my thoughts after one night of the NBA

[chillzatl]

Spurs:

I don't know how I missed all of their off-season moves. But I did. Signing Rasho was the only move I remember hearing about. I had no clue they'd gotten Mercer, Carter and Turkeyglue. At least I don't remember it. Once that team gels, they are going to be very very good. That a team that won the title last season could cut their average age in half and actually gain more scoring, without losing defense just doesn't seem fair!

Lakers: They looked good, you have to admit. Payton and Malone run the break like they've been doing it together for years. They could trade Kobe for a bag of chips and still be favorite to compete for the title. With a healthy Kobe, they can be devistating.

Mavs: They didn't show it last night, but they will still competing for the title. They are easily top 4 in the league. Once their new players get integrated into the system, they should be the dominant scoring team in the league.

the rest: Philly did what they should have done. They'll be fighting in the east but right now it's hard to call them favorites for anything other than a low playoff seed.

Miami...poor miami. Riles works so hard for so long to get Odom and then loses him again on opening night.

Suns: they improved. I don't think they are going to repeat what they did last year, simply because the teams around them improved more. They are depending on players to develop instead of adding proven pieces.

[Traceman]

and stay healthy, they are going to kick some serious a$$ this season. Payton was simply awesome and Malone ALMOST messed around and had a triple double (9 assists). The Lakers had THIRTY TWO assists and only 11 TOs in their 1st game! That is AWESOME. All that WITHOUT Kobe. Good grief! When they get Fox and Kobe back, they are clearly the class of the league.

[Plainview1981]

I know. I LOVED the way the Lakers played last night.

That is how the game of basketball is supposed to be

played. The Spurs on the other hand should be taken

away from national TV. They are BORING and they turn

away viewers looking for some kind of excitement.

[Diesel]

I think that Phoenix did nothing to improve.

Penny is old and it shows. Marbury is still good but Him, Stoudamire, and Matrix are all Phoenix has and it might not be enough to even be competitive in the West. I can't imagine Stoudmire gettting much better... So that means that I can't see Phoenix getting much better. They need to trade away Googs or Penny for someone who can contribute.

Dallas got worse too. I think the best thing they did this offseason was get Delk. Otherwise, they have a bunch of guys standing on the arc shooting.

LAL is impressive. IF Payton pushes the tempo like that... There's nobody that can stop these guys on the run. However, I'd like to see them play a team with some defense before I consider them unstoppable. What happens when they play NJ or Detroit?

I didn't see the Miami/76er game but from the Highlights, it's obvious to me that Wade might be ROY. He's got awesome game for being just a Rookie. Even without Odom...

Wade/Grant/Jones/Butler should be hard to beat.

[Plainview1981]

It's bad for Miami that Odom and Butler are injuried. Since

the Heat don't have a PG they really need Odom.