Category: NBA General

Well the NBA playoffs are finally here (that means only five more months until NFL Kickoff!) and this year’s postseason fraternity has inducted two new members.  The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Clippers, both of whom just recently returning to prominence from years of NBA obscurity, mutually have had very respectable seasons and are looking to make magical runs into the playoffs.  Also jockeying for position in the hunt for the elusive NBA championship: the 2005 champs San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and the Los Angeles Kobes (I mean Lakers) from the West.  And representing the East: the Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, and Chicago Bulls.  

The winner of the Eastern Conference has always been predetermined due to the lack of competition. This season has been no different as the 5th-8th seeds are separated by half a game to one game. And none of the teams offer much resistence to the Detroit Pistons.

Meanwhile, in the West, things look (a little) more competitive, even in the first round matchups. Here is your first round playoff preview.

By David J. Cohen

If all goes according to plan the Pistons will win it all. As for how the conference playoffs unfold…

By David J. Cohen

With the playoffs rolling around it’s time to figure out who will lose to the Pistons in the NBA finals.

A hectic schedule begins in three weeks for the NBA. Sixteen teams will work tirelessly in hopes of capturing the coveted NBA Championship while managements will begin to debate and alter the future of their respective franchises. The advent of the postseason foreshadows the offseason which is of utmost concern for managements who desperately need to make changes to their squads or merely just retain players. There’s gold in dem hills aka the free agent market this year. Who are the significant free agents? Who will stay with their current club, and who will offer their services in a different jersey?

With the playoffs in less than a month, it is time to honor those individuals for their performance during the season.

With this week being the last week of fantasy basketball, I thought I would review this NBA season in terms of the fantasy world. What players turned out to be fantasy busts? What players had breakout seasons? What trades and/or other major events shook the fantasy world?

Notes to readers: For the purpose of this article, I played on the Yahoo! game under Head-to-Head scoring. In addition, listed next to all honorable mentions are the reasons why they did not make the cut.

A first time entry stating why Steve Nash should be this years NBA MVP.

Olympic dreams of capturing gold were more akin to reality ever since NBA players represented the USA basketball team. The 1992 Dream Team in which the average margin of victory was forty points and head coach Chuck Daly never called a single timeout was a testament to the superiority of American basketball. USA would continue to dominate basketball in following games until the Athens Olympics in 2004. The USA team captured a disappointing bronze and was considered by many failures. Two reasons accounted for the outcome: the world basketball teams vastly improved and the group selected were chosen based on individual skill. As a result, the USA incurred heavy losses to foreign ball clubs that played as a team. USA basketball had dominated for so long that not much thought was taken to select an Olympic squad.

    Now knowing that the Olympic team can no longer be composed of just the best players but role players as well, a committee under Jerry Colangelo has decided to undertake the responsibility of creating a team that will commit to three years, compete in the World Championship and the Beijing Olympics, and restore USA’s basketball reputation. Last week, twenty-three players were selected to compete for the twelve spots. Project Redemption had begun.

Midseason trades are always a favorite of mine because they are put into effect immediately. Most of these trades occur for teams not in the playoff picture, usually the teams that are right on the outside looking in. Examples include the Sacramento Kings and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Because season record does not matter once the playoffs start, managements work furiously during the midseason to make a deal that is clearly in their favor and will put them over the top (or the bottom as is the case for many of these teams). Four major trades have occurred this year, but are they trade deadline studs or duds?