The thinking in the National Basketball Association is often that the most star-powered teams take home the title.
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Pregame festivities: The championship banner will be unveiled in the rafters, and players and coaches will receive their 2014-15 championship rings. But their defending is exactly what pushed that team to a championship-level – as they were still able to lock teams down even when their jumpers wouldn’t fall. I expected the Warriors to have a few work to do heading into this new season, but it hopefully the revamped coaching staff has figured out their team’s flaws.
The Bucks were a 15-team win two years ago. The one difference is that David Lee is gone, and Jason Thompson is in. Here are all the reasons to be bullish on their chances of repeating: They’ve retained their entire core from last season, with the 10-man rotation all back in the fold, along with Brandon Rush and promising youngster James Michael McAdoo. The fact is that they’re a great team and they’ll be motivated by the slick talk coming from other teams in the league.
While LeBron James provided Cavs with a huge presence on both ends of the court, losing Love, Irving, and Varejao greatly hampered the Cavaliers’ ability as a team to defeat Stephen Curry and his Warriors. The Miami Heat haven’t been shy about their intentions since LeBron left them.
It’s going to be a positive for everyone to have Kevin Durant back on the floor this season.
Probably a lot, since that worked really well for them previous year. Also look out for the New York Knicks, but not for anything good. The amusing thing is they were on the verge of falling in the West when DeAndre Jordan “signed” with the Mavericks.
Clippers Coach/President Doc Rivers also loaded up his roster by adding Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith. “They didn’t have to play us or the Spurs”. If there’s any team with sufficient talent to overcome this scenario, it’s Golden State.
“There’s not going to be any nights off for us”. But when the playoffs arrive next spring, I expect them to be the hunters. It is the first time Davis has topped the survey.
Even Westbrook will not be alone, with a healthy Kevin Durant and defensive stalwart Serge Ibaka back for another title tilt. His game will continue to get better. Games could go from “close” to “over” in the span of a snack run to the fridge. That’s what makes this team unique and risky.
Ann Killion: Curry, Warriors face a tough challenge this year with or without their head coach. They quieted the critics of their flamboyant style of play by winning 67 games in the regular season.
Golden State is 20-5 SU in its last 25 games. He says he doesn’t know if this will be his last season or not. The network has a doubleheader, as the Lakers will be playing the Minnesota Timberwolves. The King regains his seat on the throne. The real question is how his defense has improved. I’m picking the Knicks as the team that will tank this season. It’s rare in sports for a team to repeat as champions, but if there is a team that’s capable of it, it’s them. Thomas is one of the elite sixth men in the league. He can quickly come off the bench and make an impact on the game. He’ll need the aid of his teammates to cut down his minutes and his utility. His skill set keeps growing along with his near infinite potential.
“He [Kerr] won’t be coaching the first game and we want him to take as much time as he needs – it’s like a player who has knee surgery then has problems, you tell him to come back when he is ready”, Bogut said. With that in mind, I believe that LeBron James will capture his fifth MVP award this season. Rest assured, once December rolls around San Antonio will be off and running, and nobody will catch them – not even the Warriors.
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But Iguodala said that didn’t reflect the difficulties the team had adapting to first-year head coach Steve Kerr’s system, which was an attempt to blend the triangle offense utilized by Phil Jackson, the San Antonio Spurs’ spacing concepts and the tempo of Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns.
