Friday NBA Previews and Picks:
Chicago Bulls vs. Boston Celtics
Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 10/30
Thursday NBA Previews and Predictions:
San Antonio Spurs vs. Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets vs. Portland Trailblazers
Wednesday NBA Picks:
Charlotte Bobcats vs. Boston Celtics
New Orleans Hornets vs. San Antonio Spurs – 10/28
Tuesday Opening Day NBA Previews and Picks:
Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavalliers
Houston Rockets vs. Portland Trailblazers
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 10/27
Clippers Rookie Hurt: Projected rookie of the year candidate Blake Griffin will around 6 weeks due to a stress fracture in his left patella tendon. Get full details here: Blake Griffin Injury
Blazers Starter Injured: F Nicolas Batum will miss around 6 weeks with a shoulder injury after colliding with C Greg Oden.
2009-2010 Portland Trailblazers Season Preview – Expect big things from this Kevin Pritchard built finely tuned machine. Despite all the star power and future star power on this squad, the chemistry is outstanding. It’s tough to look past either the Lakers or Celtics winning this year’s trophy, but it also wouldn’t be surprising to see Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge uncorking the champagne either.
Welcome Back! The “regular” NBA referees and the league have come to terms and they’ll resume officating games for the start of the NBA’s regular season. – 10/23
Ouch: Wizards star forward Antawn Jamison will miss 3-5 weeks with an injury. – 10/23
2009-2010 Cleveland Cavaliers Season Preview – The Cavs seem desperate to make a championship run so they went out and acquired Shaq Diesel who is very familiar with the NBA finals. Does he have enough gas left in the tank to bring Lebron to the promise land? Time will tell. Shaq is getting older but he can still bang with the best of them. I gotta admit, Zydrunas coming off the bench makes them TOUGH. In fact, their top 5 on the bench could pretty much start for any other NBA team. Expect the Cavs to go far but fall short of the trophy.
2009-2010 Orlando Magic Season Preview – It’s hard to believe that the team got better after they lost Hedo Turkoglu, but they did. The Magic added Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Anderson which gives them the depth that they lacked last year. Look for the Magic to be a darkhorse this season.
2009-2010 San Antonio Spurs Season Preview – The good just got better. Popovich is a genius and may go down as one of the best coaches of all time due to his uncanny nack for putting together teams with good chemistry. The Spurs add Richard Jefferson, DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess to a team that was already good. This team could be a sleeper to win the whole thing this year.
2009 NBA Team Over/Unders – Ryno posts the line for each team along with his prediction of whether they’ll go over or under the posted odds.
2009 NBA Predictions – Ryno predicts the regular season records for each NBA team along with who he thinks will go to the playoffs and who will meet in the 2010 NBA finals.
2009-2010 NBA Season Preview – Ryno talks about all NBA teams for the upcoming season. (Individual team previews coming soon!)
2009 Los Angeles Lakers Season Preview – A good team got better. Well, kinda. The team lost Trevor Ariza and replaced him with All Star Ron Artest. While Arest’s talent is unquestioned, will he be a befefit to the team or a cancer?
2009 Boston Celtics Season Preview – The team returns 8 players and adds Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels to the mix. This team SHOULD challenge to win the 2010 NBA Championship as they appear to have the parts in place to make it happen.
Hurt King: G/F Francisco Garcia will miss four months dur to a wrist injury he suffered during a weight lifting accident. He should be back around the All Star break. Huge loss for the Kings. – 10/10
Injured Star: Grizzlies G Allen Iverson will miss 3 weeks or more with a partial tear in his hamstring. Looks like he’ll be doubtful for opening night. – 10/7
KG Watch: Celtics forward Kevin Garnett has been given clearance to start the team’s training camp with no restrictions. This is good news for the NBA as “the Ticket” is a fan fav across the league. – 9/28
More Bad News for Rockets: Guard Tracy McGrady won’t play until AT LEAST December as he rehabs his surgically repaired knee. – 9/28
Fantasy Basketball Note: You might want to consider putting Warriors F Anthony Randolph near the top of your sleeper list. Don Nelson has been raving about how he’s iimproved his work ethic. The kid has huge upside. Nellie is a coach that plays favs and 35 minutes out of Randolph each night could create some HUGE fantasy numbers. – 9/27
You Gotta Love Phil Jackson: Jackson has required Sasha Vujacic to cut his hair because “he played with his hair last year than he played on the court”. – 9/26
Cocky Rook: Warriors rookie G Stephen Curry “I think I will be Rookie of the Year,” Two things can be said for sure: Dude has a sweet stroke like his Dad did and he surely doesn’t lack any confidence! – 9/25
Rough Loss: Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has confirmed that he will not play during the 2009-2010 NBA season to allow a fractured foot to heel completely. – 9/23
The Memphis Ballhogs? The team should consider a name-change after signing G Allen Iverson today. YOU tell ME how Iverson, Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo and Zach Randolph are going to share one basketball. Even two of those guys on one team is a problem. Yikes. – 9/10
Finally! G Ramon Sessions has finally found a home! The Minnesota T-Wolves have offered the restricted free agent a four year deal worth 16 million. The Bucks have the option to match it and keep Sessions, but that is unlikely to happen. Apparently the T-Wolves didn’t think G Johnny Flynn was ready to take over the reigns as play caller. – 9/4
It’s Official: Timberwolves draft pick G Ricky Rubio has decided to stay in Spain for the next two years. In other news, the Boston Celtics have signed G-F Marquis Daniels, a great roll player that will fit into their lineup nicely. – 9/2
AI: G Allen Iverson still hasn’t signed anywhere, but all indicators are pointing to Memphis as the likely destination. – 8/26
Not This Year: Rumors are swirling that PG Ricky Rubio is going to sign a 6-year deal overseas that supposedly includes an option to opt out after 2 years (2011) – 8/26
Trade: The Hornets have traded Rasual Butler to the Clippers for a future 2nd round draft pick. Butler will back up Eric Gordon at shooting guard. – 8/12
Buh-Bye! Denver F Linas Kleiza says goodbye to the Nuggets as he’s signed a 2 year deal overseas with Greek team Olympiakos. – 8/11
Familiar Face: The Pistons are going to sign C Ben Wallace soon. An odd move for a team looking to rebuild as Wallace is coming off a busted leg and tendinitis of the knee. His better days are surely behind him. – 8/8
Long Term Deal: The Portland Trailblazers have locked up start G-F Brandon Roy for the next 5 years. The deal was said to be around 80 million dollars. Now the Blazers look to lock up F LaMarcus Aldridge to a long term deal as well. – 8/5
White Chocolate: The New York Knicks have signed PG Jason Williams who will likely back up whoever the starter may be for the Knicks. Williams had briefly retired before deciding to come back to the NBA. – 8/1
Free Agent Signing: The Milwauukee Bucks have signed free agent F Hakim Warrick. The ex-Memphis and Syracuse player should start after the departure of Richard Jefferson to San Antonio and Charlie Villanueva to the Pistons. – 7/31
About Time: The drama is over. Lamar Odom has decided to stay with the Lakers for the next three years. – 7/30
Trades: The Hornets have sent C Tyson Chandler to the Bobcats for C Omeka Okafor. The T-Wolves have sent C Etan Thomas to Oklahoma City for Damien Wilkins, Chucky Atkins and a 2nd round draft pick. – 7/28
Free Agent Signing: The Portland Trailblazers have signed free agent point guard Andre Miller to a multi-year deal. Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard continues to pull off moves compiling what is most likely the most talented team in the NBA. Adding a true point guard to this lineup makes them an instant contender to win an NBA title within the next few years, despite their youth. – 7/24
Trade: The Minnesota Timberwolves have traded Sebastian Telfair, Mark Madsen and Craig Smith to the Los Angeles Clippers for Quentin Richardson. In other NBA news today, the Phoenix Suns have signed Steve Nash to a contract extension that will keep him a Sun through the 2011-2012 season. – 7/20
Rumors: The Miami Heat are making a strong play to bring in both Carlos Boozer and Lamar Odom to make Dwayne Wade happy. What a hell of a lineup they’d have if that worked out! O’Neal, Boozer, Odom, Wade, Chalmers. Yikes! – 7/16
NBA News: The Blazers have signed rebounding machine Paul Millsap
to an offer sheet that the Jazz may not be able to afford, assuming that
they keep Carlos Boozer. Allen Iverson has been
offered 5 million a year to play with Memphis, but the Grizz owner says
that he’s more likely to sign with the Heat for a lesser amount of money.
The Heat have reportedly offered A.I. around 2 million per season despite
his request for 5.8/yr.
More Signings: Coveted free agent F Brandon Bass has landed in Orlando. Grant Hill has decided to stay in Phoenix because the Suns are said to be signing point guard Steve Nash to a 3-year extension. – 7//10
OUCH: It appears that Rockets All-Star Center Yao Ming will miss the entire 2009/2010 NBA season with his broken foot. – 7/9
Spurs Add Big-Man: Poppovich continues to work his magic adding Antonio McDyess to the Spurs mix, a perfect fit for a great team. – 7/8
Big Names Settle on Contracts: As expected, Rasheed Wallace has agreed to terms with the Boston Celtics. Jason Kidd is also re-signing with the Dallas Mavericks ending speculation that he may jump ship for New York. This puts more pressure on the Knicks to find a way to re-sign Nate Robinson as well. – 7/6
More Signings: Trevor Ariza has decided to sign with the Houston Rockets and Ron Artest is now an L.A. Laker. In other “interesting news, it’s been said that T-Wolves lottery pick Ricky Rubio will be returning to Spain for 2 more years. The Timberwolves will continue to hold his rights. – 7/2
NBA Trade: The Grizzlies have sent Q. Richardson packing to the Clippers in exchange for F Zach Randolph. – 7/1
More: Lakers F Trevor Ariza is apparently unhappy with what the Lakers have offered him and is entertaining the thought of signing with the Cavaliers. The Cavs are also said to be looking at Ron Artest. – 7/1
No Longer Rumors: The Detroit Pistons have signed F Charlie Villanueva and sharp-shooting G Ben Gordon to lucrative 5-year deals. – 7/1
