NBA Season Preview - The Western Conference

If you were looking for a NBA Western Conference preview, you’ve come to the wrong place.  Mustache Sports only provides playoff prediction sort of things.  Remember, I’ve got lots to do at work so I can’t write up detailed previews for every single team.  But what I can provide is an opinion on the West will shape up this season. 

Here’s how I think the top 8 seeds will look come playoff time. 

1.  Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have the best 1-2 punch with Durrant and Westbrook in the West and baring an injury to those two, the Sonics should win what looks to be a weaker Western Conference.  Anytime you get a chance to watch this team play, it’s worth your 2.5 hours.  James Harden and Serge Ibaka are two of my favorite players in the entire league.  The Oklahoma City Thunder are the Chicago Bulls of the West. 

2.  San Antonio Spurs

Despite everyone hollering about the Spurs being too old, they won the most regular season games in the West last year and held the number one seed.  I don’t sleep on Greg Popovich and what he does as a coach.  If he’s saying DeJuan Blair and James Anderson are good at basketball, then I’m going to believe him. 

3.  Los Angeles Clippers

Lob City baby!  What gets lost in all the CP3 talk is the fact that the Clippers have a really nice team.  Caron Butler and Chauncey “Mr Big Shot” Billups were excellent pieces that will fit in nicely with Griffin and CP3.  This team will get into some trouble if DeAndre Jordan gets into foul trouble but I could see them making a move by dealing Mo Williams for a backup big that can chew gum and walk at the same time come February. 

4.  Memphis Grizzles

Resigning Marc Gasol, a top 5 center, was big in keeping the momentum generated in last year’s playoff run.  A healthy Rudy Gay will make all the difference in this year’s campaign.  If OJ Mayo steps up and turns into the superstar he has the ability to become, you could possibly see this team upset OKC and represent the West in the Finals this year. 

5.  Denver Nuggets

This is my favorite Western Conference team to watch.  They score tons of points and have a lot of likeable players (Ty Lawson, Nene, Danilo Gallinari, and Aaron Afflalo).  It wouldn’t surprise me if this team ended up finishing with the second best regular season record in the West.  It goes to show that you can trade a superstar and get pieces back that make you competitive.  I do think that the lack of a genuine superstar will be their demise come May. 

6.  Los Angeles Lakers

People are really down on the Lakers this year because of the Lamar Odom deal and Kobe turning 33 (in basketball years, he’s almost 50).  But it’s still the Lakers and they still have, in any matchup, 3 of the best possible 5 players on the floor with Gasol, Bryant, and Bynum.  I think they will go as far as Bynum takes them in the playoffs but this team isn’t deep enough to legitimately contend for a title. 

7.  Dallas Mavericks

It’s hard to envision an NBA Champ taking this kind of fall but after watching them get blown out on Christmas and the day after Christmas, I don’t know how you put them ahead of the teams already mentioned.  I know they still have Dirk, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd, but this team just looks like it’s missing something.  That something, Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea, and Caron Butler.  It’s only two games so this may be an overreaction but this is a shortened season and with the scheduling being the way it is, older teams are going to have a harder time. 

8.  Golden State Warriors

Mark Jackson wants his team to play defense and I honestly believe him.  I just don’t know if he has the personnel to establish that identity.  But the Warriors can put up some points and outrun the best of them.  I think they sneak into the playoffs this year ahead of Portland and…..wait for it…….the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

Worst Teams to Watch

I wouldn’t pay money to go watch the Utah Jazz.  But other than that, the rest of the non-playoff teams, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trailblazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Phoenix Suns, all give me a reason to tune in.  I guess maybe the Suns, I could see them being pretty boring when Nash sits on the bench. 

Playoff Predictions

Thunder over Warriors in 6

Spurs over Mavericks in 5

Lakers over Clippers in 7

Grizzles over Nuggets in 7

Thunder over Grizzles in 6

Spurs over Lakers in 6

Thunder over Spurs in 6

See you tomorrow when I hand out some NBA awards and predict who wins the NBA Finals.  To quote Bart Scott, “Can’t Wait!”

NBA Season Preview - The Eastern Conference

With the NBA back, and Mustache Sports taking notice, I think it’s time we provide you with a preview of how we feel this season will play out.  I’m not talking about giving you a team by team breakdown, but maybe just a playoff prediction sort of thing?  Will that work?  Good, thanks for understanding, I’m at work and although it is pretty slow this week, I still have stuff I need to get done. 

Here’s how I think the top 8 seeds will look come playoff time. 

1.  Miami Heat

Through two games, the Miami Heat look really, really good.  If they were playing the full 82 game season, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took a run at the 1996 Bulls 72 win record.  Norris Cole can ball (thank the Bulls for dealing him last draft day) and might be the answer at PG.  Shane Battier will help them in the locker room and in crunch time situations with his defense and ability to not be an offensive liability.  I’ll go on record right now and say that the Heat will win the NBA title this year.  I’m not at all trying to jinx them into a season ending Lebron/D Wade knee injury, I’m serious.  There, if you don’t like basketball, you can stop reading.

2.  Chicago Bulls

I’m super stoked to watch the Bulls when they get everything going.  Derrick Rose is great and the addition of Rip Hamilton is going to be HUGE the last 6 minutes of close games.  The Bulls have the best 10 man rotation in all of the NBA.  The only problem being, they will have to beat the Miami Heat in the playoffs and I don’t think D Rose has enough help to get that done.  I will say that IF Carlos Boozer plays like an All-Star and stays healthy, and IF Joakim Noah gets better and stays healthy, and IF Luol Deng turns into Tony Allen on defense, they have a chance of taking the Heat to 7 games and anything can happen in a game 7.  So yes, I guess I’m telling you there is a chance. 

3.  New York Knicks

After watching them get outscored by 27 points in a 17 minute stretch against the Celtics and still end up winning that game, I think they are the 3^rd best team in the East.  Anytime you have a scorer like Carmelo “Slap and Run” Anthony, a versatile big like Amare Stoudemire, and defense in the middle with Tyson Chandler, you are going to win close games.  The Knicks look good right now, but I still think they are missing a point guard and although I do like Toney Douglas, I think the Eastern Conference Semi’s is as far as they go. 

4.  Indiana Pacers

As a Bulls fan, I got to watch them a lot late last year and then some early this season.  The Pacer roster is very nice and I think they become, along with the Knicks, the team that surprises people this season and take that leap into the “teams we follow closely in the East” category.  Danny Grainger needed some help last year and I think with the development of Paul George, Roy Hibbert looking like a top 5 Center, Tyler Hansbrough getting better, and the addition of David West, he got it.  Look for these guys to make a move at the deadline and possibly win a playoff series this year. 

5.  Boston Celtics

It’s crazy to look at a ranking of the East and see the Celtics getting ranked at 5.  Especially since they haven’t had Paul Pierce these first two games and almost won both of them (against teams ranked higher nonetheless).  But I think you will see KG and Pierce not play in 100 combined games this year and I just don’t see enough scoring on the team to make up for them being out.  The lockout schedule with its 7 games in 10 nights is going to hurt older teams and the C’s are no exception.  Brandon Bass looks like a great pickup, but Keyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels, Jermaine O’Neal, and Sasha Pavlovic will all play significant minutes this year and they are not very good at playing basketball. 

6.  Orlando Magic

This prediction is all predicated on Dwight Howard staying in Orlando for the entire season.  If he gets dealt, then I get a pass.  Deal?  Thanks. 

7.  Atlanta Hawks

Losing Jamal Crawford may not have been a horrible thing for the Hawks but they didn’t do anything to replace the scoring he provided.  I like Josh Smif (he looks like The Game if you’ve never heard that before, go ahead, google it), Joe Johnson is nice, I like Al Horford, and Jeff Teague is a fun player to watch, but they start Marvin Williams at the 3 and Tracy McGrady is in their 8 man rotation.  I think they will finish around .500 and lose to the Bulls in 5 games in the first round of the playoffs. 

8.  Philedelphia 76ers

Out of the bottom 10 teams in the East, Philly serves to have the most depth and most well rounded roster.  They have a lot of assets with Jrue Holiday, Andre Iguodala, Specer Hawes, Lou Williams, Evan Turner, and Jodie Meeks, but they need to turn those assets into a superstar and I just don’t see a realistic scenario out there right now where that happens.  They remind me a lot of those Kirk Heinrich, Ben Gordon Bulls teams.  Fun to watch and root for, shows signs of promise, but are stuck in NBA Purgatory…….no legitimate superstar, will always pick between 10-16 and have a lot of really nice role players. 

Worst Teams to Watch

In no particular order, the Bobcats, Bucks, Raptors, and Pistons are all really bad and really boring.  Conversely, the Cavs, Wizards, and Nets are really bad but for reasons I won’t go into, could be worth watching on a random Tuesday night. 

Playoff Predictions

Heat over 76ers in 4

Bulls over Hawks in 5

Knicks over Magic in 6

Celtics over Pacers in 7

Heat over Celtics in 6

Bulls over Knicks in 7

Heat over Bulls in 6

See you tomorrow when I do this EXACT same thing for the West!  I know, I’m excited too.  

Mustache Thinking With Sef Sam Holy

I’m really excited for the NBA to start and even more excited to see what Bulls roster we see on Christmas day against the Lakers.  My NBA enjoyment involves player movement discussion and hypothetical trade situations.  I’m not Bill Simmons on the ESPN Trade Machine, I just like to bounce my ideas around in discussions/emails/blog posts.  The NBA may not be the best sport to watch on TV, but it’s the best sport to talk about with other people that love the NBA. 

I don’t have the sports bandwidth to pay attention to everything sports related.  I have a wife that I love, and love to hang out with, so I don’t make her suffer and keep sports on my TV 24/7.  With that being said, I have to consciously not pay attention to certain sports.  One of those sports is college basketball.  Don’t hear me wrong, I love Championship Week and big Saturday games during January and February.  I love filling out a bracket and watching as much March Madness as I can, but I don’t watch college hoops at this point in the year.  However, I did DVR the Kentucky Indiana game from this past weekend and it was unreal.  I don’t have a breakdown of it for you, but it really got me excited for when I do start watching college basketball.  I really want to catch a game in Indiana one day, let’s put that on my sports bucket list.

I saw the ESPN 30 for 30 on The U last night and it made me hate Miami even more than I do now. 

If Florida State loses to Notre Dame on December 29^th, I’m going to start thinking Jimbo Fisher is a Ron Zook/Dabo Sweeney type of college football coach.  He’s shown to be a great recruiter, but he doesn’t know how to win football games.  I really, really hope the Noles beat the Irish so I don’t have to think about something like this going into a year in which the Seminoles will bring back almost every one of their starters/players that contribute, and should be ranked in the top 10 to start the year.  There is no easier path to the BCS National Championship game than Florida State’s schedule next year and with the talent they will have on their roster, I expect Fisher to get there. 

Am I the only Bears fan that is rooting for them to lose out so that they get the best pick possible in the NFL Draft this April?  The only difference between finishing 9-7 and 7-9 is 8 draft spots.  Here’s my abbreviated “if I was the Bears GM” plan I have.  Finish 7-9, get the 12^th pick in the draft.  Let Matt Forte walk, save the $40mil against the cap, and get the compensatory 2^nd round pick.  Trade Devin Hester to whatever team is willing to give you a 3^rd round pick for him.  With my 5 picks in the first 3 rounds of the draft, I take Michael Floyd first and with the rest of those picks, draft an offensive lineman, a linebacker, a running back, and a cornerback.  With my final 4 picks, I get another offensive lineman, another linebacker, and a tight end.  There, I just fixed the Bears for the rest of the Jay Cutler era. 

I might get a Tim Tebow jersey with the Christmas money I get. 

Don’t bring up the White Sox this week, let’s talk about something else.