Tis the Season

It's that time of year again. I can almost hear the squeak of sneakers on hardwood and smell that weird french-fry scent you get on your hands after dribbling the ball up and down the courth a few times. That's right, basketball season is almost upon us, and with an off-season filled with free agent pick-ups (as well as backstabbings), coaching changes, and the anticipation that this upcoming class of rookies will be as strong as they look, this season promises to be an exciting one.

To kick things off, I'll skip hackneyed regular season predictions and go right for the post-season. Here is how i see the 2009 playoffs looking.

East:

1. Celtics
2. 76ers
3. Cavaliers
4. Magic
5. Pistons
6. Raptors
7. Bobcats
8. Bucks


West:

1. Hornets
2. Lakers
3. Jazz
4. Rockets
5. Suns
6. Spurs
7. Nuggets
8. Trail Blazers

The west is epecially hard to pick, because it's hard to fathom that any of the eight teams in the West to reach the playoffs last year wouldn't make it again this year, but I couldn't resist giving Greg Oden the benefit of the doubt and letting up-and-coming Portland snag that last playiff spot instead of the Clippers or Mavs, two teams who could also be dangerous.
Though sporadic at times, Baron Davis gives the Clippers muliple dimensions on offense, which will be a relief after the selfish, score-first attitude they put up with when Sam Cassel was running the point. With Davis, I think they could play a lot of good teams close, and if Mike Dunleavy can successfully utilize the offense-defense subbing strategy with Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby at crunch time, they may be able to pull out of a fair share of these close games with wins, which hasn't been the case the last couple of years.
I don't know what to say about the Mavs. Even with Jason Kidd, they aren't as dangerous at the point gaurd position without flop-expert Devin Harris. He gave them slashing speed, so that their offense didn't always have to depend on Dirk picking up fowls as he drives into the lane in a painfully awkward and ungraceful manner. I suppose from that analysis comes my prediction: Dirk sprains an ankle after tromping into the lane and stepping onto Eric Dampier's left foot, at which point Josh Howard throws his jersey into the crowd and joins Mark Cuban in the rolling doobies out of 100 dollar bills. Oh yeah, and Dallas misses the playoffs.

Well that concludes my preseason spiel. If I'm not back before the season begins, then I'll see you at the tip-off.