namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
A new regular season starts tonight, and the other thread is up to 960 posts, so I figured this was an ideal time to start a new thread. Lots of interesting things to watch for as this season begins to unfold:
Will Nash/Kobe/Gasol/Dwight/Artest/Jamison be as good as it looks on paper for the Lakers?
Will the Heat, with the additions of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, and with Bosh at center, and with the smaller lineups that will likely result, repeat?
How will the Bulls fare without Derrick Rose, and with Kirk Hinrich and thier new bench(Nazr Mohammed, Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Vladmir Radmanovic, and holdovers Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler, having lost Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and C.J. Watson among others), and how will Derrick Rose look when he gets back?
Will the Celtics' offseason acquisitions of Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Darko Milicic, Fab Melo, and Jared Sullinger, along with the return of Jeff Green, be enough to keep the KG/Pierce/Rondo core in the game for a little while longer?
The Knicks have added mostly old players in the twilight of their careers during the offseason(Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd) in addition to Ronnie Brewer and Raymond Felton. Given this, Shumpert's injury, and the fact that the Knicks' frontcourt is already injury-riddled(it's reported Amare will miss up to 6-8 weeks with a ruptured cyst in his knee, Camby is out with a left calf injury and hasn't played at all in preseason, Chandler might(but might not) play despite a bruised knee, and Rasheed Wallace hasn't played all preseason or, really, since 2010), could the Knicks be headed for a disappointing season, or will they meet/surpass expectations?
How will the Nets fare in their inaugural season in Brooklyn, having added Joe Johnson, Andray Blatche, Josh Childress, C.J. Watson, Mirza Teletovic, Jerry Stackhouse(yeah, he's still playing), and having lost Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmer, Gerald Green, DeShawn Stevenson, and Sheldon Williams, among others, but more importantly, having lost the Dwight sweepstakes?
Will the acquisitions of Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson, and Nick Young push the Sixers past the level of 'fringe playoff team'?
Will the Thunder take a step back this season, after the Harden trade and playing behind the aforementioned new-look Lakers, or will they still be able to contend?
The Mavs look quite different this year, having added Chris Kaman, Eddy Curry, Elton Brand, OJ Mayo, Darren Collison, and draft pick Jae Crowder, and having lost Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Brendan Haywood, Lamar Odom(ok they never really had him), Yi Jianlian, Ian Mahinmi, and now Delonte West. Have they improved? Will they make any noise in the playoffs?
The Clippers have added Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom, Grant Hill, Willie Green, and will get Chauncey Billups back, while losing Kenyon Martin, Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Nick Young, Reggie Evans, and Ryan Gomes among others. Will they take the next step? Will they be good enough for CP3 to re-sign?
The Pacers lost Darren Collison but acquired D.J. Augustin, Gerald Green, Sam Young, and added rookie Ben Hansbrough to their existing core. Are they improved, or will they just be a good-but-not-great team with no number one option again?
Might the Warriors make some noise this year, with a roster featuring Andrew Bogut, David Lee, rookie Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Andres Biedrins, Carl Landry, Richard Jefferson, Jarret Jack, Brandon Rush, Jeremy Tyler, and rookies Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green, among others?
The Wizards look poised to be improved with the additions of Nene, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza, and Bradley Beal, among others, to the roster with John Wall, Kevin Saraphin, and Jordan Crawford, and the loss of Andray Blatche, Javale McGee, Nick Young, and Rashard Lewis, who are all talented but were terrible together(too much chucking, low bball iq on one team). But how improved will they be?
Will Orlando manage to not be terrible in the aftermath of the Dwight deal, with a team consisting of Nikola Vucevic, Arron Afflalo, All Harrington, Hedo Turkoglu, J.J. Redick, Glen Davis, and Gustavo Ayon, among others?
Will the Kings still be in Sacramento by the end of the season? Reports are the league wants the Maloofs to sell, and David Stern also wants a team in Seattle by the time he retires in 2014. You do the math.
How will the season's top draft picks(Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal, Thomas Robinson, Jeremy Lamb, Austin Rivers, Harrison Barnes, etc), as well as all the other rookies, look in their rookie seasons?
And there are more as well that I haven't mentioned.
Also, something to watch for in the immediate days to come is if any East coast games, such as the Nets/Knicks opener in Brooklyn on Thursday, the Knicks games vs the Heat and Sixers on Friday and Sunday at MSG, or the Sixers/Nuggets game in Philadelphia on Wednesday, will get postponed/rescheduled in the wake of Sandy. It seems likely that at least the Nets/Knicks game will get pushed.
Hopefully this season is better than last!
Will Nash/Kobe/Gasol/Dwight/Artest/Jamison be as good as it looks on paper for the Lakers?
Will the Heat, with the additions of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, and with Bosh at center, and with the smaller lineups that will likely result, repeat?
How will the Bulls fare without Derrick Rose, and with Kirk Hinrich and thier new bench(Nazr Mohammed, Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Vladmir Radmanovic, and holdovers Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler, having lost Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, and C.J. Watson among others), and how will Derrick Rose look when he gets back?
Will the Celtics' offseason acquisitions of Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Darko Milicic, Fab Melo, and Jared Sullinger, along with the return of Jeff Green, be enough to keep the KG/Pierce/Rondo core in the game for a little while longer?
The Knicks have added mostly old players in the twilight of their careers during the offseason(Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd) in addition to Ronnie Brewer and Raymond Felton. Given this, Shumpert's injury, and the fact that the Knicks' frontcourt is already injury-riddled(it's reported Amare will miss up to 6-8 weeks with a ruptured cyst in his knee, Camby is out with a left calf injury and hasn't played at all in preseason, Chandler might(but might not) play despite a bruised knee, and Rasheed Wallace hasn't played all preseason or, really, since 2010), could the Knicks be headed for a disappointing season, or will they meet/surpass expectations?
How will the Nets fare in their inaugural season in Brooklyn, having added Joe Johnson, Andray Blatche, Josh Childress, C.J. Watson, Mirza Teletovic, Jerry Stackhouse(yeah, he's still playing), and having lost Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmer, Gerald Green, DeShawn Stevenson, and Sheldon Williams, among others, but more importantly, having lost the Dwight sweepstakes?
Will the acquisitions of Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson, and Nick Young push the Sixers past the level of 'fringe playoff team'?
Will the Thunder take a step back this season, after the Harden trade and playing behind the aforementioned new-look Lakers, or will they still be able to contend?
The Mavs look quite different this year, having added Chris Kaman, Eddy Curry, Elton Brand, OJ Mayo, Darren Collison, and draft pick Jae Crowder, and having lost Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Brendan Haywood, Lamar Odom(ok they never really had him), Yi Jianlian, Ian Mahinmi, and now Delonte West. Have they improved? Will they make any noise in the playoffs?
The Clippers have added Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom, Grant Hill, Willie Green, and will get Chauncey Billups back, while losing Kenyon Martin, Mo Williams, Randy Foye, Nick Young, Reggie Evans, and Ryan Gomes among others. Will they take the next step? Will they be good enough for CP3 to re-sign?
The Pacers lost Darren Collison but acquired D.J. Augustin, Gerald Green, Sam Young, and added rookie Ben Hansbrough to their existing core. Are they improved, or will they just be a good-but-not-great team with no number one option again?
Might the Warriors make some noise this year, with a roster featuring Andrew Bogut, David Lee, rookie Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Andres Biedrins, Carl Landry, Richard Jefferson, Jarret Jack, Brandon Rush, Jeremy Tyler, and rookies Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green, among others?
The Wizards look poised to be improved with the additions of Nene, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza, and Bradley Beal, among others, to the roster with John Wall, Kevin Saraphin, and Jordan Crawford, and the loss of Andray Blatche, Javale McGee, Nick Young, and Rashard Lewis, who are all talented but were terrible together(too much chucking, low bball iq on one team). But how improved will they be?
Will Orlando manage to not be terrible in the aftermath of the Dwight deal, with a team consisting of Nikola Vucevic, Arron Afflalo, All Harrington, Hedo Turkoglu, J.J. Redick, Glen Davis, and Gustavo Ayon, among others?
Will the Kings still be in Sacramento by the end of the season? Reports are the league wants the Maloofs to sell, and David Stern also wants a team in Seattle by the time he retires in 2014. You do the math.
How will the season's top draft picks(Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal, Thomas Robinson, Jeremy Lamb, Austin Rivers, Harrison Barnes, etc), as well as all the other rookies, look in their rookie seasons?
And there are more as well that I haven't mentioned.
Also, something to watch for in the immediate days to come is if any East coast games, such as the Nets/Knicks opener in Brooklyn on Thursday, the Knicks games vs the Heat and Sixers on Friday and Sunday at MSG, or the Sixers/Nuggets game in Philadelphia on Wednesday, will get postponed/rescheduled in the wake of Sandy. It seems likely that at least the Nets/Knicks game will get pushed.
Hopefully this season is better than last!
