SEASON 15

B O O M

The NBA tips off tonight! Cleveland hosts Boston and Houston travels to Oakland.

eightychoices.

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.

Winter Is Coming

The Faction Collective » This Is Home »

...when you find yourself on a perfect path, the whole world can look like a home...so is it a place that shapes us? Or, is it our own vision?

eightychoices.

NBA Bold Predictions

Trying to consume the endlessness of the NBA is impossible, unless you're a cyborg. Melo's in OKC and Wade went to Cleveland, Sam Presti's a bold GM, while the Cavs got a lot deeper. For those who check in, I'm making some personal predictions that I think are bold, as related to the upcoming NBA season.

In case you're wondering how bold these predictions will be, I'm going with the fourth definition of bold: beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action; imaginative. Now that you know where I'm coming from, feel free to use, or abuse, any of these takes. Here goes...

The Clippers will be better without CP3

OK, maybe not in the regular season, if Blake were to miss too many games, but in the playoffs. What does that mean actually? Do they make the conference finals? Probably not. So are they better? I say yes, and definitely in the long term. I wouldn't want to pay an undersized point guard 200+ million dollars when he's in his mid to late thirty's. A breath of fresh air in Clipper land sounds good. No more angry point guard, in his place is Patrick Beverley, a defense-first hustle guy who competes hard. They also brought in Miloš Teodosić, a Serbian wizard with the ball, giving Doc Rivers two quality guards at the point. It'll be interesting to see how much run Griffin gets as a point-forward hybrid once he's on court. Gallinari could be the wing player who creates space that they've always needed, assuming he can stay on the floor. Lou Williams is a better version of Crawford off the bench and scouting the youthful talents of Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell is a worthy experiment as well. Let's see what these new look Clips can do. A Clippers Death Star match up in the first round would be awesome. And, wouldn't it be otherworldly if Lob City flew an X-wing into the reactor core of the Death Star without CP3? You heard it here first...

Two new teams make the playoffs in the west:
The Wolves and the Nuggets appear to be ready. Not bold enough? Holy shit, the Lonzo-led Lakers are making the playoffs, his dad's a prophet, transforming the LeBron whispers into sound barrier breaking screams. Just kidding. I think the Blazers, Clippers and Jazz will fight for the final two playoff spots. Unless my bold Clippers prediction totally backfires. I still believe in the Jazz too. Utah plays defense at a high level, has a really good coach and has some guys who could prove they're able to fill the void Hayward created by leaving in free agency. Perhaps Utah staying relevant in the west is also bold. Sorry Blazers fans. The Wolves roster looks too good to falter over 82 games. The Nuggets play phenomenal on offense and signed Millsap over the summer, so they're going to improve upon last year's uptick. It remains to be seen if Minnesota and the Nuggets can prove worthy of the playoffs in the west, but I'll go ahead and say it, they're both a lock.

2 to 4 more all-stars will be dealt by the trade deadline:
If Memphis fails to compete as they transition out of the grit and grind era, their stars could become attainable. Let's pretend Thomas is not fully healthy for the Cavs, which would be terribly sad, and the Grizzlies look slow and old in the west. Conley could then become the best guard available at the deadline. Say, Love and Frye for Mike Conley and Andrew Harrison. The Grizzlies would shed one year and $6 million per, by swapping Conley's contract for Love's, plus they'd get another almost $7.5 million off their books next year with Frye's expiring. Maybe Conley does more than the off-season moves did to help shift the narrative of this being LeBron's final year under contract. Wade helps to some degree, but let's be honest, it's a one year deal. This would help Memphis to move away from their biggest contracts, accelerating a reboot. If Conley were to be dealt, they could then shop Gasol too. I know, pretty bold huh?

AD & Boogie

Here's another bold one, what if the Cavs could then snare Anthony Davis away from the Pelicans? This would surely encourage LeBron to stay. That deal would only hit the trade machine if the Pelicans look like a rubble pile to start the season. Imagine that smoldering trash heap scenario, with no direction in sight, with the added fear that Davis will soon want to leave. Cleveland calls and offers Tristan Thompson and Iman Shumpert, their recently acquired first and second round drafts picks from Boston, plus a future pick in return for Davis and Jordan Crawford. The Pelicans could build around Holiday and Boogie, or trade Cousins for more pieces and picks, deciding instead to just blow it up.

The more fun scenario is thinking about a five man lineup that would include LeBron, AD, Conley, Crowder and JR Smith (Korver could step in and create even more space or Wade could play the role of Ginóbili 2.0). Those five man groups could be scary on both ends of the floor. Cleveland would get some cost-effective youth with Harrison (6'6") and Crawford (6'5"), maybe they could develop into versatile wing defenders...or maybe this is all too ridiculous. Or, maybe this does happen. Or maybe, Isaiah Thomas comes back healthy? This would however, be a bold move were the Cavs able to make it happen. LeBron would probably stay knowing he had Davis and Conley, especially if they recapture the title. Hell, if they were to pull this off, Conley and AD combined, keeps them at the top of the east for the foreseeable future. Please let this happen, because this type of shit happens in just one place, only in the N B A!

My final NBA offering prior to opening night will be a forecast of the season standings. For past ramblings on Five Teams to Watch, click here. For the NBA Preview, click here. As always, thanks.

eightychoices.

Minneapolis

Lucinda Williams | "Minneapolis" | World Without Tears

I wish my thoughts were pure like the driven snow
Like the heavens and the spring's virgin buds
But they strangle me with their sin
Fill me up with poison
Black clouds have covered up the sun again

eightychoices.

"Musical Story, Yes/Better Day"

Sound Tribe recently celebrated year 20 at Red Rocks. The three night run included some interesting sets, tasty interpretations and visual goodies. Night one was an ode to perhaps peak Sector. Artifact was played in its entirety. Above are the opening tracks, "Musical Story, Yes" & "Better Day." These offerings exemplify Sector's ability to bind score-like instrumentation with modern sampling; creating such ethereal sound-scapes is even funkier. Always a fan. 

eightychoices.

note: Night two showcased more recent material, the entire show was electric. Night three featured an Axe The Cables first set and a second set with full-gear.