NBA Tip_Off Time

NBA Tip-Off week is now among us, and what a week it is, this season looks to as good of a season as there's been in nearly a decade. I know that people say that every season, but truly I don't believe I've been this excited for a season since like the 2006 or 2007 season. The Western Conference this season is wide open, and almost everyone is looking to see if there is a team in the Eastern Conference that can put a stop to the Miami Heat, who are coming off of their second straight NBA championship and looking for a three-peat, and if the Heat can pull it off, they will be the first team to have done it since the L.A Lakers in the early 2000's. 

  In the Eastern Conference, there seems to be a handful of teams looking to take down the Heat and put a stop to their reign. The Chicago Bulls, who have a returning superstar and former MVP, Derrick Rose who took a lot of criticism last season for not coming back and playing after being medically cleared by team doctors. The team made it to the playoffs without him and actually were able to give the Heat and Lebron James a good series led by Nate Robinson, everyone believes that had Derrick Rose played maybe he could have been the piece to get them past that series. This season, the Bulls don't have Nate Robinson in town (now in Denver), but Rose is back and says that "he feels better than ever" and he has a playoff team around him already with Boozer and Noah both being all-star caliber players. The New York Knicks are another team that are going to be looking to compete in the East, led by mega-star Carmelo "Melo" Anthony, the Knicks are going to see if this is the year that they can live up to Spike Lee's expectations, and possibly go to the NBA championship. The Knicks had a really good team last season, Melo was a top 5 scorer in the NBA and even got a first place MVP vote from one of the judges, they seemed to have found a number 2 guy in J.R Smith, who they locked up for the next 4-5 years with a contract extension and they made a big trade this off-season, acquiring Andrea Bargnani. If forward, Amare Stoudemire can stay healthy this could actually be a highly contending team. The Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers both look like teams that could be in the Eastern Conference Championship game this season, The Nets now have the pieces in place to do it, they were able to pull off one of the biggest trades in NBA history, acquiring Legends of the game, Paul Pierce "The Truth" and Kevin Garnett "The Big Ticket" from the Boston Celtics, and they still have Derron Williams, who is an all-star point guard and at times looks like the best point guard in the league, they also still have Joe Johnson who they traded for last season, but now with Garnett and Pierce added to the Roster, it's time to see this if this can be the team to make a push for the title. The only thing that is questionable about the Nets winning it all, is the inexperience of Rookie coach, and NBA legend, Jason Kidd. The Indiana Pacers are looking to return to take the next step this season and takeover the number one spot in the East, they were very close to dethroning the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals last season but end up losing after a very hard fought series. With Paul George emerging last season and David West and Roy Hibbert looking like the best Forward/Center (well, at least the most physical), They will have the same team returning for the most part but will be getting forward, Danny Granger back at some point this season, after sitting out the entire last season and his scoring will only add another dimension to their team, and they also got forward, Luis Scola from the Phoenix Suns and he adds great depth to the already dangerous bench of the Pacers. 

   The Western Conference looks to be wide open this season, there is really a handful of teams that could get hot at any point of the season or playoffs. The San Antonio Spurs, who came up short in the NBA finals to the Heat, will more than likely be the favorites going into the season, they haven't really made any changes to their starting line-up, which might not really be a good thing seeing as they are only getting older with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. The Oklahoma City Thunder is another team that could possibly represent the west, they came up short of a lot of peoples expectations last season in the playoffs, after losing to the Memphis Grizzlies and it doesn't help that all-star guard, Russell Westbrook is coming off of a very bad knee injury but they still have the lethal scorer and superstar, Kevin Durant "KD". The Thunder have to prove that they can win as a team first, they can't just rely on "KD" and Westbrook, they need some of the young players on the team to step-up before I can be sold on them this season with the west being as strong as it is. I myself believe that this years, L.A. Clippers will be very tough, once they find their rhythm, they have Chris Paul still as the leader of the team and driver of their journey, and Blake Griffin has another year under his belt and they say he's been working on his post game all off-season, as well as center Deandre Jordan who is a young stud of a center, he can rebound with the best of them, block shots and can jump out of the gym! when you add in former sixth man of the year, Jamal Crawford, as well as Matt Barnes, who came on strong last season, and they acquired Coach, Doc Rivers from the Boston Celtics, I believe that this team could end up represent the west in the NBA finals, if they can stay healthy and stay consistent. A couple of other teams that people will be looking to contend in the west are The Memphis Grizzlies, who failed to resign coach, Lionel Hollins but still have a physical and much talented team, led by Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. The Golden State Warriors are also being talked about in this conversation, they have a nice young core with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, David Lee and Harrison Barnes. The Warriors got much improved in the off-season with the addition of all-pro forward, Andre Iguodala, who can truly be a triple double player any night with his style of play. The Warriors are very young exciting team to watch but you know the saying, "you live by the three and die by the three" and they are a team that likes to unleash from beyond the three-point line, which will either hurt them or help them when they get to the playoffs. 

 The team that everyone wants to take down this season is the defending champions for the second time in a row, The Miami Heat. They are being led by mega-star, Lebron James, who right now is the greatest player in the world! He's coming off of his fourth NBA MVP season and his second NBA Finals MVP. Also, they have mega-star Dwayne Wade who is coming off his third NBA championship, and had rested this entire off-season and it's been said that this is the best that Wade has looked in years, may since 06' when he won his first NBA championship. They still have the same roster as last season for the most part, they used the amnesty clause on Mike Miller after the finals, but they replace him with the former Miami Heat player, Micheal Beasley and they also signed big man, Greg Oden who has been highly criticized through his career because he can't stay healthy. Oden has yet to finish one full season, and as a former number one overall pick, people were expecting him to be a 20 point and 10 rebound type of center. Oden, who hasn't played in 3 years, now has a chance to prove himself once again to the league and if he can stay healthy, this Miami team could be even more dangerous as they already are and that's almost scary. 

  The NBA season is now here. Who will be the team to take down the Heat? or Do we witness Lebron and the Heat get their three-peat? Guess we will have to wait but don't be surprised if some teams start slow this season, you have to remember "it's a marathon, not a sprint". During this long 82 game NBA season, we should see a lot great games. So, go get your favorite team/players apparel and sit back and lets watch this season unfold in front of our eyes and enjoy!