Prediction Time: 2009-2010 Season

[Bullsman24]

BG is the equivalent of kevin martin in my opinion. he does EVERYTHING for his team, but it doesn't take them anywhere because the rest of the team is crap and he will be a bit of a ballhog by himself, if not deservedly so.

 

[??? ??????]

I can see Ben Gordon blowing up into a 25 PPG 5 APG kind of player in Detroit, if they let him be the starting point guard. But that's still not enough for an MVP season, unless Detroit wins 54+ games or so.

Durant put up like 26 PPG last season, and he didn't even make the allstar team. I could see a similar thing happening to Gordon if he blows up next year.

 

[cool007]

Diddy1122 wrote:

Frank Breakfast-Styleham wrote:

Here are my 2009-2010 NBA predictions. I've put a lot of careful thought into it and I'm feeling very good with these predictions...


Best Record: Dallas Mavericks 64-18

Worst Record: Indiana Pacers 16-66

Most Improved Teams: Sacramento Kings - 25-win improvement from last year. Philadelphia 76ers - 25-win improvement from last year.

Chicago Bulls: 25-57 (that's exactly the price we're going to pay for letting Ben Gordon walk and having the audacity to think we can up and replace him with Johnny Fishname). The Bulls are going to get their butts kicked all year.

Western Conference Finals: Portland vs. Phoenix (The Lakers seem to be on top right now but there's just something that tells me they won't get any further than the semifinals. I see Portland or Phoenix kicking their butts and advancing to the Western Conference Finals).

Eastern Conference Finals: Cleveland vs. Detroit (It's a cakewalk for Cleveland, Detroit has added just WAY too much to do any less than the eastern conference finals).

HARDWARE

MVP: I'm not just saying this because he played for the Bulls last year but I honestly, objectively and truthfully see Ben Gordon having the season of his life this year. He's on his own for the first time...he finally has the chance to show us what he can REALLY do without the Chicago city pressures and all the unfair criticism he's received. I can easily see Ben Gordon becoming a perinnial All-Star before our eyes, averaging 26 points a game this season and getting this Pistons ballclub back to where they once were. If and when he accomplishes this he will be the rightful victor of the MVP.

6th Man: Nate Robinson, New York Knicks

Most Improved: Marvin Williams, Atlanta Hawks. Marvin's going to average just under 20 points this year and will have 9.5 rebounds to go with it.

Defensive: Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets

Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin seems a lock but 2 guys to look out for: Look out for Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks and look out for Earl Clark of the Suns. Both of those guys will be multiple All-Stars in this league.

Coach of the Year: Paul Westphal, Sacramento Kings.

NBA Finals: Portland vs. Cleveland

NBA World Champion: Cleveland. Experience always prevails. Experience never doesn't prevail.

At the conclusion of this years finals and season LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will hoist their first NBA Championship trophy.

Finals MVP: King James, the new Michael Jordan. The first of many more to come.

I'm absolutely confident in all these predictions.

What are yours?

Woah there Frankie. Are you sure the water is alright there in China? I think you're hallucinating.

Bulls 25-57? How do I even respond to that? God are you even watching Bulls games? Then again you also think Rose will regress considerably this year & be injured, which I think is ludicrous. There's absolutely no way that Rose regresses. In fact, I bet he makes the All-Star team this year.

Gordon for MVP? I love BG but I realize that the guy has pretty much reached his ceiling. He will never be more than a 23ppg scorer & you can quote me on that. And he will never win a MVP. He may win another 6th man award but thats about it.

And Dallas with the best record? Why, is all I have to ask. Because they have Marion & Tim Thomas now? I don't see them winning 64 games. 55 games, certainly, but a 14 game improvement, no way.

Here's my predictions:

Best Record: LA Lakers 65-17
Worst Record: Minnesota T'wolves 21-61

Most Improved Team: Washington Wizards 22 game improvement (41-41 overall). A healthy Arenas, combined with Jamison, Butler, & a solid bench will have the Wiz battling for a playoff spot. Don't sleep on the Wiz.

Chicago Bulls: 45-37. Rose will make a major leap in his 2nd season, taking the Bulls by the horns, & leading them to the 5th seed in the East. With a healthy Deng, Salmons, an improved Noah, & a solid bench that just got better with the addition of Arroyo, could help the Bulls make some noise in the post season.

West Finals: LA Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs. Another epic chapter in the battle between the Best of the West for the past 10 years. I expect a low-scoring, grind it out 7-game series in which the Lakers eventually prevail.

East Finals: Cleveland Cavs vs. Orlando Magic. It's a rematch of last years East Final. This time with the Cavs coming out on top.

NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Cavs. It's redemption time for LeBron & Shaq, who will both be playing with equally-sized chips on their shoulders. When the smoke clears, it will be Shaq & LBJ hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

NBA Champion: Cleveland Cavs

MVP: LeBron James.
Finals MVP: LeBron James
Sixth Man: Jason Terry
Most Improved: Michael Beasley
Coach of the Year: Flip Saunders, Washington

Wow!!!! Diddy, you and me think soooooooo alike. I was just going to post the same exact thing.

I think Bulls will win around 45 games.
Wizards will be the most improved team with around 42 wins
Greg Poppovich will be the COY
Gordon/Ginobli as a 6th man of the year
Duncan DPOY (Duncan will have a Big time year)
Garnett MVP (big year from him as well)
Duncan (finals MVP)

East Finals: Cavs vs Boston (Boston wins)
West Finals: Lakers vs San Antonio (Spurs wins)

Finals: Spurs vs Celtics (Spurs wins the championship)



I also agree with P03 that Gordon will probably average around 23-25ppg and 5apg depending on his role - especially if he is a starter and plays some PG.

 

[ZombieKevie]

Most Improved Teams: Philadelphia 76ers - 25-win improvement from last year.

[/quote]

Phili had 41 wins last year. 25 more would put them at 66-17 thus surpassing the maverics with the best record by one win. not to mention that phili lost andre miller and gained nothing great.

 

[pinkizdead]

ZombieKevie wrote:

Most Improved Teams: Philadelphia 76ers - 25-win improvement from last year.

Phili had 41 wins last year. 25 more would put them at 66-17 thus surpassing the maverics with the best record by one win. not to mention that phili lost andre miller and gained nothing great.[/quote]

eddie jordon called his sixers a team in transition. IMO they're gonna suck this year. their two best players play the same position. Andre and Thadeus young both play the sf. Iggy was too slow to gaurd 2 guards last year. they had to move him to the 3. Willie green is a crappy shooter. he's 6'3, and hes not ben gordon. Brand had a pretty terrible season last year. Also he had alot of trouble fitting into the offensive flow. the 76ers are a running team, and brand is a half court player. Dalembert is a terrible contract. Louis williams is a nice scorer, but he hasnt learned to distribute. HONESTLY, as crazy as it sounds, i'd trade brand for a crappier contract like baron davis. Sadly that would never happen. the clippers are set at the pf.

 

[pinkizdead]

The only problem with the spurs is that they look amazing the first couple months, then they dont look so great after the all star break. Tim Duncan was IMMACULATE before the break, but after guarding centers for an entire season, his body broke down. I dont think Duncan can survive playing center for an entire season. They really need someone who can take bonner out of the starting lineup. Bonner is a great shooter, but leaving timmy alone on the block takes alot out of him. They need to go back to that defensive lineup that's thrived so very well.

 

[cool007]

pinkizdead wrote:

The only problem with the spurs is that they look amazing the first couple months, then they dont look so great after the all star break. Tim Duncan was IMMACULATE before the break, but after guarding centers for an entire season, his body broke down. I dont think Duncan can survive playing center for an entire season. They really need someone who can take bonner out of the starting lineup. Bonner is a great shooter, but leaving timmy alone on the block takes alot out of him. They need to go back to that defensive lineup that's thrived so very well.

That's really wrong. Duncan didn't break down because he had to guard centers - besides, how many good centers are there really? Think about it. Shaq is old, Dwight is the only 1, Oden is in always foul trouble, Yao is out all year, Bynum is still learning, who else is there that is good???

IMO, Spurs will be really hungry this year with couple of NICE additions in RJ, McDyess and Blair - plus Ginobli will be back. This gives them nice defense and offense spark that Duncan and Poppovich really needed last year but didn't have. The only question is that can they stay healthy??? If so, I think they are the 2nd best team in the West and probably give Lakers a big run for the money. If they are healthy at the time, I think they can beat the Lakers.

 

[jsain360]

Best Record: Laker 67-15

Worst Record: Nets 17-65

Most Improved Teams: Clippers and Wizards

Chicago Bulls: 37-43 win team with or without Ben Gordon

Western Conference Finals: Lakers v. Spurs

Eastern Conference Finals: Cavs v. Celtics

HARDWARE

MVP: Dwight Howard

6th Man: Jamal Crawford

Most Improved: Joakim Noah

Defensive: LeBron James

Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin

Coach of the Year: Flip Saunders

NBA Finals: Celtics V. Spurs

NBA World Champion: Spurs



Finals MVP: Tim Duncan

 

[??? ??????]

houheffna wrote:

What? A guy isn't allowed to have an opinion anymore?

As everyone can see I'm not a chalk kinda guy. I like to make risky, unpopular, untrendy picks. They may not all come to fruition but then again, whose does?

#1 You have the Bulls dropping back like 15 games, Gordon is their only loss, he is not worth 15 wins in the NBA, point blank.

#2 The MVP is for Top 10, allstar, all league players only. Gordon is not top 25, that is why I figured you were joking. I still think you are joking.

Gordon might be worth 15 wins. But you also have to take into account the addition of James Johnson, Rose's improvement (Noah/Tyrus too?) and having Kirk, Miller, and Salmonella all year (and Deng too?). All of these things should mitigate the significant loss of Gordon.

 

[TheStig]

??? ?????? wrote:

houheffna wrote:

What? A guy isn't allowed to have an opinion anymore?

As everyone can see I'm not a chalk kinda guy. I like to make risky, unpopular, untrendy picks. They may not all come to fruition but then again, whose does?

#1 You have the Bulls dropping back like 15 games, Gordon is their only loss, he is not worth 15 wins in the NBA, point blank.

#2 The MVP is for Top 10, allstar, all league players only. Gordon is not top 25, that is why I figured you were joking. I still think you are joking.

Gordon might be worth 15 wins. But you also have to take into account the addition of James Johnson, Rose's improvement (Noah/Tyrus too?) and having Kirk, Miller, and Salmonella all year (and Deng too?). All of these things should mitigate the significant loss of Gordon.

I agree, I don't think it will completly midigate the loss but I don't expect us to be more than 5-6 games worse. I just see this team loosing a lot of close games now.

 

[jsain360]

Anybody who thinks the Bulls are a 25 win team because of the loss of Ben Gordon, needs to hand their fan card and follow Ben to Detriot, if the Bulls are that bad, Ben Gordon wouldn't make them much better, Ben Gordon isn't that big of a difference maker, if Hornets or Cavs lost Paul or Bron, you might see a -15 in the win column, I don't see with Ben Gordon

 

[ZombieKevie]

i agree, i ment to do some sort of quote but it just messed up

 

[ZombieKevie]

cant figure out how to post on here any more, its 4 am i have class tomorrow, i need sleep.

 

[houheffna]

Gordon might be worth 15 wins. But you also have to take into account the addition of James Johnson, Rose's improvement (Noah/Tyrus too?) and having Kirk, Miller, and Salmonella all year (and Deng too?). All of these things should mitigate the significant loss of Gordon

How is Gordon worth 15 wins? When did this cataclysmic event take place? If he is worth that many wins, he should be an allstar. The Bulls will be fine.

 

[??? ??????]

houheffna wrote:

Gordon might be worth 15 wins. But you also have to take into account the addition of James Johnson, Rose's improvement (Noah/Tyrus too?) and having Kirk, Miller, and Salmonella all year (and Deng too?). All of these things should mitigate the significant loss of Gordon

How is Gordon worth 15 wins? When did this cataclysmic event take place? If he is worth that many wins, he should be an allstar. The Bulls will be fine.

The Bullls improved 24 wins when they brought Gordon in. He's not the entire reason for the 24 win improvement, but he's the biggest reason for it.

You're undervaluing Gordon. Guys who can step up and score at the end of the game are valuable. Guys who can shoot you back into a game are valuable. Gordon does both of these things, and was really the only guy on the team who could do them. And he consistently did those two things. Guys who can do those two things are worth a lot of wins.

 

[cool007]

I have been Gordon's biggest supporter there is but I don't think we will miss Gordon as much (yes there will be some games where we will go, man I wish we had Gordon still). But most of it can be forgotten if Rose takes that leap that most star players do, if Deng is healthy for the most part (70 games), Hinrich and Salmons provide shooting and scoring, Tyrus and Noah don't suck, and Miller stays healthy enough.

Anything that James Johnson gives us would be just gravy along with Pargo.

I still think we will win around 45 wins (give or take 2).

 

[??? ??????]

cool007 wrote:

I have been Gordon's biggest supporter there is but I don't think we will miss Gordon as much (yes there will be some games where we will go, man I wish we had Gordon still). But most of it can be forgotten if Rose takes that leap that most star players do, if Deng is healthy for the most part (70 games), Hinrich and Salmons provide shooting and scoring, Tyrus and Noah don't suck, and Miller stays healthy enough.

Anything that James Johnson gives us would be just gravy along with Pargo.

I still think we will win around 45 wins (give or take 2).

That's the optimists scenario.

What happens when Luol Deng misses his 15-20 games next year? What happens when Kirk Hinrich goes on his annual 2 month shooting slump right before the trade deadline? What happens if Brad Miller is diminished this year? What happens if John Salmons doesn't have another career year, and goes back to his level of production before this year? What if Tyrus Thomas still plays erratically? What if Joakim Noah still can't man the interior on defense?

James Johnson is the big question mark on this season. The talent is there for him to make a big impact, but the question is, will he.

I don't consider James Johnson gravy. I consider what James Johnson does to be crucial to this team's success next year.

I think Derrick Rose will play great this year. But point guard is one of the least important positions on an NBA team in terms of impact. Without a good big man, this team will be limited in what they can do next year.

Ben Gordon is a special NBA talent. An All NBA player? No. But a special talent in that he brings elite three point shooting, clutch shooting, and has pretty much every move there is for a guard to have offensively. The Bulls current shooting guard corp is not special. Solid players, yes, but not a special talent like Gordon is. Ben Gordon draws so much defensive attention, that he made the game easier for guys like Hinrich and Salmons, and even Rose.

Now he's gone. The Bulls were never going to win anything significant with Rose/Gordon as the stars. They always needed that good big man if they were ever serious about winning a championship. However, Rose and that good big man probably won't win a championship either. They will be still missing that third core player...which Gordon could have and should have been.

Now we have only one player who can be a member of a championship trio, and that is Rose. With only one of those players, I have a difficult time seeing the Bulls winning 45 games, even if I think Rose will have an outstanding season.

 

[mlewinth]

bullsman24 wrote:

BG is the equivalent of kevin martin in my opinion. he does EVERYTHING for his team, but it doesn't take them anywhere because the rest of the team is crap and he will be a bit of a ballhog by himself, if not deservedly so.

He doesnt play defense. Big difference. Kevin Martin also avgs close to 25 a night, BG has never topped 21.

 

[mlewinth]

quote]

The Bullls improved 24 wins when they brought Gordon in. He's not the entire reason for the 24 win improvement, but he's the biggest reason for it.

You're undervaluing Gordon. Guys who can step up and score at the end of the game are valuable. Guys who can shoot you back into a game are valuable. Gordon does both of these things, and was really the only guy on the team who could do them. And he consistently did those two things. Guys who can do those two things are worth a lot of wins.[/quote]

Totally different situation. When we brought in Gordon, we had very little, so he was a BIG part of our team. We have a much better team now then we had then, much more depth and much more experience. We won't be the 2003 Bulls without Ben Gordon.

 

[mlewinth]

??? ?????? wrote:

cool007 wrote:

That's the optimists scenario.



I think Derrick Rose will play great this year. But point guard is one of the least important positions on an NBA team in terms of impact.

I disagree with this statement 100%. In MOST situations, I agree on most teams PG is probobly the least important. Reason for that, is that there arent alot of great PG's. I think when GREAT PG's are concerned, they are one of the most important positions on the floor with regards to impace because they elevate a team and make others play better. Look at New Orleans, CP3 adds 30 wins to that team. If Rose turns out to be a great PG, the neccessity for a great player at other positions lessens dramatically.