Blogger Previews - Northwest Division
Another round of previews for you to kick off the week, and one that is near and dear to me personally - the Northwest Division.
This is a great project and, again, great job by Jeff Clark at CelticsBlog for pulling together this goat-rodeo.
Enjoy!
Utah Jazz
Daily Basketball
Taking it to the Rack
Basketball John
My take - The class of this division. The question is only how well they can seed themselves for the playoffs, and how far in they can get before they run into one of the other western heavyweights (Suns, Rockets, Jazz, Spurs). Deron Williams is awesome - we all talk about Chris Paul here in Portland (KP would have drafted him over Webster) but is Williams that I like best from that draft - good size, killer shooter, and the kind of tough kid I’d love to have leading my team. I hope Jarrett Jack steps it up in Year 2 as a starting PG like Williams did last year.
Seattle Supersonics
Sonics Central
My take - They’re in a tough spot. That ownership situation is ugly. I really don’t think there is any way the win more than the 31 they got last year, having lost Allen and Lewis and replaced them with (obviously highly-touted) rookies and the assets they got from Boston (Wally-world is so-so-, Delonte’s ceiling is still unknown). I went to college in Tacoma in the mid 90’s, and I know what kind of basketball town Seattle is. I also know that this team has played in crappy arenas for, basically ever (even the refurbished Key Arena never felt like an NBA facility). Too bad it seems like this situation has a low probability of resolution - I’ll miss the Sonics if they go.
Portland Trail Blazers
TrueHoop
The Inferno
My take - See my posting below for the all-out preview. This will be an up-and-down season where Nate starts coaching this team like it should win, and we’ll see how the players respond. Health is also a major factor if you’re thining wins/losses, but the big picture is getting these players to play like pros and preparing for the infusion of talent next year when Oden (hopefully) returns and Rudy Fernandez joins the club.
Timberwolves
TWolves Blog
My take - “Conventional wisdom” has it that when you trade a top-talent like KG, there is really no way to recieve full value in return. That said, the T-Wolves don’t seem to have done too badly for themselves. Al Jefferson looks like he’ll turn out good, Gerald Green is definitely an intriguing talent with his hops and shot, and Ryan Gomes is a solid pro. Bassy Telfair was probably the easiest asset for the Celtics to give up in either of their deals (maybe Wally-world was easier due to the size of that contract). Add in Foye and Corey Brewer, and you’ve got yourself a young core. Who knows what’ll happen this season, but the future could be bright.
Denver Nuggets
Nugg Doctor
My take - This could be a disappointing season in Denver. Steve Blake may not be a big-name PG, but at 6′3″ he’s a better backcourt mate for AI than 5′11″ Chucky Atkins - one of those guys has to guard the other team’s SG when they’re on the floor together, right? This team also has some bad knees in their bigs - they need Camby, Nene and a strong return from K-Mart or the big western frontcourts will kill this team.
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3 Responses to “Blogger Previews - Northwest Division”
October 21st, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I fail to see how you are so low on the Nuggets. And it’s all because of replacing Steve Blake with Chucky Atkins??? This is a team that has the scoring champion of the past (AI) and the scoring champion of the future (Melo) together for one entire season. Nene is just beginning to show why he’s worth the monster deal he got last summer, and he’ll be a force for any power forward in the West (and that’s a hell of talent) to match up against. Marcus Camby was the Defensive Player of the Year last season anchoring the paint. And they still have J.R. Smith, who was explosive at the beginning of last season before AI’s arrival limited his minutes.
The brawl at the Garden ruined the Nuggets’ season last year to an extent, but I think that with their heads screwed on straight this year, they’ll easily - EASILY - win this division. Yeah, Utah came around last season, but they don’t have half the talent that Denver has. I mean, the Nuggets are going to have Kenyon Martin coming off the bench! Utah’s best player is probably Deron Williams, and he would be the third best player in Denver. These guys are going to surprise you this season.
October 22nd, 2007 at 8:56 am
Replacing Blake with Atkins was horrible. They should have signed someone else like Jason Hart who will actually play defense. I think the Nuggets will miss Blake and his unselfishness. JR Smith is explosive, but he is DEEP into Karl’s doghouse. I don’t think he’ll get out of it, unless he is traded.
I really like the Jazz. Brewer will probably be their starting SG. He’ll come up big this year, IMO. Sloan didn’t really trust him last year, but Brewer has shown some offensive game in the preseason and has the ability to play on the point.
Hopefully, Portland can avoid the injuries, at least the serious ones. They should be fine and it might be a make or break season for Martell Webster. Portland needs him to become that dominant scorer that they drafted him to be. Pritchard did tell Frye that he won’t trade him which is the right move, but I find it hard to believe considering all of the rumors floating around about Frye being on the block.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:01 am
Yeah Amar - I think that’s a bad move. I did call out the fact they’re betting on three bigs who’ve all battled injury problems over their careers. Its great that AI is a past scoring champion, but you really can’t run two guards that are 6′0″ or shorter and expect to win 55+ games. In the NBA, you just cannot. And if Atkins is off the floor, who is going to handle the distribution chore for AI and Melo? AI? He can pull it off for short stretches, but he’s best when someone else is getting him the ball in the right spots (Eric Snow?).
Playing AI as a 2-guard (his natural offensive position) requires that you have a big point guard to guard the other team’s 2-guard at the other end, cause AI is good defending the point. The Nuggets just swapped out 4 inches worth of PG going from Blake to Atkins, and E-Roc’s point is valid - Blake is a pass first, set-up PG who can shoot to keep the D honest - when you have two 25+ ppg scorers and a post like Nene, I’d think that’s the PG you’d want.
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