Sacramento is going to win the division but I wish they'd quite monkeying around with this whole whose gonna start at PF nonsense. You got Rahim, now START him. Truthfully I haven't liked anything that's gone on in the preseason, from B. Miller's mediocrity to Bibby's injury. But I just like this roster too much. I'll match Bibby, Wells, Stojakovic, SAR, and Miller's scoring ability with anybody's starting 5 period. I think they have a solid bench anchored by Kenny Thomas who should see go north of 30 minutes backing up the 3, 4 and 5. I think this team would do well to rip a page out of the D'Antoni playbook and play their top 7 guys 30 minutes and their top 5 around 35 minutes or higher. The dropoff isn't as bad as Phoenix's last year, but it is bad.
Prediction: Division Champ
Seed: 3
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Before Phoenix ever lost Amare Stoudemire, I was already nervous about their off-season. Apparently they had never heard the term: 'If it ain't broke...' Now that Amare is gone for a signifcant amount of time, I'm a little more confindent in my prediction BUT. This is a significant BUT, this team has been ridiculous in the preseason. If I didn't know any better I would swear up and down that Quentin Richardson and Joe Johnson had legally changed their names to James Jones and Raja Bell for some weird reason and hadn't lost a single step from last year. I mean I knew the system was effective but if this preseason trend continues into season dominance, I'm going to have to admit that I have seriously underrated D'Antoni as a coach and innovator and Nash as a player. And "seriously underrated" would be an understatement. But I'm going to have to see it to believe it.
Prediction: 2nd best
Seed: 6
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Golden State needs to put it together this year. This team has as much talent 1-12 as any team in the NBA. They've got their savior, lets hope he stays healthy. They've got their scorer, lets hope he rounds out his game a bit with some improved free throw shooting. They've got their bigs: the skilled (Troy Murphy and Andris Biedrins) and the not so skilled (Adonal Foyle). They've got their veterans (D. Fish and Cheaney). They've got everthing they're ever gonna get, so now its time to do something with it. This year we'll know if Montgomery can coach in the big leagues.
Prediction: 3rd best
Seed: 8
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The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be an interesting story to follow, but then again, wasn't that the point of the off-season. Kobe is gonna be Kobe but the question is can Odom rekindle the play of 03-04 from the point-forward spot and can Kwame Brown start delivering on that potential. In truth I see both of those guys doing well, after all they'll have every opportunity to do well but this roster has too many holes, especially in the backcourt. Aaron McKie is solid but can he do for Phil what Ron Harper and Brian Shaw did, ummm.... Luke Walton, Chris Mihm, Devean George, Jumaine Jones, you can't really fault their effort but they just aren't going to keep up with the elite out there try though they might. I see the Lakers doing better than people expect and barely losing out to GS by a half game or maybe the tie break.
Prediction: 4th best
Seed: miss playoffs
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The Los Angeles Clippers are going to have a night where they score 130 points and lose 138-130. The offensive explosiveness on this team is undeniable, however the defensive ineptitude is just as undeniable. The two players who truly worked on that side of the ball (Simmons and Jaric) have both been let go. Injuries to Livingston and Maggette in the preseason haven't helped matters but this team needs to get healthy and needs consistent defensive effort and then maybe we can talk about them escaping the cellar of the Pacific. Los Angeles will be a city without a playoff team for the second year in a row.
Prediction: The Caboose
Seed: miss playoffs.
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