EASTERN CONFERENCE - CENTRAL DIVISION
(Teams listed in order of 2006-07 finish)
Detroit Pistons (53-29) The Pistons declined in their regular season record to 53 wins versus 64 the season before. They lost in the Eastern conference finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The core starting five should remain the same this year and it remains to be seen as to whether the team will reflect the loss of Chris Webber.
Point guard Chauncey Billups re-signed with the Pistons this year. After much traveling and team hopping Billups has slipped into a good fit with this team, and propelled himself to one of the best point guards in the league. Shooting guard Richard Hamilton ("Rip") averaged 19.2 points per game last season, 3.8 rebounds and he led the team with 7.2 assists per game and 1.2 steals. He moves well without the ball, this paired with his perimeter shooting ability, makes him difficult to guard. If that weren’t enough, when he is fouled by opposing teams, he makes them pay even more with 88.3 percent shooting at the free throw line. A key to Detroit’s success this year is going to be increased shooting by Tayshaun Prince, He’s a consistent player that could really swing things in favor for the Pistons.
With the exodus of Chris Webber, Antonio McDyess will take over the staring power forward duties, with Jason Maxiell backing him up. McDyess averaged 8.1 points per game, and 6 rebounds. Maxiel averaged 5 points and 2.8 rebounds respectively. Returning center Rasheed Wallace is going to be a major factor in the success of this Detroit team. If he remains injury free and emotionally controlled he has potential to be the “it” factor for this team. “Sheed” averaged 12.3 points per game, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists last season. He returns to the team 25 pounds lighter, and after much talk about his disagreements with Coach Flip Saunders; they have apparently buried the hatchet. As the emotional steering wheel for the team, a happy Rasheed Wallace equals a happy Detroit Pistons squad.
Cleveland Cavaliers (50-32) What names come to mind when you hear the words Cleveland Cavaliers? Damon Jones and Eric Snow right? Who? How about Daniel Gibson or Shannon Brown? These who’s are the supporting cast to one of the most influential players in basketball: LeBron James. It’s these who’s that are going to need to make a few more shots, in order for Cleveland to take it a step further in their title pursuits.
LeBron carried the Cavaliers on his back in his Herculean 48 point drive to winning game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in double overtime.
The Detroit Pistons deflated a little in those finals, and if Cleveland is going to make their second ever trip to the NBA finals, their going to need improved play from the rest of the supporting cast members as well. The Cavs will need a healthy Larry Hughes, for All-Defensive 1st team member. He’s never played more than 73 games in a season. Former Jazzman Sasha Pavlovic who was holding out for more money this summer; is a good defender and okay shooter. He needs to boost his scoring in order to contribute in the effort to help LeBron. Sasha averaged 9 points per game last season, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Power forward Drew Gooden averaged 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists. He led the team in rebounding last season; he will be backed by Donyell Marshall, another former Jazzman, who is a good shooter, but he also needs to step-up the stats. He averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds per game last year. Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania should have a few good years left in him. He averaged 11.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists last year. He’ll be helped out at the center position by Anderson Varejao who averaged 6.8 points, and 6.7 rebounds.
For third year coach, Mike Brown and his franchise player to make it to the same level, LeFranchise will need to do what he does, and the rest of the team will need to make their names known to the league as well.
Chicago Bulls (49-33)
The Chicago Bulls are an impressive young team who look to be able to progress even further this year. There was much messing around with the line-up during the off-season. The only things of note are the addition of free agent forward Joe Smith and the drafting of college star Joakim Noah.
The Bulls will continue to rely on their star Ben Wallace. He led the team last year in rebounds (10.7), steals (1.4) and blocks (2) per game. He also averaged 6.4 points per game. He’s 33 years old this year so it will be interesting to see if he can keep up his stats this season. Ben will be backed by newcomer Joakim Noah. New free agent Joe Smith will take over at power forward, he averaged 8.5 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game last year. Smith is not a prolific scorer, and he will need to step up his defensive numbers in order to help elevate the Bulls. Rising star Luol Deng is the man to watch this year. He has continually improved year after year and can be expected to continue that trend this season. Deng is young and has the chance to be a premier player in the NBA. He averaged 18.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists last season.
The Bulls backcourt consists of point guard Kirk Hinrich, averaging 16.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. He’s a consistent player with a control of the reins for the Bulls. He was also on the All-Defensive second team last season. Shooting guard Ben Gordon is key to the Bull’s success, he shot 21.4 points per game last year; he’ll need to shoot at least that this year if not more, while reducing his over-3 turnovers per game average from last year.
Coach Scott Skiles is in his fifth season with Chicago, his eighth season overall. He has a career record of 272-237 (.534) and as been to the playoffs 5 times in those eight years. He’s put together a good team who has some discipline, control and knows how to win basketball games. Look for the Bulls in the playoffs this year, predictions are they might reach the same level as last year, with small improvements from each player; especially scoring in the paint, the Bulls should progress even further in their post season.
Indiana Pacers (49-33)
New Coach Jim O’Brien is trying to instill the old fashion attitude that hard work pays off in his players. He’ll try to develop some type of discipline within the team. What else can he do? The Pacers took a nosedive at the end of last season. It didn’t help to have one of their players (Shawne Williams) arrested this summer. The Pacers are hoping new free agent Travis Diener will provide a spark at back up point guard. He’ll be backing Jamaal Tinsley who the team has been trying to deal away. He averaged 11.6 points per game last season, as well as 6.3 assists. Other guards vying for playing time include Kareem Rush, Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavy and Marquis Daniels.
The frontcourt is dominated by Indiana’s only real star player; Jermaine O’Neal. O’Neal will need to overcome his dislike for playing for his team, much like Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz. O’Neal led the team in points, 19.4 per game, rebounding, 9.6 per game, and blocked shots, 2.6 per game. New coach Jim O’Brien is known for playing a faster paced office and this should complement Jermaine’s skill set. The team is building around O’Neal and hopefully that will keep him happy enough to play well. The Pacers don’t have much depth to speak of in any area, especially not the frontcourt. They do have center David Harrison who will be a good shot blocker, and whose athletic ability should complement O’Brien’s offensive plans.
The big buzz this year has been surrounding the mysterious and possibly not-worth-the-trouble Chinese phenomenon, Yi Jianlian. If he lives up to his potential, the Bucks have chosen wisely, if he continues to evade, refuse to work out, and ask to be traded, then the Bucks time and money would have been better spent.
With everyone healthy this year, the Bucks will stay on the continual path they’ve risen to. Backcourt duties will be covered by Maurice Williams-17.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 6.1 apg. Shooting guard Michael Redd averaged 26.7 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. Newly acquired free agent; Desmond Mason, has had decent numbers with 13.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists. The key for all of these guys this year will be stepping up the defense.
The defensive improvement in necessary for the big guys as well. With a healthy Andrew Bogut, look for at least 15 points per game. He averaged 12.3 points per game last year as well as 8.8 rebounds and 3 assists. He’s a good passer, along with his frontcourt compatriots. Bogut could really have a breakout season if he stays injury free. Charlie Villaneuva and Yi Jianlian are going to make the difference in games with scoring and defense. Dan Gadzuric led the team in blocks last year with less than one block per game. If Milwaukee wants to take the next step, it’s going to have to include several defensive slide drills.
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