NBA Forecast 2017-18

After an abundance of NBA jargon I've made it to the predictions. The Association has seen a lot of shakeup across many rosters. Western teams will likely need to surpass the .500 mark to make the playoffs. It appears to be another year in which LeBron's team looks like the favorite in the east. Has the gap shrunk since the trade? Will we get a forth helping of the same Finals? Personally, I want to see anyone but the death stars come out of west. Below are my predictions for the season standings in the NBA. I'll revisit these selections around the all star break. Basketball will soon be served.

East
You could easily make a case that the Wizards or Celtics will claim the top eastern seed. Cleveland's lessened by the loss of Kyrie, and D.C. has the most continuity of the top teams, but the Cavs play in perhaps the weakest division in the NBA. Who's going to give them run other than Milwaukee? We're likely to see a highly motivated LeBron this year, of course he's motivated every year. I gave SVG some love and threw Detroit in the eighth seed. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter after the Raptors, though Charlotte plays hard and is well coached. If my predictions pan out and chalk prevails, basketball fans would be getting the best possible match ups in round two. LeBron versus Giannis and Celtics Wizards, with Kyrie and Wall going at it; which could pave the way for an Eastern Conference Finals where the Cavaliers would play either Washington or Boston—yes please.

» 1. Cavs 2. Celtics 3. Wizards 4. Bucks 5. Raptors 6. Heat 7. Hornets 8. Pistons

West
There's an obvious imbalance of talent in the Western Conference. You could field an all star team from my predicted top eight teams, while still excluding Anthony Davis, Boogie Cousins, Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Devin Booker and a slough of youngsters who may impress. The real question however is, will any of those teams truly challenge the champs out west? Personally I'd enjoy watching the rebel Clippers take aim at the death stars in round one. I've clearly allowed my mind to wonder, having made some bold predictions on a previous NBA post. How insane would a reactor core death blow be from a CP3-less Clippers? The contrast in styles between the reloaded Rockets offense, and say, the sure-to-be stifling defense of the Jazz sounds nice too. Watching Westbrook, Paul George and Melo in the playoffs together will be tantalizing. I'm hoping for an updated OKC Houston second round rematch. A first round battle between the Spurs and Timberwolves would pit the established against the hungry in a four five tilt. The varsity conference  has so many good teams, full of fascinating story lines, only time will tell.

» 1. Warriors 2. Rockets 3. Thunder 4. Spurs 5. Wolves 6. Nuggets 7. Jazz 8. Clippers

For earlier NBA roundup click here. For five teams you should be watching, click here. Seasons change, as does the NBA, consume at your own risk. The NBA is fantastic.

eightychoices.

New Orleans | All-Stars

Game notes: These accounts of the 66th NBA All-Star Game will probably be biased, and that's OK, because everyone has a rooting interest when in comes to sports. I will however, try and make comments that are impacted by observation versus preference. 

Starters: LeBron and Giannis were the two most impressive guys on the court to start the game. Speaking of the court, I loved the Fleur de lis lane and the minimal use of graphics around each side's three point line. Bron Bron and The Greek Freak (does he even like that nickname?) both posses once-in-a-lifetime athletic ability and otherworldly builds. Combine those traits to their gifted skill sets and your left with two players the spotlight has to follow.

LeBron had some ridiculous highlight reel dunks. The lob and the shot-like skip-pass from Kyrie, the pass to himself off the glass, the two reverse slams, and a three from the half court circle; it's unexplainable, he's unexplainable, we are all witness.

19 minutes | 23 points

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Giannis has now ascended into the Russel Westbrook realm, he plays every game hard, knowing only one gear, all out. I love that he went for steals, made windmill dunks look like child's play and wanted to guard Durant for real. His flush on the lob from Kyrie and his rebound put-back dunk, both on Curry, were stank. The reactions of Green, Carmelo and Kyle Lowry, post-posterization were priceless? Antetokounmpo is moving beyond impressive.

23 minutes | 30 points

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John Wall is a stud. He may be the fastest player with the ball, he has the ability to finish with either hand and he can straight rise in hurry. Those lefty dunks aren't easy. I came away thinking, what a gamer, he wants to win. I believe Wall knows how good he is; he's been making others around him better all year in D.C. And another thing, I think John Wall is one of the three to five best athletes among the NBA's elite players. In no particular order: LeBron, Westbrook, Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, John Wall.
----- 21 minutes | 12 points | 6 rebounds | 4 assists | 4 steals -----

Russel Westbrook for president in 2020. If you like sports, especially hoops, you have to like Westbrook. You don't have to root for him (I do), but you should respect how he exerts himself physically. Hell, he forces his will onto the opposition (aka: the obstacles in his path to destroying normal humans and thus, leading his group of real life hybrid super-human/X-Men into the future). I loved that he warmed up on his own hoop before the game...then Harden and some others joined him. He didn't have to start in order to flex is Alpha-dog might. The entire West squad was obviously hooking up the host star with heaps of love. Capturing MVP, Davis scored 52 and broke Wilt's record by ten. Regardless, Russel stole the show, mixing snarls with smiles. Westbrook Jedi'd the in-game call guy into announcing that he had scored a three, even though Harden sunk the failed lob attempt. Former NBA star and now announcer, Chris Webber declared, "he only knows one speed, aggression." Russy accelerated his way into every particle of the game like a hadron collider. When he dropped four straight 3's and then quickly added another, or when he passed that laser beam off the back board to DeAndre Jordan, all I could mentally conjure was, Damn! Sure the lob from KD was fun too; Russel pointed toward him after they converted the give and go. Big ups to the West bench for breaking the ice as they headed toward a TV timeout. Westbrook played this game like every other—Damn!

20 minutes | 41 points

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One of my favorite moments of the game was the conversation between Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker during a mic'd up segment. The first-time All-stars (I'm a big fan of both) were chilling next to each other chatting about their handles and such. The way the two of them interacted made me remember all the great encounters I've had throughout life on a basketball court.

eightychoices.

ps. TE4M