The Square Life

I know the season started on Tuesday, but let's just pretend it didn't. That way, I can give a predictions article for the NBA 08-09 season. After all, the first couple games don't say that much about what will happen this season, right? With no further adieu, here are 20.5 predictions to get you thinking basketball.

Prediction #1: Greg Oden will continue his trend of being hurt more often than not.

(Okay, I couldn't resist)

Prediction #2: The Atlantic Division will go down like this. 1) Boston 2) Toronto 3) Philadelphia 4) New York 5) New Jersey

Prediction #3: We will welcome the era of the do-gooder all-stars. Think about it. Last season the Celtics won with a special mix of hustle, desire, selflessness, teamwork, and grit. The Redeem Team won the gold medal with roughly the same mix. Even players like Kobe are finally starting to realize that the team succeeds when individual stats and glory are set aside for the greater cause. Being a do-gooder is all of a sudden the trendy thing. What does all this mean? We’re in for some of the best basketball . . . ever.

Prediction #4: The Central Division will go down like this. 1) Cleveland 2) Detroit 3) Chicago 4) Milwaukee 5) Indiana

Prediction #5: Andrei Kirilenko will thrive as the 6^th man on the Jazz. Manu Ginobili meet Ivan Drago.

Prediction #6: The Southeast Division will go down like this. 1) Atlanta 2) Orlando 3) Miami 4) Charlotte 5) Washington

Prediction #7: Chris Paul will continue to get more hype than you can shake a stick at. Is it me or does the fact that the kid is extremely personable make up 50% of the “Chris Paul is going to be the greatest point guard ever” discussion. Don’t get me wrong, Chris Paul is phenomenal, but what has he really done? Reenergized a city? Okay, but where does that go in the stat line? Won one playoff series? That’s a nice start. All he has really done is won over the media with his fast feet, passing skills, and winning smile.

Prediction #7.5: The Chris Paul Deron Williams debate will get hot this season. D-Will is a LOT better than he gets credit for when being compared to Paul. Look at their head-to-head matchups and you’ll see that Paul may not even be the best point guard of his draft. The only place Paul is absolutely better than Williams is in public relations. Take that Bill Simmons!

Prediction #8: The Northwest Division will go down like this. 1) Utah 2) Utah 3) Portland 4) Denver 5) Minnesota 6) Oklahoma City

Prediction #9: The Suns aren’t dead just yet. Shaq still has some nastiness left in him, Stoudemire is a monster, Nash is clutch, Barnes and Bell are great defenders, Barbosa and Diaw are great bench players, and Hill is smart. Are they old? Yes. Dead? Not even close.

(I think if there is any team other than the Jazz that I want to see win it all, it’s the Suns. They helped to change basketball for the better the past few years, and even though I never thought Nash deserved the MVP awards he got, I do think he deserves a title.)

Prediction #10: The Pacific Division will go down like this. 1) Lakers 2) Phoenix 3) Golden State 4) Clippers 5) Sacramento

Prediction #11: The Spurs are dead. They are one major injury away from struggling to make it into the playoffs.

Prediction #12: The Southwest Division will go down like this. 1) Houston 2) New Orleans 3) Dallas 4) San Antonio 5) Memphis

Prediction #13: Even though last years draft got a lot more praise, this year’s rookie class will do much better. Tell me who the rookie of the year will be. Go ahead, think about it. How many people did you think of? Probably a few. Would you be surprised if the rookie of the year was Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Derek Rose, Michael Beasley, Kevin Love, O.J. Mayo, Mario Chalmers, or Brooks Lopez? I wouldn’t either. Any of these guys could pull it off, and not because of a lack of other talent. My prediction: Rose.

Prediction #14: Jerry Sloan will not win the Coach of the Yeah award. Traditions are traditions, regardless of the fact that the media has been saying he’s “due” for ten years now. In fact . . .

Prediction #15: You should ignore the media this season. The Lakers aren’t as good as the media will tell you they are on their 45 nationally televised games. The Blazers aren’t going to surprise anyone. The Rockets still haven’t one a single one playoff series in the McGrady-Ming era. The Sixers are still the Sixers. Chris Paul is not going to join Obama’s cabinet. And Kobe did do it. No matter what the media tells you this year, take it with a grain of salt.

Prediction #16: LeBron James will win the MVP award. He’ll probably deserve it, but either way, he’ll win it. Why? Because if you listen to the media, they’ve decided it’s time to give it to him. LBJ will probably win simply because statistically he is bound to do well, his supporting cast is better now (what that has to do with him is beyond me), and he is “due,” as they say. The NBA MVP voting system is as objective as the Oscars.

Prediction #17: The Eastern Conference will go down like this. The #1 seed Celtics will beat the #8 seed Bulls, the #2 seed Cavs will beat the #7 Heat, the #3 seed Raptors will beat the #6 seed Magic, and the #5 seed Pistons will beat the #4 seed Hawks. The Celtics will beat the Pistons, and the Cavs will beat the Raptors. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics will beat the Cavs.

Prediction #18: The Western Conference will go down like this. The #1 seed Lakers will beat the #8 seed Spurs, the #2 seed Jazz will beat the #7 seed Mavs, the #3 seed Rockets will beat the #6 seed Blazers, and the #5 seed Suns will beat the #4 seed Hornets. The Suns will beat the Lakers, and the Jazz will beat the Rockets. In the Western Conference Finals, the Suns will beat the Jazz.

Prediction #19: The Celtics will beat the Suns in a legendary 7-game series.

Prediction #20: I will be wrong on all but three of these predictions.