NBA 2006-2007 Season Thread
 

Preseason has officially started.

Regular season starts Tuesday, October 31 on TNT.

Chicago @ Miami 8:00pm
Phoenix @ L.A. Lakers 10:30pm

ANY PREDICTIONS FOR THE SEASON OR WHATNOT?

Timberwolves can get back into the playoffs if some big man can step in and get some rebounds. I really think we should trade away Ricky Davis and Troy Hudson, because both are players that are only good if you play them, and we have other players that I would prefer to play. The starting lineup should be: Mike James (PG), Randy Foye (SG), Trenton Hassell (SF), Kevin Garnett (PF), somebody, either Eddie Griffin or Mark Blount (C).

Fuckin Knicks:'(

I really don't know what to think about the C's. For some reason I think Telfair is going to blow up and be real nice, but we'll see.

Definetly gonna be more into it this year though, all the young guys are starting to bring the excitement back.

I can never get into the NBA until like January, which sucks because the Sonics are usually 15 games back by then

I predict 3 Pacers will be in jail by the end of the season.

Celtics suck so fuck basketball.

This is just random, so take it for what it is, but some predictions:
Northwest:
Denver Nuggets
Minnesota Timberwolves
Utah Jazz
Portland Trail Blazers
Seattle Supersonics

Pacific:
Phoenix Suns
Los Angeles Clippers
Sacramento Kings
Los Angeles Lakers
Golden State Warriots

Southwest:
Dallas Mavericks
San Antonio Spurs
Oklahoma City/New Orleans Hornets
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies

Atlantic:
New Jersey Nets
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
Boston Celtics
Toronto Raptors

Southeast:
Miami Heat
Washington Wizards
Orlando Magic
Charlotte Bobcats
Atlanta Hawks

Central:
Cleveland Caviliers
Chicago Bulls
Detroit Pistons
Indianapolis Pacers
Milwaukee Bucks

PLAYOFFS:
West:
1. Dallas Mavericks (4)
8. Sacramento Kings (0)

4. Los Angeles Clippers (4)
5. San Antonio Spurs (3)

3. Denver Nuggets (2)
6. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (4)

2. Phoenix Suns (4)
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (2)

EAST:
1. New Jersey Nets (4)
8. Orlando Magic (0)

4. Chicago Bulls (4)
5. Washington Wizards (3)

3. Cleveland Caviliers (4)
6. New York Knicks (1)

2. Miami Heat (4)
7. Detroit Pistons (2)

SECOND ROUNDS:
1. Dallas Mavericks (4)
4. Los Angeles Clippers (2)

6. New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (1)
2. Phoenix Suns (4)

1. New Jersey Nets (3)
4. Chicago Bulls (4)

3. Cleveland Caviliers (3)
2. Miami Heat (4)

SEMI FINALS:
1. Dallas Mavericks (4)
2. Phoenix Suns (2)

4. Chicago Bulls (1)
2. Miami Heat (4)

FINALS:
1. Dallas Mavericks (3)
2. Miami Heat (4)
(Lame, I know, but who is better than these two teams...again?)

NBA MVP: LeBron James (CLE)
NBA ROY: Randy Foye (MIN)
NBA DPOY: Ben Wallace (CHI)
NBA MIP: Carlos Arroyo (ORL)
NBA 6MN: Ben Gordon (CHI)
NBA COY: Isiah Thomas (NYK)

Some general predictions:
* LeBron James will be amazing, and again have a rediculous playoffs, but the Cavs around him won't quite be enough
* The Heat are still the East's best team, but of course they can't finish first in the East, Shaq teams don't usually do that
* The Northwest division is the worst in the league
* The Lakers really didn't address their problems in a very tough conference
* I think the Bulls are going to be a great team
* If the Timberwolves can find a way to play their players correctly, they will be in the running for their division
* San Antonio will have some reason why it isn't at top performance all season, and then have a disappointing post season
* The Knicks will surprise some people, they have so much talent and might be able to put some of their egos aside to try to regain some face with Isiah, but they will sputter out of the playoffs early
* The three worst teams in the league will be: Atlanta, Seattle and Toronto.
* Jermaine O'Neal has consistantly proven to be a pussy, and it is no different this year as Indianapolis has less players than ever
* There won't be any good team missing out of the playoffs. Houston and LA have too many missing parts and the East is the East
* The following coaches will be fired based on this season: George Karl (DEN), Jeff Van Gundy (HOU), Sam Mitchell (TOR), and Carslile might take the blame in Indianapolis
* Kevin Garnett will not be traded, despite the Timberwolves record
* The big buyers at the deadline: Houston, Oklahoma City/New Orleans, Los Angeles Lakers (if they can move Lamar Odom for a big man)
* The big sellers at the deadline: Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Seattle

That is all of the random shit I can think of. Throw your opinions out on my opinions, now we have something to discuss.

* Jermaine O'Neal has consistantly proven to be a pussy, and it is no different this year as Indianapolis has less players than ever


Indiana has less players then ever? We lost Austin Croshere and gained Marquis Daniels. We lost a injury plagues fraud named Peja Stoiachstank and gained a very athletic Al Harrington who has strong ties with the organization and wont claim he has a bum knee all of a sudden when the playoffs come around.

We actually have more players, but its not like i expect you to know what your talking about.

Jermaine O'neal isnt a pussy, but he's very injury prone. This is a make or break season from him and i agree, if he dont produce at the beginning of the season, he'll be gone.

What Indiana really needs a point guard who isnt high all the time. We might have the potential best frontline in basketball if they play like they should. O
'neal has something to prove. Al Harrington is a beast. He can play defense and score points. He wasnt as good as Artest, but he was ferrocious on the court. I cant wait to see him back. DANNY FRIGGIN GRANGER. Keep your eyes on this kid. He was amazing last year. Didnt get much credit either cause of some of the other notable rookies, but this kid could be a Shawn Marion caliber player. Maybe even better. He's going to be an allstar and potential MVP canidate in 2-3 years. I promise. Laugh at me now. Its ok. I told you about Bob Sanders when he was drafted, now i'm telling you about Danny Granger.

Carlisle wont be fired after this season, unless we dont make the playoffs. This team is talented enough to make the playoffs, even be a 3-4 seed, but they just have to put it together on the court. They're running an up tempo style this year and thats why i think everyone is going to learn the name Danny Granger. This kid does everything.

I want to say that we'll win 47 games this year, but because we still have Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley on the team, i'll mark us down for a .500 record and the 7th or 8th seed.


Other things..

Toronto will be alot better then you credit them for and New York wont win more then 30 games. I'm curious how you think they will manage to make the playoffs. Have you ever seen Isaiah Thomas coach???

Either the Bulls or the Cavs will really dissapoint this year.

Crazy prediction... Orlando will have the best record in the eastern conference this year.

NBA MVP: Paul Peirce ( no joke )
NBA ROY: J.J. Reddick ( i did it for The Miz )
NBA DPOY: Ron Artest
NBA MIP: Darko Milicik
NBA 6MN: Antoine Walker

My conference finals and finals picks ( I have reasons, i just dont feel like typing them out right now. I'm sure everyone will jump on me for them tho. )

Eastern conference Finals

Orlando vs Boston

West Finals

Pheonix Suns vs Lakers


Finals

Lakers vs Boston

Champions : Lakers.
NBA COY: Isiah Thomas (NYK)

LOL RP. I like how you have Boston going all the way to the finals. I doubt that will actually happen but it would be nice to see.

Pierce as MVP is also a bit of a stretch.

I love Dalonte West and Telfair. I've always loved Peirces killer instinct. He's the most underrated superstar of this generation. I love there young big guys.

ISIAH THOMAS?!



COACH OF THE YEAR?!





:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Jermaine O'Neal is awful, and the Pacers are just too overloaded with problems. Take away the second best player on the team and adding a few journeymen to a struggling team with a whole slew of legal problems does not make for a successful season. The Pacers would be best off just to trade Jermaine while he still has some value and try to rebuild sooner rather than later.

I really wish the Celtics could have gotten Ben Wallace. I think if they got him I could go along with them doing some damage in the playoffs, right now though I'm not seeing it.

I think Al Harrington> Peja though.

I just think the Pacers have been slowly losing talent, and Jermaine has become more and more average IMO. When adding in that Cleveland and Chicago are both expected to do big things this year, and that Indianapolis has had so many off-court issues, I just don't see that group of players coming together and getting it done. Last year was probably the year, but Artest did his thing and yada yada yada, no playoffs this year.

Yeah, the Celts need a center like that. I was a bit pissed off when they didn't end up getting one.

Every team needs a centre

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

1 down, 2 to go.

O wait i forgot, he's a pro sports star and shouldnt see any jail time until his season is over, despite the violation of parol.

I hate Stephen Jackson. I really do.

I really can't believe you still have him on board. I mean I know he is a pretty solid player, but enough has got to be enough with these guys.

The Raptors will make the playoffs.

The Raptors will not fade

Raptors have still got a ways to go. Trading Villanueva wasn't as bad as it was made out to be IMO, but they still need to add some people. TJ Ford is good, but Mike James was better last year than Ford will be this year. Then, getting rid of Villanueva gives them Bosh and not much else. Two years and they will be up there, IMO.

not my fucking choice. I want him and Tinsley gone. I tolerate J.O cause he's truely a very nice person and is really deep in the community here in Indiana. he just needs to stay healthy and stop bitching about non foul calls.

I guess Stephen Jackson is under contract until 2010, so the only way to get rid of him is if he is charged for something (heard this on ESPN).

First of all, the Knicks second on the Atlantic division, I think not. And I live in NY, believe me, they're awful. And P.S: no Marbury led team will ever win anything.

Second, if you wanna rebuild, you have no choice but to include O'Neal. He's up there in NBA terms(28) but he's a monster when healthy. What can you really trade the guy for in a league where you never trade big men for smaller players because size is so hard to find now. Plus he's been injury prone the last few years which kills his value.

I think the best route, is keep Jermaine, trade Stephen Jackson and his bs and try to win now. Their window is closing, but they have no choice. They're good enough to compete but not win a title, but not bad enough to get a high draft pick and get a franchise player. Unless you consider Al Harrington a franchise player, I'm not ready to say that yet, not even close. Beyond Jermaine, there is no build around star on the team, which makes them look awful because Peja left after theyt raded Artest for him. Say what young want about Artest, but he's young and plays hard.

The NBA is such that you have to either play to win now, or tear it completely down and rebuild from the ground up, you can't half ass it, or you wind up being a middle of the road team. And that's where the Pacers are right now

Jermaine will never be capable of leading a team to a NBA Championship if Kevin Garnett can't. Jermaine can put up solid numbers, but he isn't an elite power forward. He doesn't even compare to the likes of KG, Duncan, Gasol, Brand, etc. (I left Dirk out because he isn't the same type of power forward as those guys) Those guys all majorly impact the game offensively and defensively, JO doesn't have the same affect (In my opinion, but as it goes, the whole point of this thread is discussion, so disagree)

I don't mean to come off like a pompous ass, I kind of feel like that, but I just don't think Jermaine is the elite power forward that he gets credit as. Ron Artest was awesome on that team, and he is why they were so good.

The Pacers can win a championship with O'Neal, no doubt, but not if he is the focal point of the team. They either need a great point guard and a solid scorer on the wing or else vice versa.

As for the Knicks, it is a healthy prediction. A team with Stephon Marbury, Ron Francis, Jalen Rose, Channing Frye and Eddy Curry starting is definately talented. Looking at a recent depth chart, it has Crawford and Jered Jeffries starting, but even so. This team made the playoffs two years ago with Marbury. A bunch of good players had their pride stepped on last year, Isiah Thomas knows nothing about running a team from the front office, but that is a lot different than coaching. If he can do just a few things right this team shouldn't have trouble making the playoffs, especially in that division.

And if they don't, then no harm. I think it is kind of stupid to assume that they have no chance of being decent though.

They have ZERO CHEMISTRY.

When you are playing under a coach that makes you play away from your strengths you aren't going to have chemistry.

Chauncey Billups was too much of a scoring point guard for Larry Brown, so obviously Stephon Marbury doesn't fit into his system. At the same time, to say that a player like Marbury or Francis isn't capable of having success is just stupid. A scoring point guard can work, and these players have worked in the past.

You are not going to win with a point guard who is barely fit for a street ball game leading your team (See: any team in the past few years with Rafer Alston starting or any team Starbury has EVER been on).

I'm not a big fan of having two big time scorers in the same backcourt. If you have a shoot first pointguard that's alright I guess (I'm not really a fan of that either but it can work) but I can't see having the off guard as a big time scorer too, just doesn't really seem to fit. That is why I don't think Marbury and Francis will ever work out together, some could argue that Billups and Hamiltion work but Rip is not your typical scorer (to me anyway) Also I think Rip plays a lot of 3 doesn't he? Or they run 3 guard sets or something, I just seem to remember another guard out there on the court a lot.

That is why I am kind of worried about Telfair on the Celts, I don't think it is going to work too well with Pierce. He is their best option though, I like Delonte West but he is a career back up on a good team.

First of all, Rafer Alston is not Stephon Marbury. That is like comparing Kevin Garnett and Kwame Brown because they both came out of high school and have never won a championship.

Teams with Stephon Marbury traditionally don't have a winning record. In 10 seasons, Stephon has played on three winning teams. That proves that he is in fact capable of playing for a winning team. It doesn't say he is a winning player that will win this year, it says he is not incapable of winning, my only point.

How about Steve Francis? He was awesome in Houston. Is it a big surprise that he isn't good playing for Larry Brown?

Once again, I am not saying that they will be good, but I am not saying that they will 100 percent, no doubt, absolutely be bad, like Dave and others seem to think.

Hornets got Peja and Bobby Jackson..

Kinda hype.. Will prolly go to a couple of games this year..

Yeah the Rafer Alston comparssion was pretty stupid since Marbury and Alston are totally different players. Pretty sure Wadding is just a disgruntled Suns fan.

Yeah I'm going to try and make a few as well. One of my good buddies just moved to Mobile so he is pretty close.

Supersonics got sold to a guy out in Oklahoma. Wonder if they are gonna move out there.

If the Celts were a better team, I'd buy RP's prediction of Pierce as MVP.

Thank You.

The problem with the Knicks is absolutely chemistry. Sure, you look at the talent, the Francis, the Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, Quentin Richardson, etc. then you realize this team has to play with one ball like everyone else. If you do the math, there clearly aren't enough shots to go around and not enough defense being played. You realize that this would probably be better suited to be a fantasy basketball team than a real one.

As for those that say Francis will regain his form here. I say buyer beware. I remember Jeff Van Gundy when he was coach here, all you had to do to make Van Gundy happy was play hard and play defense. Van Gundy coached in Houston and hated Francis when he was there, what does that tell you?

I never said anything WILL happen. I said a lot CAN happen.

Yah, wait til the playoffs when Peja all of sudden comes down with some sort of mysterious knee injury.

I figured it'd be Portland moving, but a NBA team will definetly be in Oklahoma pretty soon. I bet they just add another team to dilute the talent even more though, exactly what the NBA needs right now.

My Jazz will be the surprise team this year.

The Jazz will not fade.

Portland has a history of having some of the best fans in the league. I am sure they will be fine once their current crop starts to win again.

Opening night.

Chicago.

Just casually knock off the reigning champs by 40.

How bout your Suns.

Jazz vs Rockets tonight :)

Gerald Green is gonna dunk on 3 members of the Oklahoma City New Orleans Hornets toniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite

Yah, didnt you have a Suns avatar last year?

No, I did. Slugs is from Chicago, I am from Phoenix.

It's okay though because we still have 81 games to make up for it.

Yeah LOL my friend who is a Bulls fan went crazy. I was like are you serious?

The Cavs game is mad depressing just because of all the dark colors. Not really liking this new court.

I wanna use a different world then depressing, but I can't think of right word to say.

I think the new Cavs court is pretty sick

Peja sucks lol, dude is like 2-10 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd

Celtics down by 11 though, plus Pierce is forcing up terrible shots. Nice

Oh come on NBA, the Clippers/Suns game starts at 10:30 p.m. Western Time tonight. So it starts 1:30 a.m. Eastern. Seriously.

Also, I like the Cav's new court too. For some reason I never liked watching games in that arena, but it didn't seem too bad tonight.

Well, it looks like Rasheed Wallace will be suspended in no time. He gets 2 technicals before the 4th even starts.

Apparently the 1:30 am start was a misprint on Yahoo! Sports

Dear NBA,

Figure it out. Do home teams wear the color jerseys or not? Most of the other leagues have it down, why can't you? Fuck.

Yes, Bucks win in Detroit without Bobby Simmons.

I love the team this year and they have a huge amount of depth.

No they don't. NFL it varies (Its actually up to the home team to pick and choose each week if they are wearing the white or dark jerseys) Granted the majority of the NFL wears color at home and white on the road, but you could say the same for the NBA (except white at home)

NFL - 90% of the home wear thier colors. Only exceptions I can think of are Cowboys and Raiders.

NHL - It's been colors for the home team for a few years

MLB - Consistantly, some type of white, somtimes a color shirt for the home team.

NBA - Dunno

I don't know, outside of a throw backs I haven't seen many teams wearing other then white jerseys at home.

Also you sure about that 90%? A lot of times teams switch to force teams that constantly wear white to have to wear colored jerseys (Like when a team is facing Dallas, they'll wear white sometimes just something I noticed) Also teams randomly wear white at home (Seen the Eagles do it a few times, Tampa Bay, pretty sure the Dolphins always do)

Don't really see why it matters though, but everyones different I guess. I think it looks retarded when an NBA team wears black sneakers with white socks but i've found out for the most part that's just me.

UNDEFEATED NEW YORK KNICKS BABY

Roxer, what are you talking about? Like 95% of the time the home team wears white in the NBA, or the Lakers wear yellow. What team are you talking about?

In the NFL, the Cowboys and Redskins always wear white at home and I think the Eagles do too. But other than that yeah I think most teams wear colors.

Yesterday, the Miami Heat wore red at home. Today, the Phoenix Suns are wearing orange at home. I actually like home teams wearing colors so I hope they keep this, but I want this to be the same for everyone. I'm seeing highlights right now at halftime and it looks like all other home teams are wearing white so I dunno.

Lakers home jerseys have always been yellow, the white alts are a few years old.


I just want consistancy is all.

And while I'm on the subject, why don't the shirts and pants match in football. The red on red for the Cards or the blue on blue for the Broncos look way better than white pants.

:$

But the Suns road jerseys are purple so orange makes sense at home. And the Heat road jerseys are black so they probably were just showing off their shiny ass red uniforms for their home opener.

break up the Knicks

I HEAR THAT. Always bugs me. The Jets green on green is like the sexiest uniform ever, but they only wear it a couple of times in the second half of the season. Makes me mad. The Bengals too, they will wear black jerseys with white pants and it looks gay. They have the damn black pants, why don't they just wear them COME ON

Yeah maybe its just a home opener type of thing but whatever. CONSISTENCY

I think they just like mixing it up with the different pant/jersey combos. I kinda like how in the NFL they are always changing it up, I am more "new school" tho so I like when a team has a bunch of different combos and shit. I don't really like it when a team wears the same shit at home all the time and the same shit on the road every single time, I understand because its tradition, but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Back in the good old high school days, we had black pants and orange pants, we started out wearing the orange pants with our black jerseys at home and had to "earn the black pants" for home games (happened everytime since we only lost 9 times in 4 years while i was there :cool: ) Sick ass shit when we finally got to rock the all black tho

Carlos Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooozer!


Jazz win :)

Baseball jerseys are not determined by whether the team is home or away. The starting pitcher decides which uniform he is most comfortable in.

NHL used to be white at home, but now it is color at home.

NBA is usually white at home, but a lot of teams have third uniforms too. The Miami Heat have white, red and black. The Suns have white, orange and purple. The Lakers have white, yellow and purple. The Timberwolves have white, blue and black. What is the problem with a team wearing its third uniform at home?

I have never seen a baseball pitcher be more comfortable in a grey jersey rather than a white one.

Yea I've never heard of that starting pitcher thing.

MLB does wear dark jerseys at home sometimes too though so I don't think any sport has this consistency that Joey RoXer so strongly strives for

*with white pants

go spurs go

Best game opener this season was Dallas/San Antonio.

You just know the intensity is going to get better with the season and into the playoffs.

What do the white pants have to do with anything? They still aren't constistantly wearing the same colors at home and away. Don't some types wear colored jerseys on the road in the MLB too? Maybe not but I thought I saw it before

Back to hoops, everyone in the Boston media talking about how the team just stands around watches Paul Pierce when he has the ball. I dunno, are they surprised by this or something?

No, no, no. You guys have it all wrong. See, if you're a hardcore Knick fan like myself and a few people I know, you want this team to bomb. You wanted this team to go 0-82 despite it being near impossible. You wanted this so Isiah can get fired and someone who actually knows how to run a team can come in and fix this pile of crap they call an organization. Hell, hire some fans to do it, anyone but Isiah.

So now that 0-82 is out of the realm of possibilities, we should all root for 1-81. Because really, why take a chance on this team possibly winning 35 games, just missing the playoffs and Isiah getting a 5 year extension? You know that's exactly how Dolan would do it.

Well it's true. It's not just a coincidence that the starting pitchers are almost always pitching in the same uniform. As for comfort, there are different kinds of uniforms.

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/image...1/KpH6sULw.jpg

The Twins have never worn those uniforms before, but all of a sudden Matt Garza gets called up and they start wearing them every five days. Not a coincidence.

And I guess there's no such thing as superstition in baseball either.

Yeah but I'm talking about colors here not whether or not it's a vest.



But I'm dropping the subject, so no more.

Yes they are. White home, grey away.

The Celtics are going nowhere right now. The best thing they could do is trade Paul Pierce for a first round pick and a young promising player. Trade him to the Timberwolves for their first round pick and Rashad McCants or something. That was the best example I could think of, but it really isn't doing anybody any good to have Pierce in Boston still.

Utah motherfuckign Jazz baby!

"That was something we needed," Indiana's Stephen Jackson said. "He hasn't been shooting too well the first two games, but we need his offense."

The irony.

Dude stfu. Its like 3 games in and you act like you've won a world championship. BTW. Utah will fall badly towards the end and probably wont even make it to the playoffs.

No, they need to stop signing fucking bums like Brian Scalabrine for like 4mil/year

I really wish they could have signed Ben Wallace in the off-season, they need another good player. They got a bunch of REAL average players, with one superstar. They need atleast an above average guy or something. Wish they just kept Walker so they could have atleast been decent for a few years, getting sick of "rebuilding"

As long as Kirlenko is playing out of position the Jazz are fucked. He has been very average this year, I just don't like the makeup of their team.

Another game, another convincing win!

nice start by your Pacers btw

Jazz are killing teams on the boards. All they needed was decent guard play and theyed be a playoff team, and they'll get that this year. Plus playing in a shit division helps. Jazz are gonna win their division

2-1 ? yah i know.

it ain't 3-0 and one the teams u beat was the knicks who are bloody awful

Beating the Knicks is always fun.

4-0.

Think my Jazz aren;t good yet?