2006-07 NBA season (1 Viewer)

Another year of pro basketball starts. Here are my random observations/predictions.

Scariest lineup: the Suns, with Nash, Marion, Diaw, Stoudamire, Barbosa, Bell, and Kurt Thomas. Even if Stoudamire is only 85%, my guess is that they will have the best regular season record in the league.

I'll still go with the Spurs winning the entire thing though. Duncan was hurt and had a subpar year last year, and they were still tough in the playoffs. Miami is just very old.

Yao Ming will finally dethrone Shaq as the center for the First All NBA team, and Chris Paul will win take the PG spot. Darko Milicic for most improved player.

The Knicks will be better than last year by at least 10 games. Thomas will shock the world!

As for my Lakers, I really look forward to seeing Bynum to start getting some playing time. This early month will be difficult as we start the season with various injuries. Still, I would rather we start off poorly than let Kobe's injury not heal for the rest of the season. I would hope the team could improve to 50 wins or so, but that does not seem realistic given the various injuries and Western conference teams that possibly improved, such as the Rockets and Timberwolves. I hope we don't step back from 45 wins.

The Bulls are looking very good so far in the opener. I hope they're as good as everyone is saying they could be.

I'm not sure you meant it as such but seriously, funniest thing I read today.

I'm interested to see how the Pistons adjust to the loss of Ben Wallace. They will miss his defensive presence, but should be a better offensive team with Mohammed in the middle. Their bench should also be improved with the addition of Flip Murray and the emergence of 2nd year player Jason Maxiell, who looks to have improved a great deal over the summer.


The only way Isiah will shock the world is if he fails to trade for another bloated contract sometime during the season.

Oh the beauty of the standard smilie, nobody can tell if you are serious or sarcastic! I should probably shut up and let it go now, so either way I can claim I meant the other. But gee, I want exactly to say "ah hah" when the Knicks end up doing better than last year.

Make no mistake, I don't think Thomas will do a good job, or that he is a good coach, but several reasons make me think they will be better. First, really, there isn't much room to go below than 23 wins. Second, Larry Brown, it seems to me, intentionally tanked the season last year. Even if Thomas is completely incompetent, if he tries, it will be better than Brown's disgraceful season. And third, Brown refused to give young, talented players like Frye, David Lee and Robinson their fair share of playing time. These kids, along with their higher profile players, could be a handful for other teams if they push the ball.

Switching gears: one early regular season game can never mean too much (unless someone gets hurt), but last night must have been a collective joy to Laker fans. Andrew Bynum already looks to be more polished, patient, and effective on the offensive end than Kwame Brown and possibly Chris Mihm. Not only was he able to demonstrate some smooth touches with the ball, he also demonstrated a much better court sense and passing ability than the two other big men.

Mihm and Brown are scheduled around the same time to come back from injuries; Jackson better think of a way to utilize them cohesively. Right now it looks like Mihm is the most polished overall player, Brown the best defensive player, and Bynum the best offensive player. But Bynum sure looks to have a much higher potential than Mihm or Brown, and the Lakers future could depend on him a lot.

Scott, Mo Evans looks pretty good too on the first night.

That's what I heard, Kirk. I was sad to see him leave the Pistons, especially since Carlos Delfino (who's supposed to get his minutes) has not shown much, IMO. Evans is a very good role player. I would rather have seen Detroit keep him and let Delfino go.

The Bulls romp wasn't surprising...the Heat are very old and after winning the title last year, are not hungry anymore. They will be lucky to make the playoffs.

Lakers are up over Golden State by 14 in the 4th.

Listening to the game on Sirius and it doesn't appear that Don Nelson's presence alone will get the Warriors back to the playoffs like certain ESPN personalities have stated.

The lead is now 17 - God bless Sirius Satellite Radio.

I watched the Orlando Vs Chicago game last night. Man did the Magic look good, especially in the first half. Chicago made several good runs in the third and fourth quarters but by then they had dug just too much of a hole to get out of.

I know its real early in the season, only one game in, but it looks like all thoughs predications of the Magic making the playoffs aren't out of reach.

As a longtime (and long suffering) Magic fan it feels good to have some excitement about the local team again. Orlando has sold out the their first 2 games for the first time in 9 years.

With the Hill era finally in its last year and all the head cases like Steve Francis gone (thank-you Isaiah Thomas send an address and you'll get a christmas card) there maybe some light at the end of the tunnel in Mouse-dom.

I think with the team they have now they are primed for a title run in 3-4 years. Maybe sooner.

I wouldn't count Miami out after one game. Remember last season, Miami was something like 2-16 against the top NBA teams during the regular season. The playoffs are much different than the regular season, and I do not see any way (besides injuries to Wade and Shaq) that Miami fails to make the playoffs.

Shaq will put on more weight and wear down quickly as the season progresses. I can see them making the playoffs but not going anywhere.

I agree with the previous 2 posts. Shaq followed through with his promise to bring a title to Miami, 'Zo and Payton got thier rings, even Riley was able to re-establish his reputation winning his first championship in 17 years. The '06 Heat feels almost like a token title defense for these guys. They still have Wade and some other nice talent, but I still seee them at the 4 spot after Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. And even if they do lock up home court the first round of the play-offs, I doubt they win thier first round series.

Predicting Miami to miss the playoffs is...er...a little extreme! Looking up the historical results going back a while, the only times I've found a defending champion missing the playoffs the next year were Boston in 1970 and (of course) Chicago in 1999. We all remember what happened with the Bulls' roster and coaching staff after they won their last title in '98. Boston in 1970 was their first year of the post-Bill Russell era. But Miami has everyone back from last season, so to assume that they'll miss the playoffs is more than a bit over-the-top!

Perhaps, but so is getting annihilated to the tune of a 42-point blowout at home on opening night. The previous all-time worst loss for a defending champ was only 15.

If the Heat someohow limp into the playoffs, they might make a little noise. But I think Shaq and the rest of the graybeards are going to be taking off huge stretches of time just to stay healthy. And it's only a matter of time before Payton becomes a cancer again.

I will change my prediction and pick Miami to finish as the 7th seed in the East.

If you are going to predict that Miami will miss the playoffs just simply based on 1 game then this is the real question to answer.

Name the 8 Eastern Conference teams that are better than the Heat? Because if Miami misses the playoffs that means at best they are the 9th best team in the conference. So are we saying that: Orlando, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee and New Jersey are all better than the Heat?

I'm not saying that they're not but I'm not ready to pick a top 8 after 1 game.

I also cannot see the Heat missing the playoffs, though a bottom half seeding is quite possible. I can see Detriot, Cleveland, Indiana, Chicago and New Jersey all having better records. Philly and Atlanta have good starts, but I'm not a believer yet. Milwaukee could also finish ahead of Miami, they have a more balanced team.

Though Shaq is no longer The Big Unstoppable, a lot of the team's fortune still depends on him. He started 58 games last year, a low standard even for him. Can he even match that number? I hope so.

Bynum had another breakout game yesterday, posting 20 and 14 with 3 blocks. He is the best pick the Lakers have made since, well, Kobe. He's getting some attention from Laker hater Bill Simmons too:

I'm still in shock that the Hawks are 2 games over .500 already in this young season.

I know the season is stil only a week old but; the Mavs winless? the Suns 1-4?? The Clips, Jazz and Hornets all leading their divsions? WOW!! This is starting to look like a wild, ie: fun, year!!!

I can't believe that the Heat lost to the 76ers, who got off to an ok start.

Still, the 76ers will be lucky if they can finish .500

The Heat lose another one in grand fashion--this time to the Knicks. And Shaq is down for 4 to 6 weeks. Ouch.

So is Kenyon Martin and Chris Mihm, both likely gone for the season.

Except for Utah, most of the early good start teams have gone back down to earth. Of course, the Spurs just keep on chugging along as usual.