NBA 2009-10 Season Preview

Atlantic Division

Team: Boston Celtics

Last year’s Record: 62-20 (1^st in Atlantic, 2^nd in East)

Offensive Rating (last year): 110.5 (5^th)

Defensive Rating (last year): 102.3 (2^nd)

Key Acquisitions: Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels

Key Losses: Leon Powe, Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore

Projected Lineup:

Position	Starter	Bench
PG	Rajon Rondo	Eddie House
SG	Ray Allen	Marquis Daniels
SF	Paul Pierce	Bill Walker
PF	Kevin Garnett	Glen Davis
C	Kendrick Perkins	Rasheed Wallace

Season Outlook: The Celtics opened the 2009 campaign looking like the team to beat – even better than last year- putting together a 19 game winning streak to start the season an incredible 27-2. But, unlike the previous year, when the Celtics remained virtually injury free, the Celtics season took a huge turn for the worst on February 19th in Utah when Garnett sprained his right knee. But the injury was a lot more serious than originally thought. Although he came back (off the bench) for a few games in late March, the Celtics decided to shut Garnett down for the playoffs. After narrowly escaping the Bulls in one of the greatest playoff series of all time (4 OT games), the Celtics game7 luck (3-0 the last 2 years) ran against the Magic, who stomped the Celtics on their home floor in Boston in game 7.

The 2009-10 Celtics are still very much in the hunt for another championship, and they’ve added some key veteran pieces to the mix. The Celtics bolstered their frontcourt depth by adding Rasheed Wallace. He’ll give them some good three point shooting here and there, but I think the only way Rasheed can be effective is to play limited minutes (15-20). If you play him anymore than that, his effectiveness declines in a hurry, as we saw last year in Detroit. Now they did lose free agent Leon Powe to the Cavs, but with that torn ACL, there’s no certainty that Powe will ever be the player he was in 2008. The Celtics went with the safer bet in Glen Davis.

The Celtics will count on the continued growth of emerging star point, Rajon Rondo, who really came of age in the postseason last year, averaging a triple double in the 7 game first round series against the Bulls. If Rondo continues to improve that jump shot, the Celtics will be a very tough out – for anyone.

Boston should remain a a stout defensive team, under defensive wiz Tom Thibodeau. And with a healthy KG, an emerging point guard in Rondo and an improved bench, the Celtics will be right there with a great chance at bringing home #18.

2009-10 Prediction: 55-27 (1^st in Atlantic, 3rd in East)

Team: Toronto Raptors

Last year’s Record: 33-49 (4^th in Atlantic, 13^th in East)

Offensive Rating (last year): 107.0 (22^nd)

Defensive Rating (last year): 110.0 (22^nd)

Key Acquisitions: Hedo Turkoglu, Amir Johnson, Jarett Jack, Reggie Evans

Key Losses: Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono

Projected Lineup:

Position	Starter	Bench
PG	Jose Calderon	Jarret Jack
SG	DeMar Rozan	Marco Bellini
SF	Hedo Turkoglu	Antoine Wright
PF	Chris Bosh	Reggie Evans
C	Andrea Bargnani	Rasho Nesterovic

Season Outlook: The Toronto Raptors were one of the busiest teams during the summer, changing up a roster that had won only 34 games last year after they had made the playoffs in 2008. Their biggest splash was signing free agent Hedo Turkaglu, who was a key member of the Magic’s run to the finals last June.

Chris Bosh has been rumored in a lot of trade talks, but the Raptors’ decided to hand onto their star forward and in the process, seem to have built a solid core around him. Jose Calderon is Steve Nash lite, scoring 13 ppg last year, while dishing out 9 dimes and shooting 50/40/98 last year (only missed 3 out 154 free throws). Bargnani will pair up with Bosh up front and his ability to create his own shot on the perimeter spaces the floor nicely for Bosh and co.

But here in lies the problem with the Raptors – defense and rebounding. The Raptors were the 21^st worst def. rebounding team last year and they were second last in offensive boards. Bosh will get his 9-10 boards a night, but who will help him out on the glass? Certainly not Bargnani, who grabs an embarrassingly low 4 rebounds a game for his career.

Defensively, the Raptors were just as brutal, ranking 20^th in points allowed (101.9), 22^nd in defensive efficiency (110), 21^st in field goal percent (47%) and 17^th in three point percent (37%).

The Raptors should certainly improve on their point totals and overall offensive efficiency with the new additions to their roster. But they are still lacking in toughness and defensive play. They will win a few more games, but will just miss out on the playoffs.

2009-10 Prediction: 39-43 ( 2nd in Atlantic, 9^th in East)

Team: Philadelphia 76ers

Last year’s Record: 41-41 (2^nd in Atlantic, 6^th in East)

Offensive Rating (last year):107.9 (19^th)

Defensive Rating (last year): 107.8 (13^th)

Key Acquisitions: Jason Kapono, Jrue Holiday

Key Losses: Andre Miller, Reggie Evans

Projected Lineup:

Position	Starter	Bench
PG	Jrue Holiday	Lou Williams
SG	Andre Igoudala	Willie Green
SF	Thaddeus Young	Jason Kapono
PF	Elton Brand	Jason Smith
C	Sam Dalembert	Marreese Speights

Season Outlook: The 76ers have been a team that was supposedly on the rise for a few years now. But, despite rising star Andre Igoudala and other talented youth in Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, etc. the Sixers only improved by one game last year (41 wins vs. 40 wins) and were again eliminated from the first round of the playoffs in 6 games.

The Sixers will be getting Elton Brand back, who missed most of last year with a dislocated shoulder in mid December. He didn’t fit in very well with the Sixers last year, posting career lows in points per game, field goal %, free throw % and assists per game. The Sixers also struggled to the tune of a 13-16 record with Brand. His large contract is pretty much immovable, so they will need to figure it out.

The Sixers lost point guard Andre Igoudala to Blazers in free agency, and Miller is one of the more underappreciated players in the league today, in my opinion. The Sixers drafted combo guard Jrue Holiday to replace Miller, but I think the burden of leading a veteran team is an awful lot for a rookie to accomplish. Playing under a vet like Andre Miller for a year or two certainly couldn’t hurt.

Philadelphia continued to struggle at the three point line last year, ranking dead last in three point makes and three point percentage. The Sixers added sharpshooter Jason Kapono to help improve upon their biggest weakness, but he is only one man. The Sixers remained ball hawks on defense last year, ranking 4^th in steals and 3^rd in forced turnovers. They will need more of the same this year to spark their transition offense.

On the whole, I don’t see Philadelphia getting enough defensive stops to compensate for their already weak half court offense, which got worse by losing Andre Miller. Making the playoffs will be a tough feat for this team.

2009-10 Prediction: (36-46, 4^th in Atlantic, 11^th in East)

Team: New Jersey Nets

Last year’s Record: 34-48 (3^rd in Atlantic, t-11^th in East)

Offensive Rating (last year): 108.3 (16^th)

Defensive Rating (last year): 111.0 (24^th)

Key Acquisitions: Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, Tony Battie

Key Losses: Vince Carter

Projected Lineup:

Position	Starter	Bench
PG	Devin Harris	Rafer Alston
SG	Courtney Lee	Keyon Dooling
SF	Terrence Williams	Jarvis Hayes
PF	Yi Jianlian	Tony Battie
C	Brook Lopez	Josh Boone

Season Outlook: The Nets didn’t have a heck of a lot of bright spots in 2009, but of them was the development of rising star Devin Harris, who they acquired in 2008 for Jason Kidd. Brook Lopez also proved to be a promising young forward, averaging 13 & 8 in 31 minutes of play. Yi Jianlian certainly has a lot of talent, but I think it’s on the line for him this year to prove he is a capable starter on a mediocre team.

I like the direction the franchise is going; out with the old (Kidd, Carter, Jefferson) in with the youth (Harris, Lee, Williams). The Harris-Lee backcourt is something to watch for this year, and the Nets have depth at both backup guard positions (Alston and Dooling).

I don’t see them being a contender yet (that’s a couple years down the road), but a playoff push should be expected of this team.

2009-10 Prediction: 37-45 ( 3^rd in Atlantic, t-10^th in East)

Team: New York Knicks

Last year’s Record: 32-50 (5^th in Atlantic, 14^th in East)

Offensive Rating (last year): 108.1 (17^th)

Defensive Rating (last year): 110.8 (23^rd)

Key Acquisitions: Cuttino Mobley, Darko Milicic, Jordan Hill

Key Losses: Tim Thomas

Projected Lineup:

Position	Starter	Bench
PG	Chris Duhon	Joe Crawford
SG	Larry Hughes	Nate Robinson
SF	Wilson Chandler	Danilo Gallinari
PF	David Lee	Al Harrington
C	Darko Milicic	Jordan Hill

Season Outlook: The New York Knicks continued their “run” of consecutive losing seasons in 2009, running that streak to 8 years. I don’t think this team is headed towards contention any time soon (unless LeBron comes here; in that case all bets are off), but at the very least they were an entertaining bunch last year under Mike D’Antoni, ranking 4^th in points per game and 1^st in three pointers made.

The one thing to watch for with this team is promising rookie center, Jordan Hill. While still very raw, his length, athleticism and activity on the offensive glass should pay immediate dividends on a Run N Gun Knicks team.

2009-10 Prediction: 33-49 (5^th in Atlantic, 14^th in East)