Houston will win this division with sheer will power. With Shaq back East and Amare out for half the year, Yao's only got Duncan to test him. With the rest given Yao this summer (first time in his career), I fully expect him to have the best year of his career. If he doesn't consider me skeptical going forward. Tracy will continue shooting his team into games and with Van Gundy's watchful eye, hopefully not shooting his team out of too many games. I like Alston--oh, not to go off scoring like he did last year, but rather distributing. With solid bench personnel in Barry, Sura, Howard and if Stromile can realize that first sound second pick overall potential Houston will surprise everyone by beating San Antonio for the Division title.
Prediction: Division champ
Seed: 2
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San Antonio will not gel as fast and as harmoniously as every basketball expert and pundit seems to think. Players that need time (Barry and Udrih) won't get it, players that don't need time (Van Exel and Nesterovic) will get it. Duncan will be rested, Ginobili will continue his erratic ways (hey he's one of my top three favorite players but c'mon his career is marked with inconsistency), Parker will continue turning Pop's hair different shades of white, and Finley now has to adjust to a different role. But thanks to the system, the trust, the stability, the history, and the talent this team will stumble upon a 58 win season.
Prediction: 2nd best
Seed: 4
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Dallas is intriguing and enigmatic. Truthfully I wouldn't be surprised if they missed the playoffs altogether or won 65 games. As with most everything it'll be somewhere in the middle. They are now a defensive team if you can believe that and with a lineup showcasing J. Howard, M. Daniels, Dampier, and Christie and Avery Johnson as a coach, I don't think they're joking. Nowitzki will be his same all-world self but success falls on how the veteran talent (Stackhouse, Terry and Van Horn) adjust to this new defensive orientation and how fast the emering young guns (Howard, Daniels, and Harris)--well--emerge.
Prediction: 3rd best
Seed: 5
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Memphis is deep, boy are they deep, they're piled hiiiigggh and deep. But you begin to take a look at the depth and you wonder whether they're in too deep. Jackson, Stoudamire, and Jones all have years upon years of mileage on those legs, how long can they still go hard. Battier is a wonderful player but Fratello has to work with the rotation, Miller is a wonderful player but Fratello has to work with the freakin' rotation, Gasol is a wonderful player but Fratello has to work with the dag-gum rotation. So now you've got a roster which I think did a lateral over the summer only got much older. I like the personnel but I don't like the coach and this division is too difficult, hence no playoffs. But it was fun while it lasted, huh Grizz??
Prediction: 4th best
Seed: Miss playoffs
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New Orleans, with the recent swap of Magloire for Mason, this team has gone from a young team with a glut at the wing positions to an infantile team with a more obscene glut at the wing positions. Don't get me wrong I like Mason but didn't you just sign Nachbar to an extension and traded FOR Rasual Butler and Kirk Snyder. Huh! And you do remember that Magloire was a 13 point, 12 rebound all-star just two years ago, don't you NO? I take a look at this roster and am driven to tears at the lack of true big men and they've just let another one go. Good luck with Jackson Vroman, Chris Anderson, and David West guys. Paul is gonna be fantastic but he'll now need to average about 14 rebounds to get this team north of 15 in the win column. Back to the drawing board, guys...
Prediction: The Caboose
Seed: Miss playoffs
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