Up and Coming Season

Can you smell it? [inhale] Christmas is in the air but I'm not talking about it! I'm talking about the approaching NBA season. Can't wait to see the changes in the lineup of the San Antonio Spurs and the other teams. Actually, I'm looking forward to the Phoenix Suns without their former coach Mike D'Antoni, who's now the Knicks head coach. What's clearly new this season is the Oklahoma City Thunder that's wearing few new faces since it almost consist of the previous lineup of the outmoded Seattle SuperSonics. But before I go any further, here are some of the previews I got from the NBA. Starting from the defending NBA champions, Boston Celtics and the Western Conference champions, LA Lakers.

Boston Celtics: When you win 66 games and an NBA title, there's not much room for improvement. You might say that the only direction to go is down. And in the NBA, no team has repeated as champions since the 2002 Lakers. It's undeniable, the Celtics' defense was the best last season. The 66 games they've won meant the team was serious about getting to the top. But there's something a bit wrong with the Celts threesome and that could prevent them from defending their title this season. I still can't figure out what that wrong is, though.

LA Lakers: One thing is for sure, if the Lakers are going to defend their place as the Western Conference representative in The Finals, it’s going to come down to defense. Yeah, it's probably time to tweak a bit of the Lakers' ball game particularly on the defensive end. No problem with the offense because they still have Kobe Bryant, the nonstop shooting machine. There's Pau Gasol ready for the rebounds and Lamar Odom, who I expect to play better.

..It's going to be a lot different season. The Celtics are in good shape and the Lakers, I mean KB24, is determined to stay on top of the Western conference. The San Antonio Spurs, on the other hand, will have to play Manu-less until mid-December and Gregg Popovich made some huge changes in the lineup. But will it help the Spurs? Let's see.

Everyone's been talking about the Celts and the Lakers and how good they were during the regular season. And it seems like everyone's forgotten about the Phoenix Suns, who are still keeping quiet, counting out the time when D'Antoni decided to go with the Knicks. There's definitely "a lot" of talent in the Suns lineup, they were simply mishandled by D'Antoni. It's definitely a good thing that he's left the Suns and no one's going to baby Amare Stoudemire anymore. =p

It's exciting to write some more but I'm desperate for some sleep, so, that's all for now. Ciao! =)