (and new rookies) will help fuel them to their first playoff berth since 1999.
47. The Cleveland Cavaliers will not be the Eastern Conference representative in the Finals this season. In fact, they won't even make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.
48. In much the same way that people get sleepy after a huge rush of adrenaline, the Golden State Warriors will take a step backwards this year instead of building on last year's progress. They will not make the playoffs.
49. If Peja Stojakovic is healthy for at least 70 games, the Hornets are a playoff team in the Western Conference.
50. Phoenix will have a down year and therefore won't have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs this year. The other non-Texan Western Conference team rounding out the top four? The Denver Nuggets.

So which of these predictions are spot-on and which are utter malarkey? We'll all find out soon enough, as we certainly will revisit these at season's end. Here's one last bold prediction before I open the floodgates on my email account for massive debates with passionate NBA fans:

I'll get at least 35 of these right. That means I'd be shooting 70% from the field, batting .700, completing 70% of my passes for touchdowns. Not bad, eh?




About The AuthorJoel Brigham covers the Chicago Bulls and the NBA for HOOPSWORLD and is an editor and contributor for SWISH Magazine.

 

Same systems, same offense, same defensive philosophies, it's just that the Rockets never had Jameer Nelson playing pg, and a center and powerforward, the 2 best players on the team, who could outrun most guards.

TMac and Yao are both half court players. We were stuck with Francis' turnovers', Mark Jackson's oldness, Sura's injuries, Wesley's lack of point guard capabilities, and no backup point guard. If you remember, JVG always wanted us to get up the court, but we didn't have the proper players to run.

THe Magic are extremely young and athletic. They're going to be fun to watch, especially once they get the defense down.

 

WC Champs: Rockets
EC Champs: Bulls

MVP: LeBron
ROY: Kevin Durant
DPY: Josh Smith
COY: Rick Adelman
6th Man: Gordon
Most Improved Player: Aldridge

1st Team:
Yao
Garnett
LebBon
Kobe
Wade

2nd Team:
D. Howard
duncan
TMac
Gilbert
Nash[

 

I'm sorry, I can't agree with any of your picks.

WC Champs: Suns
EC Champs: Bulls

MVP: LeBron James
ROY: Al Horford
DPOY: Ben Wallace
COY: Marc Iavaroni
6th Man: Manu Ginobili
MIP: Nenad Krstic