Post by donatello2424 on Jun 10, 2008 14:17:16 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.
Portland Trailblazers
Projected Finish: 5th
It was either them or the Clippers. The Trialblazers get the nod because of their experience. Mayo is the leader of this team. And for good reason because he is a stud player. Mayo can score, defend, and handle the ball. He is a solid passer as well; however on this team he is going to have to be more of a scorer. Outside of him there are a couple of other solid pieces. Marc Brown will likely start beside Mayo as the other guard. Brown is a scorer. He can average around 19 ppg and will need to do so for the trailblazers. However he can’t defend and that is a problem. With scoring guards in this league and no defense, he will get abused. Ramone Eaton will be the small forward. Eaton was highly touted as a PF out of college, but he is a small forward for this team. Eaton’s rebounding never came around so a small forward was a natural choice. At 6’11” he towers over the competition, but one has to wonder is he as fast as the other small forwards? Eaton is a solid defender and post player, but his game doesn’t scream small forward. He is going to get beat by the smaller quicker small forwards in the league; however he should be able to pound the ball inside. It looks like the Trailblazers will go with Trey Thompkins at the PF position. Kinda funny when your PF is 2” shorter than your SF. Anyway, Thompkins is a solid player. Thompkins is not a shot blocker and isn’t a scorer, but he can rebound the ball very nicely. Thomas Hamilton, the 5th pick out of Illinois, will get the starting C spot. Not much is known about Hamilton except the fact that he is a decent defender and his rebounding is coming along. He can’t score though. Backing both of these guys will be another rookie, Elliott Christians. Quite frankly, Christians sucks. He can score but that’s about it. Portland will have trouble defending players like Favors, Sampson Jr., Thomas, and Tatsch. Julius Randall will be backing up both the 3 and the 2. Randall can score. His defense is decent but he isn’t known for it. He is one of the better backup players in this division. The Trailblazers will need him to step it up if they are to do anything this year. I would do a backup for the point guard now but in their depth chart, there isn’t one. It has Mayo/Mayo/Mayo. I guess they either don’t want Hunter to see the court, or are hoping someone gets injured in a chance to be bad. They would actually benefit from Mayo being hurt. The Trailblazers need to rebuild soon. Mayo is already 31 and it is hard to build a team for him before he retires. Not to mention he makes 21 million. Eaton and brown are also making a ton. 23 million combined for them won’t cut it with their current production. The Trailblazers need to try and salvage anything they can get for Mayo and try and buy out Brown and rebuild, or they will be left with expired Mayo (hahahahaha, get it?).
Mayo will put up great numbers, but for how much longer can he continue to do so?
Los Angeles Clippers
Projected Finish: 6th
Rebuilding sucks. It takes a while and you get bored. Luckily the Clippers are on the upswing. They are lead by 5th year player Rodney Hood and rookie Dean Danos. Hood, who hasn’t been a stud scorer yet, is a rebounding beast. In 2018, he averaged almost 10 rpg as a SF. The Clippers hope he can find his scoring touch this year. Hood is also a very good defender. He will need to turn that into overdrive to compete against the Chase’s and Kaleb’s of this division. Danos is the other face of the franchise. Danos is a sharpshooter. He can handle the rock as well. He can’t defend a rock but he can handle it alright. He will likely lead all rookies in scoring this season and will be a great player for a while. Point guard is a concern. Matt Guercy is a big concern. He isn’t great at anything and that will hurt the team. Going up against the point guard scoring juggernauts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgAPFKDL6Sg) in the division. Good luck with that Matt. Renardo Sidney and DeJuan Marrero are the two starts for the big men positions. Sidney is a great defender, but can’t block shots. He can’t rebound either and isn’t a great inside scorer. Marrero can score inside all day long, but can’t rebound at all. It won’t be pretty having both of these non-rebounds starting. Jordan Batts is backing up Marrero. He is a decent backup defender, but sucks everywhere else. LaBryan Nash will be backing up Sidney at the 4. Nash, a career SF, will be a PF this time around. It will be interesting to see how he does but if he is decent, then it is a good move for the Clippers. Shaq Brooks is the backup to Hood. He can handle the ball but can’t do anything else. Jamont Gordon will be the backup to Danos. Jamont brings a vet influence along with a decent ability to handle the ball and defend. He isn’t a scorer but can be a good change of pace player with the scorer Danos. Croom is the backup to Guercy. He has D+ defense and C handles, so I will end that there. The Clippers will be in for a long year. Hood and Danos will be great players but then need a consistent big man rotation and a good point guard to be competitive.
Gordon can provide solid bench defense, depth, and veteran influence.
Phoenix Suns
Projected Finish: 7th
This team is YOUNG. They have 5 rookies so it will be interesting to see how they all develop. They don’t a true star right now so I will just start from the bottom. Billy Garrett will be the starting point guard. Garrett has been somewhat of a bust so far. He can pass the ball, but he turns it over way too much. He is a solid defender so that will help the team out. Not a great scorer but is decent. Unless he can get his turnovers down, his backup may be the starting point guard soon. His backup is rookie Xavier Horne. Horne is a solid passer and handler, but his defense is lacking. It seems to be a good punch with Horne’s true pg skills and Garrett’s defensive skills. Another rookie in Anthony Bowers gets the starting nod at the 2. Anthony can score, which seems to a trend with the sg’s. However he can’t defend and that will be a problem. But who cares if he can score right? Former PF prospect and current SF is Sydie London. London has a good shot and can defend the basket. He will be a valuable option for the team with trying to stop the wing scorers. The backup for both wing spots is Kadaryll Bell. Bell is a rookie (of course) and looks to be a solid player. He won’t be a great option now but after a couple of good TC’s he will be a good player and likely heir to London’s starting spot. The sophomore Will Mack gets the starting PF nod. He is a great rebounder, but can’t defend the basket. He is not a scorer at all, neither inside the paint nor outside of it. His strength is purely rebounding the basketball. I think that is perfectly fine with the Suns too. The starting Center is another rookie in N-Kewerin Okoro. Okoro is young and raw. He won’t make a huge impact but he will be a solid piece. He isn’t great at any 1 area but is equally raw at everything. He needs a couple more TC’s before he is a legit piece on this team. Backing up both Okoro and Mack is Roshon Prince. Prince, who is listed on the Suns roster as a SF, was drafted as a Center out of UCLA. He was a high risk, high reward type player who was drafted on pure potential. That potential never panned out. He is still a solid player. Good defense and decent scoring, but below average rebounding. He can help with the defense that this team lacks from their starters. This team is young and will have a growing curve ahead of them…and that curve is very steep.
Elijah Johnson's picture was the only player I could find.
Portland TrailblazersProjected Finish: 5th
It was either them or the Clippers. The Trialblazers get the nod because of their experience. Mayo is the leader of this team. And for good reason because he is a stud player. Mayo can score, defend, and handle the ball. He is a solid passer as well; however on this team he is going to have to be more of a scorer. Outside of him there are a couple of other solid pieces. Marc Brown will likely start beside Mayo as the other guard. Brown is a scorer. He can average around 19 ppg and will need to do so for the trailblazers. However he can’t defend and that is a problem. With scoring guards in this league and no defense, he will get abused. Ramone Eaton will be the small forward. Eaton was highly touted as a PF out of college, but he is a small forward for this team. Eaton’s rebounding never came around so a small forward was a natural choice. At 6’11” he towers over the competition, but one has to wonder is he as fast as the other small forwards? Eaton is a solid defender and post player, but his game doesn’t scream small forward. He is going to get beat by the smaller quicker small forwards in the league; however he should be able to pound the ball inside. It looks like the Trailblazers will go with Trey Thompkins at the PF position. Kinda funny when your PF is 2” shorter than your SF. Anyway, Thompkins is a solid player. Thompkins is not a shot blocker and isn’t a scorer, but he can rebound the ball very nicely. Thomas Hamilton, the 5th pick out of Illinois, will get the starting C spot. Not much is known about Hamilton except the fact that he is a decent defender and his rebounding is coming along. He can’t score though. Backing both of these guys will be another rookie, Elliott Christians. Quite frankly, Christians sucks. He can score but that’s about it. Portland will have trouble defending players like Favors, Sampson Jr., Thomas, and Tatsch. Julius Randall will be backing up both the 3 and the 2. Randall can score. His defense is decent but he isn’t known for it. He is one of the better backup players in this division. The Trailblazers will need him to step it up if they are to do anything this year. I would do a backup for the point guard now but in their depth chart, there isn’t one. It has Mayo/Mayo/Mayo. I guess they either don’t want Hunter to see the court, or are hoping someone gets injured in a chance to be bad. They would actually benefit from Mayo being hurt. The Trailblazers need to rebuild soon. Mayo is already 31 and it is hard to build a team for him before he retires. Not to mention he makes 21 million. Eaton and brown are also making a ton. 23 million combined for them won’t cut it with their current production. The Trailblazers need to try and salvage anything they can get for Mayo and try and buy out Brown and rebuild, or they will be left with expired Mayo (hahahahaha, get it?).
Mayo will put up great numbers, but for how much longer can he continue to do so?
Los Angeles ClippersProjected Finish: 6th
Rebuilding sucks. It takes a while and you get bored. Luckily the Clippers are on the upswing. They are lead by 5th year player Rodney Hood and rookie Dean Danos. Hood, who hasn’t been a stud scorer yet, is a rebounding beast. In 2018, he averaged almost 10 rpg as a SF. The Clippers hope he can find his scoring touch this year. Hood is also a very good defender. He will need to turn that into overdrive to compete against the Chase’s and Kaleb’s of this division. Danos is the other face of the franchise. Danos is a sharpshooter. He can handle the rock as well. He can’t defend a rock but he can handle it alright. He will likely lead all rookies in scoring this season and will be a great player for a while. Point guard is a concern. Matt Guercy is a big concern. He isn’t great at anything and that will hurt the team. Going up against the point guard scoring juggernauts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgAPFKDL6Sg) in the division. Good luck with that Matt. Renardo Sidney and DeJuan Marrero are the two starts for the big men positions. Sidney is a great defender, but can’t block shots. He can’t rebound either and isn’t a great inside scorer. Marrero can score inside all day long, but can’t rebound at all. It won’t be pretty having both of these non-rebounds starting. Jordan Batts is backing up Marrero. He is a decent backup defender, but sucks everywhere else. LaBryan Nash will be backing up Sidney at the 4. Nash, a career SF, will be a PF this time around. It will be interesting to see how he does but if he is decent, then it is a good move for the Clippers. Shaq Brooks is the backup to Hood. He can handle the ball but can’t do anything else. Jamont Gordon will be the backup to Danos. Jamont brings a vet influence along with a decent ability to handle the ball and defend. He isn’t a scorer but can be a good change of pace player with the scorer Danos. Croom is the backup to Guercy. He has D+ defense and C handles, so I will end that there. The Clippers will be in for a long year. Hood and Danos will be great players but then need a consistent big man rotation and a good point guard to be competitive.
Gordon can provide solid bench defense, depth, and veteran influence.
Phoenix SunsProjected Finish: 7th
This team is YOUNG. They have 5 rookies so it will be interesting to see how they all develop. They don’t a true star right now so I will just start from the bottom. Billy Garrett will be the starting point guard. Garrett has been somewhat of a bust so far. He can pass the ball, but he turns it over way too much. He is a solid defender so that will help the team out. Not a great scorer but is decent. Unless he can get his turnovers down, his backup may be the starting point guard soon. His backup is rookie Xavier Horne. Horne is a solid passer and handler, but his defense is lacking. It seems to be a good punch with Horne’s true pg skills and Garrett’s defensive skills. Another rookie in Anthony Bowers gets the starting nod at the 2. Anthony can score, which seems to a trend with the sg’s. However he can’t defend and that will be a problem. But who cares if he can score right? Former PF prospect and current SF is Sydie London. London has a good shot and can defend the basket. He will be a valuable option for the team with trying to stop the wing scorers. The backup for both wing spots is Kadaryll Bell. Bell is a rookie (of course) and looks to be a solid player. He won’t be a great option now but after a couple of good TC’s he will be a good player and likely heir to London’s starting spot. The sophomore Will Mack gets the starting PF nod. He is a great rebounder, but can’t defend the basket. He is not a scorer at all, neither inside the paint nor outside of it. His strength is purely rebounding the basketball. I think that is perfectly fine with the Suns too. The starting Center is another rookie in N-Kewerin Okoro. Okoro is young and raw. He won’t make a huge impact but he will be a solid piece. He isn’t great at any 1 area but is equally raw at everything. He needs a couple more TC’s before he is a legit piece on this team. Backing up both Okoro and Mack is Roshon Prince. Prince, who is listed on the Suns roster as a SF, was drafted as a Center out of UCLA. He was a high risk, high reward type player who was drafted on pure potential. That potential never panned out. He is still a solid player. Good defense and decent scoring, but below average rebounding. He can help with the defense that this team lacks from their starters. This team is young and will have a growing curve ahead of them…and that curve is very steep.
Elijah Johnson's picture was the only player I could find.
