shug94

Here is my prediction. Of course I am relying on craziness and a huge number of wild upsets in the later rounds, but I think there is a lot of parity this year. Atlanta: Texas Oakland: Gonzaga Washnigton DC: Michigan State Minneapolis: Florida In short I think Florida is a lot better than people think, Michigan State got lucky last year, and will again this year, I don't see the Final Four with no Morrison, and Texas has the talent to get there. Of course Villanova,Connecticut, Memphis and Duke may have something to say about my predictions, but since they are all losing in the third round, I don't care what they think!

Number 10 NC State over Number 7 Cal Number 9 Bucknell over Number 8 Arkansas Number 10 Seton Hall over Number 7 Wichita State Number 11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee over Number 6 Oklahoma These are the upsets, read 'em and weep!

Seriously, Lue is terrible. We should dump him as soon as possible. Buy out his contract, or trade him for a second rounder. He can't play defense, his distribution and ball protection are poor, the only thing going for him is that 1 night in 4 he shoots OK from the floor. The team is definitely playing better without him.

His last game: 24 minutes, 6/7 from the field for 12 points and 9 rebounds. I think Darko is coming along. It looks like he just needed the playing time. I am predicting HUGE numbers for him next year. I don't think it's unreasonable to think he can average a double double. And if Howard does the same, then Orlando will KILL teams on the glass!

Wooooo! Although they are ugly, they should replace them with the 80's style white and red.

I think that if we can we should make sure that part of the package we get for Al to be a first round draft pick in the '07 draft. That's gonna be the deepest draft in years, what with all the highschool guys needing to go to college. If we can get cap relief and a first round 07 pick I would be happy. I also think it is good that Al is here right now, so that it forces the Joshes and Marvin to have to compete for minutes in the rotation. It helps to keep them motivated. And that is hugely important for young players.

I really like this league! Could be because I'm coming second. But seriously, because of the sheer number of teams, 16, it thins the talent pool. Which meant that every draft pick had to be made with the utmost amount of care, and means that trading may be a better way to improve your team than free agency!

I agree with Danny Granger being a surprise rookie. That's why I drafted him in our fantasy league. But I think that more surprising is the pair of rookies up in Toronto. By the looks of things Charlie V and Joey Graham will be putting up some good numbers and logging some serious minutes north of the border!

Maybe my team isn't so good after all, I just realised that there is one place that my team is leading the league. That is, games missed last year. My team's players averaged 57.2 games played last year. I just need to hope that Artest doesn't get suspended, and Duncan doesn't injure himself or need 'rest'.

I think I (Sth Dakota Stallions), may have made a few questionable decisions in later rounds, but all in all I am happy with my team. There are some good teams in that league, and I gotta say, that was one of the most entertaining drafts ever!

@Golden State.....L @LA Clippers.....L @Portland.....W LA Lakers......W LA Clippers......L Memphis.....L @San Antonio....L @Dallas......L @New Orleans.....W Boston.....W 4-6

So which one is the official one?

Joining Now! I love fantasy BBall!

5 Top Offseasons: 1. Cleveland + Larry Hughes has improved every year he has been in the league, Donyell Marshall adds three things this team needs, long range shooting, some rebounds and some defense. And the pickup of Damon Jones will help on the outside shooting a lot. It doesn't hurt that LeBron is a year older either. 2. Indiana + This team got a while lot better just with the banned Ron Artest coming back. And I think that the signing of Jasikevicious was the most important move of this offseason. Also the Pacers got the steal of the draft in Danny Granger. Awesome offseason. 3. Utah + They got Deron Williams. This will be the first time since John Stockton ran the show that Utah will have a reasonable point guard. And it should show. The team did awesome last season (before the injuries), and should be one of the real improvers this year. They brough Ostertag back home, and have CJ Miles, who they can stash in the NBDL. 4. Milwaukee + Resigned Michael Redd. Drafted Andrew Bogut. Tj Ford came back. Signed Bobby Simmons. Ilyasova may be a suspect draft pick, but no-one really knows much about him yet. Milwaukee did well. 5. Chicago + Had two free-agent centers. Managed to not pre-empt the market, and sat quietly on both. Played a reacting game rather than an active game. They have now signed Chandler, and they can't be far from signing Curry, and both of them got far less than what people had accepted was their market value. They really made the best of a potentially bad situation. 5 Worst Offseasons 1. Toronto + I like the Joey Graham draft pick. But I don't like much else. 2. Washington + Lost some really important players in their rotation, and din't really do much of anything to improve themselves, they definitely took a step backwards. 3. Memphis + Added an aging Eddie Jones. That is subtraction through addition right there. They got rid of a bad contract and a bad player in J-Will, but it was too late, and they have nothing else to replace him. Posey was important to the teams success, and he is gone. Summary: Too much subtraction not enough addition. 4. Seattle + Lost their coach, who was more important to their success than most people think, and lost a lot of size in the offseason. We will see how they do, but I expect them to be a huge downgrade this season. 5. Lakers + Got Phil Jackson (and a whole boatload of issues). Added Andrew Bynum, who won't be contributing for a while. They added Kwame Brown, which is not likely to help a lot. And their best addition - Ronny Turiaf - will likely not play much due to his status as recovering from a heart condition. I just put that together in a few minutes, and there are probably some teams who had crap offseasons that I didn't think of. Atlanta probably would be sixth on my list of good offseasons, though. Also, as a side note, where is Jason Williams (formerly of Duke, the Chi Bulls and rehab) playing? Apparently he said he was ready for the NBA again. Has anyone taken a gamble on him?

I was on a business trip to Miami last year and I managed to catch a couple of games. One was a loss against the Mavericks (and Nowitzki, my favourite active player), and one was a loss to Portland. In those games the team really appeared to stink. The main reason they lost was due to Shaq/Dwyane having bad nights. And last season when they both had a bad night, the team lost. Maybe this season it will be different, after these moves. Also, Eddie Jones was terrible. He couldn't hit anything rushed his shots, couldn't play defense and appeared to be a step slow. Just getting James Posey makes this team a heck of a lot better. If J-Will keeps a cool head on his shoulders (which I will admit is a big if), then he is an upgrade over Damon Jones (who played out of his skin last year). And I heard that Walker will be the sixth man. Haslem is an energy player anyway and might play better if given less minutes. I think they are generally good moves, and the only issue is that Shaq isn't nearly as good now as he once was. I don't think the decline of shaq is far away. It may be this season, or bust!

A down and dirty player could be something that the Hawks really need. That and one more year of development.

This is the best post I have read on here for a while. Optimism, but tempered optimism. And also one of the few posts in recent history not bagging out the ownership group.

they may have to start with Jimmy Jackson, who though a decent player, is no JJ. Actually, Jimmy Jackson is a JJ.

- Maybe predict deadline trades. - Predict which quarter of the season has the first Ron Artest "Dummy Spit" - Predict which team will have the leagues best record.

I think Darko's main problem is confidence. How do you get confidence in basketball? Through playing time and getting some meaningful possesions. Darko is not going to get those possesions in Detroit next year. So, looking at it from the perspective o fhow to best develop Darko, there are two options that would give him sufficient playing time: 1) A trade to a team with more 'opportunities' (like us). 2) Or just play him in the NBDL. (for at least the first half of the year.) I figure Detroit will do one of these things.

I'm sorry it is the offseason. I just thought it was an interesting point, that is all.

I was looking at a website with Draft Oddities, and it gave me an idea. It shows Carl Lewis (the runner) getting drafted in 1984, almost 100 picks after MJ. It also showed a team selecting Lusia "Lucy" Harris; Lusia "Lucy" Harris (1977): Harris was the first and only woman drafted by an NBA team. The New Orleans Jazz selected her in the seventh round of the 1977 Draft after Harris completed a storied career at Delta State University, where she was a three-time All-American (1975-77). This gave me an idea. Currently our starting point guard is Tyronn Lue. He is short, cannot dunk, can score some, is OK on defense and isn't much of a passer. Well I know of a player who is considered one of the best in the world at the PG position, is taller than Tyronn, can't dunk either, has a better shot, and is a better passer. It is hard to tell how this player would go with defense, because she plays in a different league. That's right. I think the Atlanta Hawks should attempt to sign Diana Taurasi, as I think she would be a serious upgrade over Tyronn Lue, and surely her buyout wouldn't be too big? http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3266 Tyronn Lue #10 | Point Guard | Atlanta Hawks Height: 6-0 Weight: 178 Born: May 3, 1977 - Mexico, Missouri College: Nebraska Draft: 1998 - 1st round (23rd overall) by the Denver Nuggets http://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/players/628 Diana Taurasi #3 | Guard | Phoenix Mercury Height: 6-1 Weight: 170 Born: Jun 11, 1982 - Glendale, CA College: Connecticut I know that this would never happen. But it is interesting to think of what it would be like if it did. I think the team would actually get better, because there would be a true distributor and a proven winner at the point. Failing that we should go get Sarunas Jasikevicius.

Quote: AJ is a player who reminds many of Ben Wallace based on his build and style of play. I was hopeful the Hawks would give him a look in the past. It took Ben Wallace awhile before he stuck in the league and maybe AJ will develop for us. IMO Wright and Johnson could be the sleepers. Agreed, AJ was a beast at Missou. A rebounding machine, he allowed them to play their free flowing free shooting style, because he would collect all of the misses.

PG: Sarunas Jasikevicius / Jay Williams C: Tyson Chandler / Randolph Morris

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writ...ba.draft/1.html This is a good article on the draft and it has a Dominique Wilkins article where it explains his outlook on Marvin and Salim. It is really cool.