The Sports Brief with Besse and Keefe: Western Conference

Showing posts with label Western Conference. Show all posts

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Keefe's '09-'10 NBA All-Stars

Last Thursday the starters for next month's NBA All-Star game in Dallas were announced. Thankfully T-Mac was not one of them, but I still did not agree with all 10, specifically Iverson. In the East you have; Dwight Howard (ok), Kevin Garnett (no way), LeBron James (for the next 10 years), Dwyane Wade (ditto, if healthy), and Allen Iverson (terrible).

Western starters: Amare Stoudemire (fine), Tim Duncan (of course), Carmelo Anthony (well deserved), Steve Nash (fair enough), Kobe Bryant (best player in the game).

Based off of that, here is who I believe should be the 7 man bench units, that will be announced on Thursday... only on TNT!

Eastern Conference Subs:

Gerald Wallace, Bobcats (18.5 points 11 rebounds)
Chris Bosh, Raptors (24.2 points 11.1 rebounds)
Joe Johnson, Hawks (21.1 points 4.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists)
Rajon Rondo, Celtics (14.2 points 9.6 assists, 2.5 steals)
David Lee, Knicks (19.2 points, 11.4 rebounds)
Paul Pierce, Celtics (18.9 points, 4.8 rebounds)
Antawn Jamison, Wizards (21.7 points, 8.6 rebounds)

Guys who should be in, in place of Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson:

Josh Smith, Hawks (15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.68 stocks)
Brandon Jennings, Bucks (17.9 points, 6.2 assists)

Western Conference Subs:

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies (20.9 points, 11.5 rebounds)
Chris Paul, Hornets (20 points, 11.2 assists, 2.25 steals)
Deron Williams, Jazz (18.9 points, 9.6 assists)
Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks (25.1 points, 7.9 rebounds)
Kevin Durant, Thunder (29.3 points, 7.3 rebounds)
Brandon Roy, Blazers (23.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5 assists)
Chris Kamen, Clippers (20.1 points, 9.1 rebounds)

All of the West starters deserve to be at least on the roster, therefore here are the toughest omissions:

Pau Gasol, Lakers (17.1 points, 10.9 points, 27 games)
Rudy Gay, Grizzlies (20.5 points, 6 rebounds)
Tyreke Evans, Kings (20.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists)
Aaron Brooks, Rockets (18.7 points, 5 assists)

-Keefe

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Who Should Start the 2010 NBA All-Star Game

The starters for the 2010 NBA All-Star game will be announced tonight during the TNT double-header. If you've been paying attention at all to how the fans have been voting, you'll be thrilled to know that Allen Iverson (16 games, 14.8 points, 4.5 assists, 2.3 turnovers) and Tracy McGrady (6 games, 3.2 points, 0.8 rebounds, 1 assist) were at last check in the top 2 for guards in their respective conferences, thus would be starting in the All-Star game next month in Dallas.

I think by now, all level headed sports fans realize it is an absolute joke to allow the fans to have so much pull in an All-Star game. (And if you don't, look at those AI and T-Mac numbers again). Imagine if fans voted for MVP, All-NBA, All-Pro, Hall of Fame?!? But the purpose of this blog post is not to trash the thousands of idiot fans out there, instead I want a chance to say who should start the All-Star game this year.

Eastern Conference:

Guards:

Dwyane Wade, Heat (26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3+ stocks (if you read Bill Simmons Book of Basketball you'd know stocks are steals + blocks)).

Joe Johnson, Hawks (21.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists)

Neither guy is a true point guard, but both deserve to be starters in the All-Star Game.

Toughest omission- Rajon Rondo, Celtics

Forwards:

LeBron James, Cavs (29.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists)

Gerald Wallace, Bobcats (18.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, nearly 3 stocks)

Not only is Wallace putting up sick numbers, but his team is currently in 5th place in the East. Yes the Charlotte Bobcats are in 5th place in the Eastern Conference. Let that sit in.

Toughest omission = turn him into my starting Center

Center:

Chris Bosh, Raptors (24.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, leads league with 31 double-doubles)

I guess he's technically a power forward, but it's the All-Star game, another reason the ballots for the fans shouldn't exist.

Toughest omission- David Lee, Knicks, that's right and not Dwight Howard

East Starters- Wade, Johnson, James, Wallace, Bosh

Western Conference:

Guards:

Kobe Bryant, Lakers (28.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists)

Chris Paul, Hornets (19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 2.21 steals)

Toughest omission- Deron Williams, Jazz

Forwards:

Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets (29.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists)

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks (25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, %FG-3-FT = 48-39-88)

Toughest omission- let's make him a Center like in the East

Center:

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies (20.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 50% FG)

Toughest omission- Tim Duncan, Spurs

West Starters- Bryant, Paul, Anthony, Nowitzki, Randolph

-Keefe

Coming soon: "Keefe's 2010 NBA All-Star Rosters"

Monday, October 26, 2009

Keefe's 2009-2010 NBA Preview: Western Conference

Believe it or not the NBA season kicks off tomorrow night with can't miss double header on TNT. Kevin Garnett (healthy-ish), Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen take on LeBron James and his new teammate Shaquille O'Neal as the Cavs host the Celtics. Then the defending champion Lakers with new small forward Ron Artest face this year's #1 pick Blake Griffin and the Clippers in an all LA showdown. (Normally the Clippers would be hard to justify as being a part of a can't miss double dip, but with Griffin, an in shape Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, and of course an 0-0 record with the whole season ahead of them, I'm going to include them.

I'm going to break down my NBA Preview into 3 parts; Western Conference, Eastern Conference, and Awards. For each conference I will rank the teams 1-15 in the order I believe they will finish then go team-by-team with a quick look of "Who's Returning," "Who's New," and basically why they will finish in X place. Let's dive right in with a look at the West.

Western Conference

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Los Angeles Lakers
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. Utah Jazz
5. New Orleans Hornets
6. Portland Trail Blazers
7. Denver Nuggets
8. Oklahoma City Thunder
9. Golden State Warriors
10. Los Angeles Clippers
11. Houston Rockets
12. Phoenix Suns
13. Memphis Grizzlies
14. Minnesota Timberwolves
15. Sacramento Kings

1. Spurs
Who's Back: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Roger Mason, Matt Bonner
Who's New: Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, DeJuan Blair

The Spurs to me, are the team to beat. All the attention will be on the Lakers, as it should being the defending champs, but look at what San Antonio did in the off season. Adding a scorer like RJ with size and intellegence of McDyess, then getting the steal of the draft in the 2nd round with Blair. Unreal. If Manu is healthy they are my pick.

2. Lakers
Who's Back: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton
Who's New: Ron Artest

The Champs basically swapped Trevor Ariza for Ron Arest. Who's a better player, easy it's Artest, but who's a better fit, we will see. You can't top what Ariza helped do last year (win a title). Artest will be asked to play D and hit the open 3, and you know it will always being interesting when Ron is involved.

3. Mavericks
Who's Back: Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Erick Dampier, J.J. Barea (shout out Northeastern)
Who's New: Shawn Marion, Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas

It's not a young team. They know they need to win now. It will be fun to see how they match up with the Lakers & Spurs, the two teams that are standing in the way of the rest of the teams on this list. Maybe it's just my obsession with Marion, and him once again playing with a terrific passing point guard but I think the Mavs can be great. Do you think this lineup will cause match up problems galore for opposing teams: Kidd, Terry, Howard, Marion, Dirk... yeah me too.

4. Jazz
Who's Back: Everyone
Who's New: No one

Jerry Sloan brings back the entire crew, for better or worse. Paul Millsap can afford his own meals now, but he'll still likely come off the bench behind Carlos Boozer who is clearly the X factor on this team. Deron Williams is the 2nd best point guard in the league, and he and Boozer can be a deadly 1-2 punch, if Boozer is healthy and plays with some fire.

5. Hornets
Who's Back: Chris Paul, David West, Peja Stojakovic, Mo-Pete, James Posey, Julien Wright, Hilton Armstrong
Who's New: Emeka Okafor

Okafor for Tyson Chandler should give the Hornets more scoring and consistency. I like the move bringing in a double-double machine, takes pressure off of David West as well. How good can Chris Paul be? (22.8 points, 11 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 2.77 steals last year).

6. Trail Blazers
Who's Back: Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, Travis Outlaw, The Vanilla Gorilla Joel Pryzbilla, Nicolas Batum
Who's New: Andre Miller

I've read a lot of people saying they don't like the Andre Miller move. I'm not ready to write it off. Portland almost landed Hedo Turkoglu in the off season, but that likely would have sent Rudy Fernandez back to Spain, I'm calling a monster year out of Rudy.

7. Nuggets
Who's Back: Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Birdman, Renaldo Balkman
Who's New: Aaron Afflalo, Ty Lawson

They won't be as good as they were last year, but still a playoff team in my mind simply because they have Melo and Billups. 7th and 8th seed looks like a terrible place to be, you have to play either the Lakers or Spurs and you miss out on the lottery.

8. Thunder
Who's Back: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, Nick Collison, Thabo Sefolosha, Shaun Livingston
Who's New: James Harden

Might not be ready to make the step to the post season this year, but I'm going to take them sneaky into the 8th spot. One of the most fun teams in the league to watch with rising superstar Kevin Durant. I also absolutely love the pick of James Harden as well. OKC lucked out with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet, because that made sure the Thunder didn't make that mistake.

9. Warriors
Who's Back: Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Randolph, Andris Biedrins, Corey Maggette, Anthony Morrow, Kelenna Azubuike
Who's New: Stephen Curry

Golden State is a tough team to predict. They could finish as high as 6th or as low as 13th. I'll put them at 9, I love their style, fun to watch. I'm not as high on Curry as most. (Stephen Curry pronounced Steph-En, spelled same way as Stephen Jackson, pronounced Steven... someones wrong.)

10. Clippers
Who's Back: Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby, Chris Kamen, Ricky Davis
Who's New: Blake Griffin, Sebastian Telfair, Rasual Butler, Craig Smith

The talent is there, but so is Mike Dunleavy. If Baron doesn't mail it in and Camby and Kamen stay relatively healthy this could be a playoff team with the addition of the only can't miss rookie in last June's draft.

11. Rockets
Who's Back: Aaron Brooks, Shane Battier, Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry
Who's New: Trevor Ariza, Chase Budinger, David Andersen
Who's Hurt: Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady

The Warriors were the toughest team in the West to predict, the Rockets are just the toughest team in the West. They fought hard in the playoffs last year even without Yao and T-Mac. Sure they could do it again, but 82 games is a long season, their lack of talent has to catch up with them.

12. Suns
Who's Back: Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Jason Richardson, Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa
Who's New: Channing Frye, Earl Clark

Steve Kerr = great shooter, awesome color commentator, horrible GM. Too bad because it was fun to watch Steve Nash on a good team.

13. Grizzlies
Who's Back: Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Darrell Arthur
Who's New: Zach Randolph, Allen Iverson, Hasheem Thabeet, Sam Young

Wow. I count 4 guys who can get you 22+ points per game, but how many will when they're all playing together. Say what you want but I would be hard pressed to turn away from a game that had Gay, Mayo, AI, and Randolph playing together. Of course I'll be hard pressed to find a Grizzlies game unless I spring for the League Pass. I don't like the Thabeet pick as I mentioned before, not a horrible player, but #2 overall that's tough to live up too. Also I bet Bill Simmons could be right about contender getting Rudy Gay for 50 cents on the dollar during the year.

14. Timberwolves
Who's Back: Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes
Who's New: Jonny Flynn, Ramon Session, Wayne Ellington, Damien Wilkins, Ryan Hollins

Kurt Rambis takes over a team that had 24 wins last season and completely botched the 2009 NBA Draft. Ricky Rubio will be playing over seas for the next couple of years while the T-Wolves continue to lose games and look bad doing it. Al Jefferson back from injury... player prop for you: Jefferson Points + Rebounds per game over/under Minnesota Wins + 10.

15. Kings
Who's Back: Kevin Martin, Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes, Andres Nocioni, Beno Udrih, Francisco Garcia
Who's New: Tyreke Evans, Jon Brockman, Desmond Mason

The Kings are terrible. Martin can score, and I think Evans will have great rookie numbers because not 1 of his games will matter. Is it too soon to start working out John Wall, Derrick Favors, and DeMarcus Cousins?

There you have it the 2009-2010 Western Conference through the eyes of Rich Keefe. I'll have the breakdown of the Eastern Conference coming soon.

-Keefe

Monday, March 24, 2008

Dallas: We Have A Problem

-Keefe

March Madness continues on Thursday, let's take a moment to look at one of the biggest stories in the NBA. The Western Conference has been exciting all season long, with 9 teams deserving of making the playoffs. The 9th team in the West could have 50 wins. They could host a series in the East instead they will be on the couch or up in the club sooner rather than later. Just a few weeks left to play it looked as though the team with 2 starters on the West All-Stars (Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthoney), and last year's Defensive Player of the Year (Marcus Camby) would miss out on the post season. The dominant story lines focused on the big trades with stars on new teams, Pau Gasol, Shaquille O'Neal, Jason Kidd, and the incredible 22 game winning streak by the Houston Rockets. Throw the performances by Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul and you had an unbelievable year, let's get to the playoffs!

Well with 12 games left to play on the season for the Dallas Mavericks the 2006-2007 league MVP Dirk Nowitzki went down with a left leg injury. It looked nasty.

After adding Mr. Triple Double to a team that had the best record in the NBA a year ago, this team was worried about how far they could go this year, and avoid a first round upset. Now, will they make it? 44-26, more wins than every East team not named Celtics, Pistons, or Magic, and they have to sweat out the final dozen games of the year. Currently the Mavs reside in the 7th spot out West, .5 game up on the Warriors, and 2 games up on the Nuggets.

So the question remains, do the Dallas Mavericks make the playoffs?

Schedule:

LA Clippers
@ Denver
@ Golden State
@ LA Clippers
Golden State
@ LA Lakers
@ Phoenix
Seattle
Utah
@ Portland
@ Seattle
New Orleans

That's 7 out of 12 games against teams with 42+ wins, and they have to do this without Dirk. Does Jason Kidd have enough left in the tank? Looks like a brutal stretch of games there, GS probably passes them for 7th, but now can Denver do enough to steal the last spot away from Dallas? Something to keep an eye on as you await the Sweet 16. Hope your bracket is doing better than mine. Chances are... it is.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Western Conference Outlook

-Keefe

The Western Conference is as loaded as Tony La Russa behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. 10 teams post winning records, with 9 of them having 33+ wins as of February 21st. Only 5 games separate the team in 1st (New Orleans) and the team in 9th (Golden State). If the season ended today the Warriors would miss the playoffs, but if they were in the Eastern Conference, the Bay Area would be hosting a first round match up. The West was already wild, but all these trades have made it impossible to pick a favorite.

Shaq and Jason Kidd are both 0-1 in their debuts from last night. It’s going to take a little time for both of them to adjust. Shaq seems like a square piece in a round hole. He did play 29 minutes in just his first game in Phoenix, scoring 15 and pulling down 9 rebounds. Not a bad first showing, but they did allow 130 points and lose. Kidd had only 5 assists and 8 points for Dallas, as Chris Paul straight owned him.

Here are the 10 teams above .500 in the West, core players, with new acquisitions in bold. (In order of current standings.)

New Orleans Hornets:
Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic, (Mike James, Bonzi Wells, if trade goes through).

Chris Paul is my MVP as of right now. Last night he had 31 points, 11 assists, and 9 steals against J-Kidd and the Mavs. He’s averaging 21-11 and shooting a pretty good percentage. West and Chandler can do all the dirty work and Peja is back shooting from deep. I’m not sure they can hold on to the top spot in the West or win the whole thing, but certainly not a team you would want to face. Can Paul carry them to the Finals?

Los Angeles Lakers:
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher, and the bench mob.

Right now I’m leaning towards picking the Lakers to win the West. And I’m a Celtics fan and hate the Lakers. The addition of Gasol, or should I say the thievery that was the Gasol deal has put this team over the top. Lakers are 7-1 with Pau. It’s going to be interesting to see how he and Bynum play together, but suddenly they have Odom playing a role that he is much more comfortable with. They don’t need to count on him to score, but he still does. Kobe is Kobe, and these guys look like they are headed to the NBA Finals.

Phoenix Suns:
Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shaquille O’Neal, Grant Hill, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw.

You can’t get crazy about last night no matter what happened in Shaq’s debut. It’s going to take more than 1 game to see how the deal will play out. Amare is going to put up ridiculous numbers (37-15 last night), but it does not matter if they lose 130s to 120s. Who’s playing defense on this team? Raja Bell? He gave up 40 last night to Kobe. Nash, Amare, and Shaq at this stage of his career, are not going to scare you at the defense end. I’m looking forward to Friday when Boston comes to town. Shaq’s first 3 games in Phoenix: Lakers, Celtics, Pistons. They could go 0-3. When they sent Marion to Miami they were the number 1 seed in the West. Now I don’t think they host a 1st round series. I know they had not made the Finals with the current Big 3 of their own (Nash, Amare, Matrix), but this year with the make up of the West I thought they could have. We’ll see.

Utah Jazz:
Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap, Matt Harping.

It doesn’t get a whole better for a 1-2 punch in basketball than Williams and Boozer. The addition of Korver has given the Jazz a whole new element to their attack. I love the combination of talents they have here, with bangers like Boozer and Millsap, shooters in Okur and Korver, slashers in AK-47 and Brewer, and of course one of the top point guards in the game in Williams. This is just another team in the West that you could not be shocked if they won it all. Early prediction is that the Jazz lose in the conference finals to the Lakers.

San Antonio Spurs:
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley, Damon Stoudamire, Kurt Thomas.

No one is talking about the Spurs. Maybe we should be. As soon as you count them out you’ll see Tim Duncan holding the Championship trophy in the air for 5th time in his career. But still, like everyone else, I’m not convinced they will be there. They have been winning it every other year, so maybe it’s not meant to be. What a great gift for a top 4 seed it would be to have to face the Spurs. Good luck.

Dallas Mavericks:
Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Brandon Bass, Eric Dampier.

I’ll be honest I liked the Kidd deal, and I don’t think that they gave up too much to get them. Devin Harris and what else? The two first round picks will be low and a guy like Antoine Wright is only 24 and will be better than anyone they could get at the end of this years draft. Kidd still has something left in the tank, his rebounding and assists numbers are huge this year even though he has struggled shooting from the field. I did not think they could win the whole thing prior to the Kidd trade, now they at least have a chance.

Houston Rockets:
Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Skip to my Lou, Luis Scola, Bobby Jackson (if trade goes), Luther Head, Carl Landry.

I think the Rockets end up missing the playoffs. Even if they get in you can’t like T-Mac’s chances of advancing. Looks like they might be parting with Mike James and Bonzi Wells, and bringing in veteran point guard Bobby Jackson. (Jackson would be great in a Celtic’s uniform.) Despite being just 4.5 games out of first the Rockets will be fighting to make the playoffs for the rest of the year.

Denver Nuggets:
Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, Anthony Carter, J.R. Smith, Linas Kleiza.

Is there a more talented starting lineup in the league? Maybe not. But they have always had a hard time putting it all together. I think they do get in the playoffs even though they are one of the only teams in the West not to make a move. (As of now). These guys can obviously beat anyone on any given night, but what about 4 out of 7? You know they will score enough points. The question remains, is Camby enough on defense?

Golden State Warriors:
Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis, Al Harrington, Andris Biedrins, Chris Webber, Matt Barnes, Keleena Azubuike, Mickael Pietrus.

The Chris Webber addition doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of a boost. He starts sure; I don’t see him as a major factor however. The way they shoot the 3, early and often, they can certainly beat anyone. Like the Nuggets it will be difficult for the Warriors to advance far in the playoffs. I know they beat the Mavs last year in the 1-8 match up. I say they do get in the playoffs led by Baron Davis, but it ends in the 1st round this year.

Portland Trail Blazers:

Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldrige, Travis Outlaw, Jarrett Jack, Martell Webster, Steve Blake.

It was a nice run early in the season; they just could not keep up with all these great teams in the West. At 28-25 they have still surpassed expectations without Greg Oden. Definitely keep an eye on this team going forward. Brandon Roy has been great to watch and they play team basketball. Of the 10 teams on this list I have the Blazers and Rockets missing out on the playoffs in the end.

This list could get a shake up as the NBA trade deadline is minutes away. Players like Vince Carter, Zach Randolph, Ron Artest, Ben Wallace, and more could be moving around. Who else will make a move? The next couple of months will be great, a lot of questions still left to be answered.