2006 / 2007 NBA Thread

[Cowboy22]

I've been watching way too much college ball the last couple days. Pretty good tourney so far, today was sorta meh other than UW getting upset, but yesterday was amazing. Tons of great games that went down to the wire or into overtime. My bracket has become a bit of a mess though, which sucks since I was looking great after the first two days.

[Magoosh!]

That was fun watching my Rockets beat the Sixers by 50

[svosen]

Heard about that. Only happened two other times (a road team winning by 50 or more). One of those other times had the Rockets on the other side of the W/L column...

The Lakers look so much better with Odom and Walton. But they still don't look like a team to be seriously afraid of. Maybe that'll change by the playoffs...

Interesting how the top 3 teams (Dallas, Phoenix, and San Antonio) all decided to struggle simultaneously...

[Cowboy22]

I've been out of town for the last week, but what's your take on Kobe's recent scoring explosion? It's impressive obviously, but, long-term, do you think it's good or bad for the team? He claims he's doing it because he was angry at being called a dirty player which...doesn't make much sense to me. I'm not sure why he thinks scoring a whole ton of points has anything to do with that.

[svosen]

I've read a bunch of articles on it. The spin seems to be that he's doing it "because he was angry at being called a dirty player." However, buried in all the spin, what seems to be the truth is that Phil told him what the team needs right now is for him to energize them and carry the scoring load, and Kobe found his motivation for that in the criticisms of his game.

My take is that this is not a reversion to "the old Kobe." From what I've read, it looks to me like he really is doing this because A) it's what the team needs in the short term (a spark); B) Phil asked him to; and C) he can.

I really think he's finally got it figured out. It's just that his teammates still suck. Much was made of his last 50-point game not including any assists at all, but the real story is that his teammates couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, even though he kept passing it to them.

So, my long-term analysis is that Kobe has arrived as a truly great player, in all aspects. But his team still sucks, despite his best efforts to make them great.

[Cowboy22]

Utah has been playing like ass lately. They lost their fifth straight last night. They've pretty much been guranteed to meet the Rockets in the first round for quite awhile, but they've pissed away the homecourt advantage they would have had, which is a big deal since for most of the year they've been great at home and so-so on the road. They're one and done in the playoffs, I'm calling it right now. The team just isn't quite there yet, they need another couple years for all the young guys to reach their full potential, particularly in the mental aspects of the game.

[svosen]

Yeah, they followed a similar (although admittedly better) path to the one the Lakers took this year.

In Utah's case, I think only small changes are warranted. For the Lakers, I'm thinking a semi-major overhaul is in order (focusing on keeping and enhancing, in order: Kobe, Bynum, Walton/Odom), with particular attention paid to getting a good point guard and a stable center to hold the fort down while Bynum grows into the role.

What's your take on the Cavs? Haven't heard much from you on the subject lately. From my perspective, it don't look good. I think they can take Miami if they meet in the first round, but I don't know that they will. So much depends on whether Wade can regain his rhythm. In any event, I think Detroit will come out of the East.

For the West? I'm going to have to go with San Antonio. With Duncan healthy this year, and with their level of confidence, they're much more solid than last year. They'll lose once in each of the first two series, and perhaps the conference finals will go to 7, but they'll win.

San Antonio and Detroit? Good series, I think. Edge to SA, mostly because of the depth of player experience (not necessarily the physical depth of the bench) and coaching.

I so hope I'm wrong. I just can't stand the thought of all the "Dynasty" talk that would inevitably last another year. I would love, once and for all, for that to go away...

[Cowboy22]

I agree with most of what you said. I think the Cavs will beat Miami (I'm not too high on the Heat, even with Wade back) but I can't see anyone in th East beating Detroit. Out West, I'd pick San Antonio too, and I think they'd take the Pistons. Really, whoever comes out of the West would be my pick in the Finals. Detroit is clearly the class of the conference but they're far from a great team.

I guess I haven't really heard anyone calling SA a dynasty. I wouldn't say that, but the run they've had these last several years in undeniably impressive. They aren't always THE best team, but they're almost always right there in the discussion. They might be the best run franchise in all of sports.

[svosen]

Just finishing up watching the Lakers throw another game away. Lead the Clips by 17 in the 3rd, and now they're gonna lose by about 8 or 10...

Bad management by Phil. Kobe played too much, then ran out of gas. And Kobe did a crappy job of running the offense in the last quarter.

So frustrating!

[Cowboy22]

End of the Year Award Picks:

MVP: Kobe- As I've said in the past, I treat this as a "player of the year" award and tend to not factor in team performance. By that measure, it has to be Kobe. Dirk's winning it though.

Rookie of the Year: Brandon Roy- This is the easiest one on to pick. And let it be known that as terrible as I am at predicting how teams would finish, I was money with my draft analysis. I said he and Aldridge were the best two guys in the draft, and praised the Blazers for drafting them, even when all the experts were ripping what them. Someone give me Chad Ford's job.

Coach of the Year- Avery Johnson-Dallas has a good team, but what they did for most of this year with all those long winning streaks was insane. Sam Mitchell will win it, and he's done a nice job, but I think what Johnson did is more impressive.

Most Improved: I'm gonna go with Tyson Chandler, but I think Kevin Martin will win it (and that's not a bad pick at all, he's been great, I just don't think he really "improved", he just finally started to get big minutes). Chandler's been a monster for the Hornets, I can't believe there are Bulls' fans who thought dumping him and giving a huge contract to Ben Wallace was a good idea. He does everything Wallace does, but better, and he's way younger.

6th Man: Lenardo Barbosa- He's ridiculous. I love watching him play and he's a huge reason why the Suns are as good as they are. He'd be a starter for all but about four teams in the league, it just so happens that one of them is the Suns.

Defensive Player of the Year: Marcus Camby-Pretty much going straight stats here. He's first in blocks and fifth in rebounds.