NBA Preview

Sometimes in life you get so wrapped up with the daily tasks, that you forget that life is moving on around you. People age. Seasons change. Days continue to pass, whether or not you gave it permission. As you get older, your life seems to get busier. Or maybe its that you get worse at multi tasking? Whatever the case, if you aren't paying attention you are opening yourself up for a sneak attack. Like Holidays. Or a birthday. Or your annaversary.

I am all to familiar with this Phenomenon. Just these last two months I have been back in school, working full time, all while performing the required tasks assigned to me by my title as "father/husband." Sometimes I get so wrapped up with what I'm doing at that moment, I forget tha time is moving on.

It fees like just last week my wife and I were telling our families we were expecting. Now we are less than two months away from the arrival of the Prince.

 

A more centric example, at least in reference to this blog, is how I handled covering last years basketball season. The NBA lockout frustrated me to no end. It ended so quickly and at a time that was incredibly busy for me, so I was unable to do a preview like I wanted. Nevermind, I thought. I will just make sure to write consistant reviews of recent Blazer performances.

 

That was the plan. But as life often does, it heard my "plans" and told me to "piss off."

 

School got crazy during the winter, and the Blazers turned into one of my least favorite team I ever supported. Anytime I began to write anything about the team, I would write something along the lines of "f**k fat Felton..." and then I would have to go find a dog to kick.

 

Raymond Felton took as much joy out of my sports fandom as Chone Figgins does during baseball. That is inexcusible.

Following the asswhoopings they recieved by the Celtics, Pacers and Knicks (they were down at multiple points to the Celtics by 30+ and lost to the Knicks by 42 they day after they fired Mike D'Antoni) in early March, I washed my hands of that team. I couldn't take it anymore. Why would I spend another moment of my life following a team that doesn't give a shit? With the exception of a few moments (Nate's firing, the trade deadline, and JJ Hicksons emergence) I stayed away the rest of the year.

Following the playoffs, I spent my remaining shifts as an employee for Wells Fargo researching and disecting the draft. By the time the draft rolled around, I was as familiar with Damian Lillard as I had been with any other Blazer draft pick, ever.

Edit Note: I was also very familiar with Andre Drummond who I really wanted to end up in Portland as well.

I followed the Free Agency and (new GM) Neil Olshey's first days in office as if it were a hostage situation. The Nic Batum contract negotiations were especially important to me after the Pacers matched Roy Hibbert (which really sucked).

I watched most of the Summer League. I had to catch the guy dubbed as "the steal of the draft" in mr. Lillard. He ended up winning co-mvp of the Summer League averaging 26 points per game.

Between Summer League and Pre-Season, however, there is this dark period in the NBA I like to call "the start of the NFL." This pulled the NBA out of my consciousness with the exception of my franchise on NBA 2k12.

And while I was focusing on the Seahawks, my picks column, and fixing my broken ass Fantasy Football team's, the NBA has snuck back into my life. And I couldn't be happier.

In honor of the return of the NBA, the 82 game schedule, and a Blazer roster that doesn't feature Raymond Felton; let me present to you my NBA preview.

(30 thoughts about the upcoming season)

1. Damian Lillard. More than anything, I'm excited about his potential. After losing Roy, this team is desperate need for a franchise player. LaMarcus Aldridge, as great as can be, hasn't shown that he can be the Lizard King for a full season yet. But if these two can develop a nice chemistry together- maybe we can have something.
2. Portland vs Lakers, game 1. Seriously, the first night we get a crack at Showtime 3.0. With the talent disparity between the two squads, its possible this game could get ugly in favor of the team from LA. But, I'm happy that we get to take a shot at them before that squad gels together. Maybe we'll get a quick confidence boost and rattle off some un-expected wins. Get some.
3. Nic Batum. He got paid this off season, and new coach Terry Stotts is going to release him from the corner cage that Nate had locked him in. Hopefully he responds. If not, that contract is going to be hurtful.
4. The return of real rivalries. Have you seen how many matchups have tension going into this season? Boston/Miami, Boston/Chicago (when Rose comes back), Miami/Indiana, New York/Brooklyn, LA/LA, Lakers/Miami, Lakers/Boston, Portland/Lakers (ok no one outside of these fan bases care, but screw it) the list goes on. Add Houston/OKC after James Harden torches his old squad for 45 their first matchup.
5. James Harden. On Saturday the Beard went from 6th man favorite, to potential All-Star representative for Houston. I enjoy his work, so anything that gets him the rock more is fine by me.
6. LeBron James. Yeah,  I'm kind of over my crusade of rooting against him. I don't see myself rooting FOR him, but you gotta admit, the dude is great. That playoff run was stupid and the way he plowed Team USA to a gold was awesome. All that being said, I smell a Michael Jordan/Charles Barkley situation forming. For those of you who don't get the reference: sports writers (who vote for MVP) got bored of voting for Jordan, so they latched onto Charles Barkley in 1993. Lebron being a 4 time mvp before he hits 30? Not if the Sports Writers of America have anythign to say about it. Which is good for...
7. Kevin Durrant, MVP. Another scoring title and a 60 win team should get him the nod.
8. LaMarcus Aldridge. Two years ago he got paid, and he stepped up as a leading scorer. Last year, he failed to keep that locker room in check but he was named an All-Star. This year he needs to prove he is the king banana. We need 25-9 out of our All-Star.
9. Bill Simmons on an NBA pregame show for ESPN. This is self explanitory.
10. The 2012-2013 Trail Blazers. Will they be a playoff team? Eh, maybe. But thats not really important right now. What's important is that the give the fan's a sniff of potential good returns. If this team is running, showing chemistry, and scoring a ton of points, these fans are going to buy in. So give us something, dudes.
11. Wes Mathews. Both he and LaMarcus have spent lots of words talking about how much improved he is coming into this year. Hopefully this is true, because last year was rough.
12. Good rookies ended up on good teams. Jared Sullenger fell down to Boston thanks to possibly misdirected injury concerns. And Perry Jones III fell to Oklahoma City, because, they really needed another super athletic forward. Damn.
13. Oklahoma City Thunder. Let me preface this by saying I don't think we will get a rematch of the NBA finals. The league is too good, and injuries happen to randomly to sit here and say that the season will unfold like last year. That being said, unless Durrant or Westbrook get hurt we are going to see some fury come from that combo. They lost their first chance at a title, and then their 3rd amigo. That screams Atilla the Hun potential.
14. Los Angles Lakers. Sure, I hate this team. But they did go out and grab my favorite non Blazer and pair him with two players that are natural compliments to his skill set. Pau Gasol with his high post play, and Dwight with his pick and roll  game were born to play with Steve Nash. It could get nasty, especially if...
15. Kobe conforms. I'm not saying he has to step in line with Nash, I'm just saying he needs to recognize that Nash can benifit him. He needs to evolve as a teammate and accept a role with out constant ball domination. If he steps in line, and this team stays healthy... Oh. Shit.
16. Miami Heat. While we are on the subject of great teams, lets just go ahead and say the Miami Heat science experiment is going to be interesting this year. Logic would tell us that they would've spent the 2012 off season looking for potential big men. However, after dick slapping OKC in the finals last year, they did the exact opposite. They brought in more shooters. Good for them. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Lebron and Bosh holding down the two front court positions for a full season will be interesting.
17. Greg Oden. This is 100% speculation, but... if something were to go wrong with Miami this season (ie. an injury, or realizing that they can't repeat without a bigman) then look for Oden rumors to be popping up. Again, complete specualtion. I'm not even sure how healthy he is.
18. A better year out of Melo. This more hopeful due to him ending up on my fantasy team. I guess hell is pretty cold this year.
19. Brandon Roy. I'm actually not excited about this. It actually makes me sick to my stomach to think of him wearing a different jersey. But he is my guy, so I'm hoping for the best.
20. The first time Brandon Roy, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio hit the court at the same time.
21. The Return of Derek Rose. The first time he takes the court in Chicago, it's going to be insane. Think of the emotion? I mean, the dude choked up during a press conference for his shoe. He is hungry.
22. Trades. My favorite part of sports is playing arm-chair gm. I took it to a new level last  year ripping off fake trade after fake trade to the point where I'm sure some of my buddies stopped bringing their phones to work. My odd's on favorite player to be traded this year: Tyreke Evans.
23. One step closer to the Seattle Super Kings.
24. Tim Duncan's attempts to go out like Davey Crockett. I know he signed a 2 year deal, but lets get real. I wouldn't be shocked if this was Duncans last run. Stage is set for a playoff run where Duncan throws one last haymaker, but ends up going down on his home court... just like Crockett at the Alamo.
25. The funniest thing about the Dwight Howard trade. If Dwight and Kobe don't blend, Howard can bounce after this season. LA could possibly be left with three old guys, Ron Artest, and their dick in their hand. And don't, for one second, think Mark Cuban isn't planning on buying Howard the country of Chili to convince him to come to Dallas. He is going to have a butt load of cap next off season while attempting to stretch out Dirk's title window. Also in play: Atlanta.
26. Orlando Magic. The worst team in the NBA.
27. Toronto Raptors will score a butthole load of points this year. They have a solid point guard in Kyle Lowry. They have Andrea Bargnani and Demar Derozen. Legend has it is Jonas Valanciunas has superstar potential. They may not win a bunch of games, but they shouldn't be boring to watch.
28. Durrant will win the scoring title with 31 ppg. Rondo will win the scoring title with 12 assist a game. And Kenneth Faried will lead the league in rebounding with 13 a game.
29. Eastern Playoffs: Miami, Indiana, Brooklyn, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit
30. Western Playoffs: Oklahoma, LA Lakers, Clippers, Spurs, Memphis, Denver, Dallas, Portland

Get some.