Monday, October 21, 2019

2019-2020 NBA Preview

Stephen Curry knew roster change was inevitable.

That being said, Curry and the Golden State Warriors aren't changing their expectations.

The five-time defending Western Conference champions aren't the popular pick to represent their side of the league in this season's NBA Finals, understandable after losing the likes of Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala. But Curry said the Warriors will strive to remain what they've been during the last half-decade — "a team that's feared across the league."

"Look at every era of basketball," Curry said. "For a team to sustain this type of level of play and this greatness, it doesn't happen that often. And when you need to retool, it may look different, but the great teams, great players figure it out as they go."

Thing is, there are so many great players — and potentially great teams — in the West this season.

The Los Angeles Clippers are the prohibitive favorite to win the NBA title, at least according to oddsmakers in Las Vegas, after landing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Los Angeles Lakers still have LeBron James, and added Anthony Davis. Houston reunited James Harden with Russell Westbrook. Denver and Utah bring back strong cores. Portland might have the league's best backcourt.

"You just can't take it for granted," Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti said. "It's really, really hard to win games in the NBA, especially the Western Conference, the way it is now."

Maybe harder than ever.

"We want to maintain the culture that we've built, but we want to make sure our players are put in the best position to succeed, and the last four years we pretty much knew exactly what that meant," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We don't really know what it means this year. That's why we have a lot of work ahead, but it's exciting. I'm looking forward to it."

Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said the West will be great for fans and the league — not so much for coaches, players and owners.

"Somebody is probably going to come in ninth and get fired when they shouldn't because they did a great job," D'Antoni said. "But that's the way it is."

A look at the West, in predicted order of regular-season finish:

Playoff Bound

1. Denver — The team few are talking about, for puzzling reasons. They're young, they already know how to win and the Nuggets' win total has risen in each of coach Michael Malone's first four seasons there. No reason to think that won't continue.

2. Houston — Harden is entering his 11th season. Westbrook is entering his 12th. D'Antoni is entering the last year of his contract. It sure seems like title-or-bust time in Houston, and the wide-open West could be for their taking.

3. L.A. Clippers — When George gets back from his recovery from shoulder surgeries to join Leonard on the new-look Clippers, this is going to be a team with frightening potential on defense. They'll peak toward the end, and could win it all.

4. L.A. Lakers — This is absolutely not to say they're the fourth-best team in the West. LeBron James knows it's all about April, May and June, and he certainly isn't going to care where the Lakers are seeded as long as they're in the playoffs.

5. Utah — Donovan Mitchell is just starting to come into his own, Rudy Gobert is still the defensive player of the year and Joe Ingles is better than people realize. The addition of Bojan Bogdanovic was big, as was adding Mike Conley — if healthy.

6. Golden State — The five-time defending West champs lost Durant, Iguodala and Shaun Livingston — plus won't have Klay Thompson for most of the season. But the Warriors still have Curry. Relax. They'll be fine.

7. Portland — This is way too low, but that's life in the West right now. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are elite, Terry Stotts is underrated and don't be surprised if the Blazers tweak the roster after Jusuf Nurkic returns to take a title shot.

8. San Antonio — LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan lead a team that features a young core of Lonnie Walker IV, Dejounte Murray and Derrick White. Oh, and Gregg Popovich is still there. Count the Spurs out at your own risk.

In the Mix

9. Dallas — Dirk Nowitzki is gone, but the new star-duo pairing of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis has enormous potential. The Mavs haven't won a playoff series since the 2011 NBA Finals, but this season will see them get closer.

10. Minnesota — Ryan Saunders' first full season will lead to improvement, but even a five-game leap to .500 won't get it done as far as a West playoff berth this season. But if Karl-Anthony Towns plays 82 games at his potential, who knows?

11. Sacramento — Rick Adelman took the Kings to their last playoff appearance in 2006. Luke Walton is the team's 10th different coach since; he has Harrison Barnes, De'Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley and Buddy Hield, yet still faces a tall task.

12. New Orleans — Zion Williamson's knee is already a concern, not a good sign for the No. 1 overall pick. Lonzo Ball's shot is better and J.J. Redick has never missed a postseason. But if Williamson isn't full-go, it may be tough sledding for New Orleans.

Facing Long Odds

13. Oklahoma City — There is a lot of talent on this team: Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, Steven Adams. If all goes right, the Thunder will contend for a spot. Or will they make more trades and collect more picks?

14. Phoenix — Devin Booker is entering his prime. But the Suns have averaged 22 wins during the last four seasons, are on their fourth coach — Monty Williams — in a span of 24 months and still seem overmatched in the loaded West.

15. Memphis — The Grizzlies' first-round pick in 2020 is top-six protected or else it conveys to Boston. The Celtics might not want to plan on getting this one. This year's goal for the Grizzlies? Simple: Get Ja Morant settled into his new job.

Other Things of Note

Leonard has a chance to win a ring with a third different team if the Clippers win the title. James and Danny Green would do the same if the Lakers win it all. The only players to win a championship with three different franchises: John Salley and Robert Horry.

San Antonio is bidding for a 23rd consecutive playoff appearance, which would give the Spurs outright possession of the NBA record. They're currently tied with Philadelphia with 22 straight playoff trips (the 76ers' franchise did it from 1950-71, that span starting when they were the Syracuse Nationals).

The league's general managers have wildly different views on which team will win the West. In NBA.com's annual preseason polling of GMs, six different West teams — the Clippers, the Lakers, Golden State, Houston, Denver and Portland — got at least one vote as the conference's best.

James has 993 games of 20 or more points, third-most in NBA history. When he gets to 1,000 of those, he'll be the last to hit that milestone for many years. Durant may be the next; he's got 720.

With Harden and Westbrook, Houston becomes the sixth team to have two players who each won an MVP in the last three seasons. Of the other five, four — the 1959 and 1960 Boston Celtics, the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers and the 2017 Golden State Warriors — won an NBA title. The other was the 1984 76ers.

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OCTOBER 18, 2019 AT 10:59 PM

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, left, drives to the basket against Minnesota Timberwolves' Robert Covington during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)

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Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks were a couple wins from beating Toronto. The Philadelphia 76ers were maybe a couple bounces from doing it a round earlier.

Neither team was good enough to finish the job last season, but both think this is their time after Kawhi Leonard went back to the Western Conference.

That left the NBA champions weakened and the Bucks and 76ers looking like the favorites to represent the East in the NBA Finals — where perhaps they’d have to deal with Leonard again.

The Bucks appeared headed there in 2018-19, right up until midway through the East finals. Milwaukee had the league’s best record at 60-22, with Antetokounmpo eventually winning MVP and Mike Budenholzer the Coach of the Year. But the Bucks couldn’t get another victory after taking a 2-0 lead over the Raptors, who won the next four games to reach the finals.

The Bucks think they addressed some of their weaknesses and are ready to take another run at it.

“I think everybody on this team wants to show that last year wasn’t just, you know, a year by accident that we just won 60 games,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think we had a great team. We got better but obviously there’s going to be a lot of teams that expect us. They know us now and they’re going to play hard.”

It took Leonard’s shot that bounced on the rim four times before falling in at the buzzer in Game 7 to knock out Philadelphia in the second round. The 76ers come back with Al Horford and Josh Richardson but without Jimmy Butler or JJ Redick, hoping they’ve given coach Brett Brown the right mix around All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

“We know what the expectations are and we embrace it. It’s not just Brett, it’s all of us,” general manager Elton Brand said. “We’re in that position now where just getting to the first round, getting to the second round, those expectations are gone. We’re expected to win big and we embrace it.”

Leonard went to the Los Angeles Clippers but the Raptors still have Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam in their frontcourt that finally slowed down Antetokounmpo. He knows there will be many more teams gearing up to do the same starting next week.

“We’ve just got to be ready,” he said. “They’re not going to give us nothing. We’ve got to go out there and take everything that we want and we’ve got to earn everything that we’ve got to earn this year.”

A look at the East, in predicted order of finish:

PLAYOFF BOUND

1. Milwaukee — By bringing in Kyle Korver and Wes Matthews, the Bucks have surrounded Antetokounmpo with even more shooting to space the floor.

2. Philadelphia — Having Horford in Philadelphia removes one possible defender against Embiid.

3. Toronto — Gasol, Siakam and Serge Ibaka still make up an imposing frontcourt even without Leonard.

4. Boston — With Kemba Walker now in Kyrie Irving’s former spot, the Celtics should have better chemistry even with a little less talent.

5. Brooklyn — No Kevin Durant yet, but enough pieces around newcomer Irving to reach the postseason again.

6. Orlando — Magic hope to pick up where they left off after a strong finish in 2018-19.

7. Indiana — Will get Victor Oladipo back at some point, but losing Bojan Bogdanovic will hurt.

8. Miami — Couldn’t make a final playoff appearance in Dwyane Wade’s last season in South Florida but could in Jimmy Butler’s first.

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IN THE MIX

9. Detroit — Need to come up with enough shooting from the backcourt to complement Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin in the frontcourt.

10. Atlanta — Hawks putting together good young core around one old player: 42-year-old Vince Carter.

11. New York — Couldn’t get any of the top free agents but signed enough veterans to improve last season’s NBA-worst team.

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FACING LONG ODDS

12. Chicago — Bulls think they can make a leap but there’s a long way to go after losing 60 games last season.

13. Washington — Bradley Beal should put up big numbers — unless the Wizards trade him — but they won’t often lead to wins.

14. Cleveland — The development of Darius Garland could be key to John Beilein’s transition to life as an NBA coach.

15. Charlotte — Kemba Walker is gone and there’s not much talent left behind in Charlotte.

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WHAT TO KNOW

Jumping Off Point

The deciding factor in the East could be how much either Antetokounmpo or Simmons improves from the perimeter. Both have relied on their ability to get to the basket to overcome a weak jump shot, but both worked on their stroke over the summer and hit from 3-point range in the preseason.

Sidelined Stars

Among the injured East players missing some or possibly all of the season: Kevin Durant (Brooklyn), Victor Oladipo (Indiana) and John Wall (Washington).

Record-Setting Season

Carter re-signed with Atlanta last month and will become the first player in NBA history to play 22 seasons.

Back to Boston

Irving originally said he planned to remain in Boston, but changed his mind and signed with Brooklyn after the Celtics’ disappointing season. His first trip back is scheduled for Nov. 27 for a nationally televised game on the night before Thanksgiving.

Make More Magic

Orlando engineered a 17-win improvement last season, tops in the NBA, to finish 42-40 and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Magic, who went 22-9 down the stretch, brought back 12 of the 17 players who appeared in a game for them in 2018-19.

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[10/22/19] 100 bold predictions

[10/22/19] 10 bold takes

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Stan Sheriff Center: Top Ten Countdown

10.  Women's basketball 1998: Vince Goo and Nani Cockett
9. Lakes brought Showtime to Hawaii
8.  Undefeated Wahine upset by Michign State on 12/8/95
2. Tes Whitlock's buzzer-bomb beats BYU
1.  Hawaii basketball upsets Kansas in 1997
The top 10 list

10/20/19 - Stan Sheriff Center an enduring testament