My NBA Blog - Preseason predictions

Hold Me To It: 40 BOLD NBA Predictions
Season is less than two weeks away and there is nothing more appealing to a sports fan than making their predictions and showing off to other people and letting them know how good they are at predicting the future. Here are 40 predictions that you can hold me to – I’ll revisit these at the midway point in the season and see how I did at the end of the season.

Opening Night
It all starts October 26th in the Garden. Seeing as all anyone ever wants to talk about is the Miami Heat, let’s start with them – and let me give Heat fans some disappointing news. The Miami Heat will start the season under .500 by losing the opener to the Big Shamrock and company (1). That’s when all the questions are going to start coming in about the depth of the team and if the Big Three of Miami can put their egos aside for the rest of the season and win. Don’t worry though Heat fans, the Heat will still win come first in the East (2). Also, the star players, Chris Bosh will average a double-double, and LeBron and D-Wade will average 20-5-5 (3,4,5).

Winners on opening night? Easy. All three home teams: Boston, Portland, and the Lakers (6,7).

Super Friends
Talk of the summer has been Melo and CP3 wanting to join their own group of “superfriends” with Amare in New York. The rumors have been swirling all around but both CP3 and Melo will stay put in their current situations for at least this season (7,8). They are too valuable to their teams to just give up, especially with the talent on the Nugget roster; there is no reason to get rid of Anthony unless they really falter.

All-Star Game
Speaking of Amare, Stoudemire is going to gain more fan votes than Kevin Garnett and be the starting power forward and Garnett will not be voted an All-Star for the first time since 1999 (9,10). While on the topic of the All-Star Game, the point guards for the Eastern Conference All-Stars will be Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, and……. BRANDON JENNINGS (11,12,13). That’s right. Jennings is going to take a huge leap this year and be a force to be reckoned with. Carlos Boozer is going to go from Western Conference All-Star last year to Eastern Conference All-Star this year (14).

The Staples Center is going to be electric. The hometown favorite Shannon Brown is going to beat Demar Derozan in the final of the dunk contest (15). Stephen Curry is going to beat Danny Granger in the three-point shootout (16).

Coaching Carousel
Nobody likes being on the hot seat. Don Nelson was probably the coach with the hottest seat but he got let go right before the season started. First coach that gets let go during the season is Jay Triano (17).

So, Who Makes The Playoffs?
If the Memphis Grizzlies get off to a poor start Lionel Hollins might be gone. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. In fact, I say the Memphis Grizzlies make the jump and make it to the playoffs this year (18). If Memphis is in, who’s out? It’s The Phoenix Suns (17). I know they held their own without Amare for part of the season in the past but they are going to need to find someone to run the pick’n’roll with Nash and be able to share the ball enough between Nash and Turkoglu. I think that doesn’t happen and they get an early start to their summer vacation.
Out West, the Lakers still reign supreme. That’s not a prediction. That’s a statement. If Portland stays healthy they will have home court in the first round of the playoffs (19). Why do I think that Portland will be a top four team in the West? Well, healthy players throughout the season leads to better results and I think that they will be relatively healthy throughout the season and especially during playoff time. They already got off on the wrong foot with Greg Oden missing the first little bit of the season and now Jeff Pendergraph being done for the season. I will say that Greg Oden will play the most games he has played in a season since he entered the league this year (20). Speaking of injuries, Denver and Phoenix will be the most injury-prone teams out West (21) and consequently, struggle to meet expectations. We will also see a resurgence of the San Antonio Spurs and they will be a top four seed (the Dallas Mavericks will round out the top four in the West) (22,23).

In the East, the top 6 teams are pretty much set (just the seeds need to be determined): Miami, Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The final two teams to make the playoffs? The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers (24).
And let’s talk about Amare’s team, the Knicks. For the first time in seven years, the New York Knicks will be going back to the playoffs. They’re going to be the seven seed and lose in the first round but it is definitely a step in the right direction (25). And with Eddy Curry’s salary coming off the books at the end of the season, the team will have some room to sign another big name at the end of the season.

The Rooks
Most underrated rookies in this year’s draft? Larry Sanders and James Anderson (26,27). Sanders reminds me of a young Joakim Noah – he can rebound and block shots and is intense! Anderson can flat out score and will put up buckets.
Winner of the rookie of the year award is going to go to… Blake Griffin (28)! Griffin was a beast in college and the guy could average 15/10 as a rookie! John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are the only two other guys that could challenge.
Larry Sanders is going to lead all rookies in blocks and make a big impact on the Bucks second unit (29).


Up and Comers
Is it me or are the Minnesota Timberwolves not going to be as bad as they seem? Michael Beasley is going to win the Most Improved Player Award after switching to the 3 (30). Ricky Rubio says he is coming next year, they have several young players, Kevin Love is a beast on the boards, will average a double-double (31), and has improved his outside shooting game, they added Beasley to be a primary scorer, traded for Martell Webster who is a deadly shooter, and they drafted Wes Johnson who will be a pretty solid, energetic player. Now all they need is a center.

Don’t want to get to repetitive and keep saying “is it me or” but, is it me or does Linas Kleiza look like a younger, more athletic, better shooter, than Hedo Turkoglu? Kleiza will be one of the biggest surprises this year with great three-point shooting and averaging 15 plus points per game (32).

Jeff Teague, the standout point guard from Wake Forest, is ready to take the jump to becoming the Atlanta Hawks starter and will pass Mike Bibby on the depth chart midway through the season and do a terrific job for the Hawks (33).

Another guy coming off the bench that will turn into a fantasy beast is Terrence Williams of the New Jersey Nets (35). Williams was an animal in March and April when he got a chance to play and although he won’t start at the beginning of the year, he will get his chances to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.

I know he's won the Most Improved Player Award twice, but Monta Ellis will again be improved and put up huge numbers (36). It might not be with the Warriors but whatever team he plays for he will score, rebound, get assists, and steal the ball from his opponents.

Other Stats
The Raptors NBA record of 942 games of hitting a three pointer will come to an end this year – they will not make a three in more than one game (37).

So Who Wins the Larry O’Brien Trophy?
Phil Jackson three-peated from 91-93. Then he three-peated from 96-98. Then he three-peated from 01-03. So it looks like its destiny for him to three-peat from 09-11. The Lakers will win the championship (38). Who will they face? The Orlando Magic. Magic are going to beat both the Heat and the Celtics in the playoffs but they wont be able to win the most important series and lose in seven (39). Kobe Bryant will win the finals MVP and tie Michael Jordan with his sixth NBA title (40).

It is going to be an exciting season and I cannot wait for the opener and seeing my predictions come true!!

W L
Miami 61 21
Orlando 58 24
Boston 54 28
Chicago 47 35
Milwaukee 45 37
Atlanta 43 39
New York 41 41
Indiana 38 44
Charlotte 37 45
New Jersey 35 47
Washington 33 49
Detroit 30 52
Toronto 29 53
Philadelphia 28 54
Cleveland 19 63



LA Lakers 60 22
Dallas 52 30
Portland 51 31
San Antonio 50 32
Utah 50 32
Oklahoma City 49 33
Memphis 45 37
Houston 44 38
Denver 43 39
New Orleans 39 43
LA Clippers 37 45
Phoenix 35 47
Golden State 33 49
Sacramento 26 56
Minnesota 18 64

Miami 4
Indiana 0

Chicago 4
Milwaukee 3

Orlando 4
New York 1

Boston 4
Atlanta 2

LA Lakers 4
Houston 2

San Antonio 4
Utah 3

Dallas 4
Memphis 1

Portland 4
OKC 3

Miami 4
Chicago 2

Orlando 4
Boston 3

LA Lakers 4
San Antonio 3

Dallas 2
Portland 4

Miami 2
Orlando 4

LA Lakers 4
Portland 2

Orlando 3
LA Lakers 4