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A Quick 2012 College Football Preview

Holy crap!!  The season is starting tonight?  Well, obviously I am excited, albeit a bit distracted.  Georgia Tech stands to be pretty good as usual, although what pretty good means can vary fairly widely.  Indeed, their interior running game was poor, and most of the problems seemed to emanate from there.  Of course, we have had recruiting, graduations, stuff like that – so putting a preseason Top XX is hard to do.  That said, let’s start with the post-bowl rankings, and see if this gives us anything to mine:

Rank Team W L RPI Margin PairWins
1 Oklahoma State 12 1 0.695 (1) 27.18 (4) 120
2 LSU 13 1 0.694 (2) 31.132 (2) 119
3 Alabama 12 1 0.66 (3) 31.499 (1) 118
4 Boise State 12 1 0.617 (10) 27.41 (3) 116
5 Oklahoma 10 3 0.646 (5) 22.333 (8) 116
6 Michigan 11 2 0.648 (4) 21.133 (10) 114
7 Arkansas 11 2 0.636 (6) 16.286 (15) 112
8 Houston 13 1 0.602 (14) 22.281 (9) 112
9 Oregon 11 2 0.611 (11) 24.877 (5) 112
10 USC 10 2 0.609 (12) 15.86 (16) 111
11 South Carolina 11 2 0.628 (8) 14.64 (20) 110
12 Stanford 11 2 0.606 (13) 23.828 (7) 110
13 Southern Miss 12 2 0.594 (20) 17.168 (12) 107
14 Baylor 10 3 0.632 (7) 11.597 (27) 106
15 Wisconsin 11 3 0.599 (17) 24.233 (6) 105
16 TCU 11 2 0.594 (19) 18.301 (11) 104
17 Virginia Tech 11 3 0.602 (15) 12.317 (26) 102
18 Kansas State 10 3 0.619 (9) 8.839 (41) 101
19 Michigan State 11 3 0.59 (23) 15.156 (18) 101
20 West Virginia 10 3 0.585 (25) 13.292 (23) 100
21 Georgia 10 4 0.595 (18) 14.147 (21) 99
22 Nebraska 9 4 0.592 (22) 10.877 (30) 98
23 Texas 8 5 0.59 (24) 11.006 (29) 96
24 Clemson 10 4 0.599 (16) 9.019 (39) 95
25 Missouri 8 5 0.569 (29) 11.113 (28) 94
26 Northern Illinois 11 3 0.568 (30) 9.965 (34) 92
27 Cincinnati 10 3 0.553 (33) 12.825 (24) 91
28 Texas A&M 7 6 0.562 (32) 15.43 (17) 90
29 Florida State 9 4 0.537 (40) 17.021 (13) 88
30 Notre Dame 8 5 0.571 (28) 16.615 (14) 88
31 Auburn 8 5 0.592 (21) 3.225 (66) 87
32 Penn State 9 4 0.583 (26) 10.499 (33) 87
33 Rutgers 9 4 0.551 (35) 10.639 (31) 87
34 Tulsa 8 5 0.581 (27) 12.545 (25) 87
35 Toledo 9 4 0.553 (34) 14.687 (19) 85
36 Arkansas State 10 3 0.544 (37) 9.758 (36) 80
37 Temple 9 4 0.499 (64) 14.022 (22) 79
38 Florida 7 6 0.531 (43) 8.525 (42) 78
39 BYU 10 3 0.534 (41) 9.829 (35) 77
40 Mississippi State 7 6 0.547 (36) 8.515 (43) 76
41 NC State 8 5 0.509 (56) 4.303 (64) 75
42 Georgia Tech 8 5 0.513 (52) 7.582 (47) 74
43 Miami-FL 6 6 0.486 (70) 9.011 (40) 74
44 North Carolina 7 6 0.526 (44) 6.1 (54) 73
45 Louisiana Tech 8 5 0.525 (45) 10.563 (32) 71
46 SMU 8 5 0.533 (42) 6.647 (50) 71
47 Utah 8 5 0.509 (54) 5.533 (59) 71
48 Iowa State 6 7 0.538 (38) -1.305 (84) 68
49 Louisville 7 6 0.523 (46) 5.561 (58) 67
50 Marshall 7 6 0.567 (31) -0.113 (78) 67
51 Arizona State 6 7 0.486 (71) 8.134 (45) 65
52 Ohio State 6 7 0.508 (57) 7.986 (46) 65
53 Washington 7 6 0.523 (47) 2.448 (69) 65
54 Illinois 7 6 0.498 (65) 4.941 (62) 62
55 Virginia 8 5 0.51 (53) 1.153 (73) 62
56 Iowa 7 6 0.514 (51) 6.424 (53) 61
57 South Florida 5 7 0.478 (78) 9.026 (38) 61
58 California 7 6 0.519 (49) 6.453 (52) 60
59 Western Michigan 7 6 0.504 (59) 6.634 (51) 59
60 Ohio 10 4 0.522 (48) 7.315 (48) 58
61 Tennessee 5 7 0.504 (60) 5.13 (61) 58
62 Vanderbilt 6 7 0.503 (62) 9.485 (37) 57
63 Wyoming 8 5 0.509 (55) -0.233 (81) 57
64 Purdue 7 6 0.491 (67) 0.919 (75) 54
65 LA-Lafayette 9 4 0.537 (39) 2.445 (70) 53
66 Nevada 7 6 0.496 (66) 8.221 (44) 52
67 Navy 5 7 0.489 (69) 4.847 (63) 49
68 Pittsburgh 6 7 0.482 (74) 5.689 (55) 49
69 San Diego State 8 5 0.501 (63) 5.599 (57) 48
70 Utah State 7 6 0.478 (76) 5.277 (60) 48
71 FIU 8 5 0.474 (83) 3.539 (65) 47
72 UCLA 6 8 0.516 (50) -0.571 (82) 47
73 Northwestern 6 7 0.479 (75) 2.839 (68) 46
74 Syracuse 5 7 0.474 (84) -0.106 (77) 46
75 UCF 5 7 0.451 (93) 6.88 (49) 46
76 Wake Forest 6 7 0.478 (77) 0.84 (76) 46
77 Ball State 6 6 0.504 (61) -1.838 (88) 45
78 Texas Tech 5 7 0.508 (58) -1.757 (87) 43
79 Connecticut 5 7 0.459 (92) 3.119 (67) 41
80 Air Force 7 6 0.47 (85) 5.6 (56) 39
81 Arizona 4 8 0.461 (90) -2.481 (92) 36
82 East Carolina 5 7 0.49 (68) -0.217 (80) 36
83 Boston College 4 8 0.446 (95) -1.635 (86) 34
84 Bowling Green 5 7 0.477 (80) 1.443 (72) 34
85 Eastern Michigan 6 6 0.469 (86) -4.599 (99) 33
86 Western Kentucky 7 5 0.483 (72) -1.876 (89) 33
87 Kentucky 5 7 0.475 (81) -4.54 (98) 32
88 Oregon State 4 9 0.468 (87) -0.148 (79) 31
89 San Jose State 5 7 0.46 (91) -0.819 (83) 27
90 Kent State 5 7 0.482 (73) -3.153 (95) 25
91 North Texas 5 7 0.475 (82) -2.769 (94) 25
92 Kansas 2 10 0.466 (89) -11.92 (112) 23
93 UTEP 5 7 0.449 (94) -2.132 (90) 23
94 LA-Monroe 4 8 0.441 (98) 0.989 (74) 22
95 Rice 4 8 0.478 (79) -5.156 (100) 22
96 Colorado 3 10 0.445 (97) -9.788 (108) 20
97 Hawaii 6 7 0.407 (109) -1.492 (85) 20
98 Minnesota 3 9 0.445 (96) -6.37 (102) 20
99 Washington State 4 8 0.434 (100) -2.514 (93) 20
100 Central Michigan 3 9 0.433 (101) -9.255 (105) 19
101 Miami-OH 4 8 0.43 (102) 1.647 (71) 19
102 Ole Miss 2 10 0.467 (88) -7.595 (104) 19
103 Buffalo 3 9 0.383 (114) -7.161 (103) 17
104 Fresno State 4 9 0.424 (103) -3.357 (96) 17
105 Duke 3 9 0.435 (99) -4.292 (97) 15
106 Maryland 2 10 0.419 (105) -5.967 (101) 14
107 Army 3 9 0.396 (111) -2.342 (91) 13
108 New Mexico State 4 9 0.422 (104) -9.298 (106) 13
109 UAB 3 9 0.411 (106) -13.172 (113) 11
110 Colorado State 3 9 0.403 (110) -9.692 (107) 10
111 Troy 3 9 0.409 (107) -10.149 (110) 10
112 Indiana 1 11 0.394 (112) -10.961 (111) 8
113 Idaho 2 10 0.378 (115) -9.815 (109) 7
114 UNLV 2 10 0.393 (113) -16.648 (115) 5
115 MTSU 2 10 0.374 (117) -13.955 (114) 4
116 Memphis 2 10 0.364 (119) -17.809 (117) 3
117 Non FBS 6 91 0.407 (108) -19.11 (118) 3
118 Akron 1 11 0.348 (120) -19.317 (119) 1
119 Florida Atlantic 1 11 0.371 (118) -19.996 (120) 1
120 Tulane 2 11 0.346 (121) -16.967 (116) 1
121 New Mexico 1 11 0.377 (116) -21.969 (121) 0

Well, obviously I did not end up with Alabama as my #1 – frankly we understated the Oklahoma State case, and while Alabama had the biggest win of the two, Oklahoma State’s general portfolio had a lot more meat in it.  But hey, these are the rules.  Anyway, the Cowboys lose a lot with Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon leaving, keeping them #1 seems foolhardly.

LSU had – well until their faceplant – one of the great regular seasons of all time.  Wins over one quality team after another, both in scoring margin and in sheer results.  They have a lot to replace at quarterback, but a ton of talent still.  Losing Tyronn Mathieu is bad from a big play perspective, but there is more than enough evidence to place LSU at #1.  Alabama at #3, similarly loses a lot on defense but replaces with a lot of proven talent.  Do they make sense as a preseason #2?  Maybe.  Boise State is clearly reloading so, there they go.  Anyway, you run down the final standings with a little bit of analysis behind it, and you might get an assessment like:

  1. LSU – Lot of last year’s great team back, the pre-bowl gap between their case and the others was vast
  2. Oklahoma – Played a tough schedule, had some injuries.  Experienced QB though and a potentially revamped D.
  3. Alabama – Crazy talent, but lost a lot of really crackerjack dudes on D.
  4. Michigan – I like them with my eyes less than the numerical case.  Would be surprised if they stayed with Alabama this weekend.  But still, worthy of this case for now.
  5. Arkansas – Basically not good enough to beat Bama-LSU, but anybody else?
  6. USC – The hype darlings.  Great to have a 4 year starter, but not sure they are clearly better than the Top 5.
  7. Oregon – That said the experience Barkley has vs new QB here in Eugene makes a difference.   That said, Oregon’s schedule could make a title spot easier.
  8. South Carolina – Latimore is healthy, QED
  9. Wisconsin – Almost no chance that they will miss the Big Ten title game.
  10. Virginia Tech – Logan Thomas is a closet elite QB prospect, and he could match his measurements with accomplishment.

Obviously none of this matters in the long run – the results will solve things.  I read there is reason to be bullish about Florida State, Michigan State, whomever.  But that will all reveal itself.

Overrated: West Virginia – #20 on my list, still fairly soft defensively.  They went 10-3 in the Big East and now moving into a very good Big 12.  The fireworks of their blowout of Clemson does not wipe away the losses.

Underrated: Returning QB, yes a new coach but at least some continuity.  It is easy to bag on them for not being LSU and Alabama.  However, few are – and Arkansas was better than just about everybody else on their schedule.  The coaching upheaval is a problem, but the parts are here for another great season.

Anyway, I expect full rankings around Week 3, once everybody has played a couple of times, but we’ll see.

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World Cup – Quarterfinals Preview

No more USA, but eight countries to go … tomorrow and Saturday the four quarterfinal matches play out.  As my previous post indicated, my final four of Uruguay, Brazil, Spain and Germany is still alive.  That said – true odds?

Uruguay vs Ghana: The coolest story of the World Cup now.  After breaking my heart by beating the United States, Ghana is holding up the hopes of a continent.  Ghana has not scored in the run of play yet against a decent defense – this worries me.  But they have finishing zip, as the hustle strike in OT against the US showed.  Uruguay is a very solid defense that has been very good when they have stayed positive.  Alvarez’ goal to beat South Korea was magic – I want to believe in Ghana but I can’t.  Home field does funny things though – but Uruguay ought to be in the final four.  Whether it be Sweden in 1994, Croatia in 1998, South Korea in 2002 … it always seems like an upstart is going to make a big run.  This quarterfinal will produce it either way.

Brazil vs The Netherlands: The Netherlands has been labeling this matchup for a long time.  The two teams played a classic in 1994.  Brazil just destroyed Chile in the previous round – but the Netherlands will not be outmanned, and they are built to counterattack.  That said, like 1994, this Brazil team is more pragmatic and capable of suffocating the middle of the field.

Argentina vs Germany: The 1986 and 1990 finals rematch.  Argentina’s talent and Maradona’s personality has meshed well.  Messi has not scored but he has dominated.  Tevez, Heinze – it’s scary.  Hell, the hero of the Champions League final does not even start for them.  They are scoring with such ease.  They rattled a young side in Mexico – and Germany is young here.  However, Germany’s quick strike counterattack is the exact style to beat Argentina.  Against England, every German run looked dangerous – they fill the lanes so much, just a more entertaining German side than ever before.  Germany can do it.  I already said they would.

Spain vs Paraguay: I am not sure how Paraguay is here.  On paper this is the mismatch of the quarterfinals.  Spain after losing to Switzerland early has stepped the pace up.  They have that combination of pragmatism and creativity that lets them possess without being silly.  They have an ability to score directly that they did not have in 2006.  They showed it in 2008 at the European Championship.  Paraguay got here by outlasting a Japanese team (which had more offensive power) in a pretty dull affair.  Spain stays composed and suffocates Paraguay.

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The 2010 NBA Finals: Celtics v Lakers

After all of those games, here we are.  The Celtics play the Lakers for the 12th time for the NBA Championship, and the second time in the last three years – in what might be one of the more covertly improbably recent NBA Finals pairings.  Improbable?  Consider: The Celtics finished the season ranked 10th, while the Lakers were 7th.  The Lakers survived a scare from a very underrated Oklahoma City team in the first round while the Celtics stunned the two best teams in the league this season.  Both teams deserve to be here – but both teams needed postseason revivals (the two teams were a combined 61-47 in the year 2010) to do so.

It is tempting to look at their 2008 meeting for guidance.  If one recalls (and boy do I), the Celtics won in 6 over Los Angeles in a series where they conceivably could have won all six games.  The Celtics physicality and defensive mindset utterly emasculated the Lakers, and thus dozens of ESPN experts were proven wrong.  The 131-92 drubbing in Game 6 is a favorite memory:

And the Celtics epic Game 4 comeback is for the ages:

That said, it is two years later.  The Celtics then were Pierce-Garnett-Allen with Rondo being a wild card.  Now Rondo is clearly their best player and Garnett is a wild card.  The Lakers were soft in that year without Andrew Bynum healthy.  With him (and who knows at this point if he will be healthy) they are a very good defensive team and capable of dominating with sheer numbers of size.  The Lakers have home court this time.  Ultimately, I look at these as the keys:

  1. Rondoooooooo – speedy point guards have given Derek Fisher fits the last few years. They do not come any speedier than Rondo.  The Lakers might put Kobe on him and roam off of him, but Rondo has learned how to work with that.  If he is healthy, he will be a handful – and with the Celtics fragility, he HAS to be.  It seems that defending Rondo AND Ray Allen will give the Lakers issues, if the Celts bring it.
  2. The Lakers muscle – Gasol, Odom ans Bynum give a size trio the Celtics cannot match.  Perkins and Davis bring physicality and Garnett brings great defensive instinct, and Wallace brings some manboobs, but the Celtics could get crushed on the boards here.  They need to neutralize to give themselves a chance.
  3. Pierce vs Artest – Artest blanketed Pierce in the two regular season meetings.  Pierce was outstanding in 2008, and is coming off of a revival of sorts against Orlando.  Pierce needs to be a true 1A performer here.
  4. Kobe – he has been otherworldly the last two series.  However, the Celtics are not an indifferent defensive team – especially not in the postseason where they are winning the defensive efficiency stats.  Can the Celtics manage him like they did in 2008.
  5. The 2-3-2 format.  With the change in format, it basically forces Boston to win twice in LA.  Otherwise the chore could depend on winning 3 in a row – which is hard for either to team to do under any condition.

Really, this shapes to be a potentially classic Final – two teams trying to squeeze out a title in a year with a ton of adversity.  Maybe some of my reverse jinx comes out here, but Lakers in 6.

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NBA Conference Finals Preview and Picks

Well, the Bostonian in me would be remiss not to touch base about the Bruins historic collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers – the scribes have written, what more is there to say?  Let’s move on.

The Celtics, coming off of their shocking upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Orlando Magic, who have sliced through the playoffs with ferocious intent so far in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Meanwhile, in the West, the Suns and Lakers come off of a week rest after each swept through the Spurs and Jazz respectively.  If one remember’s Steve Nash’s face after the win over the Spurs, clearly the Suns needed the rest:

Ewwwww

So, how will the series go?  Given my knowledge of the Cavs-Celtics series, take these at your own peril.

Suns v Lakers … power rankings wise this is #3 vs #7.  The Suns have been outstanding this postseason with their sweep and their more one sided than it looked win over the Blazers.  The Lakers had to work harder, but are coming off of a high level sweep of the Jazz.  If we just look at the 5 man lineups, the Lakers size is a real problem for the Suns.  Normally, when we think Suns, we expect the team to be soft on the inside and not really care.  With these guys, that is different.  They won the Spurs series basically on the glass with their earnestness – outrebounding the Spurs in Game 2 severely on the offensive side.  The Suns with their #19 defense, will never be considered a juggernaut – but they try harder this year – and have a mean streak with Jared Dudley and Louis Amundsen, that previous vintages don’t have.  However, all of this still leaves the Lakers at an advantage down low, even with the Suns offering more length than the Jazz could.

However, the Suns are a brilliant offensive team, #1 in the league again.  Amare Stoudemire could and should still give the Lakers problems, and the Nash is as good as ever.  While the Lakers can match up small using Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher or Jordan Farmar most likely will have to guard somebody, whether it be Nash, Jason Richardson or Barbosa.  There is an edge there.  Also the Suns’ bench has been outstanding – they must flog the Lakers generally woeful second unit to optimize their probability of winning.  But the probability is significant.  This shapes up as a classic: Lakers in 7

Magic v Celtics: The Magic finished the season #1 in the Power Rankings, while the Celtics finished #10.  That said the Celtics have gotten healthier and played a brilliant series to beat Cleveland.  But this is another kettle of fish.  The Magic are coming off of an epic 27-3 stretch with a high scoring margin over those 30 games than the Celtics had ALL SEASON.  They might not win it all, but they have clearly been the best team in the league since 2010 started.  The Magic have the league’s best defense anchored by Dwight Howard, offer matchup issues with Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter, and Jameer Nelson playing a PG so well that the Magic’s “if only he were healthy last year” misgiving is legitimate.  Rondo should not be able to flog this matchup like he did against Cleveland.  Also the Celtics beat Cleveland because Kevin Garnett emerged as the team’s second best player again, and dominated Antawn Jamison.  Rashard Lewis is a tougher test – lacking the wussiness and the inability to dribble fashioned by Antawn.  The Magic also offer unmatched depth with Ryan Anderson, Jason Williams, JJ Redick and Marcin Gortat – the Celtics bench, a weakness all season, will be tested again.  The Celtics can win this, but it is on Rondo and Pierce to rise up in the toughest scenario to date.  Magic in 5

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Cavaliers-Celtics: Game 6 Preview

Well, here we are.  The most hyped second round game in NBA history possibly.  I am not sure if world peace is precisely on the line, or even if LeBron’s immediate future is determined by this game.  However, it is big – and it represents the Celtics’ best chance to pull off a shocking upset, an upset that even I never saw coming — at all.  There are a lot of variables and factors that are going to come into play – and as a Celtics fan I am decidedly apprehensive.  But, if other Celtics fans can be brave, I guess I ought to be.

  1. The Cavaliers defense – LeBron was awful, but the Cavaliers gave up 70 points in the second half and 40 points in the 4th quarter to the Celtics, who were only 12th in the regular season in offensive efficiency.  The Celtics were not playing a breakneck pace by any means either – this was just old fashioned crap defense.  Everyone has to defend better – whether it be Mo Williams on whomever, or Antawn Jamison – whose post defense Boston has targeted all series.  Shaq and Jamison on the floor together have been molasses slow.
  2. Paul Pierce’s swagger – in Game 5, Pierce had a terrific 21-11-7 stat-sheet stuffing performance, after being hounded by LeBron for four games.  Part of this is related to #3 on this list, but still.  Is Pierce up to it again – especially with only one day rest?
  3. Mike Brown’s brain waves – the Cavaliers were the top record in the league.  They sliced through Chicago in 5, split 4 games with Boston, although their Game 3 win was the most authoritative of the bunch.  This was not a team that needed an overhaul.  But Mike Brown panicked.  He mothballed JJ Hickson for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, put LeBron on Rondo for stretches – and thus opened up mismatches for the other Boston wing players.  LeBron as a power forward would make tubby Glen Davis cry or lazy Rasheed Wallace look terrible … but they have not tried it.  To say Brown has suboptimally deployed his lineup would be an understatement.
  4. The stars.  Hey, we knew it had to come up.  LeBron cannot deliver like he did in Game 5 – his teammates just are not good enough to overcome that.  On the other side, Rondo has been wonderful all series – and he needs to control the tempo again for the Celtics to have a prayer.

I am cautiously pessimistic – and maybe there is some reverse jinx working here too, but … Cavaliers 103, Celtics 87.  It feels like Cavaliers have so many simple things they can do to close loops here.  The bet is that they do.

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NCAA Tournament Haiku – Midwest Region

Everyone will have brackets and detailed breakdowns of regions.  I cannot attest to have seen ALL the teams yet, but I have seen many.  I am ultimately another jerk with an opinion here, so I figure I should differentiate my opinion the old fashioned way, with a gimmick.  This has been done before, so what the hell?  First up, the midwest region:

Subregional: Oklahoma City (Kansas, UNLV, Northern Illinois, Lehigh)

Kansas the top seed

An upset wager pays big

But stupid play here

Subregional: Spokane (Maryland, Michigan State, New Mexico State, Houston)

Spartans have laid low

But most of last year remains

Other teams not good

Subregional: Providence (Georgetown, Tennessee, San Diego State, Ohio)

Hoyas caught fire late

Not bad for eighth place Big East

Vols, Aztecs, Who Knows?

Subregional:  Milwaukee (Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, CA-Santa Barbara)

Buckeyes Turner lead

James Forrest ain’t comin back

No luck for Tech now

SWEET 16: Saint Louis

Region is quite tough

All four top seeds can be great

Only Kansas will

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NBA Preview – Western Conference

You’ve seen the East, here is the West:

1. Los Angeles Lakers

Steamrolled West last year

Add Artest could make things weird

Healthy Bynum key

2. San Antonio Spurs

One more run with guys

Jefferson McDyess add depth

Will Timmy’s knees hurt?

3. Portland TrailBlazers

Ready for the next step

Brandon Roy is superstar

Oden could make the leap

4. Dallas Mavericks

Dirk can still bring it

But the team is old, risky

Will this core hold up

5. Utah Jazz

Lots went wrong last year

Deron healthy could be big

AK needs big year

6. Denver Nuggets

Lots went right last year

Though Melo will be better

Last year luck won’t last

7. New Orleans Hornets

Chris Paul is enough

Okafor heist gives some help

But Paul is plenty

8. Phoenix Suns

Run run score at will

Ignore defense and rebounds

Other West teams worse

9. Los Angeles Clippers

Blake needs to come back

He could be a special guy

With him this can click

10. Houston Rockets

I don’t see the skill

But I see toughness and D

They could spoil my picks

11. Oklahoma City Thunder

A hyped up “it” team

Will continue to grow up

But no playoffs yet

12. Golden State Warriors

What a loony bin

Nelson if he weren’t dead would

Never allow this

13. Minnesota Timberwolves

Skill youth is all there

Jonny Flynn will be all star

But not in 0-10

14. Memphis Grizzlies

Ball hogs are all round

Have no clue where passing’s found

Memphis should move team

15. Sacramento Kings

Weren’t they real good once?

Like nearly ten years ago

Not enough guys now

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NBA Preview – Eastern Conference

Well, have not written anything like this in a long time, but we’ll see if we remember how.  A lot of changes in the NBA this offseason, although mostly in the form of arms buildup.  The rich got richer, the poor destitute and the middle class more middle.  Really with the money problems abound in the league (even with former players), it was hard not to see this coming, with the luxury tax scaring the crap out of teams and whatnot.  While the league prognosis is a foggy because of this, the reality on the court is we are back to a 1980s sort of oligopoly.  There are “gangs” fighting for territory, well known brands, and so while only 8 teams or so have real hopes this year, the matchups among those 8 will be memorable.  So without further ado, haiku for the East, in order of predicted finish.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron is so damn good

Cavs D, outside shooting too

Defend Dwight this time

2. Boston Celtics

KG back, knees fine?

Rotation full of old men

Can Rondo be great?

3. Orland Magic

Hedo gone who cares

Carter in better cross board

If Dwight scores look out

4. Atlanta Hawks

Low funds but smart team

Crawford Smith give bench some depth

Top 3 hard to crack

5. Washington Wizards

Flip can really coach

Lots of scoring lots of points

Defense still needs work

6. Miami Heat

Dwayne Wade really great

Beasley could be great real soon

Who else plays for them?

7. Chicago Bulls

Derek Rose franchise guy

But defense needs to step up

Luol Deng could help

8. Philadelphia 76ers

Have horses for speed

Sync with Brand needed for wins

Could be covert good

9. Toronto Raptors

Lots of shooting here

Almost no defense here too

But games will be fun

10. Detroit Pistons

All that money buys

Is a couple of role guys

Where is the nasty

11. Indiana Pacers

White white so so white

The cast of hoosiers when they

Need the Pittsburgh Fish

12. Milwaukee Bucks

Uniforms are green theirs is

State cold accents real funny

Who cares about team

13. Charlotte Bobcats

Larry Brown can coach

Team defense always real sound

Can’t win games 4 2

14. New York Knicks

Fly up and down court

Without purpose or playoff hope

At least games are fun

15. New Jersey Nets

Will Russia buy them

Will Brooklyn ever have them

Will their fans watch them