2007-08 predictions

[cap]

Atlantic
New Jersey *
Boston *
Toronto *
New York
Philadelphia

Central
Chicago *
Cleveland *
Detroit *
Milwaukee
Indiana

Southeast
Washington *
Orlando *
Miami
Charlotte
Atlanta
…………………………………………………………………

Southwest
Dallas *
San Antonio *
Houston *
New Orleans *
Memphis

Northwest
Utah *
Denver *
Portland
Seattle
Minnesota

Pacific
Phoenix *
L.A. Lakers *
Golden State
L.A. Clippers
Sacramento
…………………………………………………………………

East: Chicago over New Jersey
West: Phoenix over Dallas
Finals: Phoenix over Chicago


Atlantic
Boston
New Jersey
Toronto
New York
Philadelphia

Central
Chicago
Detroit
Cleveland
Milwaukee
Indiana

Southeast
Washington
Orlando
Miami
Charlotte
Atlanta
…………………………………………………………………

Southwest
Dallas
San Antonio
Houston
New Orleans
Memphis

Northwest
Utah
Denver
Portland
Seattle
Minnesota

Pacific
Phoenix
L.A. Lakers
Golden State
L.A. Clippers
Sacramento
…………………………………………………………………

East: Chicago over Detroit
West: Phoenix over Dallas
Finals: Phoenix over Chicago
…………………………………………………………………

Awards
Defensive Player of the Year: Bruce Bowen, Spurs
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, SuperSonics
Coach of the Year: Scott Skiles, Bulls
Sleeper Team to Watch: New York Knicks
MVP: LeBron James, Cavaliers
Most Improved Player: Rajon Rondo, Celtics

[cap]

My own Wormwood-ish predictions:
Grant Hill does not make the All-Star team, or even come close.

LB averages about 20p/5a and is again the runaway choice for 6MOY.

Amare averages about 25p/10r.

Shawn Marion’s numbers dip for the second straight season. It does not change his expectation of a $60M/3yr extension.

D’Antoni continues to play a tight rotation, with LB, Boris, and Skinner the only bench players who consistently see minutes, with Banks and Strawberry making occasional appearances in the rotation for a few weeks at a time.

Boris is better than last season, but not as good as his MIP season in 2005-06.

Skinner provides good post defense against some opponents, but is sometimes overmatched. Amare’s defense is improved, but still not great. Great teams, especially San Antonio and Utah, brutally exploit our interior weakness. Marks is behind Skinner on the depth chart, and rarely plays significant minutes except in case of injury.

We win close to but no more than 60 games, and fall short of the ultimate goal. O & 40. San Antonio probably repeats.

We get a mid-to-late lottery pick from Atlanta.
I’m trying to recreate my predictions from before the forum crash. I don’t remember what else I posted.

[MaxPower]

Spurs miss the playoffs.

Oh, and sugar will be the new oil.

[Superbone]

Hey, just got here. I meant to post this one yesterday:

phxsuns.net server will crash due to RAID 5 striped across 4 drives.

[Catharsis]

Shawn Marion’s numbers dip for the second straight season. It does not change his expectation of a $60M/3yr extension.


Man, I think Shawn is going to have a monster year. And the Suns will still be right to not resign him after it.

22 ppg, 12 rpg, and he'll lead the league in steals. Mark it!

[MaxPower]

I will shave my legs at least once.

[OrlandoGardener]

As long as you aren't shaving Saucy's legs, MAx.

[sunsdotcom]

We can beat the Spurs if and only if Amare can play good defense against Duncan for 35 minutes and not get into foul trouble.

Usually, either he tries too hard playing d and gets into foul trouble early, or he decides he'd rather concentrate on offense and staying in the game, and let duncan, parker or oberto score at will inside the paint.

Amare's got to figure out how to play quality defense vs duncan long enough to make a difference in the SA series.

If Amare can hold his own defensively vs. Duncan this year, then Smallball will win over Spursball eventually.

Instead of scoring 37 ppg in the Spurs series, i'd rather see amare concentrate on defense and average 16 rebounds, 4 blocks (and 17 ppg). let the others like hill, barbosa and diaw carry the scoring load vs. the Spurs.

then against dallas, he can concentrate back on his offense again.

[Uncle_Gene]

Atlantic
Boston
New Jersey
Toronto
New York
Philadelphia

Sleeper Team to Watch: New York Knicks


How is N.Y. a sleeper pick and predicted to finish 4th in their own division ?

Sporting News is crazy.

[Amarvelous]

We can beat the Spurs if and only if Amare can play good defense against Duncan for 35 minutes and not get into foul trouble.

Usually, either he tries too hard playing d and gets into foul trouble early, or he decides he'd rather concentrate on offense and staying in the game, and let duncan, parker or oberto score at will inside the paint.

Amare's got to figure out how to play quality defense vs duncan long enough to make a difference in the SA series.

If Amare can hold his own defensively vs. Duncan this year, then Smallball will win over Spursball eventually.

Instead of scoring 37 ppg in the Spurs series, i'd rather see amare concentrate on defense and average 16 rebounds, 4 blocks (and 17 ppg). let the others like hill, barbosa and diaw carry the scoring load vs. the Spurs.

then against dallas, he can concentrate back on his offense again.

SDC, while I agree that Amare playing good defense on Timmy D without fouling would completely change the complexion of the series and put us in the driver seat, I just don't see it happening. Amare looked totally lost against Duncan on that end of the court.

Even when he tried his best his technique was very unsound. If he could play serviceable 1-on-1 defense on him for 15 minutes a game without picking up more than 1 or 2 fouls in that time, I would be ecstatic. What is serviceable D against him? I guess if KT's "great" defense was holding him to 50% shooting, then keeping him at 60% would have to be considered decent, as long as Duncan is not simultaneously getting the double-team and racking up assists while finding wide open shooters and slashers.

That in itself could be enough to swing things if Skinner could also do OK at slowing the robot down for 20 minutes.

The point on which I have to disagree though is having Amare take a step back in the offense in order to expend more energy on the defensive end. If we are going to beat San Antonio we are going to have to ride his shoulders on the offensive end. He has proven to be the only player we have who is capable of going off on them.

Granted (no pun intended), we have not seen yet how Hill will do in that matchup, but we have seen how the empire pretty much negates Barbosa and Diaw. Really, I think Amare having monster games will mean, most importantly, more freethrows and our best chance of getting Duncan in any sort of foul trouble. Remember at the end of game 2 how Amare kept getting to the rim off Nash feeds to allow us to pull that one out? Duncan ended up having to let Amare score those with little challenge because of his own foul trouble. I believe he was playing with 5 at the time.

We need that and we need freethrows. Barbs won't get to the line enough against that squad. Neither will Diaw. Amare really is our only offensive force that they struggle with, and that's why I like him guarding Elson or Oberto, helping weakside, while Skinner (or whoever) sticks to Duncan. He just needs to tone it back a bit and play a little smarter on the weakside; let Duncan have those dunks sometimes when he breaks free toward the hoop, and don't pick up the dumb fouls on plays that are pretty much beyond saving.

Unfortunately I think D'Antoni will have a hard time accepting these facts again and we could be down 0-1 or 0-2 in a series with them before he's forced to deal with reality; the Spurs are too good in transition defense and getting out on our threepoint shooters for small ball to work against them. You need to have balance-some semblance of rebounding and defense-to go along with Amare's havoc in the lane. We'll need to start Skinner (or PJ Brown if he comes along) and keep him on Duncan as much as possible.

[sunsdotcom]

The point on which I have to disagree though is having Amare take a step back in the offense in order to expend more energy on the defensive end. If we are going to beat San Antonio we are going to have to ride his shoulders on the offensive end. He has proven to be the only player we have who is capable of going off on them.


i'd rather see an amare who's dominant on offense AND defense. but if that is not possible, then i'd rather see him sacrifice some offense to play better defense vs. duncan.

[Vladimir_Taltos]

Not sure if this shouldn't have been a regular thread, as they generate more conversation...but regardless, since Cap beat me to posting the predictions...drat...I'll throw in another...

CBS Sports NBA Preview had the Suns picked also, while Lindy's picked the Spurs.

VT

[Squeege63]

NBA predictions for 2007-08 season

Division winners

East

Atlantic - Boston
Central - Chicago
Southeast - Washington

West

Northwest - Utah
Southwest - San Antonio
Pacific - Phoenix

Other Playoff Teams (in no particular order)

East

New Jersey
Detroit
Toronto
Orlando
Milwaukee

West

Houston
Dallas
Golden State
Denver
New Orleans

[SunsFan4Life]

I got a few for ya feel free to make a few yourself...


Suns Related...

1.The Suns WILL NOT finish with the NBA's Best Record(I have them pegged for 60 wins but a 2nd seed)

2.The Suns WILL WIN the NBA Title

3.Grant Hill will Average over 15ppg

4.Kurt Thomas will be bought out sometime after the all-star break and return to Phoenix on a minimum contract.

5.Stoudemire will average a double double


Around the League

1.The Bulls will win the East

2.The Grizz Will make the Playoffs

3.Marc Iavorni will win Coach of the year

4.Kobe WILL NOT be traded

5.Phil Jackson Quits as Lakers coach before the season is over

[PHarvey]

Didn't they make it so that players can't return to the team that traded them when they are bought out? At least for a period of time.

[Split_T's]

I dont think there is any way Kobe stays with LA. I imagine something will get worked out and he will be on the Bulls in the coming weeks. The Bulls are gonna be very scary. I figure they will end up losing atleast Gordon and Thomas. There will be draft picks and other players involved, possibly hinrich, noah etc. Anyways, they are gonna be good. Kobe-Deng-Wallace-Hinrich?

[cap]

Thread police! We already have a predictions thread. It’s a sticky so we can come back after the season and make fun of your predictions.

[SunsFan4Life]

oh my bad if there is one. I saw I thought is was just a Win/Loss predictions thread. anyways 1 is never enough...just look at the lays commercials!

[MaxPower]

This thread WILL be deleted

[cap]

This thread WILL be deleted

Or better yet, merged.

[Mori_Chu]

Mori's various predictions (I know, a little late):

East

1 DET
2 CHI
3 BOS
4 WAS
5 NJ
6 ORL
7 CLE
8 TOR

MIA
MIL
ATL
NY
IND
PHI
CHA


West
1 DAL
2 PHX
3 SAS
4 UTA
5 DEN
6 HOU
7 NO
8 LAL

MEM
GS
POR
SAC
LAC
SEA
MIN


Random predictions:
Suns record: 59-23
Leading scorer: Amare, 22ppg
Leading rebounder: Marion, 10.2rpg
Leading assists: Nash, 9.5apg

MVP: Kevin Garnett

Playoffs:
Suns lose to Spurs, Spurs lose to Mavs, Mavs defeat Pistons in Finals

[MaxPower]

Mavs win the title?

Wait, are they trading Dirk?

[Mori_Chu]

The Mavs are going to be crazy good this year. Everybody has written them off, but they have quietly gotten even better than the team that steamrolled the league last regular season. They're so good that they are bringing Jason Terry off the bench this year. Wow.

And the one guy you absolutely must watch out for: Desagana Diop. This guy is becoming a beast. He is enormous, alters every shot remotely near the basket, and is actually becoming a competent offensive player. He is a huge part of why I think the Mavs are the team to beat. That and their ridiculous depth that will help them survive the regular season and get a better seeding for the playoff run.

I realize they have choked a few times now, but they beat the Spurs in a series, something we cannot say. And they just had bad timing and bad luck to draw that insanely hot Warriors team in the first round last year. I'm not so sure we would have beaten the Ws either.

[LazarusLong]

Suns go 59-23. Major trade helps put them over the top.
Suns edge Rockets in seven for Western Conference playoff crown.
Suns beat Celtics in six, fulfilling the old Joe Gilmartin prophecy and putting the ghosts of '76 out to pasture forever ...

[In2ition]

Suns win the title.
Amare wins MVP.
I like SF4L's prediction that KT comes back, but if that doesn't happen the Suns use the trade exception and brings in possibly (Marcus Camby) at the All-Star break.
Atlanta makes the playoffs, Memphis doesn't quite make it.

[sunsdotcom]

Suns go 59-23. Major trade helps put them over the top.

what type of trade, laz? the one with LA?

[jed]

My prediction?

[Licks lips. Stares intently into camera]

Pain.

[bjebaz]

There's 2 and a half hours before the Suns' first game, so:

The Suns set a franchise record for wins.
The Mavs beat the Spurs in the conference semis like in 05-06, but this time Amare propels the Suns to an easy win over the Mavs in the conference finals and a championship.
Bell starts to play much less minutes, Barbosa averages over 20 ppg.
Nash does not finish in the top 3 in MVP voting.

[Amarvelous]

There's 2 and a half hours before the Suns' first game, so:

The Suns set a franchise record for wins.
The Mavs beat the Spurs in the conference semis like in 05-06, but this time Amare propels the Suns to an easy win over the Mavs in the conference finals and a championship.
Bell starts to play much less minutes, Barbosa averages over 20 ppg.
Nash does not finish in the top 3 in MVP voting.

That will be the biggest advantage of having the best record in the league this year. Dallas is not going to choke in the first round again so having SA and them beat up on each other in the second round would be huge.

[LazarusLong]

what type of trade, laz? the one with LA?

Probably something later in the season, to bolster the Suns stretch run.

[MTSunsFan]

Regular season record: 61-21 (win Pac. div.).
Beat Spurs in 7 games for the W. Conf.
Beat Pistons in 6 games for the long-awaited Championship.
Amare averages 23 pts., 10 boards and is 3rd in the MVP voting.

[INFORMER]

Eastern Conference:

1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Toronto
4. Orlando
5. Chicago
6. New Jersey
7. Cleveland
8. Atlanta

Western Conference:

1. San Antonio
2. Denver
3. Houston
4. Phoenix
5. Utah
6. Dallas
7. New Orleans
8. LA Lakers

[sunsdotcom]

Eastern Conference:

1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Toronto
4. Orlando
5. Chicago
6. New Jersey
7. Cleveland
8. Atlanta

Western Conference:

1. San Antonio
2. Denver
3. Houston
4. Phoenix
5. Utah
6. Dallas
7. New Orleans
8. LA Lakers

this is the worst prediction ever. atlanta makes the playoffs. and we're the 4th seed in the west. utah in the first round. san antonio in the second.

[SwingMan]

Why not go balls out with a 1-81 call, INF?

[MaxPower]

I think Bold Predictions just means to put your predictions in bold lettering.

[misteradiant]

i predict nothing. that way i don't look like an idiot later.

[sunsdotcom]

all your predictions are wrong.

[misteradiant]

wow. it took you six weeks to come up with that, laker avatar man? you act like i throw around predictions all the time, even. still it's funny you chose today to be a jerk. why? tomorrow i am collecting fifty bucks from some patriots fan at work because, oh my, i predicted the giants would win "a squeaker."

hopefully your post made you feel better.

[sunsdotcom]

you act like i throw around predictions all the time, even.

you don't have to be thin skinned. that comment above wasn't directed at you. i was just stating the obvious (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/standings;_ylt=AqWUrONO_fzx3t8pd9.U1VK8vLYF).


it's funny you chose today to be a jerk. why?

is it me who's acting that way or is it you?

[misteradiant]

the jerk is the one calling everybody out for no reason other than to call everybody out. you don't even have a counter-opinion or prediction.

nice move finally getting rid of your james worthy avatar. it was an incredibly lame image for a suns board.

[EDC]

Suns go 59-23. Major trade helps put them over the top.
Suns edge Rockets in seven for Western Conference playoff crown.
Suns beat Celtics in six, fulfilling the old Joe Gilmartin prophecy and putting the ghosts of '76 out to pasture forever ...

Laz and his crystal ball. Interesting. If we win it all this year ill be hitting you up for some lottery numbers. :)

[cap]

Suns go 59-23. Major trade helps put them over the top.
Suns edge Rockets in seven for Western Conference playoff crown.
Suns beat Celtics in six, fulfilling the old Joe Gilmartin prophecy and putting the ghosts of '76 out to pasture forever ...

Laz and his crystal ball. Interesting. If we win it all this year ill be hitting you up for some lottery numbers. :)

Umm... Rockets?

[EDC]

Two out of three ain't bad. :)

[LazarusLong]

cap ... granted Houston has been underwhelming at times, but as of today (2/10) the Rockets have a better road record than San Antonio, Dallas or Utah.

[Superbone]

I predict that INF is going to pop an eye out from all the eye rolls he's done since the Shaq trade. ;)

[cap]

Two out of three ain't bad. :)

How did he get two out of three?

Suns go 59-23? Remains to be seen. I doubt it.

Major trade helps put them over the top? Major trade, yes. Put them over the top? Remains to be seen.

Suns edge Rockets in seven in WCF? Remains to be seen if Suns will win WCF; seems unlikely that Rockets will be there.

Suns beat Celtics in Finals? Celtics are a good bet to be there, but it remains to be seen.

How does that add up to two out of three?

[misteradiant]

i am going to guess that cap never plays with horseshoes or hand grenades.

:cool:

[EDC]

In my original post I said if we win it all I'll be asking for some lottery numbers. I was saying if we do win a championship he did pretty well with his prediction.

[Andy_S]

i am going to guess that cap never plays with horseshoes or hand grenades.

:cool:

I don't know, maybe if he has a computer simulation of the horseshoes.

[Superbone]

i am going to guess that cap never plays with horseshoes or hand grenades.

:cool:

I don't know, maybe if he has a computer simulation of the horseshoes.

He probably wrote one.

[Mori_Chu]

I heard Cap has a HER (horseshoe efficiency rating) of 23.75889. But that's an offense-only stat; who knows how good he is at defending against others' tosses? Perhaps he uses the hand grenades for this purpose, which would be effective.

[sunsdotcom]

suns vs spurs in the 1st round would be an interesting matchup. this is the reason why we brought in shaq.

[Mori_Chu]

The sad thing is, this year we might be better equipped to beat the Spurs by the time the playoffs roll around (assuming we even MAKE the playoffs), but even if we do beat them, the West is so deep that our odds of getting a title aren't so hot.

[cap]

I predict that if we traded KT and two lottery picks for a conditional second round pick, I’m going to hunt down Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver and shoot them in the face.

OK, not really, but I’ll fantasize about it.

[misteradiant]

cap ... granted Houston has been underwhelming at times, but as of today (2/10) the Rockets have a better road record than San Antonio, Dallas or Utah.

and now they've won 20 in a row. wow, on many fronts.

[Superbone]

cap ... granted Houston has been underwhelming at times, but as of today (2/10) the Rockets have a better road record than San Antonio, Dallas or Utah.

and now they've won 20 in a row. wow, on many fronts.

And I'd love for the Suns to be the team to break the streak. But, I think it will be broken before we meet on Saturday. They play LA, Bos, NO, and GS before us.

[LazarusLong]

as cap would say, "it remains to be seen ..."

[Mori_Chu]

I watched the second half of that Rockets-Lakers game. Can someone explain to me why the Rockets have won 22 straight games? I mean, they looked good, but Rafer Alston had the game of his life. Who is stepping up to get them these wins? Is it T-Mac / Battier and their "stars"? Is it a bunch of random role players like Alston, Chuck Hayes, and that random rookie of theirs? How is Scola playing? I feel like I have no detailed knowledge of these guys, and they're the hottest team in the league right now. Again, they didn't seem like a 22-win-in-a-row team to me, because they were ridiculously small and didn't have great interior defense.

The announcers kept saying that T-Mac belongs in the MVP conversation. What?! No freaking way. (I don't think Kobe should get it either, but still.)

[misteradiant]

there we have it. beaten handily, at home even, by the celtics. the good news is it inches us closer to #1 in the west but still, i wanted the suns to break the streak. oh well....

[Superbone]

there we have it. beaten handily, at home even, by the celtics. the good news is it inches us closer to #1 in the west but still, i wanted the suns to break the streak. oh well....

I'd like to see them start a new streak. A losing streak. HA HA HA HA!!!