Tuesday, October 31, 2006

NBA 06-07 Preview: Storylines
What Will Fans Be Talking About?

Running all day: My NBA season preview.
More: MVP | Coach | Rookie | Rankings

1. New ball. I can't believe that a piece of equipment will be the biggest storyline of the season, but if games get too sloppy because of the slippery new ball, the league will have to deal with it, won't they? Won't they?!?!

2. No bitching. Without the griping about calls, no-calls and everything in-beteween, how will top players express themselves? Watch for players to test the refs; will the league have the stones to T up LeBron every time he complains? That's a lot of T's.

3. No defense. Well, not exactly. Stops are necessary if you want to, say, win the NBA title, but for the 25 teams that are NOT championship contenders, offense is the way to go to simply be competitive enough to make the playoffs.

Riffing off the Suns' model in the West, Don Nelson seems poised to bring points back to Golden State. In the East, the gun-n-gun Wizards are my pick to surprise with a 3rd-place finish, and the Raptors' Suns-style makeover makes them my surprise "leap" team.

Comments Question: What is YOUR prediction for the NBA's top storylines this season?

-- D.S.

11 comments:

Christian Thoma said...

Top Storyline: Knicks start off 0-19, Isiah fires self.

Brian in Oxford said...

Although 0-19 would just be high comedy, I do think if they're sucky even a quarter of the way through the season, Isiah gets the boot. He's not exactly ever been proven to be a good coach to begin with.

Hey, maybe we can have some insights into the Larry Brown settlement.....Zeke gets canned, we'll take you back and you can bring your own GM in.

Jake C said...

Top storyline...NBA realizes it should just start the season in February, when people might actaully care.

Anonymous said...

1. the Knicks
2. number of T's called.
3. a major injury early
4. a slow start by a "contender"
5. a surprise start (ala the clippers last year)

Jingoist said...

You got the #2 storyline right, "no bitching". But it will be the result of Mark Cuban's head exploding, not the actual in-game affecting players.

rob (warwick)

pv845 said...

Amen jo fer!

ToddTheJackass said...

Isiah will be a bigger story than the No Defense Dan. People don't love to watch great defense, it's not that sexy.

Boomhauertjs said...

I don't know how many Cavs games you watch, but I watch nearly every one and LeBron is far from the biggest whiner in the league. He wouldn't even start on the Pistons "All-Whine" team.

Anonymous said...

The ball is a non-issue. I wish people would just shut up about it. They use a synthetic ball in every league except the NBA!

International play doesn't look nearly as sloppy as any game in the Atlantic division last year!

TBender said...

No need to worry about the overmarketing of a few select teams, ESPN doesn't carry NBA ga...what? Um, nevermind.

The whole No-Bitching thing will play out like the old NHL crackdown on rules. Enforce them the first month or two and then ignore them the rest of the year.

TJ said...

Is anyone else getting a Tigers-Cards World Series/Arizona-Chicago MNF type feeling about the Knicks? I mean, what if they come out of the gate and win some games? Will space-time just go ahead and shatter? I have my first semester law school exams in a little over a month, but I think I'm more nervous about the possibilities of a decent Knicks team bringing about the apocalypse before Christmas.