Today is a wonderful day. Today is a day that many of us have been looking forward to for many months. Today the 2009-2010 NBA Seasons officially tips off. The free agent signings, the replacement refs and letting bench guys play most of the games are over now. In the words of Bruce Buffer: "IT'S TIME!"
As I do every year I'm going to breakdown the season for you. Let you know what this brain thinks will be happening this year in the Association. As we all know, my opinion obviously counts for more than your opinion. So let's get down to it and start off in the conference in which my beloved Raptors play in, the Easter Conference. Not to be confused with the one time Leastern Conference. Those days are long behind us as the East is proving to have more fire power in recent years. This is how I think the East will play out this year and of course you're free to disagree but let's face it, I'm right more times than I'm wrong.
Eastern Conference Standings
1 - Orlando Magic
Orlando will be the crop of the East this year and will improve on last years win total of 59. Withe everyone's favourite villain now teaming up with the Dwight, they will form a 1-2 punch that will resonate to the likes of Kobe and Shaq. Yes. I said it. I do believe this Magic team is that damn good. I am giving Vince the benefit of the doubt since he has been healthy the past few years (Yes I know, so hard to believe). I will no longer refer to Vince Carter as Wince or Pwassy Boy since he is going to dominate this year. The Magic have the ability to go Big, Small, Sideways, Backwards, Upwards. They can do whatever they want this year. They have the depth to withstand injuries and the talent to compete on a daily basis. Nelson, Carter, Pietrus, Lewis and Howard should be their starting 5 for most of the season with Bass, Gortat, Barnes, Redick and White Chocolate coming off the bench. As you can clearly tell, I'm big on the Magic this year. I expect them to make the NBA Finals this year. That is as long as they don't run into the Raptors on their way there.
2 - Cleveland LeBrons
The LeBrons will do what they do every year in the regular season and dominate. But this year will be a disappointment unless this team is in the NBA Finals. Sadly, I don't believe they have the talent as of right now to beat the Magic. However, this team will be vastly different from last years version. Former Raptors Moon and Parker will play huge roles for this team as AP is a solid veteran who will guard opposing 2s and will do a much better job than Delonte "Shotguns" West did last year. Also, LeBron is officially a PF in this league now and will play a lot of that position this year. Actually correction. There are now 6 positions in the NBA now. PG, SG, SF, PF, C and LeBron. Yes, he is a position himself. Expect the Cavs to play a lot of Varaejo, LeBron, Moon, Parker and Mo Williams. And Shaq will not play as much as everybody thinks. I predict his impact will be minimal and he may even be traded if his fat ass clogs up the lane for LeBron. Also if Shaq says anything that rubs LeBron the wrong way, expect him to be shipped out quickly. You can't even touch anyone associated with LeBron in Cleveland these days, just ask Braylon Edwards.
3 - Boston Celtics
I don't know which team has more bitches on it. The LA Sparks or the Boston Celtics. I refuse to waste my time writing about them. They will finish 3rd in the East and will lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs to either Orlando or Cleveland. KGs knees are going to have that fragile sticker on them the entire season and when (not if) they give out, this team is just going to get worst. As good as the Rasheed signing is, it will not help them get over the top.
4th - 6th
There is no clear order in the East about who will be 4th, 5th or 6th. Three teams will be fighting it out all season long for these 3 spots: Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks & Washington Wizards.
The hometown Raptors will make their return to the post season after a one year absence. They will start off slow but by early December, they will be gelling and doing their shit right. We have a huge front line of Hedo, Bosh & Bargs and it will be hard for teams to guard us. The raptors are verstaile and have depth at each position. Triano has a bunch of options available to him if he feels something is not working on a certain night. I'm interested to see how Bosh plays this year with the added muscle and with someone like Hedo who can take the scoring load off his shoulders. I expect Jose to have an All-Star year and also Bargs will drop minimum 18 points per game. The man knows what do when he gets the ball and he will give opposing teams problems all year long. This has to be the best team we've had in Toronto since the '01 year.
The Hawks quietly had a good offseason. They picked up Crawford and Joe Smith without losing anyone of value and also drafted Jeff Teague who will be a SICK rookie PG for them. This teams defence will always be there and are a lock to make the playoffs. You know what you're going to get from them but sadly they will also lose in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
The more interesting team in the East has to be the Wizards. They have the depth and talent but yet again injuries might do them in again. Jamison is already out and they are not going to go anywhere without a healthy combo Gilbert, Butler and Jamison. Speaking of Gilbert, the man is back. It's been two years since his knee injury and he has his explosiveness back. During pre-season he was getting into the lane at will against a good Cleveland defence. Expect the return of agent 0. Withe addition of Mike Miller to give them some nice outside shooting and Foye to provide depth, this team can surprise everyone once again and with Saunders leading them, will compete every night.
7th & 8th
These two final playoff spots will be up for grabs between 3 teams: Heat, Sixers and the Bulls. I personally have Miami and Philly making the playoffs with the Bulls on the outside looking in. D-Wade is too good for this team not to make the playoffs and hopefully JO will actually contribute this year for them. The addition of Q Rich will actually end up helping them a lot. Expect Q to make a lot of 3s this year. Stop laughing, I'm being serious. With the amount of attention of Wade gets, all Q has to do is hit threes and that's something he's capable of doing.
The Sixers will be inconsistent but will have enough wins to get into the playoffs. Brand is back and the addition of Kapono is huge for them. He'll open a lot of space down low for Brand to do his thing. The loss of Andre Miller will obviously hurt them but L. Williams will do a good enough job for them. Don't expect too much from this team.
The Bulls had a surprisingly good year last year but don't expect them to repeat. It was a fluke. As good as the Bulls will be with Deng, Rose and Salmons, they don't have the depth, experience and talent to make the playoffs. I know a lot of people will disagree with me especially with Derrick Rose leading them but the Bulls have never proven to be consistent so I'm not going give them the benefit of the doubt. They could very well displace the Sixers and sneak into the playoffs yet again but as of right now, I got them on the outside. And don't discount the loss of Ben Gordon. He shot the Bulls into many games last years and won a lot of them as well. Replacing his scoring won't be as easy the Bulls think it will.
I'm too tired to talk about the rest of the East. All those teams suck. The East consists of 9 teams and the rest are just there for the sake of being there. The Knicks and Bobcats will finish 10th and 11th. The Knicks don't even have their own 1st round pick this year so sucks to be them. Expect them to score a lot of points but still lose. As for the Bobcats, their coach can't even get a hold of their President so who knows what's going on there but look out for D.J. The man is going to blowup in his sophomore season.
I'll deal with the West in a few days. Until then.. discuss.
