iglesias
Years ago

Heat 2006 champs?

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iglesias  
Years ago

The heat are hands down going to dominate this upcoming season. Shaq, unstoppable, Dwayne Wayde, no where near his peak yet. newly aquired antoine walker, Jason Williams & James Posey, give the team hight and range. Heat 2006 champs? answer. YES!

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Spurs have to be favourite! they are defending champs. contenders for the title are:

East,
Heat
Pacers
Pistons
Nets

West,
Phoenix
Houston
Denver

should be a great season, it will be very close.

Reply #44628 | Report this post


Jasmine  
Years ago

The Heat are loaded with talent but the mold that their team was in last year is much more tried and tested for championship success than the type they have will have in 06-07.

The 1 or 2 superstars mixed with 3-4 quality role players mixed with experienced veterans has proven to be a more successful mould than filling up with offensive players who all the need the ball to be effective and don't defend very well. Out of the three players the Heat aquired yesterday Posey is the only player who pays any serious defense.

It will fall on Van Gundy to make this work and teams built like this are usually entertaining but not successful at the championship level. On paper they remind me of the Lakers in 1997 and 1998. Will be interesting.

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thedoctor  
Years ago

The Pacers will battle the Heat and Pistons this year.

They are basically recruiting Tinsley, Artest and O'Neill and have also picked up that Lithuanian guard who will have an immediate impact. If he gets a fair bit of time he will be one of the top rookies.

If Shaq stays healthy, the Heat will be the team to beat.

Spurs will contest again. They won the 'ship with a half-healthy Duncan, and guys like Manu and Parker are still improving.

Reply #44634 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Spurs still favorite at this stage.

Reply #44635 | Report this post


Kriss  
Years ago

another underdog team will arise and seriously contend the title. its a bit early to corwn any team just yet.

Reply #44638 | Report this post


Jasmine  
Years ago

I did indeed mean 05-06 instead of 06-07. What year is it again???

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TR  
Years ago

Not worthy of it's own thread, and probably not really relevant to this topic , but Simmons from ESPN has written another cracker of a article. Pretty funny actually.

Here is the link

Reply #44646 | Report this post


spursbaby  
Years ago

Spurs looking good till 2007/8
for titles everyone is signed and the oldest guys are Bowen and Horry.

enough said.

Reply #44651 | Report this post


Dr Bullshit  
Years ago

If everyone is healthy on the heat roster they will win, they wouldve last season if not for injuries to their two best players. And their team has got stronger even from there.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

The dark horse would have the be the 76ers! Imagine Iverson and Webber domianting together connecting for 50-60 points each a game, very ahrd combo to stop! And for those of you who say Iverson won't pass it, his last 20 odd games of last years season he got around 10 double doubles. I'm not saying 76ers willwin, they are just a dark horse!

Reply #44683 | Report this post


Kriss  
Years ago

What about NJN??
PG Kidd
SG Carter
SF Jefferson
PF Abdur-rahim
C Some 7ft2 wall

This team is an NBA's version of the sixers!!

Great PG, Flashy SG, Hard Working SF, No Fuss PF and a 7 foot wall

Reply #44698 | Report this post


TR  
Years ago

NJN will give it a shake, I do see chemistry as a bit of any issue. With a starting 5 like that you would have to think the Kidd will easily average a double-double this season.

The Nets have recently improved their bench, but it's still very thin. Nets will be the Eastern's version of the Suns.

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dub zero  
Years ago

the nets will go very close this year to winning the crown

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Anonymous  
Years ago

dub zero i agree with you and i agree with TR.

they will be the suns of 04/05 and they will get close to the crown

the nets will be an offensive force with no defensive stoppers!

Reply #44764 | Report this post


dub zero  
Years ago

who do they have as a centre????

Reply #44766 | Report this post


Northerner  
Years ago

Finally some people with some sense to them, Nets all the way baby!!

Say it loud and say it proud......
N.....E.....T......S.... Nets, Nets, Nets.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Nets i think they will struggle with chemistry because all those players are all star material and they all will want to score 20+ points a game

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Kriss  
Years ago

They still have Cliff Robinson i think at 5. even though hes 52! he still is defense minded enough to help them out in that area

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TR  
Years ago

Yeah, they do, but as you said they have to chuck a walking frame on the court to get him to move.

Actually thinking about it he'll need a motorised scooter cause he'll never keep up with the likes of Kidd, Jefferson and Vince on the break.

I've just had a quick look at their roster, and they are stronger than I thought. On the bench they will have McInnis, Mercer, Wright, Robinson, Collins. They have 5 players 6-11 or taller.

I've just seen that the SAR trade in on hold after the Nets found some issues in relation to his health.

Reply #44790 | Report this post


panther lover  
Years ago

Pistons will come close to winning it this year again. Unlucky last year against sprus but i guess spurs were the better defensive team in game seven. Prince should improve even more and with billups, hamilton and the two wallaces coming in for the ride, this team will again be one of the contenders. Not to mention if they have got a fit Mcdyess and let Darko actually break a sweat theyve got themselves a good alround team which will beat the teams with the one or two show pony's.

Reply #44804 | Report this post


TR  
Years ago

and some people wonder why the Atlanta Hawks are seen in some circles as a job. Owners getting restraining order on other partners etc etc. Have snagged one of the biggest FA this year and they still can't work it out...
____________________________
ATLANTA -- As the Atlanta Thrashers showed off their big NHL free-agent signee Thursday, the NBA Hawks and their would-be new star were still in trade limbo.

On Tuesday, when the Thrashers first announced they had signed center Bobby Holik, the Hawks made first mention of a "procedural issue" that was holding up a sign-and-trade deal to send guard Joe Johnson from Phoenix to Atlanta.


Since both teams are owned by the same Atlanta Spirit LLC group, two owners -- Bruce Levenson and Michael Gearon Jr. -- and chief executive officer Bernie Mullin couldn't avoid questions about the Hawks at the Thrashers' news conference Thursday.


The Thrashers moved quickly to sign Holik while the Hawks are left in limbo in their pursuit of Johnson. The contrast of the two deals left the impression that Hawks general manager Billy Knight doesn't enjoy the same support from the ownership group as does Thrashers general manager Don Waddell.

Also, no one willing to speak about the Johnson deal would deny that one owner -- Steve Belkin -- is not on the same page with the rest of the group.

The rift has escalated to the point that Belkin has gotten a restraining order against his partners, who are looking to strip him of his role as the team's NBA governor, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its Web site on Thursday.

"We are aware of the lawsuit filed by Steve Belkin in Boston. We will not allow that to deter us from building a winning team in Atlanta," Gearon told the Journal-Constitution.

"This is real damaging. This can't work if everybody is pulling in different directions," former Hawks star and current team vice president Dominique Wilkins told the paper.

Mullin acknowledged that having Knight appear to lack Belkin's support is not good for the Hawks' chances of dealing with other free agents.

"Obviously, it's a concern at this point in time," Mullin said. "It's not a concern in the long term."

Added Mullin: "Management is 100 percent behind Billy Knight as is clearly the overwhelming majority of the ownership group."

The "overwhelming majority" does not include Belkin, the NBA governor in the ownership group and the man who must sign off on all deals.

Belkin did not attend Thursday's news conference and did not return a phone message.

Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche said Knight had no comment on the trade Thursday.

Levenson conceded that the breakdown in the trade talks "is not the way I would script it."

"I would be happy today if Joe Johnson were an Atlanta Hawk today, but we are working as hard as we can to make that happen," Levenson said.

Belkin may be concerned the Hawks are giving up to much to obtain Johnson, who would sign a five-year, $69.6 million contract with Phoenix that would include a 2005-06 salary of about $20 million. The contract would be traded to the Hawks, who would give up two first-round picks, second-year guard Boris Diaw and a $4.9 million trade exception.

Johnson, 24, would become the Hawks' highest-paid player.

Johnson averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a combo guard with the Suns last season. With Atlanta, he likely would be the starting point guard.

Levenson and Gearon said they expect the logjam will be settled soon and the trade will go through.

"Yes, I really think it's going to get done," Levenson said, adding "This is a bump in the road."

Said Gearon: "Am I confident? Yeah, I am confident. We'll see. I think we'll work through it."

Belkin, based in Boston, holds a 30 percent stake in the Atlanta Spirit LLC ownership group. The Washington-based owners, including Levenson and Ed Peskowitz, own 40 percent. The Atlanta-based owners, including Gearon and Rutherford Seydel, own 30 percent.

"We have a partnership agreement and we have an agreement with the NBA that governs how we operate," Levenson said. "Those agreements make sure that we do our business, and we're doing our business. It doesn't mean that every bit of business will be done as perfectly as we'd like to get done, but we'll get it done."

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MW  
Years ago

More importantly, when is Tom Gugliotta going to re-sign?

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