2008-09 NBA Season

[Giancarlo]

A lot of questions this season...

• Can the Celtics repeat?
• How will the Lakers climb back to the top? How will Andrew Bynum change things?
• Will the Clippers implode and make Baron Davis hate his agent?
• Will the 76ers become a force to be reckoned with, after the addition of Elton Brand?
• Can the Rockets make a strong push in the playoffs with the addition of Ron Artest?
• How will Rose, Beasley, Love, Westbrook, and all the other rookies fare? Who will be ROY? (Beasley )
• Can the Thunder become a fresh face in the NBA?
• Will the Heat be able to forget their horrible record last season, with a rejuvenated Dwyane Wade?
• Will Ben Gordon just not show up to games anymore, even though he was finally re-signed?
• Will the Knicks change at all with all their personnel moves?
• Will the Blazers finally make that playoff berth with their young star, Greg Oden?
• How much does Shaq have left? Will the Suns miss the playoffs?

 

[a6m5]

I can tell you are new at this...... It's 2008-2009 Season.

• Can the Celtics repeat? -They can. But last year, I was surprised by how easily the Lakers & Celtics got into the Finals. Hopefully, other teams will put up more fight this season.
• How will the Lakers climb back to the top? How will Andrew Bynum change things? - Bynum, while I think he's bit overrated, can only help. To be honest, I think the only reason they got in the Finals in '08, was due to Spurs being in a slump, Phoenix needing to regroup, not having to face the Hornets.
• Will the Clippers implode and make Baron Davis hate his agent? - I think it's gonna depend on how quickly, if at all, they can mesh. I do like the addition of Camby, and they got lots of veterans. But this is the NBA, and it's the Clippers. I think we all have doubts about this team.
• Will the 76ers become a force to be reckoned with, after the addition of Elton Brand? - I really like Coach Cheeks, so I hope Brand can stay healthy, work out for them. Eastern Conference is still weak. Sixers can do some serious damage with what they got.
• Can the Rockets make a strong push in the playoffs with the addition of Ron Artest? - As a Blazer fan, I am scared. The team's pretty much loaded. And Artest's pretty much the only defender in the league who can automatically shut down our Brandon Roy. Here's to Artest getting hit by a bus.
• How will Rose, Beasley, Love, Westbrook, and all the other rookies fare? Who will be ROY? (Beasley ) - Beasley is the most popular pick. But the R.O.Y. race should finish in this order: 1) Greg Oden 2)Rudy Fernandez 3) Jerryd Bayless and honorable mention goes to Nicolas Batum.
  
  Some of the rookies, IMO, are lock to be successful in the NBA. Love, Mayo, Beasley, etc. I'm most interested in Rose though(outside our own rookies). Was he the right #1 pick?
• Can the Thunder become a fresh face in the NBA? Huh?
• Will the Heat be able to forget their horrible record last season, with a rejuvenated Dwyane Wade? - Hell yeah. I look forward to his comeback!
• Will Ben Gordon just not show up to games anymore, even though he was finally re-signed? - Bulls should pull off a trade involving Gordon, or another guard. Personally, I'd think long and hard about trading Hinrich, too.
• Will the Knicks change at all with all their personnel moves? - I don't believe in Randolph, or Curry. Only real (on floor)help that I saw Knicks get during the off season was D'Antoni. Allan Houston thing is a joke, and Randolph needs to realize that he's one of the best garbage man in the league, if not the very best. Unfortunately, he still thinks that the ball gotta go through him.
• Will the Blazers finally make that playoff berth with their young star, Greg Oden? - NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!
• How much does Shaq have left? Will the Suns miss the playoffs? - They did get a new coach, but I think Terry Porter's a decent coach. I think they still have too much help to miss the Playoffs.

 

[Giancarlo]

I can tell you are new at this...... It's 2008-2009 Season.

• Can the Thunder become a fresh face in the NBA? Huh?
• Will Ben Gordon just not show up to games anymore, even though he was finally re-signed? - Bulls should pull off a trade involving Gordon, or another guard. Personally, I'd think long and hard about trading Hinrich, too.

Whoops. Fixed that.

I mean, will the Thunder be an exciting new team for both OKC and the NBA (think Blazers last season and their 10 game win streak), or will they just be off everybody's radar like a Memphis or a Minnesota?

I don't think they can even trade Gordon for a while now, due to contract restrictions set by the NBA.

Oh, and i really really want the Heat and Bulls to discuss a deal involving Kirk Hinrich. Everyone but D-Wade and Beasley are on the table, for me. There were reports that both teams were discussing Shawn Marion for Ben Gordon and Andres Nocioni. I would gladly trade Marion and some young filler (like Dorell Wright or Daequan Cook) for Nocioni and Hinrich!

 

[a6m5]

I mean, will the Thunder be an exciting new team for both OKC and the NBA (think Blazers last season and their 10 game win streak), or will they just be off everybody's radar like a Memphis or a Minnesota?

Personally, I don't care about the team. Many fans in the NorthWest is still upset about Seattle losing their franchise. I do like Durant, and that's about it for me. But Thunder is a brand new team, so I'm sure they'll get some coverage.

I don't think they can even trade Gordon for a while now, due to contract restrictions set by the NBA.
Oh, and i really really want the Heat and Bulls to discuss a deal involving Hinrich. Everyone but D-Wade and Beasley are on the table, for me.

I'd take Marion over Hinrich, anyday, as long as Marion's happy to be on your team. Hinrich, I think he's overpaid, overrated. Not like I've seen him play a lot, but looking at his stats, his team's stats, I'm not impressed.

 

[Giancarlo]

I'd take Marion over Hinrich, anyday, as long as Marion's happy to be on your team. Hinrich, I think he's overpaid, overrated. Not like I've seen him play a lot, but looking at his stats, his team's stats, I'm not impressed.

Overpaid? Marion thinks he's supposed to be getting $18 mil a season! People generally think he should be getting about $10-12.5 mil, and supposedly that's what the Heat have offered him, but he's shot it down. I'd rather trade Marion for a nice piece like Hinrich and a great role player who can occasionally start like Nocioni - rather than have Marion walk for nothing. Except maybe for a chance to sign Carlos Boozer.

Hinrich's stats may not be stellar, but he has an interesting contract that goes down over the next few years, rather than up. And you have to think about how he'll mesh with Wade - a pesky defender who can take the pressure off Wade, bring the ball up the court, and knock down a 3 when Wade penetrates. It's a really exciting prospect. Hinrich is the perfect PG to play in tandem with Wade. He can even bump up to SG late in games when Wade controls the ball!

 

[a6m5]

Marion probably does want to be overpaid , and I'm guessing that was one of the reasons why the Suns were forced to trading him. Marion's definitely worth more than the Heat's offering though.

 

[JohnBM01]

Preseason action kicks off tonight. I think we're hosting the Memphis Grizzlies in this preseason match. All I'm hoping for as a Rockets fan is for the Rockets to have success like in these videos:

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccbJw_7Y830
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0jrhRUj0jo

Of course, I still think we should have never traded Robert Horry. Man... Clyde Drexler, Sam Cassell, Mario Elie, Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon... those were the days. San Antonio is the NBA basketball king of Texas. And for Houston and Dallas to have their say about basketball supremacy in the Texas Triangle, we have to give the other teams hell as well as maintain our ground in the Western Conference. Houston's slowly developing some star talent. Thing is, we have a 1st Round playoff team. We need to have a 2nd Round and Further team. And if we have an amazing season, last thing I want to see is something like when Golden State beat up a 67-something winning Dallas team get ousted in the First Round. I'm thinking playoffs, but we still have to have a great regular season to have a chance at a great postseason.

 

[a6m5]

My boss called me on my cell to see if I wanted to go to a preseason game tomorrow. I'm home. Sick. I have the greatest boss in the world.

I love the Rockets John mentioned. Hakeem's one of my all-time favorites. Second favorite center(all-time, of course), after Sabonis. I used to love Elie, too.

 

[a6m5]

Oh my god! Sorry for the double post, but any NBA fans here gotta check out the Blazers video on ESPN.com:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/index

There were couple of plays where they had me going, "Oh! No!".

Edit(10/8/08): I just got back from a Blazers game against the Warriors. No Martell Webster. Turns out he's out with a foot injury or something. Then in the fourth quarter, Rudy rolls his ankle. He's out.

 

[JohnBM01]

I'm watching ESPN's coverage of the Miami Heat vs. the New Jersey Nets at the Bercy Arena in one of my favorite cities- Paris, France. Something I'm hearing is that The Nets are perhaps looking to play in a new arena in Brooklyn. The Knicks and Nets will REALLY be rivals playing in two different boroughs of New York City. As for the Bercy Arena itself, I'm surprised the court looks like an NBA-style arena. I've seen a few non-American arenas before including the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games' basketball. I usually see different-looking free throw lanes at most international arenas. A regulation free-throw lane in American and Canadian arenas are mostly straight while most international arenas have more angled, flared free-throw lanes.

I think I've heard last year or so about an NBA league to be set up in Europe. So I wonder if this could be the start of something...

 

[JohnBM01]

Two of the better names in preseason play for my Rockets are D.J. Strawberry and Von Wafer. I think Strawberry played his college ball at Maryland while I've never heard of Wafer. Of course, when I think of anyone with a last name of Strawberry, it's usually baseball player Daryl Strawberry. The regular season begins week after next.

Anyone else want to make their preseason observations?

 

[a6m5]

Von was on our roster last year, but he was buried on the bench. He looked like a nice enough kid, and I think he was the runner-up to King James in the high school dunk contest(by Mickey D's)? He's a scorer, too. Best of luck to him, making the Rockets roster. 👍

 

[cb8673]

Two of the better names in preseason play for my Rockets are D.J. Strawberry and Von Wafer. I think Strawberry played his college ball at Maryland while I've never heard of Wafer. Of course, when I think of anyone with a last name of Strawberry, it's usually baseball player Daryl Strawberry. The regular season begins week after next.

Anyone else want to make their preseason observations?

D.J. is Darryl's son. He was with Phoenix last year.

And I'm hopeful for the Suns this year. The roster looks solid, so long as they stay healthy and have a good gameplan they should be allright.

 

[JohnBM01]

Bill Worrell (Rockets TV announcer) noted this about Von Wafer: "if he didn't earn a spot with our team, he'll definitely earn a spot on SOMEBODY'S team." Think of the kind of marketing you could have here- Von Wafer and Rafer Alston. It would be the Rafer/Wafer show. I'm starting to have hope my Rockets can make the playoffs and reach Round 2 and higher. That's even if we have to play the Jazz if we do make Round 1. But really, the Western Conference is just stacked. As a NASCAR analogy, the Western Conference teams are all bump drafting at Talladega trying to be the best in the West. They're just stacked basically from top to bottom. Portland's going to be much improved and perhaps even Sacromento as well.

I wonder in the East if teams like Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Washington, Atlanta, and thereforth can contend in the East when you got teams like Cleveland and Boston ruling the roost. Something tells me that Charlotte will eventually get better and not so much be the NFL's Houston Texans (as far as still imagining them as an expansion team). The Eastern Conference is the defending champs with Boston winning it all last season. I think the West makes a comeback (maybe I'm biased a bit) and wins it all when the NBA Finals roll around.

 

[JohnBM01]

The new season starts next week. My Rockets will hit the road and meet the Sacromento Kings in their final preseason game tonight. I'll have to see who makes this roster. I think we recently let go of Mike Harris. From the preseason, D.J. Strawberry and Von Wafer would be great towards giving my Rockets a better chance of going further in the playoffs than in our past apperances. I remember watching those back-to-back NBA title years back at The Summit (then the Compaq Center, and nowadays Lakewood Church here in Houston). Toyota Center has seen some playoff basketball, but time will tell whether the Red Rowdies will get to enjoy any playoff basketball beyond the 1st Round.

I'm expecting Portland to be vastly improved this season. How much so? That remains to be seen in a stacked Western Conference.

 

[JohnBM01]

Big week for the NBA this week. This is the Tip-Off week for NBA Basketball. Time to get excited about your favorite team!

 

[a6m5]

We are pretty much screwed. Got talented, but brand new team, made up of very young players. If I remember correctly, first few games are all elite caliber team, with the season opener against the Lakers. Thanks NBA for absolutely nothing. Unless the Lakers are missing one of their big 3's or something, forget about it. It's a loss for us in the season opener, could be first of many, first couple of weeks. I hope we gel quick!

P.S. I met Brian Grant last week. What a cool dude. I interrupted him while he was on the phone, too(I've done it to Shawn Kemp also), but he was totally nice. I didn't know that he still maintained residence in the Portland(Oregon) area. Very cool. 👍

 

[JohnBM01]

Time to get excited for real. NBA action starts up tonight! I may cycle between my beloved Houston Cougars playing football at Marshall to some NBA action that may be on TV. My Rockets don't start play until tomorrow night. From what I've heard, we have a BRUTAL November schedule. Have to take on the Lakers, the defending-champion Celtics... ouch!

Here's our roster (according to Yahoo! Sports):

#12 Rafer Alston - PG - Fresno State
#96 Ron Artest - F - St. John's
#17 Brent Barry - G - Oregon State
#31 Shane Battier - SF - Duke (currently injured: inflammation in left foot; out 4 weeks)
#0 Aaron Brooks - G - Oregon (currently injured: bone bruise in right ankle)
#15 Joey Dorsey - PF- Memphis
#3 Steve Francis - PG - Maryland
#44 Chuck Hayes - F - Kentucky <<< one of my personal favorite Rockets
#2 Luther Head - G - Illinois <<< one of my other favorites
#14 Carl Landry - F - Purdue <<< another favorite
#1 Tracy McGrady - GF
#11 Yao Ming - C
#4 Luis Scola - FC
#24 Von Wafer - G - Florida State <<< Florida State may not be a basketball power, but he's good.



I think T-Mac and Yao have to stay healthy as much as they can. An old slogan for the Rockets was "United We Win." T-Mac and Yao need to stay healthy and continue to produce on the court. Ron Artest and Joey Dorsey are kind of my iffy players. Dorsey was part of that national champion runners-up at Memphis when they lost to Kansas. [The University of] Memphis had a terrible shooting from the foul line. He won't have John Calipari, but he will have Rick Adelman. Hope his free throw shooting improves as well as staying out of trouble (mostly foul trouble. I once heard he almost fouled out... in the first quarter of one game!). People will still tag Artest with the "Malice at the Palace" incident as well as being a really rough guy. But on the court, he can produce on the court. He'll need to produce if he wants our Rockets to go to the postseason and go much further than the first round. The biggest move for me was keeping Carl Landry. He is a great shooter and someone who really improves the offense. Chuck Hayes is my favorite defender. He's got to keep being like a piranha and scooping up rebounds. I love the hustle of this Kentucky Wildcat.

Can't wait for tomorrow night!

 

[a6m5]

Too bad Brooks' injured. I forgot Houston had Barry. Another lost San Antonio component. It will be an uphill for them this year, I think. If the big three can stay healthy during the Playoffs, they have as much chance as anybody, but they clearly are not the favorite anymore.

Blazers & Lakers in little over an hour. If the Blazers win tonight, it would be an huge upset. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[JohnBM01]

Greg Oden went down pretty early last night (not that I saw the game). I often get concerned about the big men. They seem to get into some injury trouble pretty hard. I still remembered seeing Shaq's ankle get turned awkwardly stepping on someone's foot when jumping up. I have concerns about big men, despite the fact they make a serious impact on the outcome of games.

Any of you ever get concerned about the big man?

 

[a6m5]

Oden suffered through injury in his only season at Ohio State. After getting drafted by the Blazers, Oden is out of the Summer League to have his tonsils removed. Before the beginning of the 07/08 season, he is out for the entire season to have microscopic surgery on his right knee.

Last night, in his first ever official NBA game, Oden goes out with an twisted ankle. He could not even make it through the first half.

I see it as an freak incident, but you can imagine the public opinion on Oden amongst the Blazer fans. I just pray he comes back soon, and kick some butt.

 

[JohnBM01]

Rockets are 1-0 with a win at home against Memphis. This may just be a trap game because we're going TO Dallas for our second game. Between Dallas and a trip at New Orleans, I'd be surprised if we get a winning record to start the year off after this game. The Rockets' offense went stagnant a bit until a lovely three-point dagger by the Rockets sealed the Grizzlies' fate.

One down, 81 to go. At Dallas is next.

 

[JohnBM01]

It looks like Greg Oden will be down 2-4 weeks. He won't be away for a seriously long time. The rest of the Trailblazers will need the rest of their talent to step up in Oden's place.

Meanwhile, the Texas Triangle heats up as my Rockets will head up to Dallas. The Memphis game may have just been a trap game heading into Dallas.

 

[a6m5]

There is also report on Oden that he'll miss 4-6 weeks. Who knows, two weeks would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

Speaking of Texas Triangle, we'll be hosting the Spurs tomorrow night. I heard that I should be getting the company tickets for that one, so hopefully I can go. Home opener, plus it's against the Spurs, who I really like. Too bad Ginobili's out.

 

[JohnBM01]

Tomorrow night is the Rockets' first regular season tangle with the Oklahoma City Thunder. I might watch an NBA game (perhaps Chicago at Boston) tonight apart from wrestling and any college football. The Rockets won 112-102 at Dallas, but the real story was a a Technical Foul that shouldn't have been called against Ron Artest.

Like I said, I'd be surprised if we get a winning record between at Dallas and at New Orleans. Meanwhile, the Trailblazers will take on San Antonio. Good luck to your 'Blazers, a6m5.

 

[Klostrophobic]

A lot of questions this season...

• Can the Celtics repeat?
• How will the Lakers climb back to the top? How will Andrew Bynum change things?
• Will the Clippers implode and make Baron Davis hate his agent?
• Will the 76ers become a force to be reckoned with, after the addition of Elton Brand?
• Can the Rockets make a strong push in the playoffs with the addition of Ron Artest?
• How will Rose, Beasley, Love, Westbrook, and all the other rookies fare? Who will be ROY? (Beasley )
• Can the Thunder become a fresh face in the NBA?
• Will the Heat be able to forget their horrible record last season, with a rejuvenated Dwyane Wade?
• Will Ben Gordon just not show up to games anymore, even though he was finally re-signed?
• Will the Knicks change at all with all their personnel moves?
• Will the Blazers finally make that playoff berth with their young star, Greg Oden?
• How much does Shaq have left? Will the Suns miss the playoffs?

Celtics will repeat.
Clippers implode? They just aren't really going to be very good. I don't think that's imploding, it's just they aren't going to be very good. 44 wins sound reasonable?
The 76ers are legit. Best team in the East after Boston. Just a really well-balanced team all around. Thad Young and Louis Williams are going to blow up and Elton Brand is awesome.
The Rockets should be right there after the Lakers. More than a strong push; they're the second best team in the West.
As for ROY: Kevin Love. The end. Stop the discussions. BTW, Mario Chalmers is going to make GMs look foolish. Best PG in the draft after Rose.
The Thunder are abysmal. No hope. Kevin Durant isn't going to be a superstar. Or a star.
Heat should be decent. But next year they'll be quite good as Chalmers and Beasley have another year under their belts.
Ben Gordon sucks. Go away, dude.
Greg Oden?
Shaq is OK. Suns will make the playoffs.

Spurs aren't winning 50 games this year. Not without Manu.

Hope you didn't watch Boston-Chicago, dude. What an ugly game. Tyrus Thomas couldn't hit the backboard tonight. I stopped watching after he was 2-17.

Other things of note:

Spencer Hawes is a man. 20 years old and killing suckers.
In five years it's gonna be funny when Brandan Wright has had a better career than Durant and Oden.

 

[a6m5]

Durant won't even be a star, huh? Good stuff, I am speechless. "Greg Oden?" Classic!

I damn near lost my voice at the Blazers-Spurs game tonight. Crowd really got into the game, which is nice, but there was something annoying..... Our fan might be becoming similar to the Salt Lake City fans. They booed at so many valid calls, I felt like an idiot sitting in the crowd with some of these fans. Yeah, raise hell when the refs blow calls, but booing at correct calls is just embarrassing.

Roger Mason, Parker & Duncan played real well for the Spurs this evening. I'm not sure if Mason missed a single shot, after the second quarter. Parker, he was just being Tony Parker. Unstoppable. Idiot girl behind me kept yelling at Steve Blake, our guy defending Parker, "stop him!, why can't you stop him!". Blake is an above average defender, and our female #1 fan who was behind me should quit basketball. Yeah, Blake, why can't you just stay in front of Parker? LMAO.

Our MVP probably were MVPs. Rudy Fernandez and Nick Batum. A Spaniard, and a Frenchie! Both rookies this year, and they've been quite amazing to watch. They both have Tony Parker like speed, and hustle of (healthy)Ginobili. I think those two inspired a lot of our guys work their butts off. 👍

Final score was 100-99, Blazers. As me and my buddy got stuck in the parking garage for over 30 minutes, we were both in a very good mood.

 

[JohnBM01]

Let's not forget that the season just started. Who's to say that all of the teams will be like this though... at least past the All-Star Break? A number of teams will be in playoff form while some other teams may just get going late just to make a real run towards the NBA Championship. San Antonio comes to mind. You think you can handle them in the season... until you play them in the playoffs. Of course, my Rockets still can't beat Utah or San Antonio in the first round. Think about the Dallas Mavericks recently that had about 67 wins on the season... all to lose to Golden State in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

All I'm saying is... enjoy these wins. Just make sure you can win when it matters the most- in playoff races and eventually playoff rounds themselves. It's too early to determine any front runners.

 

[a6m5]

I hope I didn't suggest any overconfidence on our team. I think the Blazers lost 12 straight against the Spurs before tonight's game? Our team is mostly new, and we were missing Martell Webster + Greg Oden. Spurs were missing Ginobili and Oberto, guys I deeply respect.

I was just happy about our boys beating the Spurs, after losing against the Lakers by 20, couple nights earlier. I'm guilty of this sometimes too, but Playoff talk and predictions are waste of time, this early. Some NTAC("no talent..." from office space) on TNT I think was predicting the Spurs were first round knockoff this year. He has no idea how Ginobili's gonna return from his injury, no idea who the Spurs are playing in the first round, or if they are even making the Playoffs, yet, he had no trouble making his NTAC predictions. Just laughable. Can I have his job?

 

[JohnBM01]

Tomorrow night, a new leader of the United States will be sworn into office. For us, we're hosting a team called the Boston Celtics. It's a chance to take down the team that ended our 22-game winning streak last season as well as the reigning NBA champions (not "World Championship"). Going to be a big game.