27/28 Season Preview Part 22
@Skizzo @The Cat @hobbers @Salt Bailly @BenitoSTARR @Solius @weetee @Stobzilla @Dr. Dwayne @altodevil
Pepper Bailly - Milwaukee Bucks (53-29, 1st Round)
My first instinct wouldn't be too claim that the Milwaukee Bucks are particularly
good, but that then comes up against the fact that they easily made it to the playoffs last year. And if anything they should be better this year, with
Pepper Bailly and several other players getting better. They don't quite have that
superstar level player, but they've got 4 players who could plausible take turns playing that role - or at least find it in the aggregate. It seems like Pepper Bailly isn't quite done with this basketball thing yet, so this should be interesting!
sontodevil - Miami Heat (45-37, 1st Round)
sontodevil is declining, yes, but he's still one of the best defenders and passers in the league, and thus also one of the best players in the league. As always, the challenge for his team is going to be putting enough scoring around him to compensate for the fact that he's not into that sort of thing. I wouldn't put money on the Heat going particularly far in the playoffs, but they've definitely got a decent shot at
getting there.
Dr. Junior - Memphis Grizzlies (43-39, Conference Finals)
That's a lot of green. Not only is imminent-old-man
Dr. Junior getting better, despite diving head first into his 30s, but the rest of the Memphis Grizzlies team is filled to the brim with improvement. When that includes superstar Josh Giddey, anything can happen. Their record wasn't
particularly impressive last year, though that was in a conference full of far less impressive records, but they
did make it to the Conference Finals. They got swept by the Clippers there, but then so did the amazing Hawks in the Final as well.
Sonius - Indiana Pacers (57-25, 2nd Round)
Coming off a combined MVP and DPOY win,
Sonius is heading into his 30s with some measure of grace. There's no massive decline. Actually, there doesn't seem to be any decline at all, except for some slight loss of physicality. It's really hard to predict how his Pacers are going to this year, after making it to the 2nd Round of the playoff last year. They're
good, but are they going to be good enough to deal with the Hawks, Nets or Knicks? With the reigning MVP on the team anything is possible, I suppose.
Stobzilla II - Houston Rockets (30-52)
Speaking of aging gracefully, here's 39 year old
Stobzilla II, getting
better. He can't run or jump, and he can only play a very limited number of minutes per game, but he'll give you something significant in those minutes. And it's not like the weeweetee & Lil' V.O.-less Houston Rockets are going to have particularly lofty ambitions in the first place. They're bad, but it's also not immediately obvious that they're as bad as one could expect. On top of that they've got quite a few younger players. Let's see if they can pull off the rebuilding process.
weeweetee - Detroit Pistons (23-59)
Speaking of
weeweetee... well, here is is! The Pistons were the joint worst team in the league last season, together with the Kings, and Lil' V.O. and weeweetee clearly felt the call of solidarity in their hearts when they each joined of them. But bad teams (usually) means good draft picks, and that's how weeweetee finds himself playing next to young Bill Russell. And it's not like they don't have any other good players. So... the Detroit Pistons are
good?
The Cub - Denver Nuggets (38-44, 1st Round)
The Cub is getting old. Well, he's
been getting old. But don't let anyone tell you that he can't still put in a shift. I'm pretty sure he'll be a perfectly playable Center right up until the moment when coaches decide he's literally unplayable. And that's not going to be
this year, that's for sure. After getting another little taste of the playoffs last year, he no doubt wants more. I'm just not quite sure he's going to get it. I guess it depends on how strong the West is this year.
Nobbers & BenitwoSTARRLET - Brooklyn Nets (63-19, Conference Finals)
The Brooklyn Nets were
very good last year, though getting trounced by Atlanta in the Conference Finals must have been disappointing. But despite
Nobbers and
BenitwoSTARR being, respectively, in and close to their 30s, they're still great players. Nobbers even improved, at the predicted cost of some physicality. Overall I'd say the starting 5 got a bit better, and the bench got significantly better. That doesn't mean the record is going to match last year's, which saw the Nets feed on a historically bad West, but the goal has to be the Playoffs, then NBA Final, then a ring.
Skizzlet - Atlanta Hawks (66-16, Runners up)
After a very disappointing NBA Final sweep last year,
Skizzlet will no doubt he looking for revenge. While the man himself declined ever so slightly, his team very probably got even better. This is probably particularly important when it comes to the top 3 players, meaning Skizzlet isn't relied on to provide everything in the biggest games.
Up next: the (cafless) rest.