Basketball is Back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome back NBA!!!!!!! Christmas time is coming and so is the NBA. The opening game of the 66 game NBA season is between the Chicago Bulls lead by the reigning MVP Derrick Rose facing The Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant and new coach Mike Brown. The NBA Finals rematch between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks where they receive their rings also take place. Overall there are six games on Christmas which have all the marquee stars playing on opening night. Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Stephen Curry also highlight the Christmas night. The NBA was smart to have their young stars open the season trying to capture the fans that strayed away during the lockout. Building back the fans trust is key. Let's hope when this new bargaining agreement expires the owners and players are at peace to avoid another lockout. 

In college hoops over the weekend the two team that I project will meet in April to cut down the nets played in Lexington, KY as Kentucky defeated North Carolina by a last second block from 2012 #1 pick Anthony Davis.  Watching that game featured at least five future 1st round NBA picks. Harrison Barnes, Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague, Kidd-Gilchrist are lottery picks and Kendall Marshall is late lottery mid-round one pick. 

NBA free agency begins this week and training camp next week looking forward to all the signings. Also My ILLINI are 8-0 and ranked in the top 25 this week. 

Opening Night - Ring Night - Big 3 Battle

Huge night for TNT tonight as they prepare for a double header. The first game of the year has my favorite to win the Eastern Conference the Boston Celtics which features The O'Neals (Jermaine & Shaq), and elite point guard (Rondo), and the old big 3 (KG, Pierce, Allen). They will face the new big 3 (LBJ, DWade, Bosh) and the rest of the Miami Heat. The Heat will be without 3-point specialist Mike Miller until January as he injured his shooting hand in practice guarding LeBron. Plenty of scoring from Miami's Big 3 but they're bench is not a strong supporting cast. Meanwhile Boston lost Tony Allen but gained the O'Neals and have Nate Robinson, Big Baby, Delonte West as their supporting cast which should be more than enough to secure the victory tonight. Rondo should get a tripple double and one of the Celtics Big 3 will have a big game. Celtics by 10 tonight.

On the west coast, NBA Commissioner David Stern presents Kobe Bryant with ring #5 then shortly after Kobe & Co. should blowout Yao Ming & the Houston Rockets. Kevin Martin will have a hard time scoring with Ron Artest guarding him meaning Aaron Brooks will have to elevate his scoring by running circles over Derrick Fisher, Steve Blake, and Shannon Brown.

Both games should be interesting but tomorrow my Chicago Bulls will face the Oklahoma City Thunder. Good point guard match up Rose vs. Westbrook.

 

Preview - Chicago Bulls 2010-2011

With the NBA training camp underway every team has an eye to dethrone the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. Today we'll focus on my home team the Chicago Bulls and their outlook for the upcoming season. Jokim Noah resigned which gives the Bulls a solid defender for the next six years but the team caught a bad break Sunday when newly signed Carlos Boozer broke his had and is out for 2 months. According to Boozer this injury occurred at home but he's been injury prone throughout his career. Once Boozer returns to action, pencil him in for 20-10 every night. He's the lone low post scorer they've been missing since Elton Brand. All Rookie Taj Gibson will start until Boozer returns and should be improved after an impressive rookie season. 

For the back-court it starts and ends with Derrick Rose. The best point guard in the League has improved his game every season going back to his junior year at Simeon. Ronnie Brewer is an defensive minded guard with great athleticism should be great in transition. The Bulls lost out on JJ Reddick but got a much better shooter in Kyle Korver. Expect Rose to rank top 5 in assist as well as a legit MVP candidate. 

Overall: Coach Tom is a defensive minded coach with championship experience. This team will contend with the Heat, Celtics, and Magic for Eastern Conference supremacy. Another first round exit not excepted. 

NBA Finals Tied 1-1...Coaching Moves

The Boston Celtics get their wish which was a split in the Staples Center. Ray Allen set an NBA Finals record  with 8 3-point buckets made and Rondo is turning into a regular Jason Kidd by getting triple doubles every other night. The Laker front-court of Gasol & Bynum have played great thus far but without another scorer to backup Kobe (meaning step up Larmar Odom) this series might not return to Los Angeles. At this point, Rondo is the MVP of the Finals so far.

Congrats to Monty Williams on landing the New Orleans Hornets coaching gig. I remember watching Monty Williams at Notre Dame plus he was also a solid pro. For the past 5 season, Coach Williams was the assistant coach for the Portland Trailblazers...good luck in the Big Easy.

My Chicago Bulls finally land a new head coach which is defensive minded guru Tom Thibodeau. He's been the mand behind the Celtics defense but I hope he can coach offense as well and is not a Jeff Van Gundy clone.

Reports are Tom Izzo will be the next coach of the Cavs but his is all speculation and if I were Izzo, I'm not leaving Michigan State whose teams is good enough to compete for the 2011 Final 4 with Kalin Lucas returning. Unless LeBron stays in Clevaland, Coach Izzo should stay in East Lansing.

Celtics - Lakers in Trouble?

Don't prepare for the Lakers-Celtics finals just yet. Monday night in Boston, the Black Irish could not send Superman and the Orlando Magic fishin' just yet as Rajon Rondo was finally outplayed at the point guard position by his counterpart Jameer Nelson. The Big 3 for the Celtics along with Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis are the Magic's version of the "Big 3" but the key to this series starts and end with the Nelson vs. Rondo battle. Paul Pierce missed two 3 point shot under a minute to play but the biggest question is why didn't Ray Allen take that final shot. If the Magic win a pivotal game 5 tomorrow, expect this series to got the distance.

The Lakers took the Suns lightly and now find themselves tied 2-2 against Phoenix. The Stoudamire & Nash combination was ok but the bench for Los Suns were the deciding factor tonight. Kobe Bryant is probably giving his teammates a good lashing as he was the only offensive force for the defending champs. Phil Jackson's crew is only .500 on the road but great when playing at the Staples Center.

I'm still predicting a Celtics-Lakers finals but it's just taking a little bit longer.

Wizards Win Lottery - Conference Finals Recap

Congratulations to the Washington Wizards for winning the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery tonight in New Jersey. This team's 2009-2010 season was not a good one by dealing with the death of longtime owner Abe Polen, trading the core of their team (Antwan Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendon Hayword, and Deshawn Stevenson), followed by the season long suspensions of Javaris Crittenton for gun play. The upside for this franchise is that this team is young and now have the opportunity to draft John Wall or Evan Turner. The main question is with this young team do they draft Wall then trade Agent Zero who has a monster contract that no owner wants to touch. My theory is that the Wizards buy him out then let Arenas pursue other interest with another ball club then start fresh with John Wall as their point guard for the future. Wizard's assistant coach Sam Cassell will make sure John Wall learn the lead guard position from an NBA champion guard.

Game 1 of the NBA conference finals are complete as the Lakers and Celtics were both victorious. The Phoenix Sun could not find an answer for Kobe Bryant who dropped 40 who also made Grant Hill fall off this crossover. I'm not upset that he missed the floater but he still should have converted. The almost highlight of the game was Shannon Brown almost dunking over Michigan State alum Jason Richardson but took off too early. I was also very impressed with Derick Fisher's defense on Steve Nash after getting abused by Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams in the previous series. Game two is tomorrow at the Staples Center.

Boston Celtics took a 2 game to zero lead over the Orlando Magic tonight down in South Florida. At one point the Magic had a one-point lead but KG hit a key fade away shot over Dwight Howard (good defense...better offense). After a smart foul on Vince Carter by Paul Pierce which was his sixth, Vince had the opportunity to but his club up one with less than a minuet but the former Tar Heel had a Nick Anderson moment and missed both free throws. At the end, Orlando had to go the length of the court but Jameer Nelson missed a half-court 3 to send the game to overtime.

Both series are over and I'm already prepared for a Celtics-Lakers Finals.