Going Deep
Domination, Disappointment and Surprise as Basketball season begins
Once the calendar flips to November, basketball season begins. As always, 82 games and four heated playoff rounds will decide which out of the 30 teams stands above the rest come June.But right now, everybody’s equal.
For starters, the Eastern Conference will be more competitive than ever this year. The conference fields championship-caliber teams like the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat. But the New York Knicks have improved with the addition of Zach Randolph and the Boston Celtics now matter with three superstars in their starting lineup. Throw in up-and-coming teams like the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards, and you’ve got a juggernaut of NBA talent.
Still, they’re no match for the heavy hitters of the Western Conference. As it’s been since the new millennium, the West fields the strongest teams in the NBA, with the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets all competing for supremacy.
Here’s a look at what to expect this season.
WHO WILL DOMINATE?
Dallas MavericksDon’t be fooled by their disappointing first-round exit at the hands of the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors last season. The Mavericks are one of the NBA’s best teams, they just ran into a squad they didn’t match up well against. Fact of the matter is, the Mavericks have it all: a high-powered offense, defensive stoppers, cohesion and most importantly, hunger. Don’t think Dallas — led by Dirk Nowitzki, Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard and Jason Terry — isn’t out for vengeance after last year’s horrific ending and 2006’s disappointment in the NBA Finals. They’re ready to take the league by storm.
Phoenix Suns
Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. What else do you need? How about the addition of Grant Hill — who’s still capable of scoring 20 points per game — thrown into a very deep team with star young players like Raja Bell, Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw. The Mavericks and the Suns are going to go at it all year long, and with the poor state of the Eastern Conference, that will decide the 2007-08 NBA Champion.
WHO WILL DISAPPOINT?
Miami Heat
The Heat’s roster has been on a constant decline since they waved that championship trophy in 2006. Miami went through perhaps the worst off season in the NBA after they missed out on big free agents like Rashard Lewis, Maurice Williams and Gerald Wallace. Now, the Heat must tough it out with an aging roster that got swept from the playoffs last season and is anchored by a mid-30s center in Shaquille O’Neal. Oh yeah, they won’t have Dwyane Wade for the first month, either.
Boston Celtics
I know, I know, a team that has three superstar players like Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce can’t disappoint. Well, they can because besides those three, that’s it. Yes the Celtics did a phenomenal job in turning around a team from last place to legitimate in one offseason. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a championship team isn’t build in a year. The Celtics still need to add pieces around those three players to win a championship, and young, unproven guys like Rajon Rando and Kendrick Perkins won’t cut it. Boston will make the playoffs, but they won’t be big-time factors in the Eastern Conference like everyone predicts.
WHO WILL SURPRISE?
Toronto Raptors
Maybe it’s because they play in Canada. Whatever it is, nobody seemed to take notice of the fact that the Raptors won their division last season. In his first year with the team, general manager Bryan Colangelo completely turned around that franchise with solid draft picks and two star players: T.J. Ford and Chris Bosh. The playoff experience this young and talented team gained last season will prove vital this year, and additions like sharpshooter Jason Kapono didn’t hurt either.
Utah Jazz
Jerry Sloan finally has a second chance. The longtime Jazz coach had a shot when he had John Stockton and Karl Malone running pick-and-rolls in the late ‘90s. But someone named Michael Jordan crushed his dreams and now the basketball gods are giving Sloan his due. Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are this era’s Stockton and Malone, and the Jazz are a contending team in the talent-heavy Western Conference. One more year of cohesion from those two will be huge in their development, and if Mehmet Okur along with Andrei Kirilenko can play the kind of game they’re capable of, this team can turn some heads.
But no matter who dominates, who disappoints and who surprises, you can be sure of one thing: Your November will be filled with high-flying dunks, buzzer-beating threes and intense drama.
The NBA is finally here again.
Let the games begin.
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