Laker Girls

Surprisingly I wasn’t able to find any pictures of Laker Girls that I could use, so I am putting up a few pics of my favorite Hollywood actresses instead.

Los Angeles Lakers Preview

It is looking more imminent that Kobe will be traded, and soon. The will obviously make this preview null and void, which is why it will be so short. Well, that and the fact that I can’t stand Kobe and the Lakers. I do like Lamar Odom and I think the Lakers as a team are better off when he is running the offense instead of Kobe, but that’s just my biased opinion.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Derek Fisher
10.1 – 1.8 – 3.3 – 1.01 – 0.07 – 38% – 28 min

SG – Kobe Bryant
31.6 – 5.7 – 5.4 – 1.44 – 0.47 – 46 5 – 41 min

SF – Luke Walton
11.4 – 5 – 4.3 – 1 – 0.35 – 47% – 33 min

PF – Lamar Odom
15.9 – 9.8 – 4.8 – 0.95 – 0.57 – 47% – 39 min

C – Chris Mihm
Missed all of last year, what’s that say about Bynum’s offseason progress?

Key Bench Players

Jordan Farmar
Maurice Evans
Vladimir Radmonovic
Ronny Turiaf
Brian Cook
Andrew Bynum
Kwame Brown

Truly, there is not much hope for this team. I don’t like Kobe at all, but he is right about the Lakers not being able to put any talent around him to make them contenders. I mean, Lamar Odom is great at what he does, and he would do better if Kobe understood team play a little better, but after Odom the rest of the team sucks ass. There is no way they make the playoffs this year as currently constructed, which is why Kobe is definitely getting traded.

Clipper Dancers

Los Angeles Clippers Preview

Elton Brand is out until at least Jan, but likely Feb. That means Corey Maggette is the MAN on this team. The question is, who else will step up on a team that basically has not hope to make the playoffs in the west without Brand? They have a very talented rookie in Al Thorton, but he’s just a rookie, so you can’t count on him.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Sam Cassell
12.3 – 2.9 – 4.7 – 0.48 – 0.14 – 42% – 24 min

SG – Cuttino Mobley
13.8 – 3.4 – 2.5 – 1.18 – 0.31 – 44% – 36 min

SF – Corey Maggette
16.9 – 5.9 – 2.8 – 0.87 – 0.19 – 45% – 30 min

PF – Paul Davis
1.6 – 1.4 – 0.2 – 0.19 – 0.16 – 42% – 5.8 min

C – Chris Kaman
10.1 – 7.8 – 1.1 – 0.55 – 1.55 – 45% – 29 min

Key Bench Players

Tim Thomas
Quinton Ross
Brevin Knight
Al Thorton
Ruben Patterson

Sam is the starter, but Brevin will be getting a lot of minutes, just like what he got in Charlotte last year. Cuttino will give you what he did last year as well.

Corey Maggette is the exciting play here. Without Brand, he is the go to player on this team. He goes to the line at an alarming rate and hits over 80%. His scoring average will be over 20, no doubt and I expect his rebounds to be between 7-8. Last year he was giving out assists at about 3 per game the last month of so of the season, so I hope that trend continues.

Are you surprised to see Paul Davis here? I am as well and I’m not sure he’ll keep the job, but he is the starter. He has a nice midrange game and he rebounds ok, but I imagine they will need Tim Thomas as their starter before long. We’ll see how this develops.

They need Chris Kaman to step up in a big way this season. He should average a low double double, but I have big doubts about him. I just don’t trust him, I guess.

It will be fun to watch Al Thorton play this year, since he is a gifted scorer and ready to contribute now. If he gets close to 30 minutes a game, he could do some damage in scoring and on the boards. I really like his potential. They are ready to replace Maggette when he leaves next summer.

Warriors Dancers

Golden State Warriors Preview

The Warriors were the surprise team of the year last season, well not to me, but most everyone else. I had them as the 8th team in the west in my preseason rankings and I had them upsetting Dallas in the first round. During the offseason they traded Jason Richardson and got Brandan Wright, who is a nice prospect, but he won’t contribute this year. The trade opens up opportunities for other players. The tough thing about predicting what Nellie is going to do with his lineup is just that… predicting it. Nellie is as unpredictable as they come. To illustrate my point, he just named Mickael Pietrus as his starting power forward. I like Pietrus, but really?? Power Forward??? REALLY???? So I’ll give my best guess on what will happen with this team this year:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Baron Davis
20.1 – 8.1 – 4.4 – 2.14 – 0.46 – 43% – 35 min

SG – Stephen Jackson
15.5 – 3 – 3.8 – 1.12 – 0.45 – 43% – 33 min

SF – Kelenna Azubuike
7.1 – 2.3 – 0.7 – 0.54 – 0.24 – 45% – 16 min

PF – Mickael Pietrus
11.1 – 4.5 – 0.9 – 0.67 – 0.76 – 49% – 27 min

C – Andris Biedrins
9.5 – 9.3 – 1.1 – 0.82 – 1.66 – 60% – 29 min

Key Bench Players

Monta Ellis
Marco Belinelli
Matt Barnes
Al Harrington
Patrick O’Bryant

Baron Davis is one of the best point guards in the league, when healthy, which is the main question with him. Even with his health issues, he’s still an excellent PG to have on your team, so I always recommend to draft him; just pick up Mona Ellis as well, because he’ll pick up the slack when Baron goes down.

Stephen Jackson is suspended to start the season, but he’ll be consistent once he returns to the court. Expect the same numbers this year, as last year.

Kelenna Azubuike is he surprise here. He is a D-League talent that really knows how to score. I imagine Nellie has fallen in love with his hustle and toughness. I’m not sure if he’ll pan out as a starter, but again, it’s Nellie, so Kelenna could very well get starters minutes all season and be in the running for most improved player. It just depends on Nelson’s mood.

I prefer to have Mickael Pietrus start at SF and Harrington at PF, but Harrington is coming off the bench and Pietrus is the man at PF. Pietrus can score and he is a great defender who will grab rebounds and do what is needed, so I peg him as a huge sleeper this year, assuming he keeps the starting gig here.

Biedrins was having a huge season until he hit a wall. I expect him to be ready and more prepared for the long season and I see him averaging 10, 10 & 1.8 blocks this season, but have you seen him shoot free throws?????? Enough said on that one. I’ll be curious to see how much run Patrick O’Bryant gets this year.

By the way, I can’t talk about the Warriors and Baron Davis without having a picture of Jessica Alba. She’s one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Pacer Dancers

Indiana Pacers Preview

Indiana has a new coach in Jim O’Brien who likes to get the ball up the court and shoot the three, which is a good fit for the players on this team. Last year guys like Tinsley, Murphy, Granger and Murphy really disappointed fantasy owners. What will happen this year?

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Jamaal Tinsley
12.8 – 3.3 – 6.9 – 1.63 – 0.35 – 39% – 31 min

SG – Mike Duneavy
12.8 – 5.3 – 2.8 – 1.02 – 0.27 – 45% – 32 min

SF – Danny Granger
13.9 – 4.6 – 1.4 – 0.80 – 0.74 – 46% – 34 min

PF – Jermaine O’Neal
19.4 – 9.6 – 2.4 – 0.72 – 2.64 – 44% – 36 min

C – Troy Murphy
10.3 – 6.1 – 1.9 – 0.68 – 0.62 – 46% – 27 min

Key Bench Players

Travis Diener
Marquis Daniels
Ike Diogu
Jeff Foster
Shawne Williams
Kareem Rush

The players I want to discuss here are Granger, Dunleavu and Murphy. Granger is being touted as a Matrix Light, but I just don’t see it. Yes, he has all the physical tools, but he stays on the perimeter way too much and simply doesn’t do anything that Marion does, not even on the light side. Look at his stats above! Until he shows me some of his talent on a consistent basis, I’m not believing in him. Dunleavy has been a huge disappointment for fantasy owners every year, but this is the year I think he starts to contribute. He won’t ever be a star, but he should be good as a third guard this year. Murphy was horrible last year, but under Jim O’Brien I expect him to be back averaging 15 & 10 again. Murphy can space the floor with his three and give Jermaine room to operate down low, which is just what O’Brien wants.

Ike Diogu is a great sleeper, because when Jermaine or Murphy get hurt (which one of them definitely will), Ike steps in and contributes right away. Is a 20/10 guy just waiting for the opportunity down the road. I love his game.

Luvabull

Chicago Bulls Preview

The Bulls have a lot of young talent that is starting to get the experience necessary to win the east, but now there are these Kobe trade rumors going around and Chicago is the most likely destination. We’ll worry about that if and when it happens. Let’s look at this team as it stands now:

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Kirk Hinrich
16.6 – 3.4 – 6.3 – 1.25 – 0.29 – 42% – 36 min

SG – Ben Gordon
21.4 – 3.1 – 3.6 – 0.78 – 0.21 – 46% – 33 min

SF – Luol Deng
18.8 – 7.1 – 2.5 – 1.18 – 0.59 – 52% – 37 min

PF – Tyrus Thomas
5.2 – 3.7 – 0.6 – 0.64 – 1.06 – 48% – 13.4 min

C – Ben Wallace
6.4 – 10.7 – 2.4 – 1.44 – 2.03 – 45% – 35 min

Key Bench Players

Chris Duhon
Andres Nocioni
Joakim Noah
Joe Smith
Aaron Gray
Thabo Sefolosha

Kirk Hinrich will give you the same stats as last year. He’s a quality middle of the pack PG. Ben Gordon has improved every year, but I see his scoring average of 21 ppg remaining the same. I hope his assists and rebounds will increase, which would do wonders for him.

Luol Deng is set for a big year. I see 20 ppg, 8 boards with over 50% shooting this year. Tyrus Thomas gets the start, but he will see limited minutes, as he is still learning the NBA. He’ll be good for blocks, steals and boards. Ben Wallace is definitely on the decline, but he will still give you 10 boars per game with over 2 blocks. Much like last year.

Joakim Noah is worth a late flyer, if you’re in a deep league and Andres Nocioni will be getting around 30 minutes a game, so he is valuable as well.

Honestly, this team will remain much the same, unless a shakeup happens via trade or injury.