Posted by HoopsAvenue on September 25, 2008 under General NBA, Houston Rockets, LA Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs | 
You may have seen the poll that we’ve been running lately asking who will win the Western Conference. Well, the results are in and they are a bit surprising. The Lakers managed to take home 44% of the vote, followed by the Rockets at 18%, Other at 15%, the Hornets and Spurs at 11%. I presume Other refers to teams like the Jazz, Mavs, Suns, and, of course, homers. Now, it’s not surprising that the Lakers win this poll given they are the defending Western Conference champions, but it is surprising by how much they won. They got more than twice as many votes as the 2nd-place Rockets. So, are they that good with Bynum or are the fans just a bit overly optimistic? Here’s how I rank the top four teams in the West:
1. Lakers – I do give the nod to L.A., but just barely. With a healthy Bynum and the duo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, there’s no reason for the Lakers to not be competing for the trophy again this season. It won’t be so easy, though, because even though the Lakers should be better, their competition will also be better, and that brings us to #2.
2. Hornets – The Hornets got better this summer by bringing in James Posey from the world champion Celtics. Posey gives New Orleans that defensive stopper they’ll need to get far in the post-season. Chris Paul is still going to give other teams fits and now that the Hornets have some playoff experience, they’ve got a good shot to survive the West.
3. Rockets – The Rockets enter the season with a great upside, but also a great downside after their acquisition of Ron Artest. Artest, a gritty defender and third scorer, looks to be exactly what Houston needs, but he could bring chemistry problems as well. Not to mention, T-Mac and Yao will need to be healthy come playoff time.
4. Spurs – The Spurs are aging and, like the Rockets, they have some questions of their own. They’ll need Manu Ginobili to recover from his ankle injury and come back at full strength. The regular season is not San Antonio’s forte, but they do know how to win in May and June so don’t count them out.
Who do you think will win the West?
Also, check out the new poll which asks who will win the East!
Posted by HoopsAvenue on September 7, 2008 under General NBA |
Today, Tom Brady went down with a serious knee injury and it looks like he is done for the season. Brady is undoubtedly one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks and has been practically injury-free throughout his career. In fact, he’s so injury free that his name appears on the team injury report every single week as a joke because everybody knows he will be out there. So, if Brady can get hurt, anybody can get hurt. Think about that. Any NBA player could go down in the 1st quarter of the 1st game this season…just like Brady. Brady is obviously one player no team could afford to lose, but who are the NBA’s most indispensable players?
Remember when David Robinson was injured (allegedly) in the ’96 – ’97 season to propel the Spurs to the bottom of the standings and top of the draft board? We’re looking for guys that would have that kind of effect on a season. In order, the top 5:
5. Joe Johnson – It’s hard to convince some people that anybody on a 37-win team could possibly be considered indispensable, but after JJ’s playoff performance against the Celtics last season, it’s hard not to be convinced. The Hawks could win 45+ this season, but if JJ goes down you’ll hear more about the Hawks in Letterman’s punch lines than you will in SportsCenter highlights.
4. Steve Nash – Nash was never the best player. He won back-to-back MVP awards for the sole reason that he is indispensable. It’s not hard to figure out why Amare Stoudemire is so well known for his power dunking.
3. Dwight Howard – Just looking at Orlando’s roster you’ve got to wonder how they managed to win 52 games last season. Howard, like Shaq in his prime, is a classic example of a guy who makes his teammates that much better just by drawing so much defensive attention.
2. Lebron James – Lebron does it all and the Cavs would certainly have fallen flat on their face in the past without the King, but things might finally be a little different this season. With Mo Williams in town, a little bit of the burden is lifted off Lebron. Just a little. He’s still indispensable.
1. Chris Paul – Paul showed how indispensable he was last season surprising the basketball world by taking the Hornets to 56 wins and a #2 seed in the West. David West is nice. So is Tyson Chandler. But, this team is lottery material without Paul.
Who do you think has that Tom Brady-esque quality of indispensability?
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