2008-09 Season Preview

Let me apologize right off the bat to anyone out there that was actually wondering where my usual Previews were/are. The motherboard on my home computer died a little more than a month before the season was to start (tonight).

No big deal, right?

Well, the online computer store my wife ordered the replacement motherboard from sent us the wrong one, essentially ruining my time table for writing.

Believe it or not, the refund just showed up in our bank account yesterday. So the plan is to order another replacement and hopefully I’ll be good to go again in time for the ‘Quarter Pole Review.’

Suffice it to say, this was not how I wanted to start my sixth full year of covering the NBA in cyberspace. In fact, as geeky as this may read, I actually look forward to writing these season previews quite a bit. So no one is more disappointed about this than I am.

The fact of the matter is that my epic wordy ramblings take time to write (think 3 teams a night over 2 weeks give or take). And as unbelievable as this may be to some, I actually don’t have the time to waste at work on a project of this size anymore.

More responsibility is a bummer.

Anyway, I debated with myself forever on how to handle this. So rather than doing nothing, I figured it best to just post something so I’m at least on the record.

The one caveat I will put out there is that I didn’t put as much time into these predictions as I normally do. Researching the numbers, trends, etc. seemed like a waste of time since I wouldn’t be elaborating on any of them.

That said, I did watch more pre-season basketball then I ever have before. Not sure if that helped me though.

On to the predictions…

EAST

1. Boston Celtics
2. Detroit Pistons
3. Toronto Raptors
4. Orlando Magic (6th best record)
5. Cleveland Cavaliers (4th best record)
6. Philadelphia 76ers (5th best record)
Complete crapshoot from here
7. Indiana Pacers
8. Washington Wizards
9. Atlanta Hawks
10. New York Knicks
11. Chicago Bulls
12. Milwaukee Bucks
13. Charlotte Bobcats
14. Miami Heat
15. New Jersey Nets

Final Four – Boston, Cleveland, Toronto, Detroit

Eastern Finals – Cleveland, Detroit

WEST

1. Los Angeles Lakers
2. Houston Rockets
3. Utah Jazz
4. New Orleans Hornets
5. Phoenix Suns
6. San Antonio Spurs
7. Portland Trail Blazers
8. Dallas Mavericks
9. Denver Nuggets
10. Los Angeles Clippers
11. Golden State Warriors
12. Sacramento Kings
13. Minnesota Timberwolves
14. Memphis Grizzlies
15. Oklahoma City Thunder

Final Four – Lakers, Phoenix, Utah, Houston

Western Finals – Lakers, Houston

NBA Finals – Cleveland, Lakers

NBA Champion – Lakers