Its fannnnnnntastic

[Coin]

So it is.

Its the NBA, and its back. San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, Indiana, Miami all will feel like they have a chance. I've seen Cleveland mooted as contenders. Obviously the Shaq, Stoudemire and McGrady injuries will hurt those teams, but better to get hurt early on than late. Personally, I think its Spurs / Pacers in the finals, and I can't see past the Spurs again. Heavily stacked, and Popovich seems to be very good at dealing with who gets the minutes, so its unlikely there'll be much moaning and griping. And they absolutely slapped cleveland the other day, without really looking stretched at all.

[Teknique]

I can't see past the Spurs



Simple as that really
The additions of Finley and Van Exel are huge to an already stacked team
give em the rings now I say

[Sound]

Any big trades I should know about?

[Teknique]

Not really.....

I'd say Coin would have a better idea , but Indiana getting Artest back is like trading for the best defender in the league , without having to give anyone up
and as I said above , the Finley move is big for the Spurs

[11 league titles]

would have to agree with spurs and indiana in the finals..Detroit have come out flying aswell tho.. The East now looks better than the West for the first time in a long while...AS mentioned cleveland have traded well in the summer but were given a clinic by san antonio at the weekend

[Coin]

would have to agree with spurs and indiana in the finals..Detroit have come out flying aswell tho.. The East now looks better than the West for the first time in a long while...AS mentioned cleveland have traded well in the summer but were given a clinic by san antonio at the weekend
I think Cleveland will pan out ok. In fairness to them, they're trying to bring in some key pieces (Hughes, Jones, Marshall) and it will take a while to gel. I'm not sure about Drew Gooden though. He's not consistent, and you need an athletic 4 to go alongside Ilgauskas.

The big trade of the summer was undoubtedly the Miami one. 5 teams involved and 13 players moving, but Miami were the big talking point. Between the trade and free agency, they've basically given up Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler and Damon Jones and acquired Antoine Walker, Gary Payton, James Posey and Jason Williams. To be honest, I think its overkill. If Shaq and Wade hadn't gotten injured in the Eastern finals, they could well have gotten to the finals and beaten the Spurs. Phoenix did a bit of an overhaul as well, they traded Richardson to NY for a bit of strength in Kurt Thomas and let Joe Johnson go to Atlanta in a sign and trade, in which they also got Boris Diaw, who may turn out to be a find.

Detroit are flying alright, as with the Spurs, it helps to have exactly the same set of starters as last year. And I think they'll be deeper, with Delfino and Darko getting some decent minutes this year.

[Coin]

Indiana getting Artest back is like trading for the best defender in the league , without having to give anyone up
Exactly, plus about 17 or 18 points per game. You'd have to worry about whether he'll lose it again though.

[11 league titles]

Exactly, plus about 17 or 18 points per game. You'd have to worry about whether he'll lose it again though.
I think he's learned his lesson...Watched the game against Miami from Wed night..Nobody could guard him.. They tried Walker, Haslem, Wade, kapono..All of them got into foul trouble directly off him..He got Zo for a few also..he is a beast of a man..

[Teknique]

he is a beast of a man..

straight outta QB