Nba season started form Tuesday, here's my preseason ranking for each division:

Eastern Conference
Atlantic:
New York Knicks
Philadelphia 76ers
New Jersey Nets
Toronto Raptors
Boston Celtics

Central: :
Indiana Pacers
Detroit Pistons
Cleveland Cavaliers
Milwaukee Bucks
Chicago Bulls

Southeast: :
Orlando Magic
Miami Heat
Washington Wizards
Atlanta Hawks
Charlotte Bobcats

Western Conference
Southwest: :
San Antonio Spurs
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Hornets

Northwest: :
Minnesota Timberwolves
Denver Nuggets
Utah Jazz
Portland Trailblazers
Seattle Supersonics

Pacific: :
Phoenix Suns
Sacramento Kings
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers
Golden State Warriors

My home team report: Toronto Raptors

Last night they trounced the NBA champs Detroit Pistons for an impressive start to the season.Wow,is this a new beginning or a again same old Raps of last two seasons? The questions will be answered by next month.

Starting lineup for Raptors:

Raefer Alston PG
Vince Carter SG
Jalen Rose SF
Chris Bosh PF
Loren Woods C

** Other influentional players: D.Marshall, Morris Peterson, Rafael Araujo.

During the training camp Carter was asking for a trade, which wasn't rightfully given to him. Although NBA has ranked him as 41st greatest player for the 04--05, I still think he is up there with the likes of McGradys and Bryants when it comes to talent. Carter is still one of the most athletic and talented players of the NBA but his stock has come down due to injuries. So, this will be a critical season for Carter to solidify his career that will eventually land him in hall of fame. Mind you this guy was supposed to replace Jordan when he first came in the league and was doing well until 2002.

If Raptors stay healthy they should have no problem making it to the playoffs. They have all the ingredients for a nice basketball team.

** Carter can easily torch any team for 30 pts in any given night.

** Jalen Rose(has won many hearts in Toronto) can play multiple position given Raps flexibility.

**Raefer Alson, a playground legend with a great season with Miami last year is a true PG and big shot player (although I thought they should have gone for Nash).

** Chris Bosh--Remember that name!!! Talk about Carmelo and Lebron but this guy was 4th pick last year and didn?t disappoint anyone here. This year he will average double-double and being 6'11 he can consistently drop those mid-range jumpers.No longer a Carter team now, its CB time and he will be mentioned with lot of good players.

Loren Woods: An unproven 3 year center who has been bouncing around the league. Having said that he has had two good games against Pistons and Houston!!! All he needs to do on this team is to play defense and pull down some rebounds.

** D-Marshall: If he can get around 30 minutes he could be your sixth man of the year. I love this guy?s versatility. He can shoot 3s, post up, play center and pull rebounds. He is such a great performer and greatly underrated player in NBA. (last season stats: 17pts,10 rebounds a game)

**Morris Peterson: He can be that 10 pts, 5 assist guy (great perimeter defender who can defend anyone in the league)

Rafael Araujo: New comer who will learn a lot this year...big guy...and gives size that Raps lack.

Bottom line is that this will be either break or make season for Toronto Raptors. The fans have been hugely let down by their performance in last two years. Being a hockey craze town, Raps are still supported well...And if they can? make it this year I see Carter going somewhere else.

wow wow. great analysis casey bro. This is what I was expecting for someone to write about their hometeam. I want this place to know more about other basketball teams than other sports sites.

I agree with you about the team an dplayers. Raptors got talent, to get to playoffs all players need to have career best stats.

I think Alston is a overpaid backup point guard. Jalen and Vince have already proved themselves. Sophmore Bosh will have better year. Is this wood from Arizona Wildcats??? If so he was the best player in that Wildcats team and Wolves picked him in 2nd round. It seems he finally got the full time oppurtunity in Toronto. Marshall is a great talent but sometimes he disappears during the game. MoPete should be comfortable with backup role.

I won't be surprise to see bluckbuster trade.

Need to bring this thread to the top. Last night's scoreboard:
Blazers 97
Raptors F 101

Spurs 94
Sonics F 113

Hawks 90
Lakers F 106

Reminder:
Today is the draft day for our fantasy league. If anyone interested, drop me a line at corona_669@yahoo
I will send u the ID and Password to register for ur team. More info about the fantasy game here
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/hoops/hooprules/hooprules-01.html

Since this thread has been idle for a while, I am going to do analysis on Los Angeles Lakers:

Phil is gone, Shaq is history, Malone and Payton are fishing somewhere else but the lone ranger Kobe is on his way to prove himselfin La la Land.He doesn't need Sheriff Shaq or anybody--Atleast that is what he thinks!

I am still bitter about the upset that the Lakers faced last two years. Maybe I expect them to way too often but hey if you have that much talent you should win every night!! Easier said than done.

Starting lineup:

Chucky Atkins: Sorry, but he is at most a back up PG( Upgrade please)

Kobe Bryant,SG: He is the most important player on the team who will average 30-5-5 this year.

Caron Butler: he had a great rookie season last year and I think he can be good a contributor.

Lamar Odom PF: Had a good year behind him in Miami but will he will able to support Kobe night in and night out?

Chris Mihm: Two great games in last 4 outings but I dont expect him to be dominant.Esp in a conference where it is dominated by big men. Dampier, KG ,TD and so many others..

Other useful contributors: George,Walton, Grant.

I think it was a terrible offseason for Lakers.They are so low on talent that it would take a goliath effort from Kobe to pull them to postseason.Imagine Kobe being out for 15 games like last year--This team won't even make it to .500. I just dont understand how Lakers are gonna be competetive with that talent.Jazz looks vicious,Dallas looks upgraded, Spurs are danger as ever and even teams like Grizzlies and Hornets have enough talent to make some noise.

I can understand letting Shaq go to build around KObe but why let Derek Fisher(warriors for 30 millions for 5 years, he left cuz he couldn't start in LA but they traded Payton..doesnt make sense) go? If Kobe had a friend in the squad then it was Fisher!!!! and Fisher is a clutch performer.

although I love the way Kobe plays, I hate his mentality and selfishness. If he was smart enough he would have easily had Shaq by his side for another championship. Just look how well the Heat is doing just by having the presence of Shaq..I mean he can change lot of things around.

Bottom line: If Lakers want to get to playoffs they need to better their PG position and have better bench players. Jason Kidd's name has come I won't be surprised if he goes there...but we will have to wait and see..

Prediction for Lakers this year if they dont make a better trade:40-42( no playoffs)

* Caron Butler: He has good rookie season in 02-03 season.

nice analysis on Lakers casey00 bro.

Here's my take on Lakers.... During the off season, the management had two choices, Kobe or Shaq. I think management were wise keeping young and "Jordanesque" Kobe than overweight Shaq. I knew Shaq's days were numbered after he screamed to Jerry Buss, Lakers owner, to PAY HIM. Why would you want a player who is 33 and does not come in shape and got no respect you for paying millions??? btw it's the same Shaq, the most expensive player in the league, was asking for contract extension and wouldn't defer his money :=) this dude needs more money to be motivated to lose weight...... I won?t be surprised to see his tantrums in Miami coz he has done wherever he has been.

Zen Master knew it, after the Shaq trade, he was not going to be back :=) It would not have made any sense bringing him with Kobe, since they could not get along. Zen Master never missed the opportunity to thrash Kobe on/off the court. And what?s up with the book??? It should be named Kobe Thrashing??? I bet he milked few xtra millions just mentioning Kobes name. I never heard great Jerry West, the NBA?s Logo, whining after his departure from LA LA Land. Wan'ts it the same Zen Master who chased him out of town? what goes around, comes around?.

People in LA do not like Kobe, especially radio talk show hosts (ESPN Radio, L A Times) They blame everything on Kobe, but these guys won?t miss the opportunity to kiss his ass for the interviews, prime example Shelley Smith from ESPN. I have never seen any reporter being as biased as her during the trial in Colorado. Now she is whining that Kobe doesn?t respond to her questions during the interview session. Kobe would have a great season and will contend for MVP.

LA is going to struggle early in the season. They are more up tempo team and will run a lot. Rudy T is the right coach for LA. I really do think L.A. got the fair deal getting back Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant. Three starters for one, what else could you ask for?. Odom has a great potential and has shown what he can do last year. Butler has a great basketball IQ and is a good defender and he will have better season. Grant is another hustler and team guy. Divac will help the team after he comes back. They got too many 3s and 4s, they should trade couple of them for POINT GUARD. If JKIDD comes to LA as casey00 said, LA will be playing deep in the playoffs. Even without trade(s), they will have 45 plus win, Shaq & Zen Master will be surprised and so will you?.

As always great to talk about sports with you, AX.

Yes, I totally agree with your analysis. The Lakers did make a futuristic decision by signing Kobe to maximum contract but I am not sure how they are going to keep that winning history alive.

Yes, Shaq can be a hard as* since he also wants to be the man but it is hard to get quality big men in the league. With a good big man you can win so much in the league.Shaq definitely wanted way too much money ..I think he should get around 10-11 milion a year from now on..not more than that. About Phil, I dont know why ONLY KOBE had problems with him...Shaq respects him like father and Jordan had no problem with him..oh well weird who knows...Phil's book will definitely sell more cuz of KOBE.

Being Jordan will be no easy thing for Kobe but again Jordan had Pippen, Rodman, Kerr,Kukoc so many great players who could change the game by their performance. As far as I m concerned I dont see any "great" players in the team so far.

Also, some will say that it is unfair to compare him against Jordan;Jordan is Jordan;Kobe is Kobe!! Right? Wrong...If it wasn't for his ego to be as good as Jordan and be the man in La land he wouldnt have created this fiasco.

The villain of La lakers story looks like Kobe, and there also could be only one hero...to save the franchise--it will again be Kobe.

I'm interested too.

I'm interested too.

KG4MVP that website aint workin homie...im gettin some kinda server shit error...anyone getting in ok with the draft picks being tonite?

Guys, the draft was yesterday night and it is too late to join the league now. May be u can try joining any other public league.

daddyz, just saw ur message. I hope u were able to get in ok. Yea, there were about 8 team managers during the live draft. The java applet took a while to load when I was trying to get in too, but loaded fine afterwards.

Nets:

Pro: The team with the best point guard in the league. It will have running game as past years with JKIDD leading the way. Upcoming new star Richard Jefferson is wrapped with long term contract, Detail oriented coach?.. JayZ may help to sell some tickets

Con: I don?t think there will be any magic left on this team even with JKIDD. They let go fierce defender, Kenyon Martin and good tandem of shooting guard in Lucious Harris and Kerry Kittles; Big question in Shooting Guard and Center position.

Starting Lineup:
Jason Kidd - Point Guard
Ron Mercer - Shooting Guard
Richard Jefferson - Small Forward
Aaron Williams - Power Forward
Jason Collins ? Center

Bench ? Rodney Buford, Jacque Vaughn, Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams

I won?t be surprise to see flurry of trades. JKIDD is not happy with the new ownership and wants to be traded; ZO wants to play for the contender. I won?t be surprise if they end up last in poor Atlantic Division. Good days are over, Rebuilding ???

The Nets will suck this year. Period.

The Knicks aren't a good team either but have a shot for 2nd or 3rd in the atrocious Eastern Division.


The only way that they will be a power house again is if Isiah Thomas trades Tim Thomas and Kurt Thomas for an All-Star big man.
AND start Michael Sweetney and Trevor Azria (this kid looks dynamite)

lakers lost he I dont htink they r going to win it again this year. Kobe without shaq hmmm??????????????????

spurs r doing just amazing except last time with seattle
but that's ok they will come back anyway as usual :D

Yo tilkumari lai SPURS bhanda aru team ko nau thaha chaina ki k ho?


aba lekna ta kehi maan thiyena tara k garne.. bho k ganthan gari rakhnu..


GO LAKERS. GO KOBE.

I have been out of this tread ever since it started. Sorry.. No time to read. Now, almost a quarter of the season has been finished... I am barely following the games. Today I saw power ranking at ESPN, and saw Spurs still atops the league; however, I think Sonics have also become great team this year. They beat Spurs twice. I don't know if it was their fluke or they are upto that level. Let's see how Ray Allen can keep up his team in this pace throughout the season. What's up with MN? They are ranked second!!

Suns - killer team of 04-05. Looks like they are young and very versatile team this year. is the addition of Nash making that difference in this team or Amare's maturity? They have at least 4 players who can score in double digit every night. Suns is the team Spurs need to worry about if they want to win champianship.

Knicks sucks.. I thought Houston was activated.

I am really impressed with LeBrown James this year. Now I realized why he's #1. He will take his team to the next level for sure.. Gooden is making big difference in his team too.

Well u guys know better than me.. Just feel like putting some remarks.. AX go on...:) WHere's DWI??

who won?

Finally someone is taking TD and the SPURS gang seriously after 3 years ;) Spurs is the most consistent team last 5-6(???) years. TD is da man, w/o him that team will become Hawks of the West. Manu needs to cut his turnover and needs to penetrate and kick it to perimeter more, Brent gotta hit the jumper, that's why he was acquired.

I chose Suns to win the pacific division and I stick with it. If you have the good passer like Nash, that ill surely make a difference. Nowitzki may be thinking of joining Suns now ;)

wherez YAO fans???

Rusty bro, James is #1??? regarding what??? Give credit to Big Z, he is one of the reason (beside James) they are doing so good. and What's up with Knicks :s I took them to win the Atlantic division. Time for H20 to find new home.... can they get JKIDD and ZO??? or Air Canada and JROSE??? that team needs overhaul.

so fat TD is the MVP, you don't believe me??? read this article by Charly Rosen http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3231766

go SPURS go!!!

Yes, Suns are better without Dirk. They shouldn't strive to join Suns... The team will be second Mavs again if he does that.

Yao's fan? I only like him because he's from our neighboring country. He's just an average player, like I predicted a couple years ago. He can't be better than this. The biggest disappointment is he couldn't play at the level that analysts were talking about. He got too much media attention which i would call their business trick to popularize NBA all over the world, especially China.

I don't wanna talk about TD being MVP right now. We still have time to argue on this topic. They are one of the strongest team in West as always, but we can't say they snatch the title.

Well, i don't know about big Z in the Caveliars... I Know James have been playing complete game in his second season. He's one of three rookies in NBA history to average at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in one season. He's a good passer, scorer, as well as rebounder. I won't say he would be the second MJ, but he certainly is next big thing in NBA, with or without big Z. I am little disappointed by Carmelo's diminish this year.

Yes, somebody talking about Vince Carter? Why is he still staying in Canada? Wasn't he supposed to get traded to Portland? Well, I was Vince was a great fan of Vince Carter back in those days. Now, after his injury, he's just slumped... He's a caliber player in NBA, but he's certainly underrated these days. He needs good teammates. Half man half amazing..:)

Kidd.. yeah go to the Knicks.. Kurt is the only player i like in the Kincks.. I don't care about rest...