- Go Clippers Go
- Kobe hurt again
- The Memphis Grizzlies are the team nobody wants to play
- The Mavericks chances of repeating
- "Metta World Peace"
First we start in LA, but surprisingly not with the purple and gold team. This off season has been one of the most noteworthy in Clippers history because they traded for Chris Paul. And for once in a very long time, the Clippers appear willing to spend money on good players. They signed veteran point guard Chauncey Billups to a low risk high reward deal, they picked up Caron Butler who can still put up points, and they retained Mo Williams to give them points coming off the bench. Not to mention they still have rising star and I-can-dunk-over-anything-and-anyone-at-any-given-time athlete Blake Griffin; who continues to show improvement in facets of his game and expand his range outside of dunking and closer. There is a lot to be excited about in la la land this season, but it has a different feel coming from the Clippers.
From LA, to LA we see that in the midst of the Lakers-Dwight Howard flirt fest, Kobe Bryant has gotten hurt again. Byrant has a torn ligament in his right hand during a preseason game with the idle Clippers, and if the Lakers had cause for concern before the injury they should be petrified now. Kobe Bryant has been one of the best, if not the best player in the NBA over the course of his career, and through his trial and tribulations, Bryant sustained a reputation of playing through pain. Over the course of his NBA career, Bryant has played through a broken finger on his shooting hand, a strained knee, back spasms, a sprained ankle, a strained elbow, and a partridge in a pear tree. Nobody is questioning Byrant's toughness and competitive fire, but at what point does playing through pain endanger a person's body for the rest of their life? The day will come when Bryant's body physically breaks down all at once and it will be very hard for everyone to take. Kobe Bryant is one of the five greatest Lakers of all time, he has won five titles, he is sixth on the all time scoring list and will finish in the top five before his career is done; Bryant has nothing left to prove to anyone, so worrying about his own health a bit more might be just what the doctor ordered.
From a team with a hurt star to a team with plenty of young stars in the making, the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz made their statement in the NBA a year ago with their first round upset of the highly favored San Antonio Spurs. The Grizzlies are young, fun, and have the best low post duo in the entire league. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol are both big, physical rebounders who can score against anybody. Mike Conley took a big step forward last season and O.J. Mayo can do what he does best, score the basketball. The Grizzlies did lose Shane Battier to free agency, but they get a healthy Rudy Gay back to make them even better. Tony Allen will fill in as the off the bench defender that Battier was, and there is plenty of depth on this Grizzlies team. The western conference and the rest of the NBA should beware the bears in 2011.
From an upstart team to the defending NBA champions, the Dallas Mavericks are getting up there in age. None of the Mavericks starting five going into the season is under the age of 32, and Dallas dealt some of it's younger players to clear cap space for the upcoming free agency period in 2012. Dirk Nowitzki is still one of the best scorers in the NBA and Vince Carter will have to get his points if the Mavericks want to compete. The Mavs will miss Tyson Chandler's rebounding ability and defensive play very badly because he was the perfect complement to the face up scoring style of Nowitzki. Brandon Haywood will be able to clog the middle like Chandler, but he can't put up those same numbers down low. Jason Terry will contend for the sixth man of the year award this season, but other than him and Shawn Marion, the Mavericks have nobody scary coming off the bench. The Dallas Mavericks won it all a year ago, but with key role players gone and an aging roster, don't expect a repeat in big D.
From the defending NBA champions to the team that they beat in the second round of the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers and the introduction of the artist formerly known as Ron Artest. Artest has always been one of the most puzzling players in the NBA, but his September 16th decision to change his name to Meta World Peace takes the cake. World Peace told Stephen A. Smith that the name Meta means friendship, love, and kindness and that the last name is simply so fans can buy world peace jerseys. As far as name changes go, this one was extremely week because it lacks common sense. Yes Meta World Peace implies a very nice name and the artist formerly known as Artest has matured from his playing days with the Indiana Pacers once upon a time. That being said, World Peace was not so peaceful when he was involved in an on the court fight and separate fight in the stands at the Palace at Auburn Hills in 2004. So due to his track record, World Peace's name change comes off more as a joke than an attempt to instill morals into the basketball viewing community.
With the story lines covered, let us look at how the west will be won.
1:Dallas Mavericks
2: Oklahoma City Thunder
3: Memphis Grizzlies
4: Los Angeles Lakers
5: Portland Trail Blazers
6: San Antonio Spurs
7: Los Angeles Clippers
8: Denver Nuggets
9: Utah Jazz
10: Golden State Warriors
11: Phoenix Suns
12: Houston Rockets
13: Minnesota Timberwolves
14: Sacramento Kings
15: New Orleans Hornets
We start with the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks
The Mavericks open up the NBA season in defense of their title with the banner celebration in the faces of the Miami Heat. Still, the '11-12 version of the Dallas Mavericks is far less equipped to make a run at the NBA championship than last years title winners. For one thing the Mavericks do not have front court depth of any kind, so if Dirk or Brendan Haywood go down then the Mavericks would find themselves playing catch up to the upstart Thunder and Grizzlies. Another weakness of the Mavericks would be the aforementioned starting five vs the lockout shortened season. The youngest member of the Mavericks starters is the 32 year old Haywood. Still, the Mavericks are the defending champions with Dirk Nowtizki becoming increasingly difficult to guard. Dallas also has two veteran players, Vince Carter and Lamar Odom, who should both put up their fair share of points despite their age. The Mavs will get the benefit of the doubt from a lot of people because they are the champs and the Thunder and Grizzlies are still young; and until one of those teams knock out Dallas, the Mavericks are still the team to beat out West.
Next up in the battle for Western Conference Supremacy is the Oklahoma City Thunder
With the Mavericks, Lakers, and Spurs taking steps back this off season, the time for the Oklahoma City Thunder to take the Western Conference title is now. The Thunder have maybe the best young core players in Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka. Durant can score form anywhere at anytime against anybody. Westbrook is quick, explosive, and a very good scorer as well. Ibaka is a defensive monster and seems to be improving offensively. The Thunder can also take pride in their defense, which finished 18th in the league in points allowed a year ago, and should be better now that the team gets a full year together. Oklahoma City might also be the deepest team in the NBA with James Harden anchoring a stable of shooting guards that can put points up in a hurry.
The key to the Thunder's success will be the continued improvement of their young core. Durant is already one of the best offensive players in the game, but he needs to get better on defense. Westbrook is explosive and talented with a very high ceiling, but he needs to play within his game and not take thirty shots to score thirty points. And most importantly, Serge Ibaka has to continue his growth as the team's third scoring option. Ibaka averaged ten points a game last season, but that number needs to be higher if the Thunder want to take the next step.
If Ibaka, Westbrook, and Durant all continue their accelerated improvements, they could very well represent the Western Conference in the NBA finals this season.
Next up on the Western Conference hierarchy is the Memphis Grizzlies
These Grizzlies are a very dangerous, very young team with a big chip on their collective shoulders. The Grizzlies have perhaps the best front court duo in the NBA in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Both of these bigs can score, rebound, and block shots with relative ease. There is only one team in the NBA who even have a chance of stopping them down low is the Oklahoma City Thunder duo of Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. But Memphis can do it on the wings too. Mike Conley Jr. is coming into his own as a point guard in the NBA and O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay can put up points at will. Memphis also has an off the bench point guard in Greivis Vazquez and a lock down defender in Tony Allen. Memphis is one team that plenty of people will sleep on this season, but the entire NBA should beware these bears.
The scene shifts to Hollywood to take a look at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Even after the Lakers failed attempt to trade for CP3 in the off season and the ongoing flirtatious behavior between the purple and gold and one Dwight Howard, the Lakers will still make the playoffs with relative ease. Kobe Bryant will once again play his way through excruciating pain to lead the Lakers in scoring. Pau Gasol can still be a serviceable number two scorer for LA. And
Now onto perhaps the second most underrated team in the Western conference, the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Portland Trail Blazers made the playoffs a year ago and still have a very good nucleus entering a lockout shortened season. What happened to Brandon Roy is truly a shame, and Roy will be missed in the locker room and as a presence on the team. That being said, Portland have picked up former Atlanta Hawk Jamal Crawford and his 14 points per game off the bench last season in order to make up for the loss. Even so, there are plenty of other reasons to be afraid of Portland. LaMarcus Aldridge is getting better every year, and he is quickly becoming a standout player in a league decimated at the power forward position. Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace are solid pieces that can contribute points to the Blazers. But what makes Portland so scary in a lockout shortened season is their depth. They have three serviceable front court players in Craig Smith, Kurt Thomas, and Nicolas Batum that teams would kill to have this season. Portland will be another quietly good team that a lot of people will forget about because of Brandon Roy's departure; don't sleep on the Blazers.
Up next comes the old reliable San Antonio Spurs.
Normally you could wind the Spurs up in an 82 game season and watch as they moved their way to 55 wins or more every year. But with the league shortening it's season and the extra sets of seven games in ten days, this will be the year that the San Antonio Spurs begin to slow down. Tim Duncan's numbers, 13.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, were well below his career totals of 20.6 and 11.4; and now, 35 years of age, Duncan is not getting younger any time soon. But it is not just Duncan that is getting up there in age. Manu Ginobili is 34 and Richard Jefferson is 31, and both have had injury problems over the past two seasons. The Spurs do have Tony Parker, but he also missed time last season with injuries. If the Spurs most important four players all got bitten constantly by the injury bug a year ago in a full season, the Spurs collective starting group will last about as long as the ninth season of Scrubs did on ABC. The Spurs did lock up the sleeper of the draft in Kawhi Leonard, but his arrival will be too little to late to help the team. San Antonio has been the epicenter of consistency in the NBA over the last decade, but father time is still undefeated and the Spurs will show their age this season.
Next up we have the team that everyone is talking about this year...The Los Angeles Clippers.
The one thing that could cause the Clippers to loose the battle for LA is their concerning lack of front court depth with Chris Kaman gone. The Clippers are all in on DeAndre Jordan who averaged 7.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last season. If Blake Griffin gets hurt, then the Clippers can kiss their postseason dreams goodbye.
The Clippers will not do as well as the idle Lakers this season, but one thing is certain, both teams out in Los Angeles are facing steep expectations for the 2011-2012 season.
Rounding out the west's top eight is the Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are one of the teams that have fallen a bit in the power rankings because they lead the NBA in players stuck overseas for the first half of the season. Denver's productive small forward, Wilson Chandler, veteran post presence Keyon Martin, and crazy athletic guard J.R. Smith are all under contract with foreign teams until at least the mid way point in the season. Whether or not all of these free agents will return to Denver after their time overseas is up is still undecided. That being said, the Nuggets still have a workable team lead by the up and coming Ty Lawson and the underrated Nene. Lawson averaged just under twelve points per game a year ago and appears to be on the fast track to success in the NBA. Nene was quietly averaged 14.5 points per game and should be a big part of what Denver wants to do. Also, Chris Andersen leads the NBA in tattoos per square inch of one's body, and also averaged five rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game off the bench. Plus, the Nuggets have played better without Carmelo Anthony after the disgruntled star took his distractions with him to the big apple. The Nuggets will not do as well as they would have liked due to the number of absent contributors on their roster, but with the rest of the conference getting older, Denver should still be okay.
9: Utah Jazz. The Jazz have a very underrated front court, which is an increasingly rare find in today's NBA. Al Jefferson is a very good player who put up 18.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game a year ago. Paul Millsap has also been flying under the radar in Utah; he had 17.3 points per game and 7.6 boards per game last season. But the lack of a shooting guard and inconsistent back court play will leave the Jazz singing the blues come June.
10: The Golden State Warriors. Golden State and their new head coach Marc Jackson will be one of the most fun teams in the NBA to watch. Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, and David Lee make for a very good young core that simply needs to develop and mature before challenging the big boys for conference supremacy. It will be interesting to see if Jackson coaches the players towards their strengths of shooting, or if Jackson instills a more defensive minded approach. Either way, Golden State is still a year and the Spurs or Mavericks wearing down away from being playoff contenders.
11: Phoenix Suns. The Arizona weather is leaving coach Alvin Gentry's seat extremely hot. Even though the Suns scored the fourth most points per game in the league a year ago, gave up the second most points in the league per game last season as well. It looks to be more of the same this year as they return the same team without adding anyone noteworthy.
12: Houston Rockets. The Rockets are still in their rebuilding phase. Kevin Martin will put up points and Luis Scola will bring in rebounds, but there Houston still has a problem at point guard. Kyle Lowry is not the answer and they missed out on Chauncey Billups in the off season. Expect the Rockets to finish towards the bottom of the league again in 2011-2012.
13: Minnesota Timberwolves. It looks to be another long year for the wolf pack this season. Kevin Love will lead the league in rebounding again this season while Derrick Williams will eventually beat out Michael Beasley for the starting small forward position before the season is done. Adding Brad Miller helps a bit, but Ricky Rubio was not ready to play in the NBA when the T-Wolves drafted him and he will not be a good player now. No depth and a mediocre team will mean the Minnesota Timberwolves will hope that they get the ping pong balls to bounce in their favor come April.
14: Sacramento Kings. Guess who the league's fourth best rebounding team was a year ago? The Kings. Guess what their record last year was? 24-58. And with all of the speculation as to if the Kings will move out to Anaheim will distract the young team and keep them down in the cellar.
15: New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets finished seventh in the league a year ago and got a future star in Eric Gordon this off season. But that was outweighed by the loss of their two best players, Chris Paul and David West, this off season. Goodbye basketball success in the big easy and hello worst record in the NBA.
That is all for part two of the preview extravaganza, stay tuned for playoff predictions, conference winners, and who will win the NBA title in part three of the NBA preview extravaganza.
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