Western Conference (By playoff seed)
1.San Antonio
2.Sacramento
3.Denver
4.Houston
5.Dallas
6.Phoenix
7.Utah
8.Golden State
9.Minnesota
10.LA Lakers
11.Memphis
12.LA Clippers
13.Seattle
14.Portland
15.New Orleans/Oklahoma City
Playoffs rd 2
San Antonio vs Houston
Phoenix vs Sacramento
WC Finals
Houston vs Phoenix
Finals------>Houston
WC Outlook (ripped directly from HPD):
Surprise, surprise. Minnesota: not enough good role players. LAL: one coach isn't enough to save you. Memphis: you lost your best young talent and brought in old, injury prone ones. LAC: fun but disappointing. Seattle: one coach put you over the top. Portland: Nope, not yet. NOK: Sorry, you're in rebuilding mode. Golden State looks ready to break out this season but they'll falter and may even miss the playoffs. Utah will be back to form, Deron being a stud, but will find out that they're not really that good compared to other WC teams. Phoenix will have a slow start, but will go on a tear following the return of Amare, securing a playoff spot. The southwest division will be a throwup, but SAS will garner the #1 seed posting their best record yet. Sacramento & Denver will surprise nobody by taking their respective divisions. Denver, no matter how good they are, will be exposed once again in the playoffs for their lack of outside shooting and will lose to the scorching Suns. Houston will get their revenge. Utah & Golden State stand no chance against these perennial playoff teams. Phoenix will edge Sacramento. Then it hits you. Houston in the Conference finals? Over the Spurs. I believe T-mac and Yao will have a great season capped by a phenomenal playoff run. They'll go on to defeat Phoenix as well, sending them to direct contention from the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Eastern Conference (By playoff seed)
1.Miami
2.Indiana
3.New Jersey
4.Detroit
5.Cleveland
6.Milwaukee
7.Washington
8.Chicago
9.Philadelphia
10.New York
11.Orlando
12.Boston
13.Atlanta
14.Charlotte
15.Toronto
Playoffs rd 2
Indiana vs Milwaukee
Miami vs Cleveland
EC Finals
Indiana vs Cleveland
NBA Finals
Cleveland vs Houston
EC Outlook:
Philadelphia: Edged out in the last game, the duo of AI-Webber crumbled down the stretch. NYK: Larry Brown gleamed hope, but the plethora of chemistry problems incited a reaction. Orlando: All-star season by Howard, but not enough. Boston: Nobody's there to help Pierce. Atlanta: Lots of young talent, crappy coach, no bigs. Charlotte: So much promise, but not enough talent. Toronto: Poor Chris Bosh. Chicago will make its slow return proving naysayers wrong. Washington tries to prove it can do it without Hughes, but move down 3 seeds. Milwaukee and Cleveland both had their ups and downs, but mission successful in a tough Central Division. Detroit is stalwart, but Indiana is stronger and nab the Central crown. NJN takes the weak Atlantic division with 0 competition. And Miami, loaded with talent, takes the Southeast with ease. First round, no surprises so far.. Milwaukee makes it by an aging NJN team with no legit post scoring. Indiana flies through, Miami as well. But the Cavaliers over Detroit? Blasphemy? No! I believe this playoff series will be the beginning of chemistry issues for the Pistons and they'll fall to a matured Cavs team led by the King. Indiana easily over Milwaukee. What??? Cavaliers over Miami? No way! Yes way. Miami stomped Washington again, but they will soon realize what everyone was talking about when Antoine Walker and Jason Williams stepped onto the court with them. It's not the regular season, but the big time games that this issue will come up. And the Cavaliers edge the Pacers in a hard fought, emotional battle.
NBA Champions
Cleveland Cavaliers
Final touches: Hey, I predicted them to make the finals. Being a real cavs fan, I naturally will pick them for the championship.
League MVP ------> LeBron James // Absolutely deserving RU: Tim Duncan
DPOY-------------> Ron Artest // Comeback season RU: Ben Wallace
ROY--------------> Chris Paul // One star on crappy team RU: Andrew Bogut
COY--------------> Greg Popovich // Finally deserving RU: Mike Brown
Exec of Year------> Danny Ferry // Great Moves RU: Larry Harris
Leading Scorer----> Kobe Bryant // Why not? RU: Tracy McGrady
Allstar MVP-------> Lebron James // He wants it this year RU: Tracy McGrady
Comeback POY---> **This award does not exist** Sorry, Buckeroo.
MIP-------------> DeSagana Diop // Double up his stats RU: Darko Milicic
(This award usually goes to the guy that goes from no-name to decent contributor)
And the reign begins... Write it down. Fold it. Put it into an envelope. Seal it up. I called it first. Post #777. Looks like a sign of the 7 rings King James will don.