14/15 Season Preview West
@V.O. @Solius @altodevil @weetee @Samid @Dan @hobbers @Salt Bailly @The Cat
Lil' V.O. - Houston Rockets (50-32, 1st Round)
Lil' V.O. has similar features to his father, though perhaps not quite the same frame. As many others have in their first year, he's gone slightly back in skills and slightly forward in endurance and IQ. He's also jumped straight into a pretty good team, who just got even better. I don't think they're winning the league yet, but he'll almost certainly see the playoffs in his rookie year.
altodevil - Los Angeles Lakers (54-28, Conference Finals)
Father time is relentless, and he's still coming for 36-year old
altodevil. And also most of the rest of the Lakers. I've called the end of 1-seed Lakers for a while now, but this time I'm certain. The West is getting stronger, and the Lakers are just too old now. They're not
bad though, so playoffs are definitely likely.
Pepper Bailly - Sacramento Kings (28-54)
Pepper Bailly has immediately become the best player on his first team, the Kings. You wouldn't think they had particularly good chances at making the playoffs, but crazier things have happened.
The Cub - Oklahoma City Thunder (22-60)
Here's the thing. Oklahoma City is bad.
The Cub? Well he's good. But his team is bad. Is he good enough to drag them into the playoffs? I wouldn't bet on it, but our man has quietly been one of the best players in the league for a couple of seasons now.
sontodevil & Solius - Memphis Grizzlies (38-44)
Solius is still a very good player, but the end is probably in sight. Most of the decline was physical, so he should still be able to put up great scoring and assists numbers, but his lack of speed and jumping might make him a defensive liability. So it's lucky for him that he's got
sontodevil on his team. I expected the duo to be better last year, but maybe this is the year?
Nobbers - San Antonio Spurs (45-37, 1st Round)
Nobbers took a formidable leap over the summer, and he can now comfortably be called a superstar. The West is strong this year, so he'll need to continue the great form he engendered in his Spurs at the end of last season, if they're to make a mark this year.
Dan II - Phoenix Suns (24-58)
Oh
Dan II, bless your little heart. If you're a big Dan-fan and you're excited about following the exploits of his son, let me save you the trouble. He'll play almost no basketball. Yet.
weetee & Samid - Minnesota Timberwolves (44-38)
weetee and
Samid have a combined age of 74, and a combined jumping rating of 16.
Samid in particular has now reached the point where he'll get almost no playing time, despite still being perfectly able to score some points when he does play. Both him and
weetee took a large step backwards over the summer.