DNB SEASON PREVIEW IS HERE!!!

Not to many people can claim they predicted last year's NBA Final. This blog can proudly say that we called it and said the Lakers would beat the Magic last year prior to the season. I will tell you right out of the gate it is not going to be a Finals Re-Match. So let's start to beak it down.

The Pacific Division

There are very few sure things in life. But the Lakers winning the Pacific Division is one of those things. They basically traded Ariza for Artest and out looking to defend their title. This division may only put one team in the playoffs that is how far ahead of the pack the Lakers. If any other team is going to challenge for the playoffs it will be the Suns. At least they were able to get Nash signed to an extension but the post Bryan Colangelo era with Suns has been a mess. Speaking of mess that leads up to the Clippers and Warriors. Clippers were tied with the Lakers at 6-2 in pre-season. Some say they will challenge for Playoffs. Blake Griffin is not as good as everyone thinks he is and the Clippers are the same. Warriors are a dis-functional mess. To imagine this group some how coming together and getting on the same page is just not possible. Oh and the Kings...Almost forgot about them. I think they are already the front runners for the first pick in the NBA lottery. Evans will be good at some point unless the losing will crush his spirit.

1.L.A Lakers

2. Phoenix Suns

3.L.A Clippers

4. Golden State

5. Sacramento

Northwest Division

An exciting Division is going to get even better this year with a young and improving Oklahoma City team. But the young Thunder are not going to be considered in picking a winner for this Division. The 3 main suspects would be Denver, Portland and Utah. I had picked Denver on OFF The Bench Radio program. But I have been thinking it over. I like the Blazers and Andre Miller is going to help this team. Greg Oden will still be a bust. But hey the Blazers have not needed him to be a big success to be good. Roy and Aldridge both just getting extensions done. I will say Denver is a close second. But here is a little surprise for you. Utah should be 3rd right? Maybe not. OKC if everything goes right for them and wrong for Utah can be 3rd. I am thinking that may just happen. Minnesota has the basement already decked out with some nice furniture. Jonny Flynn will make a push to be rookie of the year but that is about only thing going on for Minny this year.

1. Portland

2. Denver

3. Oklahoma City

4. Utah

5. Minnesota

Southwest Division

Another interesting division where Texas teams dwell. Along with the Hornets from New Orleans and those former Vancouver Grizzlies now calling Memphis home. The Spurs at least on paper seem the class of this division. I am not sure why I think New Orleans will do well. Maybe I am confusing them with the Saints. Mark Cuban thinks Steroids are ok. I suggest his team will need some if he thinks they are going anywhere. Houston has major problems and will have no Yao and no hope. Speaking of NO HOPE that sums up your Memphis Grizzlies even with Allen Iverson who God instructed to go to Memphis and sell basketball tickets.

1. New Orleans

2. San Antonio

3. Dallas

4. Houston

5. Memphis

Playoffs

Here is who is in and who is out:

1. L.A Lakers

2. Portland Trailblazers

3. New Orleans Hornets

4. San Antonio Spurs

5. Denver Nuggets

6. Dallas Mavericks

7. Phoenix Suns

8. Oklahoma City Thunder

I know really OKC? Maybe I am jumping the gun. But in the end the 7 teams below that team in the one spot are window dressing anyway. Here is how it plays out.

Lakers over OKC in 4

Portland over PHX in 6

Hornets over Mavs in 7

Spurs over Denver in 6

Lakers over Spurs in 6

Portland over Hornets in 5

Lakers over Blazers in 5.

No surprise the LAKERS are you WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPION

Eastern Conference

Central Division

If this division was a horse race you would have the Cavs a big lead, The Bulls would be in second all alone and a pack of 3 teams battling at the back. Cavs have Shaq and Lebron and as Shaq said he is there to win a ring for the king. Well the King was an angry man when he excited the playoffs and I expect that to fuel him all year long. Bulls will be playing to get a home playoff spot and not a division title. The Pacers and Pistons have slim hope of getting in the back end of playoff race. Detroit made some big signings in Charlie V and Ben Gordon but that will not be near enough. Pacers already have injury concerns heading into the year not good. If they were healthy they might be interesting. Bucks are one of those teams with little hope. But they do have a player to start over with in Brandon Jennings.

1. Cleveland

2. Chicago

3. Detroit

4. Indiana

5. Milwaukee

Southeast

Last year I loved the Orlando Magic they were my pick to win the East last year. This year I am going to pick them to win the Division. While some folks have now all the sudden fallen in love with Magic this year. They got on the ride to late and this year the Magic will not improve and actually take a step backwards. Vince Carter is a horrible fit on this Magic team and he will be camped out jacking 3's more than he ever has before. Vince even going near the paint will be an event in Orlando. But they are still good enough to win the Division. Atlanta slots in at second again. They made a couple tweaks but are not ready to take a step forward. Washington was a sexy pick as a team who improved. But injury bug already is in full effect. Bobcats have Tyson Chandler and are young and up and coming. While the Miami Heat did nothing this off-season and they are going to pay for it.

1. Orlando

2. Atlanta

3. Charlotte

4. Washington

5. Miami

Atlantic Division

Raps and the rest. Just kidding it is Boston and everybody else. Raptors if you don't know what I think about them by now not much more I can say. I really like what I saw from Philly in the Pre-season. The Knicks are a little better but not much. Nets will much like the Raps had to need some time to recover from the Post V.C experience. Celtics are the clear cut favourites in this Division. So much so to see them go 14-2 in the Division would not be so crazy to think. Boston is focused on the Conference and not the division and they should be.

1. Boston

2. Philadelphia

3. Toronto

4. New York

5. New Jersey

I know some will be like is he serious? Yeah I am serious. Sixers have looked good and Raps have yet to look good and have a challenging schedule and will be trying to make up ground the rest of the year.

Playoffs

1. Cleveland

2. Boston

3. Orlando

4. Chicago

5. Atlanta

6. Philadelphia

7. Toronto

8. Charlotte

No Miami, No Washington and No Detroit. That makes my picks likely different from most. But how it plays out likely will be the same at the end.

Cleveland Sweeps Charlotte

Boston in 5 over Toronto

Orlando in 5 over Philadelphia

Chicago in 6 over Atlanta

Cleveland over Chicago in 6

Boston over Orlando in 6

Cleveland over Boston in 5

So it is the Puppet Show Finals a year later than advertised. Kobe, Shaq and Lebron...OH MY!!! So who wins it? Drum Roll PLEASE!!!

.....Cavs over Lakers in 6 to win the NBA Championship.

You all may think I am wrong but just remember a lot of folks did last year and I was not. Although what are the odds I could be right 2 straight years? While I try to figure out the math for that...I will remind you that I will have your Award Winner Picks later tonight or tomorrow. Wish I saw a brighter outlook for the Raptors but I have a hard time seeing them win more than 44 games on the high side. I was very wrong about Raps last year and we can hope that trend continues as well.

10 Keys To Victory

Everyone seems to be of the belief that the Raptors will be better. The only question is how much better will they be? Well here are 10 things to look for early on that should give you a good indication. If all of these things happen the Raptors should be on the path to perhaps a home playoff berth. If a majority of them do they will be a playoff team. So let's get the list going. They will be in no order of importance.

1. Chris Bosh is putting up career type numbers. After all it is his contract year unless we all get shocked by a contract extension before the season. The key numbers to watch will be rebounds and assists. If those numbers are on the rise things should be going well. Points wise if he can average 20-25 points as he has done in the past that should be good enough. Also if we see a rise in blocks and steals along with an overall better defender that will mean more than adding a point or 2 to his scoring average.

2. A new and improved Jose Calderon. What does that mean? It means a better effort on defense. No one is every going to convince me Jose will ever be a great defender but if he could just be average or a bit better i'd be happy. On the offensive side it will be the challenge of Jay Triano to convince his point guard to take more risks and push the basketball. Triano did a great job in helping develop Steve Nash. If he could make Calderon a little more Nash like on offense the results would be dramatic.

3. No more Mr. Nice Guys. Reggie Evans must lead the charge to make it clear that this is not the same warm and fuzzy Raptors. A more aggressive attitude is required. This team is going to be challenged in terms of rebounding. They also need a major improvement on defensive side of the ball. A group of this basketball team have to take on that role of defense first and offense second. For those guys on the fringe of the rotation want minutes just play D, Grab some boards and make a hard foul and time will be yours.

4. Development continues for Andrea Bargnani. He showed signs of the start of a post game and the ability to be a decent defender. A more inside and out type of offensive approach along with a bit more desire to defend and rebound. If you see Andrea blocking a shot and grabbing a board and scoring the odd basket in the paint those are all good signs. We all know Andrea can shoot it but he needs to show that he can do more. He starting doing that last year and must continue down that path.

5.Better than .500 after November. The start of the Raps schedule is extremely challenging. If this basketball team exits November with anything north of .500 record wise this will be a huge sign that Raptors will indeed be in play for home court advantage. It is a month full of playoff teams from both the East and West will make it a challenging month to say the least.

6. Hedo Turkoglu's gas tank. After a run to The Finals and Euro Basket will the Raptors key off-season acquisition have a healthy and productive year. Managing minutes and expectations will be key. Hopefully Hedo can have enough PIZZA POWER...to last all the way through the season. He is going to be key you have to figure in the Raptors offense.

7. If part of number 2 happens it will help this man most of all. Demar DeRozan is dunking the ball in transition and does not look out of place on defense it will mean big things for his rookie season. I know he has been working on his shot but the more dunks he can have as opposed to shots the better. Not just for him but all of the Raptors. If Demar is getting dunks it will mean the Calderon and Jack are being effective at pushing the ball and the defense is playing better. So to rip off a Bill Walton line...Throw it Down YOUNG MAN..Wait he says big man but whatever...Dunk IT and MAKE SOME POSTERS.

8. Jay Triano has a impact and establishes a rotation quickly. I mentioned how tough the schedule will be early on and that is the challenge for Jay Triano. He will not have the luxury of many games to experiment during the season. He also has to ride this squad to push the ball and to be accountable on defense. Jay has proven to be effective in using his plays after time outs to some success. Those are just a few things of the many that will be challenges for Jay in his first full season as head coach of the team.

9. Jarrett Jack and the bench will not have to do much to be better than last year. However the added depth this squad has must contribute and play a role. If they can you can afford to give Calderon, Turkoglu and Bosh time to rest. If you can reduce the minutes those 3 have to play night in and night out it will be a benefit in several ways. The first and most important is less wear and tear on all 3. Also it will give them a chance to max out there effort when they are on the floor. If they are all playing 30-35 minutes a night and able to go 100% that will be huge. If you have to have Bosh playing close to 40 along with Hedo that is not going to be a good situation in the long run. In terms of Jack he offers a defensive option if Jose is not getting it done on that end of the floor.

10. Less Help and more responsibility. Jack Armstrong always likes to say that "Help" is the weakest word in the defensive vocabulary. If you don't hear people yelling that word it will be a good sign. The overall defense and how they work as individuals is going to be key. This basketball team should have no trouble scoring points. What will be the deciding factor is can they get stops down the stretch of games. If they can that may be the best sign of all for the Raptors as a whole.

So that is some things to look for over the pre-season schedule and start of the season. DNB RADIO is kind of in limbo at the moment as my work schedule is conflicting with it and I may have to look for a new time and day to do the show. Perhaps Monday might be an option but will see. The Yahoo League is full for Fantasy and if you want in for our ESPN League just send me an e-mail you would like an invite sent to. E-mail me at dinonationblog@sourcecable.net or give me a shout on Twitter @dinonationblog.