Alright, onto Part 2. So here's what we know so far...

- The East is weak. There's only two legitimate title contenders, one darkhorse and one really overrated group posing at title contenders. Note, Lenstradamus does not acknowledge any title contender that spots a 15 win team a 19 point lead in the fourth. 15 win teams are supposed to be fodder for you as you walk towards a title, not potential stumbling blocks. I do think the East comes down to Boston and Orlando, with Boston and their depth being too much for Orlando to handle. Cleveland's not as ready as folks seem to hope they are and Wade simply can't do it by himself (even though it's going to be great watching him try). Only things we don't know in the East are this...

1) Who's going to be the top seed and have homecourt throughout? Boston? Cleveland? Orlando? Boston's clearly got the tougher road, but I think it suits them better than a cake schedule does Cleveland. Boston's got the better road record than Cleveland, better in-conference mark and I think in spite of the record...the New Garden trumps The Q in terms of frightening folks. Orlando probably took a hit when they lost Nelson for the year, but I think they're going to be a seriously tough out...so long as Detroit's not on the other side of them.

My answer to that goes like this.

03/11/09 | Posted by Len | Category NBA 77 comments | Permalink | No Trackbacks |

I put this off long enough, so here it goes.

It's time for my second half NBA outlook, so to speak. Your playoff primer for what we're going to end up seeing late next month and what to expect as we head into June. First, a few things.

- Last June, I said that Detroit was still the team in the Central so long as they kept motivated. In October of 2007, I said their EC Final meltdown against the Cavs was the Buster Douglas moment for this franchise. That in short, they wouldn't be the same after the fact. When they dealt Billups away for Iverson just four games in, they ensured that prophecy would come to fruition. Bad Boys 2 will most likely dismantle in the summer, hopefully ole Sheed can get one more ring before he hangs it up.

- Next, even though this is a bit early...I think the Clips might be a sleeper to watch next year. I know on paper, they look like an absolute clusterfuck and four dimes, but this is a good team. Dunleavy aka The Undertaker as The Sports Guy refers to him as, is done. I'm convinced of this after seeing them squander a 19 point 4th quarter lead against the most overhyped team in NBA history. (Seriously, who in their right fucking mind has the Cavs winning it all?! Yeah, I'm gonna go nuclear on these fucks in a second.) Kaman's not a bad center, Camby's got a little something left and I think Baron should be better next year with Easy E (Eric Gordon) as his running mate. HOWEVER...this team has to run. Seriously, this half court shit is for the fucking birds.

Alright, here's how we're going to do this. I'm gonna do this in two parts. First part, I'm gonna look at what I said in my preseason picks column and see how it's holding up. In the second, I'm gonna give you the teams to put your money on (especially if you find some dumbass Cavaliers fans willing to lose their money, or whatever team's applicable) playing on into June.

03/11/09 | Posted by Len | Category NBA 9 comments | Permalink | No Trackbacks |