Post by donatello2424 on Jun 10, 2008 14:08:14 GMT -5
Last year the Pacific Division showed that they had made many improvements. They had 3 of the top teams in the conference and a forth who also made the playoffs. All of those teams have made significant improvements to try and make their team better for this next season. Here is a little season preview of the Pacific.
Seattle Sonics
Projected Finish: 1st in the Division
The Sonics have a stranglehold on the division for what seems like forever. Their former big 3 were beastly since they gave new meaning to having a defensive and offensive threat. This season the team is a bit different since one of those three was traded. The Sonics worked a trade with the Pacers that sent SF J-Mychal Reese to the Pacers for C Derrick Favors. This trade gave the Sonics a whole new look. Favors gives them a force in the middle who will be able to grab rebounds and score tons of points. They will also have the other two members of the big three in Dexter Strickland and Ricky Rubio. Strickland is a great defensive player and a great long range shooter. Rubio, last year’s MVP, is a stud also. He has an insane assist-to-turnover ratio, great scoring, and is a hard-nosed defender. Rounding out the starting 5 is Al Horford and either DeShaun Thomas or Jamil Wilson. Horford who was acquired via trade last season brings solid defense and rebounding to the PF position. He isn’t going to be a block person but can provide solid man-to-man defense. One of those SF’s will start, just which one is the question. Thomas has the better inside game and defense, but Wilson takes the cake with his ability to handle the ball and rebound. Whichever one starts the backup will provide solid experience and talent. Leek is likely to be the big man reserve. Leek, whose ratings never jumped off the pages, is a great shot blocker. With the lack of a true 2 bpg starter, Leek is likely to see some time coming and helping with shot blocking. Leslie McDonald is the guard backup. McDonald, who accepted the MLE, and has played on the Raptors for the past 6 years is an interesting player. Even though he has solid scoring ratings, he has never scored above 15 ppg. He will provide some bench scoring which the Sonics will need. The biggest question is whether he will be able to be a backup pg. He does have solid handles, but has never had a ton of apg. The Sonics better hope he can because if Rubio goes down and he can’t handle the rock and dish it out, the season can turn downward quickly.
Back-to-back MVP's for Rubio could be possible with a dominate force like Favors in the middle.
Los Angeles Lakers
Projected Finish: 2nd
Ah the Lakers. So many people’s championship pick so far. Yes I have them projected to finish 2nd, but that is mainly due to the fact that until the Sonics prove me wrong, they will stay there. The Lakers have a beastly lineup. The main man has to be Tavon Sledge, the point guard who was part of those great Jazz teams. At only 27 he has proved that he is in the upper echelon of point guards, right up there with Rubio. He has a great eye for making the open pass for an easy bucket. He can score when needed and provide solid defense and is a great ball stealer. His biggest knock is the way he handles the ball. Yes his handles are at A+, but most of that has to be passing. In his 6 season, he has had turnovers at 3 or more per game 4 times. His other two years he had 2.9 topg and 2.1 topg (his rookie season). He is a great point guard but his handles will hurt him. The Lakers are lead in scoring by two 32 year old wing players. Eric Gordon, who was acquired from the Warriors for Ibaka, provides championship experience and great scoring. Gordon spent his first 4 season with the Timberwolves, then a year each with the Spurs and Heat before he settled in Detroit. Gordon is a beastly scorer. The past 3 season he averaged over 30 ppg and even hit the 35 ppg mark once. He hasn’t been under 285 ppg since 2010. Gordon can also play defense, which will help when he has to deal with the shooting guard scorers of this division. The other wing is Chase Budinger. Budinger started off slow in his career but has really turned it on as of late. Three straight season of 20+ ppg ball and even two season of 26+ ppg scoring. Chase is a great scorer (he shot over 400 3’s last year, making almost half of them), but he is also a solid defender as well. Chase will need to carry this team on his back both offensively and defensively. “I wanna talk to Sampson: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj6aIK_WXhU”. Ralph Sampson Jr. that is. The reigning back-to-back defensive player of the year returns. Sampson is a defensive stud. Over 4 bpg last season, and he has averaged over 3 bpg the past 7 years. Sampson will provide great defense along with rebounding and some scoring from the center positions, which is what the Lakers will need if they are to go up against Derrick Favors. Winston McLeod rounds out the starting 5. He isn’t as great of a blocker as Sampson, but he is right up there with rebounds. He will be picked to do what most big men do, rebound and defend the basket. That starting 5 is beastly, so why are they 2nd? The answer comes when you look at their bench. They are very weak at every position. If any starter goes down, they are in serious trouble. Robertson will probably be the first big off the bench, and while he isn’t horrible, his lack of experience will hurt. He did average 8.6 rpg last season with the Knicks but without shot blocking, he is just another rebounder. For wing positions, the backup roles fall to Rasheed and Canty. Rasheed will provide decent defense off the bench, and Canty the scoring. Boutte will be the man behind Sledge. Boutte isn’t a horrible basketball player and filled in nicely for Sledge last season. But he isn’t starter material and if Sledge goes down for a while, he can’t be relied upon to be a starter. If any starter goes down at all, this could be a salvageable season. If 2 go down, it’s ova!
Budinger will have some scoring help, but he will still be a scoring machine.
Golden State Warriors
Projected Finish: 3rd
Last season champs. The Warriors were part of one of the offseasons biggest trades when they gave Eric Gordon to the Lakers for Serge Ibaka, mainly to try and get under the hard cap. Even without Gordon the Warriors have a solid team. They, like the team ahead of them, have a point guard who leads their team. Kyle Anderson is a scorer. Over 20 ppg 3 times in his 5 year career and never under 18 ppg. What’s great about Anderson is what even though his handles rating seems kinda low for appoint guard, he puts up good stats. He can still dish the ball and handle the rock very well. But Anderson won’t have to do all the scoring by himself, he has help. Kenny Boyton, acquired from the Knicks last season) will help with the scoring duties. Boynton is a sharpshooter from the outside and is a great defensive 2. He will steal the ball away almost 3 times per game. That will be needed with many solid scoring wings in this division. His partner on the wing will likely be Serge Ibaka. As we know Ibaka was acquired from the Lakers in the Gordon deal. Ibaka is an interesting player. He looked to be a stud coming up but his development has really slowed down. He was a top option for the Lakers in the past, averaging over 20 ppg. However last season with Chase Budinger as the new scoring option, his ppg total fell to under 15. Ibaka will probably be looked to play hard-nosed defense. He isn’t a great shot blocker or stealer, but he plays solid positional defense. And in a league with Budinger and some other scoring wings, that defense is very valuable. Rounding out their starting 5 are Patrick Patterson and Chandler Thomas. Patterson does the dirt work around the basket: he wounds and blocks shots. Even though Patterson has lost a step due to his age, he is still a great rebounder and shot blocker. Last is Chandler Thomas. Thomas is a very good player all across the board. He can score if needed (which will be), he can rebound and defend. He isn’t a big shot blocking threat (around 2 a game), but is serviceable. His scoring will probably increase this season since the Warriors will be looking for someone to replace Gordon’s scoring. This team actually has more depth that some of the previous ones. C.J. Leslie will likely be the first big man off the bench. Leslie is solid around the basket with his rebounding. He will add a solid spark to the 2nd team, however his shot blocking isn’t there. It would be solid to have a good shot blocker coming off the bench. Their main weakness has to be the wing depth. Isaiah Armwood and Xavier Henry are the likely backups, but neither is great. Both are defensive players, so one has to wonder where bench scoring will come from. Not from these two guys. If Boynton goes down, the scoring load may have to shift to Ibaka for a while. If both go down at the same time, the Warriors are in trouble. Lastly for the bench is Kyle Weaver. Ratings wise, Weaver is a solid point guard. However his past does hurt him. He hasn’t had a ton of minutes in a while so his stats are a little skewed. As a backup he is consistent with around 3 apg and 1.5 topg, but times that by 2 for a starter and you are looking at around 6 apg and 3 topg or even worse, 9 apg and 4.5 topg. As a starter on the Hawks he was around 5 and 6.5 apg and right up there with 3 topg. He will be a solid backup option but if Anderson goes down, can he start for them and they still contend?
Boynton will need to be a scoring machine for the Warriors without Gordon.
Sacramento Kings
Projected Finish 4th
It would have been easy to be a big homer and place my team 1st or 2nd, but I didn’t. The Kings are lead by two young wing players in Kaleb Ferrell and Rasheed Sulaimon. Ferrell, 24 years old, is the main scoring threat for the Kings. His stats won’t amaze people yet (only 20 ppg + 2 times) but he is slowly becoming a great player. He can handle the rock and defend his man, as well as step out to his the 3. His biggest knack is probably his rebounding isn’t great. Sulaimon, 22, is even younger than Ferrell. Rasheed finally had a great TC this past year. Sulaimon is fast and can score inside. His defense is coming along and is starting to average around 2 spg. His biggest problem is his 3 weakness. He doesn’t have a consistent outside shot. If teams can stop him from driving, he is in trouble. But hey, he is 22 and will improve. The point guard is Matias Nocedal. Probably the weakest point we have seen so far, he isn’t like his other opponents in that he is a great scorer. Nocedal does have a nice jump shot; he isn’t going to score the team 20 ppg on a regular basis. Nocedal is a solid passer, averaging over 8 apg 4 of his 7 years in the league. However he does turn the ball over a lot. 5 years with over 3 apg and he even had 1 season of 3.7 topg. Luckily he has worked on that brought that number down to around 3 per game. However in a league with great defensive point guards, that is a big problem on his part. The big men on this team are Vitor Tatsch and Jordan Bradley. Tatsch, acquired via the Nuggets last season, he will be a rock for the Kings. The Kings played very well with Tatsch and when Nocedal was healthy. Tatsch brings rebounding and shot blocking to a team that lacked it before. 3 apg and around 11 rpg is probably for him. Jordan Bradley is an interesting player. He struggled when the Kings were starting Andrew Bogut beside him, but when Tatsch came in; he had several 15+ rebound games. If he can repeat that then the Kings will be in good shape, but if he struggles they will as well. He is not a shot blocker so Vitor will have to take the bulk of that responsibility. In terms of bench production, the Kings have a solid bench. Derrick Williams, Tymon Howard, and Bryant McIntosh will all see time backing up Vitor and Jordan. Howard, the 3rd year man out of Florida, is a great rebounder. He could probably average over 12 rpg if he started. However he is a crappy defender. No shot blocking at all, and that is a big problem with many scoring bigs in the division. Derrick Williams could be the bench defender. His rating isn’t very high but he did average 2 bpg during the preseason and had 1.5 bpg in a reserve role last season. McIntosh is another player who could see some time. He isn’t a shot blocker, but he is a solid post defender. Might be homerism, but the Kings have one of, if not the, best bench player in the division. A trade occurred last season that didn’t get much intention, but it was a big one. The Kings acquired Rudy Gay from the Clippers for expiring contracts. Gay was expiring last season so it didn’t get big publicity, but King fans loved it. Gay will likely be the 6th man off the bench, backing up both wing spots. At 34 he is still a solid player (even went up during TC). Gay is a great defender and could average around 2 spg with starter minutes. He is also a pure scorer. The Kings need that off the bench. He can come in and make good jumpshots and bring some solid veteran experience to this team. Another player who could see some playing time is Stedman Lowry. Lowry was a minimum free agent signing by the Kings last season and this past offseason got an extension. Lowry was considered the #2 SG in the nation in his draft class. He fell in the draft because his size and defense. However Lowry is a sharpshooter. He can’t defend but he should be able to come in and be a scorer off the bench. If Ferrell or Sulaimon go down the Kings have Gay to back them up, and you can’t get much better than that for a backup. The Kings biggest problem is point guard depth. Verdell Jones returns as Nocedal’s backup. Jones is a decent point guard with solid handles and a decent topg numbers. However his defense isn’t good at all. If Nocedal goes and the Kings have to start Jones at point guard, he will be abused by Rubio, Sledge, and Anderson. Last year when Nocedal got hurt, Jones came in and started. He isn’t bad but he isn’t a Matias Nocedal, that’s for sure. This team relies on two players to stay healthy. Tatsch, for his blocking ability, and Nocedal. If either goes down the Kings could be struggling.
Tatsch will have a big role for the Kings.
Seattle SonicsProjected Finish: 1st in the Division
The Sonics have a stranglehold on the division for what seems like forever. Their former big 3 were beastly since they gave new meaning to having a defensive and offensive threat. This season the team is a bit different since one of those three was traded. The Sonics worked a trade with the Pacers that sent SF J-Mychal Reese to the Pacers for C Derrick Favors. This trade gave the Sonics a whole new look. Favors gives them a force in the middle who will be able to grab rebounds and score tons of points. They will also have the other two members of the big three in Dexter Strickland and Ricky Rubio. Strickland is a great defensive player and a great long range shooter. Rubio, last year’s MVP, is a stud also. He has an insane assist-to-turnover ratio, great scoring, and is a hard-nosed defender. Rounding out the starting 5 is Al Horford and either DeShaun Thomas or Jamil Wilson. Horford who was acquired via trade last season brings solid defense and rebounding to the PF position. He isn’t going to be a block person but can provide solid man-to-man defense. One of those SF’s will start, just which one is the question. Thomas has the better inside game and defense, but Wilson takes the cake with his ability to handle the ball and rebound. Whichever one starts the backup will provide solid experience and talent. Leek is likely to be the big man reserve. Leek, whose ratings never jumped off the pages, is a great shot blocker. With the lack of a true 2 bpg starter, Leek is likely to see some time coming and helping with shot blocking. Leslie McDonald is the guard backup. McDonald, who accepted the MLE, and has played on the Raptors for the past 6 years is an interesting player. Even though he has solid scoring ratings, he has never scored above 15 ppg. He will provide some bench scoring which the Sonics will need. The biggest question is whether he will be able to be a backup pg. He does have solid handles, but has never had a ton of apg. The Sonics better hope he can because if Rubio goes down and he can’t handle the rock and dish it out, the season can turn downward quickly.
Back-to-back MVP's for Rubio could be possible with a dominate force like Favors in the middle.
Los Angeles LakersProjected Finish: 2nd
Ah the Lakers. So many people’s championship pick so far. Yes I have them projected to finish 2nd, but that is mainly due to the fact that until the Sonics prove me wrong, they will stay there. The Lakers have a beastly lineup. The main man has to be Tavon Sledge, the point guard who was part of those great Jazz teams. At only 27 he has proved that he is in the upper echelon of point guards, right up there with Rubio. He has a great eye for making the open pass for an easy bucket. He can score when needed and provide solid defense and is a great ball stealer. His biggest knock is the way he handles the ball. Yes his handles are at A+, but most of that has to be passing. In his 6 season, he has had turnovers at 3 or more per game 4 times. His other two years he had 2.9 topg and 2.1 topg (his rookie season). He is a great point guard but his handles will hurt him. The Lakers are lead in scoring by two 32 year old wing players. Eric Gordon, who was acquired from the Warriors for Ibaka, provides championship experience and great scoring. Gordon spent his first 4 season with the Timberwolves, then a year each with the Spurs and Heat before he settled in Detroit. Gordon is a beastly scorer. The past 3 season he averaged over 30 ppg and even hit the 35 ppg mark once. He hasn’t been under 285 ppg since 2010. Gordon can also play defense, which will help when he has to deal with the shooting guard scorers of this division. The other wing is Chase Budinger. Budinger started off slow in his career but has really turned it on as of late. Three straight season of 20+ ppg ball and even two season of 26+ ppg scoring. Chase is a great scorer (he shot over 400 3’s last year, making almost half of them), but he is also a solid defender as well. Chase will need to carry this team on his back both offensively and defensively. “I wanna talk to Sampson: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj6aIK_WXhU”. Ralph Sampson Jr. that is. The reigning back-to-back defensive player of the year returns. Sampson is a defensive stud. Over 4 bpg last season, and he has averaged over 3 bpg the past 7 years. Sampson will provide great defense along with rebounding and some scoring from the center positions, which is what the Lakers will need if they are to go up against Derrick Favors. Winston McLeod rounds out the starting 5. He isn’t as great of a blocker as Sampson, but he is right up there with rebounds. He will be picked to do what most big men do, rebound and defend the basket. That starting 5 is beastly, so why are they 2nd? The answer comes when you look at their bench. They are very weak at every position. If any starter goes down, they are in serious trouble. Robertson will probably be the first big off the bench, and while he isn’t horrible, his lack of experience will hurt. He did average 8.6 rpg last season with the Knicks but without shot blocking, he is just another rebounder. For wing positions, the backup roles fall to Rasheed and Canty. Rasheed will provide decent defense off the bench, and Canty the scoring. Boutte will be the man behind Sledge. Boutte isn’t a horrible basketball player and filled in nicely for Sledge last season. But he isn’t starter material and if Sledge goes down for a while, he can’t be relied upon to be a starter. If any starter goes down at all, this could be a salvageable season. If 2 go down, it’s ova!
Budinger will have some scoring help, but he will still be a scoring machine.
Golden State WarriorsProjected Finish: 3rd
Last season champs. The Warriors were part of one of the offseasons biggest trades when they gave Eric Gordon to the Lakers for Serge Ibaka, mainly to try and get under the hard cap. Even without Gordon the Warriors have a solid team. They, like the team ahead of them, have a point guard who leads their team. Kyle Anderson is a scorer. Over 20 ppg 3 times in his 5 year career and never under 18 ppg. What’s great about Anderson is what even though his handles rating seems kinda low for appoint guard, he puts up good stats. He can still dish the ball and handle the rock very well. But Anderson won’t have to do all the scoring by himself, he has help. Kenny Boyton, acquired from the Knicks last season) will help with the scoring duties. Boynton is a sharpshooter from the outside and is a great defensive 2. He will steal the ball away almost 3 times per game. That will be needed with many solid scoring wings in this division. His partner on the wing will likely be Serge Ibaka. As we know Ibaka was acquired from the Lakers in the Gordon deal. Ibaka is an interesting player. He looked to be a stud coming up but his development has really slowed down. He was a top option for the Lakers in the past, averaging over 20 ppg. However last season with Chase Budinger as the new scoring option, his ppg total fell to under 15. Ibaka will probably be looked to play hard-nosed defense. He isn’t a great shot blocker or stealer, but he plays solid positional defense. And in a league with Budinger and some other scoring wings, that defense is very valuable. Rounding out their starting 5 are Patrick Patterson and Chandler Thomas. Patterson does the dirt work around the basket: he wounds and blocks shots. Even though Patterson has lost a step due to his age, he is still a great rebounder and shot blocker. Last is Chandler Thomas. Thomas is a very good player all across the board. He can score if needed (which will be), he can rebound and defend. He isn’t a big shot blocking threat (around 2 a game), but is serviceable. His scoring will probably increase this season since the Warriors will be looking for someone to replace Gordon’s scoring. This team actually has more depth that some of the previous ones. C.J. Leslie will likely be the first big man off the bench. Leslie is solid around the basket with his rebounding. He will add a solid spark to the 2nd team, however his shot blocking isn’t there. It would be solid to have a good shot blocker coming off the bench. Their main weakness has to be the wing depth. Isaiah Armwood and Xavier Henry are the likely backups, but neither is great. Both are defensive players, so one has to wonder where bench scoring will come from. Not from these two guys. If Boynton goes down, the scoring load may have to shift to Ibaka for a while. If both go down at the same time, the Warriors are in trouble. Lastly for the bench is Kyle Weaver. Ratings wise, Weaver is a solid point guard. However his past does hurt him. He hasn’t had a ton of minutes in a while so his stats are a little skewed. As a backup he is consistent with around 3 apg and 1.5 topg, but times that by 2 for a starter and you are looking at around 6 apg and 3 topg or even worse, 9 apg and 4.5 topg. As a starter on the Hawks he was around 5 and 6.5 apg and right up there with 3 topg. He will be a solid backup option but if Anderson goes down, can he start for them and they still contend?
Boynton will need to be a scoring machine for the Warriors without Gordon.
Sacramento KingsProjected Finish 4th
It would have been easy to be a big homer and place my team 1st or 2nd, but I didn’t. The Kings are lead by two young wing players in Kaleb Ferrell and Rasheed Sulaimon. Ferrell, 24 years old, is the main scoring threat for the Kings. His stats won’t amaze people yet (only 20 ppg + 2 times) but he is slowly becoming a great player. He can handle the rock and defend his man, as well as step out to his the 3. His biggest knack is probably his rebounding isn’t great. Sulaimon, 22, is even younger than Ferrell. Rasheed finally had a great TC this past year. Sulaimon is fast and can score inside. His defense is coming along and is starting to average around 2 spg. His biggest problem is his 3 weakness. He doesn’t have a consistent outside shot. If teams can stop him from driving, he is in trouble. But hey, he is 22 and will improve. The point guard is Matias Nocedal. Probably the weakest point we have seen so far, he isn’t like his other opponents in that he is a great scorer. Nocedal does have a nice jump shot; he isn’t going to score the team 20 ppg on a regular basis. Nocedal is a solid passer, averaging over 8 apg 4 of his 7 years in the league. However he does turn the ball over a lot. 5 years with over 3 apg and he even had 1 season of 3.7 topg. Luckily he has worked on that brought that number down to around 3 per game. However in a league with great defensive point guards, that is a big problem on his part. The big men on this team are Vitor Tatsch and Jordan Bradley. Tatsch, acquired via the Nuggets last season, he will be a rock for the Kings. The Kings played very well with Tatsch and when Nocedal was healthy. Tatsch brings rebounding and shot blocking to a team that lacked it before. 3 apg and around 11 rpg is probably for him. Jordan Bradley is an interesting player. He struggled when the Kings were starting Andrew Bogut beside him, but when Tatsch came in; he had several 15+ rebound games. If he can repeat that then the Kings will be in good shape, but if he struggles they will as well. He is not a shot blocker so Vitor will have to take the bulk of that responsibility. In terms of bench production, the Kings have a solid bench. Derrick Williams, Tymon Howard, and Bryant McIntosh will all see time backing up Vitor and Jordan. Howard, the 3rd year man out of Florida, is a great rebounder. He could probably average over 12 rpg if he started. However he is a crappy defender. No shot blocking at all, and that is a big problem with many scoring bigs in the division. Derrick Williams could be the bench defender. His rating isn’t very high but he did average 2 bpg during the preseason and had 1.5 bpg in a reserve role last season. McIntosh is another player who could see some time. He isn’t a shot blocker, but he is a solid post defender. Might be homerism, but the Kings have one of, if not the, best bench player in the division. A trade occurred last season that didn’t get much intention, but it was a big one. The Kings acquired Rudy Gay from the Clippers for expiring contracts. Gay was expiring last season so it didn’t get big publicity, but King fans loved it. Gay will likely be the 6th man off the bench, backing up both wing spots. At 34 he is still a solid player (even went up during TC). Gay is a great defender and could average around 2 spg with starter minutes. He is also a pure scorer. The Kings need that off the bench. He can come in and make good jumpshots and bring some solid veteran experience to this team. Another player who could see some playing time is Stedman Lowry. Lowry was a minimum free agent signing by the Kings last season and this past offseason got an extension. Lowry was considered the #2 SG in the nation in his draft class. He fell in the draft because his size and defense. However Lowry is a sharpshooter. He can’t defend but he should be able to come in and be a scorer off the bench. If Ferrell or Sulaimon go down the Kings have Gay to back them up, and you can’t get much better than that for a backup. The Kings biggest problem is point guard depth. Verdell Jones returns as Nocedal’s backup. Jones is a decent point guard with solid handles and a decent topg numbers. However his defense isn’t good at all. If Nocedal goes and the Kings have to start Jones at point guard, he will be abused by Rubio, Sledge, and Anderson. Last year when Nocedal got hurt, Jones came in and started. He isn’t bad but he isn’t a Matias Nocedal, that’s for sure. This team relies on two players to stay healthy. Tatsch, for his blocking ability, and Nocedal. If either goes down the Kings could be struggling.
Tatsch will have a big role for the Kings.
