Comments on: Poll: Who Will Win the Western Conference, and/or the NBA Finals?

By: Jess Longe

Jess Longe — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:01:22 +0000

Hi, loved the post but quick question...I had a little difficulty loading your page - I use firefox, do you think this was the problem...Bookmarked :-)

By: Walter

Walter — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:10:04 +0000

Yeah... I agree with the Lakers at 2/1 because they are almost a given to win the West with the Spurs as the only possible competition in my opinion. A line of 2/1 essentially makes them a coin flip against whoever comes out of the east.

Orlando at 12/1 is completely off base. In my opinion, Orlando upgraded more than Cleveland and Boston did and they won the East last season!! Orlando is seriously stacked and as a Lakers fan, they scare me more than Boston or Cleveland does.

By: Jason J

Jason J — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:23:26 +0000

Vegas has Denver ranked ahead of Orlando? Wow. That's just... wow.

By: Joe Schaller

Joe Schaller — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:10:49 +0000

I was amazed that Las Vegas has Orlando at 12/1 while Boston 4/1, Cleveland 3/1 and Lakers 2/1. Their upgrade with Vince Carter, Brandon Bass and Jason Williams gives them so much depth and experience to compliment their rising young stars and excellent coaching that I couldn't resist putting some money down.
San Antonio and Denver were both at 10/1 fer cryin out loud. Orlando is hugely overlooked.

By: P Middy

P Middy — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:48:32 +0000

Wow! I'm impressed. Well, if Artest is doing his best Rodman impression, then it's going to be really, really hard to top the Lakers.

By: TQ

TQ — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:45:42 +0000

PMiddy: I've watched most of the Lakers pre-season games and Artest has fit seamlessly into the offense and has actually been amazingly disciplined. Phil has got on him for not shooting enough actually. He's been mostly a play maker in the offense, perfectly content to rebound, pass and play defense. Apparently the therapy is working for him. Since his shooting is pretty terrible most of the time, it's a good thing he's not looking for his shot anymore. Averaging 3.8 apg in 25 mpg during the pre-season, so that's not too bad. His free throws, on the other hand, leave much to be desired (57.7% in preseason).

By: Jared Ras

Jared Ras — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:31:41 +0000

Poll isn't working for me, so I'll try again later, but I picked the Cavaliers overall. To say that LeBron James hasn't had any help is somewhat true, but many of his 2008-09 teammates had success elsewhere before the Cavs' run (some only from their 2007-08 run), but they'll act like they've been there before. Also, Shaquille O'Neal is past his prime and probably one of the more overrated acquisitions, but Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker are some of the most underrated ones.

By: Jason J

Jason J — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:18:02 +0000

On the other hand, on average Artest does a fantastic job against LeBron. Brons scores 3 few ppg on 2% worse fg% against Artest than against the rest of the league. He also gets fewer assists, fewer rebounds, and has more turnovers (5.1 TOs to 5.3 Assts!)

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/tiny.cgi?id=D4WoC

Not that it matters. The Rondo / Wallace pick and pop is going to flummox Mo & Shaq. Flummox I say!

By: P Middy

P Middy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:29:47 +0000

Going with the Lakers to win the Conference and Cleveland to take the whole shabang. Artest does make me nervous. No, not because he is a nutjob who could go Bruce Banner at any moment. But more because he is a nutjob who can jack a shot at any moment. I'm really interested to see how he takes to the triangle, if he can discipline himself. Haven't caught any Lakers preseason, but I got a feeling I'm going to be screaming, "GIVE IT TO PAU," and "GIVE IT TO KOBE" a whole lot this year. Like everyone else here, I'm way geeked for Tuesday!!!