Predict stuff.

I will wait to predict stuff until Kstat goes first.

Cavs-Champs
Pistons- 8 seed 43-39
Lakers-West champs
Bron,Dwade,Kobe-MVP voting
Dhoward -DPOY-dar
Not wasting time on ROY
MANU-6th

Chalk

:chad:


MVP: Dwight Howard | ROY: Blake Griffin | Coach: Nate McMillan | MIP: Greg Oden | 6 Man: Lamar Odom

:chad:


Byron Scott will be the first coach fired this season. Lawrence Frank (once new owner is approved) won't be far behind.


Lakers will finish with best record in the West ... Kings with the worst


Magic will finish with best record in the East ... Bucks with the worst


Clippers and Pacers will make the playoffs this season ... Suns and Raptors won't
I already posted that one ^ the other day somewhere.

Here goes:

East
1. LeBron
2. Magic
3. Celtics
4. Hawks
5. Wizards
6. Pistons
7. Bulls
8. Raptors

West
1. Lakers
2. Spurs
3. Nuggets
4. Blazers
Nobody else has a chance, so who cares?

DPOY: Superman

6th man: Ben Gordon

MIP: It's a crapshoot. Hopefully Stuckey.

MVP: Kobe

EAST Champs: Celtics

WEST Champs: Lakers

Overall: Lakers

Rip or Tay will be traded by the deadline.

Celts beat Cavs in the East. I'm counting on a healthy Celt squad.
Lakers in the West.

Pistons make the playoffs.

Lawrence Frank will be fired and replaced by Steve Phillips.

Lakers win another.

East: Cavs
West: Lakers/Nuggets

DPOY: Howard
6th man: Ginobili
MIP: No idea
MVP: LeCrab

Finals: Spurs beat Celtics (or Cavs if Garnett doesn't come back good)

A couple of quick Piston predictions:

Pistons don't make the playoffs. The big problem is they can't play their best 5 players (Stuckey, Gordon, Hamilton, Prince, and Villaneuva) at the same time. I see some potential chemistry issues as to who gets on the floor in crunch time. I couldn't stop thinking about it when they played Milwaukee in the last preseason game.

Dumars trades Rip for about 50 to 75 cents for a dollar deal that will give the Pistons financial flexibility for next year and beyond. Something like Rip to Minnesota for Cardinal, Brewer, and Utah's #1.

And for the rest of the NBA, there are only 5 teams that matter this year (at least as far as championship contention goes): Boston, Cleveland, Lakers, Orlando, and San Antonio. I'll tackle these teams one by one.

Cleveland: I don't like the Shaq deal. He couldn't defend Glan and Tahoe in the pick and roll at this point. I think he only plays 55 to 60 games (remember, the Phoenix trainers are the best in the league, to the point Hill and Nash re-signed there in part because of them) and never adequately accepts playing 2nd fiddle to LeBron. I see them losing in the 2nd round.

Lakers: I think Artest will submarine them. We can't forget he's completely insane, and there are countless examples of this. And now he's in L.A. This is not a good thing. I see this being much more difficult for Phil Jackson than Rodman. No repeat.

Boston: Really like them. Much deeper than last year. Their biggest weakness is they can't go small, like they did so effectively in their championship season. However, I don't think KG will ever be the same. Which means that the Celtics will have to rely on Sheed. And we Piston fans have seen how that turns out. I can't wait for Celtic fans to watch playoff games praying for Sheed not to get a T, knowing that once he hits 7 it's a suspension. Good times!!!

Which leaves us with the Orlando and San Antonio. Now, I think San Antonio is the smartest organization in sports. My theory is that their owner, GM, and coach know that the odds are outstanding that their is going to be an extended lockout in 2 years, and the season may even be cancelled. So they said, "Screw it, we'll spend money now, go over the luxury tax, go all out for the title before Duncan retires, and make our money back in 2 years when we don't have to pay the players." Hence, the Jefferson trade and the McDyess signing.

And I also think Orlando stumbled onto this theory as well, which explains why they would match the full MLE offer for Gortat when he will only play 12 minutes a game, even after they traded for Vince and signed Bass. Which means that I believe that Orlando will use the trade exception from the Turkoglu trade to add another piece. Maybe something like the rights to Fran Vazquez and a first round pick to a struggling Houston team for Battier. And I think whoever they add will put them over the top.

So my Finals prediction: Orlando over the Spurs. In 6.

(And I reserve the right to change my mind).

I forgot about Artest on Lakers...
Apparently he was a fucking mess in Houston, but they did a great job of hiding a lot of his antics.

Good luck doing that in LA...

And for the rest of the NBA, there are only 5 teams that matter this year (at least as far as championship contention goes): Boston, Cleveland, Lakers, Orlando, and San Antonio.
You don't think Portland has a shot at a 'ship? Dallas could also do something huge with their expiring Dumpier deal and Cuban's willingness to spend.Even with the mess in New Orleans and Houston, I jsut don't see the West as a two-team race yet.

East:

1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Orlando
4. Atlanta
5. Washington
6. Detroit
7. Indiana
8. Miami

West:

1. LA Lakers
2. San Antonio
3. Dallas
4. Utah
5. New Orleans
6. Denver
7. Phoenix
8. LA Clippers

Playoffs

EAST PLAYOFFS

Boston over Miami
Cleveland over Indiana
Orlando over Detroit
Washington over Atlanta

Boston over Washington
Cleveland over Orlando

Boston over Cleveland

WEST PLAYOFFS

LA Lakers over LA Clippers
San Antonio over Phoenix
Denver over Dallas
New Orleans over Utah

LA Lakers over New Orleans
San Antonio over Denver

San Antonio over LA Lakers

NBA FINALS

Boston over San Antonio

Awards

MIP: Will Bynum
DPOY: Dwight Howard
6th man: Jason Terry
ROY: Blake Griffin
COY: Mike Dunleavy
MVP: Kobe Bryant

All NBA 1st team:

C: Dwight Howard
F: Tim Duncan
F: LeBron James
G: Kobe Bryant
G: Chris Paul

All NBA 2nd team:
C: Amare Stoudemire
F: Kevin Garnett
F: Danny Granger
G: Dwayne Wade
G: Deron Williams

All NBA 3rd team:

C: Al Jefferson
F: Dirk Nowitzki
F: Kevin Durant
G: Vince Carter
G: Tony Parker

All NBA defense 1st team:

C: Dwight Howard
F: Kevin Garnett
F: Ron Artest
G: Rajon Rondo
G: Kobe Bryant

All NBA defense 2nd team:

C: Ben Wallace
F: LeBron James
F: Josh Smith
G: Trevor Ariza
G: Chris Paul

All Rookie 1st team:

C: Hasheem Thabeet
F: Blake Griffin
F: Dejuan Blair
G: James Hardin
G: Johnny Flynn

All Rookie 2nd team:

F: Jordan Hill
F: Austin Daye
F: Tyler Hansbrough
G: Tyreke Evans
G: Brandon Jennings

mip: Oden or Bynum
mvp: lebron

lakers champs

COY: Mike Dunleavy
I hope so, just to hear Simmons bitch on about it.

You don't think Portland has a shot at a 'ship? Dallas could also do something huge with their expiring Dumpier deal and Cuban's willingness to spend.Even with the mess in New Orleans and Houston, I jsut don't see the West as a two-team race yet.

I like Dallas. I think they're the third best team out west. And you made a good point about Cuban. Let's say Philly's struggling around midseason (a distinct possibility). I could see Cuban offering up Dampier and Beaubois for Brand, and Philly accepting due to their financial situation (it'd save them almost $30 million next year counting luxury tax). I still don't think they'd be on the level of the Spurs or Lakers, but they'd be interesting.

Portland doesn't have the experience. Have any of their rotation guys gotten past the first round? Plus signing Miller and not starting him (behind Steve Blake of all people) is not going to work. The chemistry isn't what it was last year, which I think will hurt them.

I mulled this over the weekend, so here goes:

EC playoff teams
Cleveland
Boston
Orlando
Atlanta
Washington
Toronto
Miami
Philly

WC playoff teams
Lakers
Portland
Dallas
San Antonio
Denver
Utah
Clippers
Hornets

Spurs lose in Round 1, maybe to the Nuggets

EC Finals
Cavs over Magic

WC Finals
Lakers over Blazers

NBA Finals
Lakers over Cavs (KOBE OVER SHAQ, YAY!)

MVP
LeBron

ROY
Blake

6th Man
Millsap

DPOY
Dwight

MIP
Courtney Lee (or maybe Corey Brewer)

Coach
Nate McM

Injuries/Misc
-Oden goes down early again
-Darko gets in some off the court trouble
-The Bucks will be the worst team
-The Hawks will upset someone in the playoffs, maybe Boston
-Career year for Flip Murray
-Rashard Lewis' suspension costs the Magic the #2 seed
-AI gets injured and retires
-The Kings win the lottery, and then announce that they plan to move to Vegas
-I want to say that the Hornets fall apart and miss the playoffs, but I can't find a team to replace them at #8
-Pistons get the #10 pick

Here are the ESPN Pistons predictions:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/preview2009/news/story?page=Predictions0910-Pistons

Pistons get the #10 pick




And if we redid the draft right now, that player would go in the top 3.

Added a poll for reg season wins/playoffs.

If you want to predict a specific # of wins in addition to voting in the poll, post it here.

Vegas has 40.5 as the over/under.

I'm going with 39 wins.

48 wins

Pistons best possible win total: 48 wins.
Pistons worst possible win total: 33 wins.

Pistons will make the playoffs.

Boston will have the 1 seed.

Cleveland will not win the title.

I agree, Cleveland won't win the title.

Boston v Orlando in ECF
Lakers v Spurs in WCF

Lakers v Boston in Finals

Boston wins the title (cheer for Sheed)

We make the playoffs.

Number of wins for us? I say bet the over in Vegas, but only just (41-41)

We're you guys as confident about the Cavs not winning the title before they were 0-2?

-The Kings win the lottery, and then announce that they plan to move to Vegas




MORNING JOLT: Las Vegas desires NBA team http://bit.ly/22a2La

I knew the Cavs wouldn't win it the minute they got Shaq

It takes a full season to figure out how to use Shaq without crippling your own team. That's what happened in Miami anyway.

We're you guys as confident about the Cavs not winning the title before they were 0-2?
Yes. I also don't think they get to the Finals, let alone win it. Face it, Brown is a stupid idiot and doesn't know how to coach offense. Now add in a hall of fame player that is very vocal. If Brown mis-uses him (and he will), how long will it be before he starts talking?

Who plays defense on that team anyway? Lebron plays good enough defense, but not great. Who can guard the pick and roll, or the perimeter oriented PF's? We saw Turk destroy that team because Side Show and Big Z couldn't stay with him. They're even slower with Shaq in the mix. All teams have to do is space the floor, run pick and rolls and the Cavs bigs can't move fast enough to help out. How do they stop a healthy KG?

What does it take to get you guys to post your picks then? Lol
I think Lebron is good enough to get to the Finals in spite of Brown, who I agree is terrible.

Bron's defense is pretty damn close to great now.

What does it take to get you guys to post your picks then? Lol
I think Lebron is good enough to get to the Finals in spite of Brown, who I agree is terrible.
Posting picks takes quite a while to do... but fine. Here goes:

East:
1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Orlando
4. Atlanta
5. Miami
6. Washington
7. Philadelphia
8. Chicago

Toronto
Detroit
New York
New Jersey
Indiana
Charlotte
Milwaukee

West:
1. Los Angeles
2. San Antonio
3. Denver
4. Portland
5. Houston
6. Dallas
7. LA Clippers (If Griffin doesn't miss more than 15 games)
8. New Orleans

Phoenix
Oklahoma City
Utah
Golden State
Sacramento
Memphis
Minnesota

Biggest Suprise: Clippers
Biggest Disappointment: Utah

East Finals: Boston over Cleveland
West Finals: San Antonio over Portland

Champ: San Antonio

MVP Voting: 1) LeBron 2) Dwight Howard 3) Durant 4) Kobe

Rookie: Griffin (as long as he's healthy), if not: Evans

Pistons specific:
38-44
9th pick in the draft
No significant trades throughout the season
Ben Gordon will be loved once every four games
Ben Wallace will have a solid season, but nothing like he was before
Jonas Jerebko will be everyone's favorite Pistons by January
Chucky Atkins will make us long for the days that we had Mateen
Austin Daye will be more like Hubert Davis than Tayshaun Prince
Chris Wilcox will impress some haters
Glan will get the last laugh with Rodney Stuckey
WTF to Rip's hair
Coach Q will continue to get uglier as the season passes

Other NBA predictions:
Ron Artest will be a distraction and cost the Lakers
The Knicks might surprise a few people
There will be at least 4 new LOL@(*insert team*) threads this season. (the Cavs count)
Lamar Odom will get more media attention than Dwyane Wade
McGrady will get injured
Agent Zero will get injured
Elton Brand will get injured
Jermaine O'Neal is hilariously bad
Antoine Walker will attempt to make a comeback
Johnny Flynn will suck
Mike Brown will be fired
Byron Scott will be fired
When the Pacers play, we'll all get 1980s nostalgia. And our eyes will hurt.
Charles Barkley will be suspended

I got nothing else for now.

That's fantastic, thanks!

edit: Although I'm disheartened that you don't have the Pistons winning the Central and some "local flavor" (if you know what I mean) in the MVP, Rookie and Championship categories. Oh well, I guess you can make changes when we do this again at the midway point.

stop

stop
haha

But why?

fuck it

Month, can you explain why you think "Johnny Flynn will suck"?


He looks pretty good to me.

THX

"mo" not "month"

G'damn autocomplete

the Thunder will have a winning record at some point this year against the Central.

* Spurs win the NBA Title

* John Hammond is fired after the year

* Lawrence Frank gets fired

Mo, can you explain why you think "Johnny Flynn will suck"?


He looks pretty good to me.

THX
He does look pretty good so far. This prediction might be a poor one.

I just figured by his height and skillset, he would be an NBA bust. I loved the guy in college, but I wasn't sure his game would translate to the NBA. Generally, my predictions suck when it comes to that kind of thing.

MVP - Kobe Bryant
ROY - Brandon Jennings
COY - Jay Triano
6MOY - Manu Ginobili
DPOY - Dwight Howard
MIP - Danilo Gallinari
Champs - Lakers
E. Champs - Celtics
W. Champs - Lakers
E. Worst Record - Knicks
W. Worst Record - T'Wolves
First Coach Fired - Byron Scott

i dont think gallianirli can get that award...he was injured all season last year as a rookie...of course he's going to do better than last year. sophmores are expected to improve compared to someone like AndrewBynum or Greg Oden.

Definitely. I just couldn't think of anyone who's going to have nearly the jump in numbers that I'm hoping Gallinari will. He's an amazing shooter on a team that promotes chucking.

Gallinari is in the perfect situation - the Coach loves him, the team is going nowhere and he's the "future". You gotta expect big numbers from him.

Same with Ariza in Houston. That team is going nowhere and he's the only guy in the starting line-up that has the potential to take over offensively. Now he's got the green light you'll see some big nights from him.