Hey, check it out – a new feature! This is the debut of Basketball for Breakfast, my stab at a daily recap. I know, I know, there is already a wealth of excellent recaps in the NBA blogosphere. I read them all and that won’t change. This isn’t an attempt to compete with anyone; I’m simply trying to add something of my own. I’ll do my best to keep it fun and unique.

The All-OTN Team

Amir Johnson: 2 Pts (0-2 FG, 2-4 FT), 7 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 4 PF in 20 min.

Not the most impressive stat line in this 106-102 loss to the Wizards, I’ll admit. He was enjoyable to watch, though. The man always brings the energy. Those 7 rebounds? 6 of them came in the first half, including an amazing grab that he followed up with an assist to a cutting Chris Bosh. What’s most impressive about Amir’s rebounding is that he gets them in different ways – last night, I saw him tip the ball to himself, tip it to his teammates, and straight-up wrestle it away from opponents’ fingertips. He is one of the few Raptors in the franchise’s history who manages to get rebounds that he shouldn’t. The 4 fouls in 20 are unfortunate, but he’s still learning.

Jared Dudley: 7 Pts (2-5 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-2 FT), 7 Reb (3 Off), 1 TO, 2 PF in 18 min.

Again, these numbers won’t blow you away, but they rarely do with Jared. I’ll tell you this: I didn’t see much of this 126-99 blowout, but in the couple of minutes where I tuned in during the 2nd quarter I saw Jared Dudley make three impressive plays in succession: hitting a three-pointer, drawing a foul underneath the basket, and saving a possession for his team. Clyde Frazier, calling the game for the Knicks, seemed positively smitten with him. It’s always nice to get 7 rebounds from your backup small forward, too. Shame his effort wasn’t anywhere close to enough to avoid this embarrassing defeat.

Shannon Brown: 4 Pts (1-6 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT), 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 PF in 23 min.

Argh. More crappy numbers. Doesn’t mean he had a bad game, though. On the night where his new website launched, he entered the game with 1:07 left in the 1st quarter and stayed there through most of the 2nd, absolutely shutting down sharpshooter Marcus Thornton. Brown quite obviously wasn’t on the court to score; he was there to stop Lil Buckets from doing so. And he succeeded – Lil Buckets couldn’t get anything going in the first half. Unfortunately, the Hornets didn’t Let Shannon Dunk on this night, as his best opportunity was a missed alley-oop from Kobe Bryant. His one FG was pretty nice, though:

Rookie Watch

DeMar DeRozan: 2 Pts (1-4 FG), 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 TO, 1 Blk, 1 PF in 16 mins.

Not a standout night for DeMar, as he missed a couple of jumpers we know he can make. It’s important to remember what his role is on this team, though. Since Jay Triano has opted to play him pretty much exclusively with the starting unit, he is not asked to take a lot shots and doesn’t get many opportunities to get in rhythm. We saw some nice plays, though – DeRozan’s 1 FG came on an alley-oop from Jose Calderon, where he didn’t have the angle to slam it down so he adjusted and layed it in. His block on Gilbert Arenas in the 3rd quarter was fantastic, too. I’ve got to add that the 1 Ast is a bit deceiving, as he made a couple of aggressive plays that led to scores where he was not credited for any stats. One in particular stands out, where he drove on the right baseline and kicked it out to Chris Bosh, who found Andrea Bargnani at the top of the key for three. That’s a hockey assist. Nice to see. Still firmly on this bandwagon.

Ty Lawson: 13 Pts (5-7 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-3 FT), 5 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 PF in 24 mins.
Very nice line for Lawson, on the night that his alma mater beat my Spartans by 7. 13 points on 7 shots, in 24 minutes? You have to love that efficiency – this is why statheads love him. And why you should love him? He can score in various ways, as he hurt the Warriors last night with his jump shot, his runner, and his ability to get to the basket. He outscored fellow rook Stephen Curry on this night, despite playing 16 fewer minutes and attempting 7 fewer field goal attempts. Another fun fact: his PER so far this season is 17.6. His teammate J.R. Smith’s? 15.1. Can’t give Denver enough credit for acquiring him in the draft.

Dante Cunningham: 6 Pts (2-6 FG, 2-3 FT), 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 PF in 18 mins.

Four fouls in 18 minutes? Ah, rookies. You have to be happy for Cunningham, though, as he made his first career NBA start last night due to LaMarcus Aldridge nursing his knee. While he obviously didn’t make up for Aldridge’s production, he had a positive impact on the game with his hustle. You know I love players like that. And I’m not the only one, check out what Seth Johnston of Bust A Bucket had to say:

Energy like Cunningham’s is something I am craving more and more as we sit and wait for the team’s bigger personalities to sort out their issues. I want a hyperactive role player power forward to just go nuts out there and provide me with some sort of vicarious catharsis. So thanks for giving me a little of that, Dante.

Darren Collison: 20 Pts (7-14 FG, 2-4 3PT, 4-4 FT), 5 Ast, 2 Reb, 4 TO, 2 Stl, 2 PF in 34 mins.
Collison continues to be awesome. I cannot BELIEVE Byron Scott was playing Bobby Brown over him earlier this season. I mean, I feel bad that Byron is without work, but I’m sorry, that was inexcusable. A kid this quick, with his ability to penetrate, knock down shots, and play defense? You put him out there over a chucker like Bobby, every time. Some analysis from Niall Dohery of Hornets247:

He would have had a few hockey assists if anyone kept count, and he was pesky as always on defense. He had two nice plays against Kobe, first getting by him on the perimeter late in the third quarter, keeping him on his back and then using a hesitation dribble to open up a gap for the layup. About a minute later he shadowed Bryant brilliantly to slow down the break and help stop the Lakers getting an easy bucket at the end of the period.

Additionally, he had a crazy buzzer-beater at the end of the 1st half. I’ll put the video here when/if it surfaces.

Fun With Stats

Brendan Haywood shot 1-8 from the line last night against Toronto. This, obviously, hurt his team. Fortunately, he made his minutes worthwhile by doing a very respectable job on Chris Bosh, who was held to 7-22 from the field. If the big man had just made his free throws, though, this game wouldn’t have come down to the final couple of minutes. The Wizards managed to escape with a victory after Hedo Turkoglu committed an unforced turnover with 31 seconds left in the game, but if you’re a Wizards fan you have to think it shouldn’t have got to that point.

In the Phoenix/New York game, the Suns failed to reach 100 points for the first time this season. The Knicks managed 100 points by the end of the third quarter. I should also point out the magnificent work of Danilo Gallinari: 27 pts (10-19 FG, 6-12 3PT, 1-2 FT), 10 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Blk, 0 (!) TO in 36 mins. Check out what Seth of Posting and Toasting had to say about Gallo’s fantastic all-around game:

He looked much more confident and made his way into the center of the court to participate more in the offensive flow. There were backdoor cuts, frontdoor cuts, and even a stop-and-pop banker from about 12 feet out.

So great that he’s being more than just an excellent three-point shooter, isn’t it? I am sure that Francesco Cappelletti of Ball In Europe is proud as hell right now.

Also scoring from all over the floor last night was Anthony Morrow, who scored 27 points against Denver while only hitting 2 three pointers (in all of his other 20+ games this year, he’s had at least 4 threes). It may be because of the limited bodies the Warriors have at their disposal right now, but I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that gorgeous shot launched so often these days.

Two more statistical shout-outs for before I move on – Michael Beasley and Ray Allen were huge in winning efforts. Beas was one point short of his career high, finishing with 27 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor and 11-12 (!) from the line. Pleasing his fantasy owners, he also contributed 8 rebounds, a block, and a steal. Jesus Shuttlesworth came through with his best game of the season, too, as he poured in 27 points on only 9 field goal attempts. When you go 5-6 from downtown and 10-10 from the line, that type of statistical improbability can happen. Oh, and he threw in 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a block, and a steal. Nice to have you back, Ray Ray.

Quoted

“They spread, they go, and they’re kind of all over the place.” – Carmelo Anthony, on Golden State’s offense, from Denver’s telecast. So few words here, but I don’t think he’s missing anything.

“Who are these guys?” – Clyde Frazier, on the Knicks, from New York’s telecast. I must say, Clyde, I was wondering the same thing. 71 points in the first half?

“Just pathetic defense by the Suns.” – Clyde Frazier again, providing spot-on analysis of how Larry Hughes was able to amass about 48 assists in about 4 seconds against Phoenix.

“I’m happy for our fans. They got to go home and watch (North) Carolina and Michigan State. If any of them were smart, they would have left early and watched that game.” – Larry Brown. Wait, there’s more, check out this next gem…

“I think even Doc Rivers had 12 points.” – Gerald Wallace. Ouch. I don’t think you need me to say any more about last night’s Boston/Charlotte matchup.

“I decided today I was going to be more aggressive. It’s fun. It relieves the pressure, it gets me off the ball and puts me back into my old mode where I was just scoring.” – Gilbert Arenas. I was quite impressed with Gilbert last night, even if he’s not quite back to his old self yet. Actually, that gives me an idea…

Impressive

Gilbert Arenas: 22 Pts (7-17 FG, 3-7 3PT, 5-5 FT), 3 Reb, 9 Ast, 1 TO, 1 Stl, 1 Blk in 38 mins.

It took Gil a little while to get going with his shot, but he was dishing out assists as soon as the first quarter began. Only once the fourth quarter began did Agent Zero really join the party, but when he did it was something to see. Like the Gilbert of old, he took control of the game near the end, scoring 12 points in the final frame. Not trying to ignore Antawn Jamison’s 10 fourth-quarter points, but Arenas was leading the team. As a Raptors fan it was annoying, but as a Gilbert fan it was heartening. Give him some more time and he’ll be dominating more quarters.

Andrea Bargnani: 20 Pts (8-14 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-2 FT), 11 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 2 TO, 1 Blk, 5 PF in 35 mins.

I could definitely get used to seeing double-doubles next to Bargs’s name. Love that. The Italian Rodman grabbed 7 of those boards in the first half, with 3 of them coming on the offensive end. As always, you love his efficient scoring, but when Bargs is boxing out properly and getting after it inside, all of Raptors Nation is proud. More of this please, sir. Oh, almost forgot – his one block came against Earl Boykins. I can’t recall a single instance of Earl Boykins getting a perimeter jumper of his blocked in the NBA, but Bargs managed to do it. Kudos.

Tweeted

@stackmack: On the pizza promo front: Turkoglu’s ONLY make in the fourth quarter was a pointless three at the buzzer to win pizza for the crowd.

@Nat77: Raptor fans cheered when for a buzzer beating slice of pizza and booed while their team was only down 3 and had a chance… #teampromofail

@LakersReporter Lakers crowd is incensed with N.O. scrapping during garbage time enough to threaten free tacos. 99 pts. w/04.8 left…

BAH. Rant time. This stuff pisses me off. Get rid of all of these stupid promotions. If the crowd is chanting, I want it to be about the game. End of story. And, Raptors fans, you’re letting me down lately. I love your passion for the team, I love that there seem to be a gazillon of you on the internet, but smarten up. This isn’t directed at all of you (after all, I am a Raptors fan), just the pizza people and the two fools in the section next to me who were heckling Chris Bosh on Sunday. Not cool.

@ticktock6: I think it’s hilarious that my entire twitter feed is cracking jokes about that Devin Brown airball. Lord, it was so bad. I’m still laughing

@kpelton: Every time I watch this Hornets-Lakers game, Bobby Brown is shooting. He does not lack for confidence.

I don’t even know how I feel about the Browns anymore. It’s just ridiculous at this point. At the beginning of the season, I was screaming at Byron Scott for playing them. Now, they both kind of need to be on the court for at least some stretches, but come on. What is going through their heads with some of these shots? The Devin Brown shot Ticktock6 from Hornets Hype is talking about was honestly one of the worst shots I have EVER seen. Very comparable to Zach Randolph’s boneheaded end-of-game three-pointer last year, except it came in the 1st quarter with plenty of time on the shot clock. As for her reaction (which was the same as mine) – sometimes, you have to laugh because the only other option is to cry. I’ll definitely post the video here if it surfaces later today. Here’s hoping.

To Watch

Lamar Odom destroying Hilton Armstrong:

(This spot is reserved for when nba.com puts up John Thompson’s interview from last night about Allen Iverson. Come on, guys.)

To Read

Generally, I’m going to use this section for articles/posts published the previous day, leaning more heavily on stuff that hasn’t been linked much elsewhere (like this piece on Carl Landry, this one on Jarrett Jack, this one on Mike Wilks, and this one on the Wolves). Today, though, I’ve got to direct you to three excellent Thanksgiving-inspired pieces from a few days ago. If you’re American and you took a break from the NBA for a couple days there, I forgive you, but do yourself a favour and read these. The first two speak perfectly for me, and the last one speaks to me.

Giving Thanks To The Game, by Holly MacKenzie

Guess what I’m thankful for? by Kelly Dwyer

A Different Set Of Eyes, by Tim Donahue

Remember how crazy the West was 2-through-9 last year? We knew no one would catch the Lakers, and we knew you’d have to win close to 50 games to make the playoffs, but we had no idea how everything would shake out in the end. There was one great team in the conference, a bunch of very good teams, and then a whole bunch of crap. No Western team won between 29 (Golden State) and 46 (Phoenix) games.

Well, the East is even crazier than that this year, but the action is all in the middle. I see three teams that should easily win more than 46 games as presently constructed and only two that might finish with fewer than 29. That’s almost what happened last season, but what’s even more interesting is that, if forced to predict team records this season, I’d argue that there are ten Eastern teams that could hover around the 40-42 win mark.

Here’s a look at the big clusterfuck:

Atlanta Hawks

2008-2009: 47-35. 10th in offense. 11th in defense.

You might wonder why these guys are on the list, as they had home court advantage in the playoffs last season. They’re also the only team on this list that was above-average on both ends of the court last season. Plus, they’ve got continuity – in re-signing Mike Bibby, Zaza Pachulia, and Marvin Williams, they’ve kept their core intact. Adding Joe Smith and Jeff Teague should improve their bench, too. Still, I see a couple of reasons why they could slip back in the standings. First, there’s the Jamal Crawford signing. At first glance, this seems like a positive move. He is, if only slightly, a better player statistically than Filp Murray, the man he is replacing. However, he is allergic to defense. Murray isn’t great at that end of the court either, but I’d rather have him out there than Jamal. Additionally, Murray was only out there for 24 minutes a night, which is what he’s been used to as a sparkplug scorer off the bench. Crawford has been accustomed to a more prominent role and has received significantly more minutes than that since 2003-2004, which leads me to question how this will work out. There are two potential problem scenarios here – having a bad defender on the court for too long, or having an unhappy Crawford cause problems in the locker room. In addition to all this, I see a second challenge in the way of Atlanta getting back to 47 wins, one that faces all of the teams I will cover here: other teams have improved. Atlanta went 26-7 against the other nine teams on this list last season and I believe this will be a significantly more difficult thing to do this time around. Even if they are still the best of the group, there is a smaller gulf between the Hawks and the teams who finished beneath them in the standings last year, one that might not make up for the fact that they are clearly a couple of notches away from being an elite team. Unless their young talent and/or coach Mike Woodson provides the club with improvement from within, expect a step back.

Miami Heat

2008-2009: 43-39. 20th in offense. 11th in defense.

If Jermaine O’Neal plays like he did in the first half of the decade for Indiana, and he manages to stay on the court, this team can improve. Reading the reports in Miami might make you seem optimistic about this, but I’m here to remind you that this is the same exact stuff we heard in Toronto last year. I truly hope Jermaine will be more than a half-decent jump-shooter and shot-blocker this season, but I remain very, very skeptical. Even if Jermaine O’Neal remains average, though, shouldn’t Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley improve enough to add some wins? I’m not sure. Chalmers is a nice piece but I don’t see him being much of a game-changer this season. Beasley is more interesting – this is an extremely talented kid that deserves a bigger role than he had last season. If they park him on the block and give him the ball, he can score at will. With more minutes and more touches this season, he could help the Heat win more games. I’m worried about him, though, because Erik Spoelstra is going to try to play him at the 3. This is not his position. He’s going to struggle to guard 3s and he’s going to have a tougher time scoring. If they don’t get more offense out of Beasley and O’Neal, I think they could drop in the standings even if Wade turns in another MVP-level season – the drop-off on the defensive end from Marion/Moon to Beasley/James Jones/Q-Rich is huge.

Philadelphia 76ers

2008-2009: 41-41. 19th in offense. 13th in defense.

This team has some good players and a good coach, but there’s no way to know if they’re going to put it together, or put it together in time to really make a mark. They struggled integrating Elton Brand last year – we knew it would take some time to integrate a traditional post player into their athletic, fast-paced, turnover-causing attack, but didn’t think it’d be so difficult that everyone seemed relieved when the team’s best player was sidelined with an injury. Since last season, they’ve lost their starting point guard in Andre Miller and haven’t done much about it. Sure, he was lazy at times, but he was solid and, no, Jrue Holiday is not a replacement. This season we’ll see some improvement from Philly’s young guys, we’ll see a lot of Andre Iguodala handling the ball, and we’ll (hopefully) see a much more effective Elton Brand than we saw for bits of the 2008-2009 regular season. With the time it’ll take for this team to properly learn Eddie Jordan’s offense, though, and its still-obvious lack of shooters (even with Jason Kapono on the roster), I find it difficult to imagine them separating themselves from the pack in the East.

Chicago Bulls

2008-2009: 41-41. 14th in offense. 18th in defense.

Having John Salmons and Brad Miller around for the full season will help. So will having Luol Deng back. It even seems like Taj Gibson can contribute. So, why am I not projecting a big leap? Well, for one, they lost Ben Gordon. Complain all you want about his shot selection and his defense, but he is a very, very good player who the Bulls haven’t replaced. Before you scoff at the contested jumpers he puts up, realize he is an incredibly efficient scorer – his TS% of 57.2 is absolutely an elite number for a shooting guard, on par with that of Brandon Roy and Dwyane Wade. I’m not going to argue that he is a great defender, but Scott Skiles was able to effectively mask his defensive deficiencies for years. Please don’t think of Jannero Pargo as an adequate replacement. Still, with improvement from Derrick Rose, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah, this team might have the highest ceiling of any on this list. To finish at the top would require a fantastic coaching effort, though, and with Vinny Del Negro at the helm I am definitely not counting on it.

Detroit Pistons

2008-2009: 39-43. 21st in offense. 16th in defense.

Do not count on the Pistons finishing 21st in offensive efficiency next season. With Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and Chris Wilcox joining Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince, Will Bynum, and Jason Maxiell, new coach John Kuester has plenty of scoring options to work with. Kuester is the man who re-worked the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense last season, when they jumped from the league’s 19th-best offensive team to its 4th-best. Even though they’ve been absolutely great in previous years, Allen Iverson and Rasheed Wallace hurt the Pistons on both ends of the floor last year. The long jump shots and sub-par defense we saw from these two last season is the reason we have the term “addition by subtraction”. Detroit fans should be expect a much more functional locker room than the one Michael Curry dealt with last season, plus potentially one of the league’s top offenses. This is all good stuff. There’s a reason I’m not expecting an enormous jump in the standings, though: defense. Charlie V. and Ben Gordon will be huge boosts on the offensive end of the floor, but these guys will never be mistaken for defensive stoppers. Same with Wilcox. They’ve brought Ben Wallace back, but at this point in his career I’d argue that Kwame Brown is a more useful defensive player. I would be very impressed if Kuester managed to keep this club at around the league average next season, that’s what it would take in order to move into the upper echelon of the conference, even if these Pistons are up there with Portland in terms of offensive potency.

Indiana Pacers

2008-2009: 38-44. 17th in offense. 19th in defense.

I’m not going to tell you that the Pacers are more talented this year. They’re not – swapping Marquis Daniels, Rasho Nesterovic, and Jarrett Jack for Dahntay Jones, Tyler Hansbrough, and Earl Watson shouldn’t get any Pacers fan excited. Here’s the thing, though: these downgrades don’t prevent Indiana from winning a few more games than last year. Brandon Rush had a killer end of the season, Roy Hibbert was already a very effective center in his rookie campaign, and T.J. Ford is better than what he showed last season. I’d bet on all of them being more consistent this season. You have to hope that T.J. can stay healthy and Hibbert will cut down on the fouls, but the potential is there for 3/5ths of the Pacers starting unit (at least until Mike Dunleavy returns) to show considerable improvement. In addition to this, Danny Granger will continue the ascent to stardom that got him an All-Star berth and the Most Improved Player award in 2008-2009. I’m not fond of the Pacers’ overall plan or long-term outlook, but I won’t be at all surprised if they’re in the thick of the playoff hunt next season. I’d encourage you to pay attention to this team even if they’re not, though, as Jim O’Brien’s club played at the 3rd-fastest pace of any team last season and were a ton of fun to watch.

Charlotte Bobcats

2008-2009: 35-47. 27th in offense. 7th in defense.

The Bobcats wanted that 8th seed last year more than perhaps any franchise I’ve ever seen. Eschewing the bottom-out-and-get-draft-picks plan, coach Larry Brown pressured management into acquiring veterans Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Juwan Howard in the hopes of having the Bobcats’ most successful season yet. To his credit, he technically did that, as the Bobcats had previously never eclipsed the 33-win mark. Brown managed to impart his defensive wisdom on the young and old on the roster, making Charlotte one of the league’s best defensive teams by the end of the season. While I think none of this was/is in the best interest of the team’s future, I expect the Bobcats will make another charge at a low playoff seed in 2009-2010. This time, the vast majority of the key players are already used to Brown’s coaching style and this could translate into a few more wins. It’s a shame they took a step down by trading the solid Emeka Okafor for the chronically-injured Tyson Chandler, but they gained some ground by adding some much-needed wing scoring in Flip Murray and Gerald Henderson. If their defense sustains and they make some strides on the offensive end (a good start would be increasing D.J. Augustin’s minutes), then they’ll be in the mix.

Milwaukee Bucks

2008-2009: 34-48. 23rd in offense. 11th in defense.

You’ve got to love Scott Skiles, at least for the first few years he coaches a team. Even though they were overmatched some nights last season, the Bucks always competed. Even with guys like Luke Ridnour and Charlie Villanueva playing major minutes, the Bucks maintained an above-average defense and avoided toiling in the league’s cellar. Now, though, after losing three of their best players in Villanueva, Ramon Sessions and Richard Jefferson, can they be better? I say yes. The most impressive part about what Skiles accomplished last year in Milwaukee was the fact that he did it with Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut missing more than half of the season. With these guys coming back, expect a big jump on offense. And even though the Bucks failed to make any headline-grabbing news this summer, they did add some pieces to try to make up for what they gave away. Hakim Warrick, Kurt Thomas, and Carlos Delfino can contribute right away and they hope to get contributions from Ersan Ilyasova, Brandon Jennings, Jodie Meeks, and Roko Ukic as well. All this, plus the presence of the defensive-minded, brilliantly-named Luc Richard Mbah A Moute! I must say, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Bucks.

Toronto Raptors

2008-2009: 33-49. 22nd in offense. 22nd in defense.

Kelly Dwyer was right when he said last year’s version of Jose Calderon was only at full strength for about a third of his 68 appearances. This is the single biggest reason why I expect the Raptors to make a jump from their terrible record last season. As a Raptors fan, it pained me to watch Jose last year. This guy who couldn’t move laterally, couldn’t turn the corner on the pick and roll, and couldn’t get the proper lift on his three-point shots was not the same guy I had seen running the point in TO the year before. The guy I had seen before was a danger to shoot at all times, ran the offense perfectly, knew when to attack, and made his teammates much better. Sure, he wasn’t an all-world defender, but he wasn’t a liability on that end, either. This All-Star-worthy version of Calderon is the man who I expect to be running the team this year, and this is why I project them to jump into the playoff picture. In Jarrett Jack, Rasho Nesterovic, Amir Johnson, and Antoine Wright, the Raptors have a much-improved bench and the addition of Hedo Turkoglu into the starting lineup alongside Chris Bosh, Calderon, and Andrea Bargnani could give Toronto one of the most potent offenses in the league. Hence, there is optimism in Toronto. Don’t believe the 50-win nonsense, though – this team is still too weak defensively and at the 2-guard spot to approach that number. That is, of course, unless Bargnani drinks some magical defense-and-rebounding juice and Jay Triano does a Stan Van Gundy-esque job of getting his weak defenders to play intelligent team D.

Washington Wizards

2008-2009: 19-63. 26th in offense. 29th in defense.

I’m sure you know that this is a completely different team to the Wizards of last year. With a healthy Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood, last year wouldn’t have been the nightmare that it was. Add Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the lineup, plus the coaching of Flip Saunders, and you have a team that will likely make a bigger jump than any other in 2009-2010. With a starting 5 of Arenas, Foye/Miller, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Brendan Haywood, opposing defenses are in for long nights against the Wiz. The problem, of course, is that opposing offenses may be in for easy nights. As great as this Wizards team looks offensively, with the aforementioned top six plus Fabricio Oberto, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young, JaVale McGee, and Andray Blatche, they look bad defensively. I love Flip, but he is more of an offensive guru and I doubt there’s a coach in this league that could make this bunch into a decent defensive group. If he does, they’re better than most teams here. If he doesn’t, as I expect, well… What do you get if you’re league-best on one end and league-worst on the other? Another middle-of-the-pack club.

What does this all mean? Well, all of the above teams are flawed. Flawed enough that they won’t approach the win totals of Cleveland, Orlando, and Boston if those teams stay relatively healthy. It also means they all have talent, though, and they’re all capable of beating better Western Conference teams on a random night in February. We know that, with trades and injuries, things will change for these teams and how they rank in comparison to each other as the season goes along. When we near the end of the season, though, I’m sure it’ll be a right mess trying to figure out which teams will make it into the playoffs and which of those will be lucky enough to get the 4th and 5th seeds and avoid facing one of the aforementioned juggernauts in the first round. Sure, the vast majority of these teams won’t play a game in May or June, but they will provide us with some pretty damn good basketball during the regular season. For a guy will be flipping from game to game on League Pass every night starting in two and a half weeks, this is something to be excited about.