HoopsAvenue » yao ming

Wild Wild West

HoopsAvenue — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:40:42 +0000

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!

Around the League

HoopsAvenue — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:51:46 +0000

With the Olympics ending and the major free agent signing period over with, it’s a boring time of year for NBA fans as we await training camp, but there were a few stories that caught my eye this week:

Ginobili To Have Surgery – The Spurs did not want Manu to play in the Olympics. He played. He hurt himself. He’s going to be out six weeks after getting surgery done. So should Manu have sat? I don’t think so. If you consider he got hurt on such minimal contact, he was bound to get hurt in the pre-season or early in the regular season so the timing actually works in the Spurs favor. Manu’s not going to miss much game action and the Spurs don’t seem to mind that Tim Duncan doesn’t wake up until March anyways so Manu should be no different. Don’t be surprised to see the Spurs hovering around .500 for a while though.
Monta Ellis Out 3 Months – Sorry, Warriors, fans. Not a good summer for you. First, Baron Davis bolts for the Clippers of all teams and now your most exciting player is out. At least you got Corey Maggette, though. If he can carry the load for a while and you get some guys to step up, you could still be in playoff contention when Ellis returns.
Grizzlies Sign Hamed Haddadi – Haddadi will be the first Iranian player in the NBA. He did well in Beijing, but some scouts don’t think he’s ready. The competition in the Iranian league is, well, softer than a marshmallow so we’ll take a wait-and-see approach on this guy. Just don’t expect the next Yao Ming.

Don’t hold your breath, September won’t be much more exciting.

By the way, it’s never to early to sign up for fantasy basketball. Click here to sign up.

Do What You Want, Yao

HoopsAvenue — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:20:18 +0000

I saw this article on Yahoo! today and I couldn’t understand where Adrian Wojnarowski got the idea that Yao was basically being forced to play for China. As far as any of us can tell, Yao loves playing for China, maybe even more than playing in the NBA. In the 2nd paragaph of the article, Wojnarowski quotes Yao as saying, “The game was a treasure, and it will be a treasure for the rest of my life,” then he spends the rest of the article knocking China for wearing Yao down. Sure, Yao has been getting worn down as you can see from his injuries the last two seasons, but why it it playing for China that he should cut back on and not the NBA? I’d hate to see Yao play less in the NBA, but it’s his life so if China is his priority, then let it be.

Is Artest the Answer for the Rockets?

HoopsAvenue — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:00:57 +0000

On paper, the Rockets look like championship contenders, but, then again, this is Tracy McGrady’s Rockets and not Hakeem Olajuwon’s. With the addition of Ron Artest yesterday, the Rockets undoubtedly have one of the best trios in the league. Artest-McGrady-Yao, when healthy, probably only falls behind the Celtics trio of Allen-Garnett-Pierce. The Wizards, Lakers, and Spurs all have decent arguments, but whatever your opinion, the Rockets are going to be right up there. The supporting cast is not bad either with Rafer Alston at the point, and the up-and-coming Luis Scola at power forward. Then, you’ve got a great defender and role player in Shane Battier off the bench. Brent Barry and Luther Head can come in and hit some shots, too.

All the pieces are there and Rick Adelman is a good, experienced coach, but I’m not putting my money on the Rockets to win it all. You’ve got to worry about the fact that T-Mac is probably going to miss a fair chunk of games, same goes with Yao, and then even if they do get to the playoffs healthy, T-Mac has never gotten out of the first round!

No question this is an intriguing move and the Rockets could have a magical season, but Rockets fans shouldn’t hold their breath.

What do you think? Can McGrady finally do it?

By the way, the NBA season is not far away so be sure to check out Barry’s Tickets when you need NBA Tickets. You can Buy Cleveland Cavaliers Tickets, find Cheap 76ers Tickets, and if you’re into hockey, pick up some Blackhawk Tickets. See you at the game!