NBA Preview: Southwest Division

By: andrewgifford

Four down, two to go!!! No time for chit chatter. Let’s go!

Western Conference Southwest Division

1. San Antonio Spurs

2. Dallas Mavericks

3. Houston Rockets

4. New Orleans Hornets

5. Memphis Grizzlies

1. San Antonio Spurs (61-21)

In my opinion, this is the only team that can prevent the Lakers from going to the NBA Finals for the third straight year. The Richard Jefferson acquisition for them was huge. Everybody talked about the moves Orlando, Boston, Cleveland, and Los Angeles (Lakers, because who really talks about the Clippers) made and the Spurs picking up Jefferson kind of went under the radar. However, the Spurs trading for Jefferson was just as significant, if not more so, than any of the other moves the previous four teams made. This now gives the Spurs another weapon to throw at teams in the west. RJ can pretty much do it all, he can post up, hit the mid range jumper, shoot well from three, and he’s a pretty good defender. Adding him to the already established trio of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker should give the rest of the NBA shivers down their collective spines. Speaking of those three, I think that Duncan, Ginobili and Parker will have their most productive years this upcoming season. They are all rested, and healthy, which is a very important thing for this bunch. There always seems to be some nagging injury that hurts one of those three every year. Everybody in the trio is healthy and ready to go. From those three, I think that Tim Duncan will be the MVP of the league this year. I believe that Duncan has one more monster year left in him, and plus I’m sure it’s extra motivation when a lot of people said he’s on the decline based upon the last couple of years he’s had statistically. I think I might be on to something with “Timmah” (insert South Park Voice here) winning the MVP award because the second game of the season he scored 28 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Those are old school Tim Duncan numbers. In addition to everything, I think the Spurs made away with a steal when they drafted former University of Pittsburgh forward DeJuan Blair. This guy was a stud last year for the Panthers, and whenever he played former Uconn center Hasheem Thabeet (who was drafted second overall by the Memphis Grizzlies) Blair put a whooping on Thabeet. Blair fits the San Antonio system perfectly; he bangs on the low block, is able to rebound at will, and plays tough defense. So far this season Blair’s averaging 8.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in 20.7 minutes a game. Blair’s play should also help out Duncan, if Blair’s great play continues, this can give Duncan more rest and he can be healthy and rested for another potential playoff push. With the big four (Duncan, Ginobili, Parker and Jefferson), Blair coming off of the bench, and veterans Michael Finley and newly acquired Antonio McDyess contributing heavily, this Spurs team might be the most deep and talented team they’ve had to date. Definitely put this team in the top three spots of the Western Conference come playoff time.

2. Dallas Mavericks (52-30)

From acquiring forward Shawn Marion, it looks as though the Mavericks are loading up to make a run at the title this year. But yet, haven’t we said that same statement about the Mavericks for the last 4 or 5 years? From looking at their roster, they better make a run at this thing eventually, because they have a lot of aging guys whose windows of opportunity are closing. Jason Terry and Shawn Marion are entering their 10th year, Jason Kidd is entering his 15th, and Dirk Nowitski is entering his 11th season. The acquisition of Marion was a good one in my opinion; it gives them a decent defender on the perimeter, which is good for the Mavs because there always looking for defense. When I look at the Mavs, I keep saying to myself “This team should be good. But why am I always hesitant to believe in them?” Oh yeah that’s right, the reason why I can’t believe in them is because they fall apart every year!!! For as good as the Mavs are annually, there’s always something that happens during the year, or in the playoffs, that makes them fall apart. For instance, in game three of their playoff series with the Denver Nuggets last May. It’s the end of the game and it’s a close, you know who’s getting the ball for the Nuggets; Carmelo Anthony. Denver has the ball, out of bounds play, down two, with seconds to go. You can’t let Melo get the ball or if he does, foul the crap out of him. Not only did Dallas let Melo get the ball, they didn’t foul him hard enough, and let him hit a three to win the game for the Nuggets. That right there was the turning point of the series. Dallas ended up losing in five games. Going into this year I think the Mavs will be good, they have a lot of talented guys (as usual) and will put up points. However, the big question mark I have is coach Rick Carlisle. This team is set up to run and be an up tempo type team. Carlisle’s teams always play half-court offense and walk the ball up the court. How much will he let his team run, and will he give up some of his philosophy. If he lets this team run and gun, I think the Mavs will be scary. However, if he forces them to play half-court offense, I think Dallas will struggle. They don’t have the consistent shooters or the defensive stoppers to play a half court style of basketball.

3. Houston Rockets (44-38)

I think any chance of this team contending went away when it was reported that their center Yao Ming was going to miss the season with a foot injury. Besides rookie center David Anderson, the Rockets do not have anybody above 6’9”. This leaves the Rockets heavily undersized, and in my opinion they won’t be able to compete with the bigger teams like San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Dallas to a certain extent. However, the Rockets have a lot of positive momentum coming into this year. They took the Los Angeles Lakers to a seventh game last year and played them hard the entire series. Guard Aaron Brooks and forward Chuck Hayes really played well for the Rockets in the postseason and they basically carried their as far as they went. In the offseason, they let go of guard/forward Ron Artest and picked up forward Trevor Ariza. This was a very good acquisition for the Rockets in my opinion. Ariza is a great on-the-ball defender and can hit threes with consistency. Ariza was one of the reasons why the Lakers won the title last year. He always guarded the best guy for the other team, leaving Kobe Bryant the ability to be a roamer on defense and save up his energy for the offensive end. I believe that Ariza, along with forward/center Luis Scola will have great years for the Rockets. With Yao Ming out, Scola will get a lot of playing time and contribute nicely for the Rockets. The one question mark I have, and the one that everybody has every season, is Tracy McGrady. Can he stay healthy enough to give this team a legitimate scoring threat? With the way that his career has gone, the answer points to no. McGrady has never played an 82 game season in his career, and last year he only played 35 games before calling it a season due to a injured knee. He hasn’t played a game this season because of the same knee. I say the Rockets are competitive, but can’t get over the hump due to them not having Tracy McGrady to give them a threat.

4. New Orleans Hornets (41-41)

Do you think if I say that the Hornets and Chris Paul won win a ring this year he’ll come and hunt me down to confront me? If that’s the case, he better pick up frequent flyer miles because a lot people are saying the same thing I am all around the country. First off, I hated the trade to move center Tyson Chandler to Charlotte for center Omeka Okafor. I know there was drama with Chandler last season for the Hornets, but I think they could have easily worked things out to keep him. The Hornets are a young, athletic team that likes to run up and down the court and throw alley-oops. The main guy that Chris Paul would throw oops to was Tyson Chandler. If you are doing everything in order to try and keep Chris Paul happy, than why are you taking away one of his favorite targets to pass the ball too? It doesn’t make sense to me at all. Okafor is a nice player, but stylistically he doesn’t fit with the team. Paul still has forward David West to throw the ball to, but other than those two, I don’t think that the Hornets have any other threats. Peja Stojakovic is affective only when he’s open and when you put a guy on him he’s irrelevant. James Posey is a good role guy coming off of the bench but I don’t think he can be affective if he plays 30 plus minutes a game. Chris Paul will have his season of averaging 20 points, and 10 assists a game because he’s a franchise caliber player. But I’m afraid he’s going to need some help for the Hornets to make any noise in the Western Conference. Looking at their team, I don’t think he’s going to get it.

5. Memphis Grizzlies (27-55)

I have a funny feeling that this year’s season for the Grizzlies is going to be one of frustration and turmoil. There’s going to be frustration because the Grizzlies are very young, and they’re going to lose a lot of games this year. There will be turmoil because of two words; Allen Iverson. He’s already complaining because he’s coming off the bench and Iverson says he’s not a bench guy. News flash Allen, you’re not that good anymore!!! You’re old, not as good as you once were, and a pain in the ass to boot. You’re no longer “The Answer,” you’re now “The Answer to the question of: Who’s extremely old, a pain in the ass, and hasn’t gotten the memo that his career is basically over?” Moving away from that has-been, I think that Marc Gasol, Zac Randolph and O.J. Mayo (cause he’s on my fantasy team) will have stand out years for the Grizz. I will even go so far as to saying the Randolph will win comeback player of the year. I say that because the offense will pretty much run through him, and I think he’s motivated this year. I heard multiple preseason reports that he came into camp in shape and looked like he had “the look.” I think that things are looking up for the Grizz, and in a couple years this team should be competitive. As for right now, keep plugging away Memphis Grizzlies, and trade “The Has-Been,” you’ll be better off for doing it.

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