The Kings in Seven!

You can skip the following post about disease and pestilence if you’re not into ruining your day. On the eve of beginning of the 2005-2006 NBA season, it’s important that I state my predictions for the upcoming year and add a little expert insight. Of course you may disagree, but you’d be wrong.

The most important question on everyone’s mind is; is this the year for the Sacramento Kings? Yes, of course it is – every year is. It’s just that it may be more probable this year. They have a lot going for them this year with the additions of Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Wells gives them a new head case AND a two-guard who can post up most opponents. Abdur-Rahim, while always being on a losing team (including Cal), is a legitimate 20 and 10 power forward without being the “Born Under a Bad Star” Chris Webber.

Mike Bibby is one of the steadiest point guards in the league, Brad Miller, although you can’t stick a newspaper under his feet when he jumps, adds shooting and passing skills at the center position, and this had better be the best season for Peja Stojakovic as he is entering into a free agent year. Coupled with a stronger bench of Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner, Corliss Williamson, and Jason Hart and the Kings look to have the depth they didn’t have last year. They also have a full training camp together that won’t be as disruptive as last year when they made two major personnel changes.

I suppose you’ll year a lot about the Spurs in the coming months. Just because they are a better team than last year’s NBA Championship team doesn’t necessarily make them the odds on favorite to repeat this year. Just because they’ve added the steady Michael Finley, King-killer Nick Van Exel and Argentinean stud Fabricio Oberto to their already star-studded lineup means nothing. It’s chemistry that’s important and enough basketballs to go around. Just because they have the best coach in the NBA who also happens to be the best at managing his team’s minutes is less meaningful than Tony Parker ending up on the cover of US Magazine in a publicized spat with Eva Longoria. Why think of basketball when you have her to come home to anyway?

Of the other contenders in the West last year, only Houston has improved while Dallas has fallen a bit, Seattle lost a few key players to free agency, Minnesota only has Wally and Garnett left, and Phoenix has lost its best player for at least two-thirds of the season as well as making a few weird off-season trades. Memphis made some good and bad moves in the off season and I wonder if they have the stuff to make the playoffs. As for the Lakers, who knows? A certain somebody who thinks they know a lot about basketball says Phil Jackson will be the X-factor. I think we’ll find out if he’s a good coach or just a lucky coach who has had the best four or five players in NBA history. Nine championships are meaningless unless you coach a team like the Clippers and take them to the Promised Land.

If you’re looking for rising teams, the Warriors look loaded this year and so do the Clippers, but everyone says it’s the Clippers year every year and they never make the playoffs. This year really could be the year for them, though.

Here’s my prediction for the West:
Southwest
San Antonio*
Houston*
Dallas*
Memphis
New Orleans

Northwest
Denver*
Seattle*
Minnesota
Portland
Utah

Pacific
Sacramento*
Phoenix*
Golden State*
Clippers
Lakers

* Playoff teams

After the first round, the four remaining survivors will be San Antonio, Houston, Sacramento and Dallas. Sacramento will defeat Houston and San Antonio will beat Dallas. In the West final, San Antonio will defeat the Kings in seven games but the West championship will be given to the Kings because it will be determined that Robert Horry’s foot was on the line for a game-winning three in the final game. Well, it’s about time something good happened to the Kings, isn’t it?

Later I will make my predictions on the East.