1. San Antonio Spurs The Spurs remain the class of the division. The experience gained from winning last year's championship will lead to a boat-load of confidence. The Spurs will start fast and run away with the Midwest. Despite losing David Robinson, San Antonio had a great offseason, adding Radoslav Nesterovic, Hedo Turkoglu and Ron Mercer to an already talented roster. Tony Parker and Emanuel Ginobili will be even better than a year ago. And oh, did I mention that Tim Duncan is pretty good? 2. Dallas Mavericks What a great year the Mavs had last season. I worry about the hangover effect of losing to the Spurs in the conference finals, however. Coming so close to a title and then facing a long seven-month regular season before their next shot in the playoffs is intimidating, and I think they may struggle a bit to start. The Mavericks are talented, skilled and fast, and they'll outscore most of their opponents. Antawn Jamison will make up for the lost scoring of Nick Van Exel, but his points will come closer to the basket which should help complement all those shooters. 3. Minnesota Timberwolves This team might be favored to win it all if the NBA allowed the Timberwolves to play with two basketballs. Unfortunately they'll play with one like everybody else, so Flip Saunders gets to figure out how to get a team full of shooters to share. There's no denying the talent Kevin McHale has put on the floor, however, and the T'Wolves will be good. But good enough? We'll see. 4. Houston Rockets To win consistently in the NBA, you need a big star. And Yao Ming is going to be a BIG (literally and figuratively) star. Jeff Van Gundy will have the Rockets defending and playing with more discipline, and I believe he'll turn them around quickly. Look for Houston to make the playoffs this year and be a tough first-round matchup for some unlucky title contender. 5. Memphis Grizzlies Hubie Brown can coach. I recently witnessed him simultaneously running the Grizzlies through a swift, detailed practice and conduct an entertaining, informative clinic for the 20 or so high school and college coaches in attendance. It was amazing. Brown's passion and knowledge of the game are unsurpassed, and his players are clearly responding to him. Jason Williams is playing hard and intelligently, and if Pao Gasol continues to get better and stronger, this could be a tough team to beat. The Grizzlies are young and quick, and Hubie will press defensively and play a lot of people. The playoffs are doubtful. But if everything breaks their way, they might have a shot at the eighth spot. 6. Denver Nuggets Jeff Bdzilik may not be a household name in the NBA, but he knows what he's doing. The most difficult thing to do as a coach in the league is to get a bad team to play hard, and Bdzilik accomplished that last season. The Nuggets will be better this year, now that Carmelo Anthony is on board. He scores points every way imaginable – 3-pointers, offensive put-backs, post moves, drives and free throws – which will be a welcome addition to the most offensively challenged team in the league a year ago. Denver still is a couple of years away though. 7. Utah Jazz The strangest sight in the league this year will be watching the Utah Jazz without John Stockton and Karl Malone. I'm not sure why Jerry Sloan is still there, considering the massive rebuilding job ahead of this team. Sloan is one of the best coaches the NBA has ever seen, and he'll have his team playing hard. But they're in for a long year.
Quote: Originally posted by neXXes It's kind of rude to not say where you got this from. It's kind of rude to not....oh forget it...you're just a moron. ^ what dn1282 said LOL YOU JUST MADE YOURSELF LOOK LIKE A FOOL WHAT DONT YOU GET FROM WHAT NEXXES SAID? HE SAID ITS RUDE TO NOT PUT WHERE THAT GUY GOT THE ARTICLE FROM!!!!!! READ BEFORE YOU THINK AND THINK AFTER YOU READ.
Don't trust me, neXXes? Here's the preview for the Pacific Division as well, in case any of you are interested. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=sk-pacific&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
I think it would be safe to say that most around here would prefer to be able to look the articles up themselves...afterall..It's not unheard of for some around here to distort a article to make a point. houstoncart... the door is to your right, feel free to use it if ya dont like how things are around here.
Knowing Kerr as one of the great point guard ever played the game, had just gave a playoff life for the Rocks. Excellent thread!Thanks!
It's nice to see what a modern NBA player thinks about the situation! NOt some 70 year old or some guy who didn't even play middle school basketball!
Amazing how Kerr is able to bring the anger out of the newbies here. Come on guys. What's with all the anger over a damn sentence?
oh hell..sorry oveerr the double post. what are you talking about? the only anger I see here is directed at other posters. re: Kerr as one of the great PGs. I wouldnrt go that far....great shooter...yes but not really one of the great PGs imo
Ill comment on whatever inthe hell I feel like son, If you dont like it...its a big internet...go elsewhere, cause I aint changing.
whatever...I dont need to leave...I use a neat feature that ensures I dont have to see the crap you post. Plonk
I still don't see how it would have been rude unless I had distorted the article. As for Kerr, I'm not sure if he really had any PG skills... Wasn't he primarily a SG anyway?
it's not rude to leave off the link to an article. it's common courtesy to include the link to an article.
