For the next 30 days, David Locke - with some help from his SUPERSONICS.COM colleagues - will break down the 30 teams in the NBA. Sonics Broadcaster Francis Williams had a chance this summer to sit down with many NBA players and his conversations will be incorporated in these previews.
INDIANA PACERS |
2005-06:41-41
3rd, Central
Coach:Rick Carlisle |
|
Indiana Pacers
Oct. 12 |
Permalink
This has always been one of my favorite organizations in the NBA. I loved their drafts. I loved their roster moves. However, it has all fallen apart.
You can trace it all back to the one ugly night in the Palace in Auburn Hills. Since then this organization has not been the same. Are they the victim of bad luck or are they responsible for bringing in guys that responded the way they did that night?
Couple that terrible incident with the loss of their heart and sole Reggie Miller and now they are really searching.
They have rebuilt their entire roster to be a faster, interchangeable part, up-and-down team. However, their head coach Rick Carlisle is a notorious slow-paced game coach. I question if he can adapt.
Regardless of style, this team is depend upon Jamal Tinsley and Stephen Jackson to play well in the backcourt. Neither of those players made any of the Top 100 list at SUPERSONICS.COM
Stephen Jackson is my Chris Webber Award winner. The Chris Webber Award goes to the player with the best looking numbers that actually hurt his team. Webber would win it every year so we named the award after him.
Francis Williams got a chance to sit down with Stephen Jackson and talk about his long road to the NBA and how the journey unfolded.. Note this interview took place before Jackson's latest problems.
Jackson puts up decent numbers, but at what cost? Now he will be competing for looks with Al Harrington, who returns after a marginal run in Atlanta.
Now with all this negativity this is still a team with Jermaine O’Neal who is one of the few 20-10 guys in the NBA and a one of the few players that demands a double-team in the post.
They also have a nice up-and-comer in Danny Granger, who was the steal of two drafts ago. Coupled with Jeff Foster, who has always been one of Kevin Calabro’s favorites, this team still has loads of talent.
I don’t think they are falling off the cliff, but for an organization that has done almost everything right they can see over the cliff and it all stems back to that one night in Detroit.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS |
2005-06:40-42
5th, Central
Coach:Terry Stotts |
|
Milwaukee Bucks
Oct. 12 |
Permalink
This is my team this year and then Andrew Bogut got hurt. I love Bogut. He is the ultimate team player and as he gets better he will become a force on his own right.
GM Lenny Harris made some great moves in the off-season. He traded diminutive and ineffective point guard T.J. Ford for ultra talented Charlie Villanueva. He moved Jamaal Magloire, who slowed the Bucks to a halt. Lastly, he added Ruben Patterson, who is a perfect compliment to Michael Redd and Bobby Simmons.
This roster really had a chance to be the surprise team in the NBA. However, for that to come together they needed a quick start. They needed to have their roles defined and established early.
This will be very difficult with the injury to Bogut.
The other area that will hold this team back is limited veteran presence on the bench. They are loaded with rookies on the bench. Veteran Dan Gadzuric is a nice backup center and Patterson is a solid sixth man, while Steve Blake and Charlie Bell are adequate backups at the point. After, those it will be a quantum leap to get production.
Keep an eye on the Bucks in the second half of the season.
Final note, for this team to move into the upper portion of a conference Michael Redd will need to prove that his is a viable #1 option offensively. He may be on the verge of doing that.
Let me put this in perspective. Everyone is in love with the Bulls as a hot new team in the East. They only won one more game than the Bucks last year and the Bucks will improve as Bogut becomes a force.
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS |
2005-06:50-32
2nd, Central
Coach:Mike Brown |
|
Cleveland Cavaliers
Oct. 11 |
Permalink
LBJ. The King. King James. LeBron. By whatever name, I am a witness. LeBron is out of the world good. His playoff performance last year was the beginning of his coming out party. He has begun the progression that MJ took in Chicago and most great players have had to endure.
Truly, I am not sure anyone has a grasp of how good he is or is going to be. I can argue the game has never seen a LBJ before. The size, speed and power playing on the floor anywhere from the one to the four spot may not of have been equaled.
The question is where will his progression take him this season? On some level this depends where he puts his defensive focus. His lack of defense is why I didn’t vote for him as the #1 player in the NBA on our SUPERSONICS.COM top 100 players of the NBA.
Remember Kobe and MJ were both able to stop their position as well as anyone in the NBA.
Last year’s playoff showed that LeBron could just about carry the Cavs by himself. Quite frankly, he will have to do it again. The roster has changed very little from last season.
Larry Hughes was injured for most of last year and a healthy Hughes should assist the Cavs. However, Hughes is not as a good a team player as LeBron needs as a compliment.
The biggest area of improvement will likely come from being under Head Coach Mike Brown for a second year. Brown was a first year head coach last year and he will have improvement this season as will the team in understanding his system.
Bottom line on the Cavs: LBJ will be the King one day. The only question is when.
CHICAGO BULLS |
2005-06:41-41
3rd, Central
Coach:Scott Skiles |
|
Chicago Bulls
Oct. 10 |
Permalink
The Chicago Bulls made the big move of the off-season, signing Ben Wallace. Obviously, this is a good move. However, I wonder if it will be as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be.
The Bulls were already one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. Tyson Chandler, while limited, did a great job defensively and on the glass. Moreover, the Bulls have struggled to score and Wallace clogs the lane and stagnates an offense.
In light of the comments made by Flip Saunders that all conversations with Wallace started with him getting the ball more, I wonder what his mind set will be playing under this new contract and with a new team. One key to watch early in the season is shot distribution.
On the more subtle end of things, the Bulls added P.J. Brown, Adrian Griffin and stole Victor Khryapa from the Blazers. Khryapa is a nice find and could become a solid rotation player. The Blazers misjudged how the draft was going to play out and it cost them this young talent.
Overall, the Bulls roster is strong. The young combo of Ben Gordon, their leading scorer Kirk Hinrich and the underrated Luol Deng makes for an exciting future.
They also added two first-round draft picks in Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha that every team had ranked high on their draft board.
My thought on the Bulls is that I think the experts are a year or two early. They still have a tremendous amount of youth on the floor at one time and youth doesn’t win in the NBA. The long term issue will be if Wallace can stay at his peak when the youngsters all hit their stride.
Look for big years from Gordon and Deng as they hit the year-three explosion.
DETROIT PISTONS |
2005-06:64-18
1st, Central
Coach:Flip Saunders |
|
Detroit Pistons
Oct. 8 |
Permalink
What most people missed about Detroit is that they went through a huge transformation last season even before they lost Ben Wallace.
The Detroit Pistons became an offensive team last year rather than a defensive team. For most of the season, they were the #1 team in the NBA in offensive efficiency. What was lost was that defensively the Pistons slipped. They were still strong, but they were not the defensive force they had been before.
The only way to explain this is the change in coaching from Larry Brown to Flip Saunders.
Two things make this very interesting for the upcoming season. Flip Saunders has publicly stated that last year he left things as they had been and this year he will start to make changes, including playing much more zone defense. Now what happens? If they don’t believe they made changes and now they start to, does the pendulum swing even further to the offense?
The second part is what everyone is talking about when it comes to the Pistons. What will they do without Ben Wallace? Recent reports have talked about a rift between Wallace and Saunders as a reason for his departure. That is relevant because now anything that is different will fall on Saunders' lap.
Wallace was the energy to this team. That is undeniable. He also was a liability offensively. That is debatable. Will Rip Hamilton still get open off baseline picks if Big Ben isn’t there to set them? How much did teams stay with Ben because of his rebounding presence in turn freeing other players? What isn't debatable is that Nazr Mohammed is not going to be an adequate replacement for Wallace.
This team isn’t going to fall apart. They are simply too good with too many special players. Chauncey Billups is an All-Star and underrated. Rip and Tayshaun Prince are terrific and when he wants to be Rasheed Wallace is a top 10 player in the NBA. But you wonder if the intensity will be the same and the defense will be as stifling.
Therefore, the Pistons will win and they will win often. However, the script is there for slippage. The change from the defensive focus to an offensive team and the loss of Wallace are significant.
Also, this team has no bench and hasn’t had a bench for three years. This is going to catch up to them at some point. Again, not sure it is this year, but lots of things point to the Pistons moving back to the rest of the pack in the East.
Did I mention Flip Saunders' playoff record in Minnesota? I am sure it will be mentioned once or twice on Detroit Sports Radio.
TORONTO RAPTORS |
2005-06:27-55
4th, Atlantic
Coach:Sam Mitchell |
|
Toronto Raptors
Oct. 7 |
Permalink
Can the Phoenix Suns be duplicated? That is what everyone is wondering as Bryan Colangelo takes over the Toronto Raptors. Colangelo built the Phoenix Suns and now has the same job for the Toronto Raptors.
The Suns have three awesome pieces - Nash, Marion and Stoudamire. Colangelo starts with one, Chris Bosh. Bosh is the unsung star of the new generation. Last year, Bosh put up sick numbers every night. He averaged 23 points and 9 rebounds.
Bosh was another example of the year-three explosion. In his sophomore year of the NBA he averaged 17 points and shot 47%. He increased 6 points a game and 4% in his field goal percentage.
Bosh is as good a centerpiece as a general manager can have to build around.
However, Colangelo's first moves have been mysterious. He acquired TJ Ford, the diminutive point guard from Milwaukee in exchange for Charlie Villenauva. This was a steal for the Bucks. If Colangelo is trying to re-create Nash with Ford, he has forgotten that Nash can shoot and Ford can’t. Francis Williams sat down with T.J. Ford and talked about his ride through Texas and the injury in Milwaukee.
With the first pick the Raptors acquired Andrea Bargnani. I don’t know a lot about him other than I know a scout who went to see him play last year and he went scoreless. Yes, the #1 pick of the NBA draft had a game last year when he didn’t scratch.
My guess is the Raptors will be as similar to the Suns as the weather in Toronto and Phoenix.
Kevin Pelton says: I'd amend that slightly. I think the Raptors will be as similar to the Suns as Ford is to Nash. I also do think Bargnani will be okay. A lot of high picks from Europe - say, ones whose names rhyme with Zarko - weren't yet productive players in the Euroleague. Bargnani was productive with a pretty good team.
Speaking of that team, Benetton Treviso, its former GM - Mauricio Gherardini - is now Colangelo's assistant GM and the Euro movement is on in full force in Toronto. In addition to Bargnani, the Raptors also signed Jorge Garbajosa (Spain) and Uros Slokar (Slovenia) and Anthony Parker, an American who last played in the NBA in 2000 but blossomed into a star in Europe, twice winning Euroleague MVP. Europe is increasingly becoming a source for not only youngsters via the draft but also veteran players who are free agents, and it will be interesting to see how these players work out for Colangelo and Gherardini.
NEW YORK KNICKS |
2005-06:23-59
5th, Atlantic
Coach:Isiah Thomas
|
|
New York Knicks
Oct. 6 |
Permalink
The New York Knicks are going to be the #1 story in the NBA this season for numerous reasons. First, because everyone in New York believes that the rest of us outside of New York actually care about their team.
In this case they may be accurate - the storylines are numerous. First, can Isiah Thomas coach his self-created fantasy-league lineup? Rarely has there ever been a situation where the gauntlet has been thrown down the way the Knicks owner James Dolan has on Isiah, telling him, “Turn it around immediately or else.”
Then you have to wonder if a team can win by just grabbing the best player available instead of trying to fit pieces into a puzzle?
And finally, can Isiah get this team to create an "us against the world" mentality and play as a unit?
Isiah has one thing going for him he brought the entire group in as the General Manager. Therefore, these are his guys. The problem is I am guessing he made some big promises to these guys and last year he had a scapegoat in Larry Brown to point to and explain why they weren’t coming to fruition. This year he has nowhere to point the finger.
Fundamentally, I have a hard time believing that a backcourt of Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis are going to be able to co-exist. Huge kudos to Marbury for his Starbury show that cost only $10 that he is marketing into the inner-cities. I also believe Marbury will have a big year. He is one of the toughest guys to guard and Isiah is going to give him freedom. Whether this parlays into any wins is a totally different issue.
Francis, on the other hand, looks either physically or emotionally like a guy who has lost his love for the game - so much so that he didn’t make my 
Top 100 list on SUPERSONICS.COM. I can’t imagine it comes back in the pressure cooker of New York with Marbury as the primary ball handler.
Local product Jamal Crawford is the one looking on the outside in. Jamal really picked up his game in the final month under Larry Brown. This is a testament to Jamal. In the final 11 games he averaged 22 points and 6 assists. Whether Jamal gets a chance with this team’s makeup is a real mystery.
Up front the Knicks have high hopes for Eddy Curry. Curry puts up nice numbers, but his teams have always done better when he on the bench. This was the case for both the Knicks and the Bulls. For the Knicks, they were much better when Channing Frye played last season.
I doubt Isiah is willing to bench his prime free agent signing to put Frye on the floor, the same way I doubt he is willing to take minutes from Francis for Jamal.
Therein lies the whole dysfunction of the New York Knicks and it is only fitting that it takes place in the Big Apple.
From afar it will be fun in a demented sort of way to watch this all play out.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS |
2005-06:38-44
2nd, Atlantic
Coach:Maurice Cheeks
|
|
Philadelphia 76ers
Oct. 5 |
Permalink
Can the 76ers emerge out of the pack of mediocrity that is the Atlantic Division to challenge the Nets for the division title?
Honestly, it seems unlikely, but if anyone is going to do it the Sixers are the team.
Allen Iverson is still special. Despite being on the wrong side of 30 already, Iverson has been able to maintain his level of excellence. I don’t care what everyone says about the amount of shots he takes, the dude delivers. I also firmly believe he makes players better.
Check out players that leave the 76ers - it is not like they explode someone else. In fact, more often it is the opposite. Every opponent spends so much energy dealing with the Answer that these fringe players are able to prosper. When they leave Philly they get exposed.
We will see if John Salmons is one of those players leaving Philly this year.
The reason I believe Philly could improve is a lot of their good young players either had down years or no year at all. Samuel Dalembert really struggled last year, averaging just 7 points and 8 rebounds and not influencing the game defensively. He should improve.
Andre Iguodala is on the verge of becoming a 17-point-a-night scorer in his third year and Kyle Korver is becoming more versatile. In addition, Willie Green returns after season ending knee surgery.
Rodney Carney, Shavlik Randolph and Bobby Jones, the University of Washington product, will have to contribute on this thin roster.
Chris Webber is still the core of the problem for this team. He takes a ton of shots and while he averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds he does it so inefficiently I have to believe if you distrubted the same scoring opportunities around the club you would get more than 20 points.
The other concern is that Maurice Cheeks has never wowed me as a head coach. His time in Portland was unimpressive and his first season in Philly kept the trend alive.
Truly, if the Sixers played in any other division we would be talking only lottery, but one injury to Jason Kidd and 39 wins could win the Atlantic.
NEW JERSEY NETS |
2005-06:49-33
1st, Atlantic
Coach: Lawrence Frank
|
|
New Jersey Nets
Oct. 4 |
Permalink
There are not many threesomes that are any better than Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd. What strikes me about this group is how badly they all need each other.
Two seasons ago, Jefferson was left to his own devices with Kidd out and Carter in Toronto and he struggled miserably. As dynamic as Kidd is as a point guard, he still struggles with his shot and when teams are able to force him to shoot the outcome can be ugly. For Carter, coupling his career with Kidd has revitalized him back to Vinsanity.
Carter’s regular season last year was fantastic. He averaged 24 points, grabbed 6 boards and assisted 4 times a game. Amazingly, he took it to a totally different level in the 11 playoff games the Nets played last season, scoring 29 points a game with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Defensively, his quick hands returned, grabbing 2 steals a game.
The weakness for Carter is he still insists to shoot the 3 where he is not very strong. This is a team-wide weakness as nobody on the Nets puts fear in the defenders from behind the arc.
Which gets to the perplexing issue of the Nets off-season: Did they really address the issues they needed to? They added Eddie House to add some 3-point shooting, but they didn’t confront the white elephant in the room.
After the big three the Nets have a Grand Canyon-type drop-off. Nenad Krstic is a nice player and Jason Collins is a terrific defender, but the bench is non-existent.
Jeff McInnis was picked up to back up Kidd and he proved to be the same cancer he was in each of his previous stops in the NBA. Therefore, the Nets drafted Marcus Williams from UConn to play the backup guard minutes.
Williams will be a step in the correct direction for the Nets. New Jersey is hoping that former Duke star Jay Williams can bounce back from his treacherous motorcycle injury.
The sad thing if you are a Nets fan is the Eastern Conference is wide open with Ben Wallace going to Chicago and the Heat being a year older. Instead of grasping that opportunity, the Nets are rolling out virtually the same team as a year ago.
The Nets should win the pitiful Atlantic Division, but they didn’t stock the cupboard enough to last through the playoff battles.
BOSTON CELTICS |
2005-06: 33-49
3rd, Atlantic
Coach: Doc Rivers
|
|
Boston Celtics
Oct. 3 |
Permalink
Two questions pop to my mind about the Celtics: What are they trying to do and who are they?
This team has absolutely no personality to who they are and how they play. Nor does the roster seem to fit any mold.
The Celtics have two bona fide scorers in Paul Pierce (#18 on my top 100 list) and Wally Szczerbiak (#37). You can pen those two guys in every night to give you nearly 50 points.
The addition of Theo Ratliff in the middle will be a good help if Ratliff wants to play and can stay healthy. When he is healthy he is able to alter games in the middle.
However, from there things are unclear. The point guard position is full, but not loaded. Sebastian Telfair makes his second stop in the NBA after a failed venture under Nate McMillan. Telfair sat down with Sonics Broadcaster Francis Williams and talked about his journey from the streets of New York to the NBA. Telfair believes the Celtics are the “hottest” team in the East and he shares that as well as thoughts on Nate McMillan and Doc Rivers.
Delonte West played a good deal of point last year and at 6-4, 180 he has great size. He mirrors his Head Coach Doc Rivers. West is an underrated player and may be about to emerge in the NBA.
The backcourt of the Celtics could get a solid boost if Tony Allen, out of Oklahoma State, can put his off-court issues behind him and get back on the floor. Allen is an incredible defender and superior athlete.
Allen shared his story with Sonics broadcaster Francis Williams about his life and basketball journey from the rough streets of Chicago to Stillwater and now in Boston.
Bottom line for Boston this team is going to need a ton of young players to step forward if they are going to become a playoff team.
