The Hoop and The Harm

Yesterday on Full Court Press, they were discussing their top 12 players in each conference THIS YEAR. Not to be outdone and because their lists sucked, I have decided to throw my two cents in. This is not an actual all-star team list, as I’m not basing it on picking a team or by position or any of that bogus nonsense. That would make too much sense. This is just a straightforward list of my top 12 players in each conference so far THIS YEAR. Let’s start with the east.

In no particular order:

Bron Bron
D-Wade
Jermaine O’neal
KG
Paul Pierce
Chauncey Billups
Michael Redd
G-Force
Dwight Howard
Caron Butler
Jason Kidd
Joe Johnson

And now the West. Again, in no particular order:

Nash
Kobe
Chris Paul
Dirk
Tim Duncan
A.I.
Melo
Yao Ming
Amare
Baron Davis
Deron Williams
Chris Kaman

I know there’s a few left off that have deserved it in years past(I’m lookin at you T-Mac), but they just haven’t really done it for me this year. Injuries also played a part in this(Did Arenas retire?) So, there you have it. I’ll compare this to the actual all-star roster when it’s announced. Should be interesting to see what top players are left off because of their position.

We’ve got a real doozy tonight with Detroit hosting Boston. Should be a nail-biter. Both teams have had crazy seasons and are on large win streaks, 11 and 8 respectively. I’ll go with Detroit by 2 tonight.

P.S. Detroit will rep the East in the finals. The Celtics could very well win 70 games, but Detroit is a way deeper team and built for the playoffs. Enjoy the game.

With the 07-08 season is finally upon us, I thought now would be as good a time as any to see who hoopandharmers think are the preseason favorites to win the NBA title. So….., who do you think?

My picks:

West Finals: Mavs V Spurs, Mavs in 6
East Finals: Celtics V Cavs, Cavs in 7
NBA Finals: Mavs V Cavs, Mavs in 5

It’s official, Reggie Miller and Marv Albert will be an exclusive broadcasting team. I have to admit I was a little upset that Reginald isn’t coming back for another year. It would have been so good to see him knocking down 3s in the post season one more time. And with the Celtics no less. But alas, it just wasn’t meant to be. The good news is that he has shown he is an excellent broadcaster and will be an awesome complement to Marv Albert.

I got the chance to check out today’s preseason match up between the two and wanted to mention a few things.

The Celtics big three look pretty good together.  There were some flashes of great ball movement between the three.  As a team, they definitely need to shoot the 3 a lot better, but that will obviously improve.  It seemed as though some of the guys were surprised at the number of looks they got.  Also, the entire team needs to step up on defense.  They gave up way too many wide-open looks and offensive rebounds to the Raptors, but again that will work itself out.  Overall, a lot to be excited about in Boston.

The Raptors big stand out today was Jose Calderon.  Bosh was looking his beastly self, but Calderon seems to have reached a new level in his game.  The Raptors too can use some work on defense, but that seems more attributed to not knowing what to expect from the C’s big three.  While this was only the first preseason game, you can see that these two teams will be battling throughout this year for the Atlantic title.

Box Score 

What a difference a summer makes. Last year the Celtics were a joke. Paul Pierce didn’t even take his own team seriously. Hoops fans everywhere have to be amped at the idea of this year’s team. Let’s face it, KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce are all they need to make the finals. The proof is in the video. Watch it and get pumped.