Tuesday, October 25, 2005

NBA Preview Part II

Today we tackle the Western Conference. For the full schedule of the week-long preview, click here.

Western Conference

3 Biggest Off-Season Acquisitions
Alex:
Stromile Swift, Houston Rockets
Michael Finley, San Antonio Spurs
Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers

Andy:
Michael Finley, San Antonio Spurs
Nick Van Exel, San Antonio Spurs
Cuttino Mobley, L.A. Clippers

3 Teams On The Rise
Alex:
Denver Nuggets
Houston Rockets
Golden State Warriors

Andy:
Denver Nuggets
L.A. Clippers
Houston Rockets

3 Teams On The Decline
Alex:
Seattle SuperSonics
Phoenix Suns
Los Angeles Lakers

Andy:
Phoenix Suns
Minnesota Timberwolves
Seattle Supersonics

3 Players Poised For A Breakout
Alex:
Marko Jaric, Minnesota Timberwolves
Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets
Travis Outlaw, Portland Trail Blazers

Andy:
Michael Finley, San Antonio Spurs
Lamar Odom, L.A. Lakers
Chris Paul, New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets

Tomorrow we rank the Eastern Conference.

4 Comments:

At 3:07 PM, Blogger sacamano said...

As long as Kobe is in LA, Lamar isn't breaking out anything.

It's a shame, because in the right situation he could be a star.

 
At 3:15 PM, Blogger andy grabia said...

Two words: Triangle Offence.

Two More Words: Phil Jackson.

 
At 4:10 PM, Blogger Matt said...

I'm confident that Michael Finley will be a really solid addition to the Spurs, but I'm less sold on Van Exel.

We saw pretty clearly in the Finals that the way for the Spurs to ignite their offense is to force it into the post for Duncan, and let him make a decision. That doesn't really seem like Van Exel's MO. (Alternate phrasing: he's a chucker.)

 
At 5:17 PM, Blogger sacamano said...

I love the Triangle, but Kobe isn't good enough to ignore it at the right times like Jordan. And he isn't smart enough to know when to use it to get his teammates involved like Joradan was.

Plus Lamar is just too damn of a nice guy to start demanding the ball.

Nope, no breakout for him.

 

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