A look into the 2009-2010 Season

by CelticsPride1215 on Aug 6, 2009 8:14 PM EDT Comment 18 comments

The NBA schedule was released yesterday, and that might be one of the only highlights this month for all the bored NBA fans like myself. Like me, most of you are probably just waiting to see where the next free agent will sign. The word around the league is that most of the free agents are waiting to see what happens with the New York Knicks talented power forward David Lee before they decide on their future. Lets not forget most of the remaining free agents are restricted, so there aren't many options for them as far as money is concerned.

But anyways, back to the release of the schedule. I am looking forward to a lot of games this year. One being our first game against Cleveland. How great is that? Right out of the gates we get the fully-loaded (well, hopefully fully loaded) and re-newed Celtics vs. the new look Cavs. I am also looking forward to our match-up against the young- rejuvenated Magic, as well as the Lakers-Cavs.

Both games should be tremendous. We have the Defending Eastern Conference champs with the Addition of Vince Carter, and the Celtics with Kevin Garnett back and Rasheed Wallace. Then after that of course, is the highly anticipated match-up between the Lakers and Cavs. Here we will see a new chapter in the Kobe and Shaq soap opera, as well as the battle between Kobe and Lebron as the fight for king of the NBA continues. O ya, Ron Artest will be there to. Not to mention all of this will take place Christmas Day! Hey, if you didn't get that special gift you've been begging for, at least the NBA knew you were a good boy/girl this year and gave you two great games back to back!

So looking into the Eastern and Western Conferences, It seems all of the contenders were playing the "anything you can do I can do better game" this offseason.

Starting in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs started the domino by acquiring Shaquille O'Neal, then just days later the Magic made a splash by acquiring Vince Carter via trade, then the Pistons by getting both Ben Gordon and Charlie Villeneuva, then my Celtics answering the challenge by getting Rasheed Wallace, then days after by a change of his mind, Hedo Turkoglu signs with the Toronto Raptors (whew, a lot of thens).

Now to the West, not as much noise was made out in the west, but still a good amount. First, the Spurs acquired High-Flyer Richard Jefferson via trade. After that, the defending world champion Lakers made a large move by acquiring gritty veteran Ron Artest. When talks ended with then starter Trevor Ariza, he bolted to the Houston Rockets. Later on the Spurs made a "double dip" and got the battled-tested Antonio Mcdyess. Hours later, the Mavericks acquired Shawn Marion in a 4-team deal.

With one of the busiest offseasons I can remember here are my top 5 teams in each conference, as well as the Western and Eastern Conference FInals and NBA FInals Matchups,

Eastern Conference Power Rankings:

1. Boston Celtics

2. Cleveland Cavaliers

3. Orlando Magic

4. Toronto Raptors

5. Atlanta Hawks

Western Conference Power Rankings:

1. Los Angeles Lakers

2. San Antonio Spurs

3. Denver Nuggets

4. Dallas Mavericks

5. Portland Trailblazers

Eastern Conference FInals- Celtics/Cavs. Western Conference Finals- Spurs/Lakers

FInals- (if glen is re-signed) Celtics/Lakers................. Winner- Celtics in 7

Be respectful and keep it clean. Thanks.

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

why doesnt orlando get any love? Vince does what hedo did, only better.

the addition of bass will help them tremendously too.

I’m calling a return trip to the EC finals by orlando vs the celts.

by robi s on Aug 6, 2009 9:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the read robi…… idk to be honest thats the one thing about the magic… i like vince don’t get me wrong but late in the game Hedo always hit big shots and was a great passer… you could put him at point and have serious matchup issues….. i jus don’t see vince as that guy…. and their lack of depth is a problem. they have no back up PG no back up for vince and relly no back at up PF behind bass. Assuming everyone stays healthy for each team… its gonna be one hell of an eastern conference playoff

by CelticsPride1215 on Aug 6, 2009 9:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol sorry if this comes off as rude but did you see the playoffs last year?

anthony johnson was great coming over the bench for orlando lol. He even carried Orlando for a couple quarters.

I agree, Hedo was one of the clutchest players ive ever seen last year, but I think the magic with hedo have a much more versatile offense. Nelson will be back healhty, so hedo wouldnt have had the ball to play the point anyway. Carter has never really played with a great center as far as I can remember, so with carter driving or the pick n roll/pop combo the Magic could be very dangerous. Its just a hunch i have, you very well could be right, but we’ll just have to wait unti the season starts to see how teams adjust. It’s funny that every single good team has major adjustments to make despite improving on paper.

by robi s on Aug 6, 2009 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The thing anout the Magic

One thing that kinda gets over looked about them.All the other contenders didn’t really lose any big pieces to there core.The Magic replaced Hedo with Carter,but they have lost Courtney lee,and a good back up point guard in Rafer. They got Matt Barnes,but I would have rather had Lee.The Lakers lost Ariza,but they Got they got Artest,but the Lakers still didn’t get rid of there core.We still don’t know how the Artest factor will go.He’s declined more then the other older players around his age I think. Artest still is a factor out there. The Magic will be better then Cleveland still,but the team they went seven games with got Garnett back,and deeper. It will be Celtics and Orlando in the ECF.

by green20 on Aug 6, 2009 10:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the read and comment green….. i agree with you about the magic but artest still has some solid defense left in him… im not sure how he will fit in with the offense but he’s better than ariza especially on defense

by CelticsPride1215 on Aug 6, 2009 10:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Artest I think would be better than Ariza.Artest has done it longer,and was considered the best defensive player in his early days.Artest picked up when Tracy was out of the lineup. When all 3 stars played.The scoring was bad. I don’t think he’s going to have that Rodman effect everyone is talking about. Until the season starts. Then I see what they do in the first month with Artest. I’m not 100% sold he works better in the Laker system. Ron is a better talent then Ariza as a individual player.

by green20 on Aug 6, 2009 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

artest will be fine. He’s not a complete idiot. With kobe, lo, and Phil keeping him in gear. Artest will get to know his role. It is gonna be pretty easy considering the lakers have film of what exactly they need on offense because ariza did a good job.

On defense there is still no doubt Artest is a huge upgrade. Ariza wasnt able to guard Carmelo, and its almost certain he wouldnt have been able to tie lebrons shoes. Aside from Battier, Artest is still among as good as it gets defensively.

by robi s on Aug 6, 2009 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's not true

Artest and Battier both saw huge drops in their defensive production this year. Their highly touted defense is now as much hype as ability. They are both still above average, but neither is what he once was.

Poster for next year? I'm thinking My Little Pony.

by Zaig on Aug 10, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

2009-2010 season

Great Job! I think ESPN should pay you for your insight!!:)

by jcvolkosh on Aug 6, 2009 10:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

haha thank you….. i honestly don’t believe he’ll have that affect either but he will certainly help them defensively. it’s gonna be great wen they come to the garden tho

by CelticsPride1215 on Aug 6, 2009 11:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you that vince certainly helps as far as adding a versatile scoring threat, but anyone can throw an alley oop to dwight off a pick and roll lol….. i think vince is a great addition from an up tempo offense perspective. now that jameer is healthy again the magic will be fun to watch… but the thing that the magic are lacking now is that match-up nightmare sort of thing… this gives cleveland a better shot because turkoglu was such a problem to guard because he could play the 1-3… but now the point guard match up is good and delonte can guard vince and now lebron will deal with rashard…. this way anderson doesn’t have to guard rashard anymore and now can guard a legitimate 4 man…. and shaq can bang with howard in the post

by CelticsPride1215 on Aug 6, 2009 11:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lol i think ur overating hedo. you make him sound as tho he were like a godly player. Sure he looked great during the post season run, but he really wasnt anything special during the regular season, or in any years prior. I dont think Hedo will all of a sudden start playing like he did during the playoffs on a regular basis.

by robi s on Aug 7, 2009 6:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well hedo is a really good player… im not saying he’s like the best in the east but he’s a game changer and he plays well enough in the regular season…. its an 82 game season so its hard to go full throttle every nite… but wen it matters in the postseason he plays very well and is clutch wen he needs to be

by CelticsPride1215 on Aug 7, 2009 8:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

there were alot of games hedo didnt show up to. I think its just the great games he had that make us forget the days he didnt really show up

by robi s on Aug 7, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

List Of Back Up Point Guards

Can someone please make a list of back up point guards we could get? Thanks

by jfarias on Aug 7, 2009 10:31 AM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

that would be near impossible considering no one knows which teams are willing to get rid of pgs. You’ll just have to wait for rumors to surface.

by robi s on Aug 7, 2009 6:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

celtics in finals??

i love the celtics but with shaq at cleveland i hope they can overcome an improved cleveland, orlando teams—7’10" giant from china would stop the shaq attack if celtic scout get off their lees

by zappo007 on Aug 9, 2009 8:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lemme fix the power rankings

Eastern Conference Power Rankings:

1. Boston Celtics/Cleveland Cavaliers /Orlando Magic
2. Boston Celtics/Cleveland Cavaliers /Orlando Magic
3. Boston Celtics/Cleveland Cavaliers /Orlando Magic

Seriously, I’m tired of people trying to pick the Eastern Conference Regular Season winner. It’s a total crapshoot between these 3, with injuries being the deciding factor. Whoever gets “luckiest” in terms of injuries will take home court.

4. Atlanta Hawks- Distant distant 4th

5. Wizards- God will let them be healthy for 1 year, and it still won’t be enough.

Western Conference Power Rankings:

1. Los Angeles Lakers- Duh
2. San Antonio Spurs- Pretty injury dependent. This year is probably their final shot.
3. Portland Trailblazers- Not sure why they are predicted to get worse than last year by a lot of people. Miller >>>> Sergio. 4 sophomores >>>> 4 rookies. Losing nobody important >>>> losing somebody important.
4. Dallas Mavericks- Not sure I’m sold on Marion helping this team a ton, but Dirk is good at winning in the regular season.
5. New Orleans- Okafor > Chandler
6. Denver- Seriously, this Denver hype is silly. They got lucky to win 54 games last year and they did it without serious injury trouble from injury prone players. Also, they lost Kleiza and gained no one. Billups is aging too. This team is worse in basically every way. Oooh they made the WCF in the east side of the bracket, let’s put them at the 3 spot in the preseason!

Poster for next year? I'm thinking My Little Pony.

by Zaig on Aug 10, 2009 4:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs