Bold Predictions for 2004/2005

[Andrew]

Does anyone have any bold predictions for the upcoming seasons? I'm generally fairly conservative with my picks and predictions, but usually every year someone boldly guarantees something or other. So, does anybody want to make some bold predictions that will no doubt be quoted later this season?

[J@3]

My Predictions:

- Kobe and Lamar will co-exist alot better than everyone expects, Caron Butler will be a fantastic role player

- Neither Emeka Okafor or Dwight Howard will win rookie of the year

- At least 2 players drafted in the late first round/second round will become fantastic NBA players ('Shard Lewis/Redd etc)

- New Orleans will be competitive in the West, even without Mash

- The Los Angeles Clippers will begin to work things out with a strong first half of the season, before dying.

- Tim Duncan won't be as impressive this year as he has in the past

- Allen Iverson will re-gain his form

- Jason Richardson will improve, possibly getting the MIP award

- Miami's best play will become "Give the ball to Shaq"

- LeBrons numbers will improve, while Carmelo's could slightly dip

- Kwame Brown will improve steadily and finally become respected

- Dallas won't be as strong as past years, but Daniels and Howard will emerge more

- Chris Mihm will finally "get it"

That's about all I can think of.

[hmm]

.............................................

[idiot]

- kittles, brand, and maggette will stay healthy... in fact... no injuries for the year....
- livingston will get his minutes...
- the clips make the 8th seed.....
- donald sterling dies in on top of some fat prostitute....


i wish

[Matt]

- Miami's best play will become "Give the ball to Shaq"

heheh, hardly a bold prediction

-Grant Hill will play 65+ games

-Richard Hamilton will make the All-Star Game and possibly Billups (T-Mac, Davis are gone and Kidd is down)

-Chris Webber will not be in a Sac-To Uniform after the Trade Deadline

-Detroit will repeat as NBA Champions (quote me in June)

[Andrew]

-Detroit will repeat as NBA Champions

You forgot to add "Quote me in June".

[Waz]

Kwame Brown will win MIP
Chris Duhon will b a superstar
Telfair will be the bust of the draft
EAST will dominate
Lakers will start rebuilding again just b4 trade deadline & inturn finish last in the pacific division
Gerald Wallace will average 15 per
Chi-Town will make the play-offs and b swept in the 2nd round

[.]

- The Lakers will begin the season with some losing streaks, but later turn them into wins which places them high in the playoffs.

- The MVP award will once again be between Duncan, Garnett and Kobe.

- The Rockets record wont improve that much compared to last year.

- Shaq will be injured soon

- Both Shaq and Kobe will have huge statistic number when they meet for the first time, but I honestly believe that the Heat will win game 1.

- Detroit wont make the finals

- Dywane Wade will have a similar season like he had last year

[Jowe]

- charlotte trade for a superstar.
- Shaq breaks down after injuring his pinkie toe.
- Dwayne wade gets traded for a vetern
- Kobe plays out of his skin. Dominates opponents.
- Jason Williams makes all star team.
- Tracy McGrady whines about not getting enough shots and sits out games.
- Yao Ming Dominates
- At least one rookie goes nuts and throws a leon smith.
- LeBron James posts lower numbers then his rookie year.
- Dajuan wagner gets traded and becomes a star.

[J@3]

There's one I mentioned while I was talkin to Jowe earlier:

- Shaq gets injured and doesn't play in the Xmas Day game against LA

[EGarrett]

Before I do, can I get credit for predicting Fred Jones would beat Jason Richardson in the dunk contest before they even announced the competitors?

And Lebron James (the poster) deserves credit for somehow almost perfectly predicting the real Lebron James' rookie stats before the season. (that thread still creeps me out)

For this season, I'll just predict that Jonathan Bender will not break out, continuing my prediction that he will never actually break out and be a bust.

[Incubus]

Emeka Okafor would be injured and sit down half a season

Chucky Atkins will avg. 10+ ppg.

Carmelo and James will avg. about 18 points this season.

The best rebounder will be KG with 13, 14 rpg.

[50first]

the timberwolves will lose a playoff series to denver.

[Incubus]

Chris Webber will not be in a Sac-To Uniform after the Trade Deadline

Wonder where? I think when he is traded, he might get to Dallas.(Just a prediction)

[j.23]

Grant Hill will play 65+ games

that would be awesome.. i remember 2 years ago when grant was healthy (somewhat) he could still blow by a defender, it was pretty sweet.. i love his game, so smooth

but yeah like jae said, i too think allen iverson will regain his form this year.

kobe bryant wins league mvp, guides lakers to the conference finals

lebron finishes in the top 5 voting for MVP

kevin garnett will somehow jack up his stats even more.. 24 ppg, 13.9 boards, 5 assists, 1.4 steals, 2 blocks.. that's pretty hard to beat, but he'll be able to do it

cavaliers make it to the playoffs as the #8 seed

mike bibby will finally be an all-star

[Dan's Brain]

That Al Harrington averages 18ppg
That Kevin Willis will sign a multi-year extension with the Hawks for 6 years, taking him to the ripe-old playing age of 48.

That Boston wins their division on the play of Paul Pierce and Gary Payton, but Ricky Davis won't be with the team after the deadline.

Kirk Hinrich will be the most important player on the Bulls.
Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry's numbers will go up, but "not enough."

Ilgauskas won't play more than 25 games.
LeBron will get cocky and take too many 3-point shots, but other than that, he'll raise all his numbers.

Josh Howard will be most improved player.
Dallas will just scrape into the playoffs.

Denver will win 50 games and Carmelo, K-Mart and Andre Miller will all be All-Stars.

Detroit will start the year in a slump.
Darko will have the same slump, but he'll be looked to contribute in an important game against Indiana, and he'll do well and not look back from then on. (Yes, it will be Indiana, NO-ONE ELSE)

Same-old same old from the warriors. Richardson will average 20, but be unhappy with a losing team. He won't be dealt though.

Houston won't be too different. - Yao and T-Mac will get along, they'll both average at least 20 and both be All-Stars, but the team wont rank any higher than 7th in the west.

Indiana will struggle. Miller wont be a starter, and Jermaine O'Neal will get hurt about 30 games in and not finish the year. Jonathan Bender will be called on, and he'll contribute something. It wont be enough and he'll find himself the target of trade rumours.

The Clippers will be NBA Champions
No, they wont come close to the playoffs, but Maggette will push for an All-Star berth. Brand won't.

Kobe Bryant will win the scoring title. Odom will be great. and Caron Butler will be 6th man of the year. The Lakers will be 6th in the west, and not progress beyond the first round.

Pau Gasol will be an All-Star, Michael Dickerson will return by season's end, and Shane Battier will get really angry and throw chairs around in a game against Milwaukee. He wont be fined.

Shaq will accidentally injure Dwyane Wade in practice. Shaq will make another movie. The Heat will be top 5 in the east.

Keith Van Horn will be reduced to 6th man duties for being the league's biggest disappointment (well, he's my biggest disappointment). Michael Redd will be 2nd in the league in scoring. Bucks will be near the bottom of the east, and will win the draft lottery.

Minnesota will be NBA Champions, thanks to superhuman efforts from Wally Szczerbiak and the Kandi man. Spree will retire at the end of the year for no good reason.

New Jersey will miss out on the playoffs. Jason Kidd will be watching the Spurs wistfully all year.

Jamal Crawford will stink it up for the Knicks. Michael Sweetney will be cut. Marbury will give up on his teammates and not make an assist after the All-Star break.

Dwight Howard will dunk on Chris Webber, but will otherwise be a rookie. The Webber highlight will be play of the year. Steve Francis will be happy.

AI will do well. His defence will get more credit than ever. A big year from John Salmons is on the cards. Kyle Korver will be starting by season's end.

Phoenix will be surprisingly good and one of the most exciting teams in the L. Stoudemire wont be an all-star but will post 20-10 numbers. Marion will defer to him. Steve Nash will be top 3 in assists.

Zach Randolph will dip a bit. But he'll be an all-star. They wont make the playoffs. Darius Miles will be on the way out by January.

Chris Webber will be dunked on Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor and Earl Boykins. Sacramento will struggle for a top 4 seed in the west. Brad Miller will make an All-NBA team. Probably the 3rd.

Tim Duncan will have rock solid fundamentals and consistency. Ginobili and Parker will begin to fight. Will be beaten by the wolves in the west finals 4-3.

Ray Allen will have a bad year, missing a lot of 3-pointers. Radmanovic will blossom and Luke Ridnour will start and do well.

Vince Carter will play about 50 games. The Raptors will be 19-31 with him and 18-14 without him. He'll blame everyone from the Vibe to Mabo to the constitution, and will be dealt to Chicago for a rookie and draft picks. Chris Bosh will be an All-Star

Carlos Arroyo will be the guy that everyone talks about. Harpring will be back, and ready to play. Kirilenko will be great. A centre will be looked for and not found.

Etan Thomas will be a starter for Washington. Kwame Brown will average 14 points. Steve Blake will be important. Gilbert Arenas will struggle.

Jamaal Magloire will be the Hornets' best. Baron Davis will go missing in games and P.J. Brown's age will begin to catch up. Will look to the NBDL to replace Mashburn and will find someone OK, but not a career prospect. Someone in the Tyrone Nesby mold.

Emeka Okafor will be ROY for the cats. Gerald Wallace will do great things. Jamal Sampson will score an Acie Earl-esque 40 points in a game and be cut 2 weeks later. Melvin Ely and Jason Kapono will improve.

[J@3]

Jamal Sampson will score an Acie Earl-esque 40 points in a game and be cut 2 weeks later.

I was checking out his stats earlier today, he averaged 2.9ppg and 5.2rpg in 13.0mpg... now... if we triple those minutes to starter minutes of 39.0mpg, that makes his stats 8.7rpg and 15.6rpg

In a perfect World those stats would be so accurate

Edit: I just had another look, his career high numbers are:

9pts
10rbs

That was all in 32 mins against the LA Clippers... hmmm

[twolvezfanfoever]

Minny wins the championship even though Detroit will give them hell in the finals

Lakers will be the 6th seed

the Hornets will suck in the west without Mash

The Net will suck altogether

The Magic are gonna make a comeback with Grant Hill as their leader

The Bobcats will win 20 games

AI will be booed by the fans at the end of the season

Boozer will have stuff throwned at him when they play the Cavaliers

Lebron will lead the Cavs to the playoffs

A trailblazer will be going to jail.

[Sauru]

ok i gotta add something to this topic but i didnt really know what. so after a little thought i fiquere i would just spit this out

dallas finally makes the finals but loses to the pistons in 6.

[NNpF]

- Artest traded for Stojakovic by trade deadline.

- Jefferson make All-Star Game.

- Orlando will be the biggest dissapointment and Dwight Howard will not be successful.

- Webber gets injured again and Kings trade him before the All-Star break.

Can't think right now, that's all I got.

[tsherkin]

Josh Smith will be a pleasant surprise. Not ROY or anything but he will shake the "guaranteed bust" label that I and others have put on him, somewhat unfairly. He's been working with John Lucas on everything he's bad at (everything but athleticism and dunking) over the summer.

Carmelo Anthony will not get appreciably better and the phrase "a poor man's Glenn Robinson" will become more common. I'd take a younger Glenn Robinson faster than Carmelo.

Troy Murphy will be a double-double player again.

Houston will finish 4th in the West.

The Lakers will nab the 7th seed in the West.

Orlando will make the playoffs with a healthy Grant Hill, who will average something like 16, 6 and 5 after a big second half.

Philadelphia won't make the playoffs and Iverson will continue his downward spiral.

Toronto will win the Atlantic Division. Vince Carter will remind everyone why he's a great player.

Utah will make the playoffs.

Washington will take the 6th seed and Kwame Brown will finally get the respect he deserves. Gilbert Arenas will be healthy and will make the All-Star team as a Coaches' Pick.

[Alcoholic]

I see some Shaq/Kobe boo's sometime during the season, maybe in their opposite courts.

KOBE FOR MVP.

Kobe and Odom will do good. If Caron can be a starter, he will also do good, possibly their 3rd best player.

Shaq's team will struggle to make it to the finals. When I say struggle I mean no 4 game sweeps, maybe 5 6 or even 7 game series.

Kobe's team will also struggle in the post season, but will prove many people wrong and make it to the finals barely. When I say barely I mean 5 6 or even 7 game series.

Kobe and Shaq will play in a grueling 7 game series, making 04-05 post season not only one of the greatest in history, but will make Shaq/Kobe one of the greatest rivalrys in history. Who wins... well I can't tell the future.

[Sauru]

anyone think any laker players, with the exception of kobe, will make the all star team this season?

[tsherkin]

Odom might.

[j.23]

if he played like he did in the olympics, odom might.. he wont be starting though.. as long as td and kg are alive and well no one's gonna be takin that spot away from them