The bulls making the playoffs as a 5th seed
besides playing in the cliche jv conference, the bulls head into the season with their most talented roster since the glory days. and for once, the beginning of their schedule is in their favor. in the past they have gotten buried early as they would open 13 of the 19 on the road and get further buried when they head on the dreaded 'circus' trip.
they open the season playing 7 of the first 11 at home. also only 2 of the 7 teams they will face in this stretch were in the playoffs last year. a great start is key, especially for a team that's relying on youngsters. besides chicago, nj and NO are other teams that didn't make significant changes. all the more reason for the bulls to sneak past the other teams as they all will take time to become cohesive units
memphis makes the playoffs
despite Jerry West's 2003 draft blunder, he's put together a good team, 2 solid at every position. picking up jake and outlaw will pay great dividends, as a big pressure will be off gasol defensively in the post. finally he doesn't have to play center on defense. and now memph can better utilize gasol's skills in the post AND away from the basket. dallas, hou, SAs, min, lal, phx, sac look like playoff locks. 7 spots right there. portland and seattle will be the grizz main comp for the last spot. Portland is always on the verge of imploding, especially with no leadership presence now. seattle is the light beer version of dallas. if the players can continue to buy into hubie's system...
lebron james falls on his face his rookie year
with all his hype, i'm sure as hell expecting a lot from this guy. night in and night out, opposing teams will put their best defenders, and presumably their quickest, on him. the $100million man is a marked man. this will lead to him struggling as he discovers he can't get past or bully defenders as easy as it was back in his HS days. add in that poor jumper.. eek.. also factor in the additional pressure of playing in his home city, the losing, ricky davis's selfish streak, darius miles trying to prove last year wasn't a fluke, not to mention being under the media telescope....all signs pointing to a disappointing year