In Atlanta, the Dikembe to New York talk has died down a lot, not that that means much of anything. Maybe they can coaz Rik Smits out of retirement. He seems like a New York kind of player.
That being said, I do think the Bucks will go pretty deep into the playoffs this year, barring major injury. But win the East? I’m not so sure.
[hijack] Boy, that’s quite a penalty Stern imposed on the T-wolves. No first round pick for 5 years!! Ouch!! [/hijack]
http://www.nypostonline.com/sports/knicks/14523.htm
Yer pal,
Satan
*I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR:
Six months, two weeks, three days, 16 hours, 10 minutes and 25 seconds.
8026 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,003.37.
Extra life with Drain Bead: 3 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours, 50 minutes.
I slept with a REPUBLICAN moderator!*
Goodbye any chance of drafting anyone, Minnesota.
As for the west, we all know Golden State will win the title because they made the most astute and important free agent acquisition of the entire off-season.
Solid, but he definately is not the superstar he thinks he is. He said how it was great for a superstar to get to play in their hometown. He was talking about himself.
No I don’t claim the Lakers are not the favorites simply because I hate them, I think the Blazers are the favorites (at least in the West) to win. The Blazers had the Lakers beat last year, they should have been in the finals.
No, I’m from Chicago, so I like the Chicago teams. I don’t watch it unless there isn’t anything else on. I still pull for the Bulls though. I personally would have liked them to get Pryzbilla or Miles. No, I still wouldn’t agree with high schoolers coming out early if Miles were on the Bulls. Getting Fizer just to spite the Magic or Clippers or whoever it was seemed kind of goofy to me since they already have Brand.
It was a joke.
Great detective work, was it my low post total or that I only registered recently that tipped you off?
Hmmm, I’m pretty sure Montana had some semi-talented guys around him named Rice, Taylor, Craig, Rathman, Clark.
More so in basketball. I’d say baseball is a close second, but a lot of that is agents Like Scott Borass
Kind of slows down anything positive the T-Wolves had going there with Garnett and co.
I think the Bucks have a great shot at finishing 1-2 in the east, but I still worried about the Heat, especially if they sign Joe Smith.
I also agree with all of sledman’s evaluations of Bucks players except Joel Pryzbilla. I think Pryzbilla sucks, but it won’t matter because with this team Earvin Johnson is an adequate center to compete in the diluted east. I was at the pre-season game agains the Hawks, and Pryzbilla looked like a dumb oaf who was getting out-rebounded by Mark Pope.
Hunter, however, sledman was right on with. Lindsey Hunter will be a force for the Bucks this with his outside shot.
McGrady is a very solid basketball player, who might make the leap to being a superstar, but is not there yet. He is still, very, very young, so he has a lot of time to polish his game and take it to another level. Same is true of Tim Thomas, BTW, and for similar reasons. Except I think McGrady’s more well rounded now, and his upside is higher.
I do think the Lakers are the favorites to win the championship, and I don’t say that just because I’m from LA (I’m not a huge homer). I don’t think they’re prohibitive favorites, either: the Blazers definitely have a shot at 'em, maybe the Spurs as well.
I do think the Clippers are on the right track in terms of increasing their talent base. However, it definitely remains to be seen if they are well coached, can keep their talented players, and jell. To say nothing of Sterling not doing something stupid. And when I say “on the right track”, I mean that they’ve taken two steps up Mount Everest. Maybe three.
Agree that the Bucks look to be improved, but not that they’ll win the East. (I do think Karl’s a hell of a coach–until he starts getting restless to leave and/or pissing off his bosses–and will get the most out of that team.)
And even if they do, I think the Eastern Champion will get toasted by the Western Champion, anyway.
Finally, I’m a big hockey fan, too. So I’m not getting into the whole basketball vs. hockey thing.
The problem with the Bucks is that they need to find playing time for all their players.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Big Dog shipped out of there if Thomas plays well.
At the same time, I am from Philly and got to see Thomas play for a few years and I can’t say I am terribly impressibly. I think he’ll be a good player but certainly not a great player. His handle is shaky and he doesn’t protect the bal very well when he goes into the lane.
For what it’s worth, I see Thomas as having upside because he’s still young and physically maturing: he came out after his freshman year at Villanova, and is roughly the same age as a four year graduate would be now. I do think he has some skills growth left in him.
I don’t believe he’ll be a great player, though, because I see him as sort of a “tweener”: someone who doesn’t fit in as a power forward or a small forward. He’s big (6’10"), but I don’t think he rebounds enough to be a power forward, and I don’t think he’s quick enough and a good enough ballhandler to be a true small forward, either.
I still like him, but don’t think he’ll be great.
If anything, I think the Buck’s acquiring Hunter was a better move than retaining Thomas.
If Cassell starts bitching/hurting again they have a solid person to take his place.
In general I am curious as to how all of the young players handle themsleves. There are more “prestigious” rookies in the league right now than ever. The average age of the Clippers is somewhere between infant and toddler and a lot of the teams liek the Bulls and the Magic aren’t any better.
Some predictions…
-Mike Miller gives Kenyon Martin a run for ROY while Darius Miles is a bust.
-Derrick Coleman is arrested.
-Vince Carter wins the scoring title.
-People start to recognize “that guy with the funky
Muslim name who plays for Vancouver” 
-Derrick Coleman is arrested again.
-Lakers or Blazers get a champagne shower.
The OP’er might beinterested to know that Sports Illustrated has the Bucks finsihing second in the East behind Orlando.
I saw that ranking.
I think the Bucks will finish in top 5 or 6 teams, but a ranking of 2cnd seems really high for a team that needs a lot more defense.
I vehemently disagree with the ranking of Orlando at #1. Hill is still hurting and has little lateral movement (My friend saw him play exhibition and said it was obvious that he was nicked up) and McGrady has no experience. They have a solid bench with Outlaw and Miller, etc. But #1, even in a weak East, is jumping on the bandwagon. I certainly would take Miami or Philly (maybe even Indiana still) over them in a minute.
Even that won’t change my feelings. I still think that the Bucks have a great shot at finishing first or second in the east.
Of course the bucks will win.
Whichever team has the most bucks always wins. They can buy the best players in the league that way. (It worked for the Yankees, after all.)
I stand behind my statement that the Bucks will the East. This is not based on the predictions of any major publication’s predictions. It is based on their performance at the end of last year and the additions they made over the summer. Lindsey Hunter replacing Del Negro, Jason Caffey replacing Tractor Traylor, Joel Przybilla replacing Turkan and I think Michael Redd made the team too.
They bought into the defensive philosophy at the end of last year, Robinson is in the best shape of his career and the East does not have a stud team. The Bucks are young and underachieved last year until the end. They gained valuable experience in the playoffs when they let Indiana slip from their fingers. Hell we flat out kicked their ass a couple times in that series. We’ll start to know more in a few hours.
Dignan – You are invited to join the Hoops League on Sandbox to prove your superior knowledge as you stated.
Same goes for anyone else.
League – Teeming Millions Hoops League
Pwd: cecil
OK not an auspicious beginning to the season. We played flat but I will give the Mavs credit. They game planned us well and hit big shots when they needed them. So much for going 6-0 against the Texas teams again this year.
Well we will have to see what Houston has to say for itself.
Nice job by the Clips having 2 guys get 2 Technicals and both get tossed. They made a nice run but they never stopped Malone. Nice game(quarter) for Magette!!!
I thought the Mavs would be improved, but looking at their team more and more, they look like they have the beginnings of a solid team. A team that will be fighting only for an 8th seed, but a solid team with a nice future nonetheless.
Go Warriors!
As I said in my original post re: The Bucks
**
Bucks today: 5-9
Phoenix today: 10-4
Seattle today: 7-9 (Okay, so I wasn’t THAT right. Echhh.)
Miami’s floundering at 6-9, New York is somehow 9-7 (All aboard the Allan Houston bandwagon?), Cleveland is 9-5 and atop the worst division in the league, and freakin’ Philly is 12-2. Yowza. It’s probably safe to say that nobody saw that one coming
To be fair, Grendel69 said:
So at least he picked Philly. Not bad.
All things considered though, it’s become transparently obvious to me that the top three to six teams all reside in the West. LA Lakers, Portland, San Antonio, Phoenix, Utah, Sacramento all seem better than what the East has to offer.
Anyone disagree?
I was waiting for somebody to throw this one back at me. However a mere 15 games into the season now and I will not recant my claim that the bucks will win the East. They are putting it together. losing Ham was a bigger loss than most of you realize and not because of what you could read about him in the boxscore.
Philly will self destruct…Seattle may be getting it turned around. Nice start by Phoenix.
Squooshed:
I agree the West is better.