Season Preview

So I’m a few days late? In case you haven’t noticed every column starts with a disclaimer about lack of time, etc.

I’m getting ready for an extended stay outside of the country and keeping extremely busy with things. Luckily, Kevin is understanding enough to let me get away with infrequent or low quality columns that are made on the run. For example, in my last column I harped on Avalon Sports without ever checking to see that the magazine was actually Athlon Sports. I’ve actually written two columns in the last three weeks that were outdated before I had a chance to send them along ....

I hope to make it up to him with a series of columns on the importance of basketball overseas. In countries like the Philippines, the NBA is representative of all that is America. They still worship the Chicago Bulls and you can buy new Shawn Kemp Seattle jerseys in some stores. In some parts of China Michael Jordan is a more recognized face than their former leader Chairman Mao Tse Deng. I have a great series of pictures of kids playing hoops in rice fields and a shot of Chinese troops standing at attention under a hoop in Tianamen Square. Hopefully some of those columns will be of interest to you and keep people coming back.

So here it goes. After one game here are my reactions/predictions:

Record: 43 and 39, ninth in the WC

1) Lakers
2) Dallas Mavericks
3) Sacramento Kings
4) Portland Trailblazers
5) Minn T-Wolves
6) San Antonio Spurs
7) Utah Jazz
8) Houston Rockets

Summary:

What we saw in game one will be pretty much the norm for the season. Young guys who can’t quite close the deal will offset solid effort and encouraging play. It will cost us games and piss off some fans but guys like Earl Watson will see minutes in the fourth quarter. I pick Houston to take that #8 spot primarily because of the acquisitions of Glenn Rice and Kevin Willis. Rice and Willis are both the type of veterans who have enough experience to add 2-3 wins just by doing the little things late in the game. The Supes on the other hand have such a young bench that they will lose 2-3 games despite having just as much talent.

Misc:

I’m not high on the Spurs. Losing Anderson and Avery will hurt them more than they know. They’re too old and slow and Duncan will have to carry the team.

I have Sacramento picked very high and I think their talent justifies it. However I just have a bug in the back of my head that’s telling me they will have problems. Webber has his money and hasn’t proven he can handle it. Also there was a weird chemistry between Webber and Jason Williams. Williams’s presence allowed Webber to be the good guy and defined their identity as a run and gun team. Bibby, despite being a better player, lacks something intangible that Williams brought to the table. If he was such a solid PG, why didn’t the Griz win more games? So put an asterisk next to Sacramento and don’t be surprised it they don’t have the same magic as the last couple of years.

Phoenix will sorely regret the trade for Marbury. The difference between Kidd and Stephon is apperent after only a couple of games. NJ will be much improved. What’s really amazing is to consider who they could have had had they drafted well. Their three picks from Houston could have easily been Troy Murphy, Zach Randolph,and either Jamaal Tinsley or Tony Parker(either of these guys would have been awesome to groom behind Kidd). All these guys were rated above the players the Nets took, and their future would be incredibly bright with them in the fold.

The Knicks are going to stink. I really don’t like the composition of their team and expect them to make a major deal before the deadline. I still think they’ll be the team to take Vin Baker off our hands if he starts off solidly.

The emergence of Brent Barry makes Shammond Williams unnecessary on this team. Look for Shammond to be dealt. Most likely to Cleveland for Michael Doleac.

Game 1 reaction:

Lots of positive things to take out of the game. The young players made young player mistakes but overall were very impressive. Every one of them took the floor and looked like a legitimate NBA Player. Here is my reaction to each player:

Radmanovic: I’m officially sold on the pick. He looked like a guy who belonged on the floor right from the start and was able to make a lot of things happen on offense. He got absolutely reamed on a couple of calls and deserved a couple of extra baskets and some more time. In addition he makes a real effort to play a physical game. He doesn’t quite know how yet but I think he will be much tougher than your average Euro.

I would say that Radmanovic right now appears to have a game very similar to, or maybe better, than Rashard did last year. By that I mean that he will do some things spectacularly, have a very solid game, but have some glaring weaknesses. Considering that we’ve already anointed Rashard as a future superstar that is a pretty good place for him to be in his first NBA game.

Jerome James: I have never in my life understood why more big men with long arms do not develop a hook shot. It's practically impossible to defend and relatively simple as long as they work on it. James seems to have a solid hook shot and looked very good using it. He’s athletic and hustles on the floor. Remember that the Sonics strongly considered drafting Stephen Hunter with their #12 pick. In his first game Jerome James provided everything that I would have expected out of Hunter. It's almost like getting a lottery pick for free.

Earl Watson: He did nothing spectacular but the team seemed to respond to him. That’s an important trait in a PG. The biggest surprise was simply his presence on the floor. It indicated that Nate is going to give more rest to Gary than he’s used to and that he trusts Watson to take GP’s minutes.

Vin Baker: Started slow but really came on. I liked what I saw but still have reservations about his inconsistency.

Calvin Booth: I’m not very good at hoops. What I try to do is rebound well and make people pay for leaving me to double team. That way at least I draw a defender and open the floor up for my teammates. Calving Booth seems to provide that. The moment an opposing defender leaves him to double he is just absolute money inside 15.

His game was hard to rate because he absolutely stunk in the first half. It seemed that his injury was bothering him and that he would be ineffective all night, but then he came back strong in the second. He may have had some treatment at halftime but I just don’t know what caused the turnaround. He looked solid in the second half.

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All opinions expressed in this column are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of other columnists or staff of Sonicscentral.com