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  October 2007

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The Denver Nuggets are the most talented team in the Western Conference’s Northwest Division, but the Utah Jazz are the more focused team with Deron Williams steadying the ship at the point guard spot. Williams and the Jazz will take this division but may not get out of the first round if matched up again with Houston. The rest of the division is full of young teams, with the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Sonics definitely worth keeping an eye on due to their impressive talent, which includes Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant.

by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com

The Eastern Conference’s Southwest Division is pretty bad, thus meaning that the unspectacular Miami Heat will likely get the lucky four seed in the East. If staying healthy and developing some semblance of defense, the Wizards could take the division. Orlando still doesn’t seem ready to take the conference and will have a tough time getting back to the playoffs despite Dwight Howard and new Head Coach Stan Van Gundy, who in a perfect world would exact revenge on Pat Riley and the Heat. The Bobcats and the Hawks have made interesting moves, but are not ready to even compete for this lousy conference.

by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com

The Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference witnessed some big moves with the Boston Celtics acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and the New York Knicks dealing for Zach Randolph. While the Celtics are the elite team in the division and possibly the entire Eastern Conference, the Knicks will disappoint again. Watch out for the Toronto Raptors, an underrated team, and sell the New Jersey Nets, an overrated yet lazy team.

by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com

The Detroit Pistons’ claim of supremacy in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division ends this year. With that said, Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, coming off an embarrassing performance in the NBA Finals, are not ready to ascend to the throne of the division. Rather, it’s time for the Chicago Bulls to not only win this division but make a run at the Finals. This is a make-or-break season for Chicago’s core, and anything less than the NBA Finals would be disappointing.

by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com

When the Detroit Pistons upset the heavily-favored Los Angeles Lakers four games to one in the 2004 NBA Finals, they were an inspiring and hungry squad that moved around on offense and played team basketball.

Ever since the Pistons won the title in 2004, they have been too content with their ability to turn it on whenever they feel like it. Detroit has consequently disappointed during the last three playoffs, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals and respectively falling in six games to the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2006 and 2007 Eastern Conference Finals.

When Rasheed Wallace officially snapped at the end of the Game Six blowout in Cleveland during the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, Detroit’s run as a title contender officially ended. While the Pistons return their core of Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, this is a team that is one year older and still uncertain whether all of the players are on board with third-year Head Coach Flip Saunders.

General Manager Joe Dumars decided to give this team another shot and did a great job retooling the Detroit bench. Ultimately, this team’s fate rests in the hand of its four starting holdovers, who along with Chicago’s Ben Wallace, restored the Pistons to championship glory.

However, it seems safe to say that Detroit’s run as a legit championship contender is on its last legs, if not officially over.

by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com

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