It’s the first day of winter, and with the 2011-2012 NBA season set for a Christmas Day tip-off, I am here to bestow upon unsuspecting victims the first-ever NBA Lightweight Report.
Thankfully, this didn't have to be called the "Locked Up/Out" Preview
Now, while I’m excited for basketball to finally roll out, this was a most annoying NBA lockout, and as a result, you will not be getting a semi-deep season preview like the one I released for the NFL season that was also coming off of a lockout. Of course, not getting ANY commentary on the NFL piece has a lot to do with it, but as I explained in the NFL article, NBA previewing doesn’t require as much science. The NFL schedule is a significant variable in a team’s success. Everyone plays everyone in the NBA, so the best teams win. Alas, there’s the caveat with the “team” parts of things. In the NFL, teams (and their coaching staffs) are pretty much set for the season. In the NBA, things change constantly: Stars get traded (see: Deron Williams), injuries and transactions can completely remake a team (see: last year’s Utah Jazz), and coaches and even general managers can lose their job with as little as a bad 16-game streak (see: Jerry Sloan). Nobody is safe in the NBA! With that said, let’s at least set a baseline for the 2011-2012 season. Analysis provided when I get comments! But I will be tweeting analysis on every team at least once before Christmas (follow @1maddskillz):
Missing: Canada. Sorry Raptors.
NORTHWEST: Oklahoma City Thunder (1st Western), Denver Nuggets (7th Western), Portland Trail Blazers (8th Western), Utah Jazz (13th Western), Minnesota Timberwolves (14th Western).
PACIFIC: Los Angeles Lakers (4th Western), Los Angeles Clippers (5th Western), Phoenix Suns (11th Western), Golden State Warriors (12th Western), Sacramento Kings (15th Western).
SOUTHWEST: Dallas Mavericks (2nd Western), San Antonio Spurs (3rd Western), Memphis Grizzlies (6th Western), New Orleans Hornets (9th Western), Houston Rockets (10th Western).
CENTRAL: Chicago Bulls (1st Eastern), Indiana Pacers (6th Eastern), Milwaukee Bucks (11th Eastern), Cleveland Cavaliers (13th Eastern), Detroit Pistons (14th Eastern).
ATLANTIC: Boston Celtics (3rd Eastern), New York Knicks (4th Eastern), Philadelphia 76ers (8th Eastern), New Jersey Nets (9th Eastern), Toronto Raptors (12th Eastern).
SOUTHWEST: Miami Heat (2nd Eastern), Orlando Magic (5th Eastern), Atlanta Hawks (7th Eastern), Washington Wizards (10th Eastern), Charlotte Bobcats (15th Eastern).
WESTERN FIRST ROUND: Thunder over Trail Blazers … Mavericks over Nuggets … Grizzlies over Spurs … Lakers over Clippers.
WESTERN SEMIS: Thunder over Lakers … Mavericks over Grizzlies.
WESTERN FINALS: Thunder over Mavericks.
EASTERN FIRST ROUND: Bulls over 76ers … Heat over Hawks … Pacers over Celtics … Knicks over Magic.
EASTERN SEMIS: Bulls over Knicks … Heat over Pacers.
EASTERN FINALS: Bulls over Heat.
*****N*B*A*****F*I*N*A*L*S*****
Bulls* over Thunder in 6*.*
The NBA returns on Christmas, which means repeated promos of Mrs. Nick Cannon
-1SKILLZ
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2012 NBA Playoffs: The Bandwagon Report » 1skillz-networksunited.net
04.28.2012 at 3:28 PM (UTC -7) Link to this comment
[…] and for the most part, I nailed my preseason predictions in this year’s Lightweight Report released around Christmas. All of the teams I thought would make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference did, which means […]