The Postmen NBA Spectacular: Western Conference

October 30th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanE

Even though I’ve only recently actualized it, there are few things that get me as excited as the start of the NBA season. The constant highlights, Charles, Ernie, and Kenny on Thursday nights … man, do I love it. To express that love in full, here’s Part Two of the Postmen NBA Spectacular, brought to you by nondescript team previews everywhere. Part One can be found  here. This wouldn’t be so uncreative, but FD totally stole my every player preview idea. Sure they did.

Below, the Western Conference, in some vague semblance of order.

Phoenix Suns: This is a weird bit of homerism on my part; I have no tangible connection to the Suns, but there is no other team, besides the Bulls, I would reather see succeed. Everything about them — the style of play, the quirky cast of characters, the coach-but-not-really Mike D’Antoni — everything about them is damn near heartwarming. A team like this needs to succeed, not just for “what it means” to the NBA, but because they deserve it, damnit. Here’s believing last year was just a stepping stone, and not their last best shot.

Houston Rockets: It’s all about Louis Scola. I’ll never figure out exactly why the Spurs so haphazardly gave Scola away to an emerging Western rival, but he could be an incredible role addition to this team, a perfect complement to Yao’s lumbering, yet endearing, low-post style. Rafer Alston still presents a hole, which may be aptly filled by Steve Francis. Note of self-indulgence: Last year, playing with the Knicks in NBA Live was never as bad as it seemed like it was going to be, mainly because a guard tandom of Marbury and Francis is a basketball video game wet dream. If Francis is half as effective in real life this year as he was hitting baseball jumpers over my roommates last year, the Rockets will be winning with more than one offseason steal in their regular rotation.

San Antonio Spurs: This post isn’t really about predictions, but here’s one: The San Antonio Spurs will begin the season semi-sluggishly. Tim Duncan might suffer some sort of nagging injury; Tony Parker might be turning the ball over at a high rate; Manu Ginobili might be complaining about not starting. And then, right around midseason, the Spurs will play five or six straight holy shit games, capping the streak with a thrilling late-night win over, say, Dallas. Maybe Phoenix. And from there on out, they will — like every other year — be the quiet favorite to win the title. Sound familiar?

Dallas Mavericks: Is Dirk too soft to win a title? Probably not; besides, I have the vague feeling that calling an NBA player “too soft” is almost like calling a baseball player “not clutch enough,” which is in 90 percent of instances just plain stupid. Instead of armchair psychology, maybe the reason the Mavericks can’t win a title is a case of confused identity, one in which a group of ideal Nellieball players are now, essentially, defending like the Spurs. Bah, that all sounds stupid. The Mavs can win the title this year as easily as any team listed, especially because they probably won’t play the Warriors in the first round.

Denver Nuggets: A testament to the incredibly deep nature of the West is the fact that a team with Allen Iverson, J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, Nene, and Eduardo Najera in its top seven isn’t even really a sleeper for the NBA title. Put that team in the East and, well, you know the story. Still, even counting out Martin to his inevitable season-ending injury, the Nuggets belong among the West’s premier teams … on paper. (Dum dum dummm.) Whether they can congeal on the court is a far different, and hopefully more entertaining, story.

Utah Jazz: The Andrei Kirilenko situatuon got a lot of run in the offseason, and only recently is Jerry Sloan singing his Russian power forward’s praises again. Will it cause a problem, or will the two get along? Perhaps a better question is: Does it matter? The Jazz did just fine last year without much contribution from Kirilenko, thank you very much, and can probably have a fun showing in the playoffs again this year without him. But with him … with him crashing the floor on both ends of the court, flying in transition, locking up opposing superstars … with him, the Jazz can be even better.

Memphis Grizzlies: Seeing the Grizzlies as anywhere near the respectables in the West seems crazy considering their horrid season last year — which devolved into a disgusting Suns-without-talent lab experiment — but just two years ago the Grizzlies were a playoff team rife with young potential. They still are: The additions of Mike Conley and Gasol acolyte Juan Carlos Navarro should cure any potential guard woes, while Mike Miller and Rudy Gay could make for a potent small forward-shooting guard combo. Still waiting to see if Stromile Swift has anything in there, even though it won’t take much for the Grizzlies to bust out this year.

Golden State Warriors: It would be easy to pass Golden State’s 2007 thrill-ride off as a fluke. After all, they did have to get incredibly hot down the stretch, and their entire style borders on schtick. What the Suns do seems, though not premediated, at least calculated; what the Warriors do is more like crazy for crazy’s sake. Still, it works, and a team that had only a few months to form a successful unit now has an entire season to prove that their extremely weird yet likable lineup has the sticking power their finish last year suggested.

Remainders: I love Chris Paul, but other than him, who’s going to score? Don’t try to sell me Peja … Welcome to the West, Al Jefferson … I have absolutely no idea what Kevin Durant is, in every sense of the expression, and I don’t know anyone who really does … Best non-playoff team starting five: Paul, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Al Jefferson, and Chris Kaman.

Props to PostmanR for the art.