Your surprise NBA team of the year?

[Brad Russ]

What team do you think will end up being the biggest surprise team of the year? Many people are saying Utah since they have a 3-1 record and have beaten two very good teams, but I don't think they'll be able to keep it up. They may be good in a few years, but right now I just think they're way too inexperienced.

My surprise team of the year is the Seattle Supersonics. They have Rashard Lewis, Radmanovic, Brent Barry, Luke Ridnour, Ray Allen, as well as, rookie Ronald Murray, who is currently the 8th highest scorer in the league. Once Ray Allen returns from his injury, I think they are going to be a major force in the West. Even without Ray, they're 2-0, and Rashard is definitely picking up Ray's slack after scoring 50 points the other night, and leading the league overall in points per game with 37. I know it's early in the season, but I believe the Sonics will win atleast 50 games this year, and will finish third overall in the West behind L.A., and Sacramento. I also think they'll make it to the second round of the playoffs.

My shocker team in the East is the Chicago Bulls. Most probably think this is a dumb choice, but with all their young talent, and Pippen's leadership skills, I think they'll be much better. I'm guessing they'll win anywhere from 35, to 42 games this year, which would be a huge improvement from last year. Who are your guys' surprise team picks?

[isiahthomas]

Utah beat Phoenix last night in Utah 91-80. Matt Harpring had 21 points, Deshawn Stevenson had 16 points. Keon Clark came back from the injured list & had 4 points & 5 boards. Phoenix is 1-3 so far. That's not good. Dallas lost to Washington last night 100-90 in Washington LOL. Dallas has no defense & Dirk Nowitzki is a softie for a big man. He only had 2 rebounds in 33 minutes LOL. Christian Laettner started at center against Dirk & he had 5 blocks, 13 points, 13 boards. I'm surprised at the Wizards so far. They're 2-2. Gilbert Arenas had 25 points, 12 boards, 10 assists last night for Washington. Jarvis Hayes is a good rookie so far for the Wizards. I've never heard of him & so far he's been consistent in scoring while Jerry Stackhouse is out. Lebron James had a terrible game again last night against Denver in Cleveland. He had 7 points but he had 11 boards & 7 assists. Denver & Cavs game was televised last night on ESPN. It was a exciting game. Ricky Davis blocked Carmelo Anthony's shot from behind when Carmelo was going in for a layup. Chris Andersen for Denver blocked JR Bremer's layup attempt so hard against the backboard LOL. Earl Boykins had 18 points for Denver off the bench. Earl is a Cleveland native like myself. Nene Hilario did some tight dunks last night & he shot a left handed hook on Chris Mihm & got the foul. He just needs to work on his free throw shooting. Cleveland is 0-4 so far & they're already getting off to a bad start. The Cavs need a god damn bench. They have no scoring help off the bench. Denver has been a surprise. They're 3-2 so far.


New Orleans is a surprise team so far. They're 3-1. They beat Philly last night in Philly 106-99. Baron Davis had 37 points & Steve Smith had 16 points off the bench for New Orleans. Steve was a good pickup for New Orleans from the Spurs. Jamal Mashburn is still hurt & i don't know how long he'll be out. Lakers are 4-0 so far. Minnesota is 2-3 so far which isn't a good sign. I know it's still early though. Vin Baker had 20 points, 6 boards, 3 steals last night against Detroit. Detroit won 96-88 against Boston. Vin is starting to play like the Vin of old when he was with Milwaukee. I hope he gave up drinking for good cause he has a serious alcohol problem. Mdntrider7 i sent u another pm message.

[isiahthomas]

Orlando is 1-4 so far which is a surprise. Tracy McGrady is doing it all once again. Juwan Howard & Drew Gooden have been consistent so far but that's not enough. Orlando has no help from the bench. They lost to Chicago last night in Orlando 106-100. Donyell Marshall had 25 points, Tyson Chandler had 22 points & 9 boards, Jamal Crawford had 29 points for the Bulls. Scottie Pippen is out right now with a sore left ankle.

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by isiahthomas
Utah beat Phoenix last night in Utah 91-80. Matt Harpring had 21 points, Deshawn Stevenson had 16 points. Keon Clark came back from the injured list & had 4 points & 5 boards. Phoenix is 1-3 so far. That's not good. Dallas lost to Washington last night 100-90 in Washington LOL. Dallas has no defense & Dirk Nowitzki is a softie for a big man. He only had 2 rebounds in 33 minutes LOL. Christian Laettner started at center against Dirk & he had 5 blocks, 13 points, 13 boards. I'm surprised at the Wizards so far. They're 2-2. Gilbert Arenas had 25 points, 12 boards, 10 assists last night for Washington. Jarvis Hayes is a good rookie so far for the Wizards. I've never heard of him & so far he's been consistent in scoring while Jerry Stackhouse is out. Lebron James had a terrible game again last night against Denver in Cleveland. He had 7 points but he had 11 boards & 7 assists. Denver & Cavs game was televised last night on ESPN. It was a exciting game. Ricky Davis blocked Carmelo Anthony's shot from behind when Carmelo was going in for a layup. Chris Andersen for Denver blocked JR Bremer's layup attempt so hard against the backboard LOL. Earl Boykins had 18 points for Denver off the bench. Earl is a Cleveland native like myself. Nene Hilario did some tight dunks last night & he shot a left handed hook on Chris Mihm & got the foul. He just needs to work on his free throw shooting. Cleveland is 0-4 so far & they're already getting off to a bad start. The Cavs need a god damn bench. They have no scoring help off the bench. Denver has been a surprise. They're 3-2 so far.


New Orleans is a surprise team so far. They're 3-1. They beat Philly last night in Philly 106-99. Baron Davis had 37 points & Steve Smith had 16 points off the bench for New Orleans. Steve was a good pickup for New Orleans from the Spurs. Jamal Mashburn is still hurt & i don't know how long he'll be out. Lakers are 4-0 so far. Minnesota is 2-3 so far which isn't a good sign. I know it's still early though. Vin Baker had 20 points, 6 boards, 3 steals last night against Detroit. Detroit won 96-88 against Boston. Vin is starting to play like the Vin of old when he was with Milwaukee. I hope he gave up drinking for good cause he has a serious alcohol problem. Mdntrider7 i sent u another pm message.

Dang, you sure know alot about basketball and statistics and everything. Wish I knew that much. I unfortunately missed the Cleveland, Denver game last night. I was hoping Lebron would blow up in that game, and go for 30 or something, and show everyone with an exclamation point who the best rookie truly is. With him getting 90 million dollars from Nike, he better live up. Nike is an Oregon company, and if he doesn't do very good it will be ashame to think of how much better that money could have been spent. We've had to cut many after school programs here, and that 90 million dollars could have kept our after school programs alive for over 50 years. It would be ashame to see that money wasted on one person, when it could have done so much good for the whole State. Anyway, I got sidetracked there. Denver and Cleveland will be meeting up a few more times, so atleast Lebron will get a couple more chances to show he's the best. As far as your surprise pick goes, I agree, New Orleans definitely has surprised me too. Unlike the Jazz, I think New Orleans will be able to keep it up and have a pretty good season. They're a pretty established team. It's nice to see that the move from Charlotte, to New Orleans hasn't affected their play any. Alot of teams leave a City, and the fans in the new place don't support them, and eventually the team turns to crap, but it looks like New Orleans is a great fit for them. Btw, I got your email last night. Thanks for sending it. I'll be responding tonight.

[sinatrastar]

Cleveland will play Denver only twice a year, a home and home series since they are in different conferences. Of course, they could also meet in the Finals By the way, that game was horrible, be glad you missed it Mdnight.

New Orleans has the Lakers tonight, maybe they can pin a loss on them, no one else seems able. It will not be a great accomplishment for Payton and Malone to win a championship, they are basically 'buying' it by going to the Lakers for such a low salary (in NBA terms, not in working-mans terms). Its like in 10 years is Malone going to be thinking, wow what an accomplishment I went to a team with 4 Hall of Famers and won a championship, that is not really great in my opinion. If he would have stayed in Utah and won it, that is a different story. But it is his life, and he gave up millions of dollars to do it, so I do respect that.

[passionsfan79]

wouldnt it be funny if utah won the nba finals this year

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by sinatrastar
New Orleans has the Lakers tonight, maybe they can pin a loss on them, no one else seems able. It will not be a great accomplishment for Payton and Malone to win a championship, they are basically 'buying' it by going to the Lakers for such a low salary (in NBA terms, not in working-mans terms). Its like in 10 years is Malone going to be thinking, wow what an accomplishment I went to a team with 4 Hall of Famers and won a championship, that is not really great in my opinion. If he would have stayed in Utah and won it, that is a different story. But it is his life, and he gave up millions of dollars to do it, so I do respect that.

New Orleans kicked the Lakers butt tonight!. I don't have the score in front of me, but the Lakers lost by close to 20 points I believe. I think for anyone who was doubting whether New Orleans were for real or not, probably aren't doubting anymore. They're for real!!! Now they're tied with the Lakers at 5-1. I have a feeling though that the next time the Grizzlies and Lakers meet, the results will be much much different.

Originally posted by americandreamsfan03
wouldnt it be funny if utah won the nba finals this year

Yeah that would be absolutely hilarious!!! It would also probably be the biggest shocker in sports history. But I think the true Utah Jazz is coming out tonight. Last time I checked they were getting spanked pretty bad.

[isiahthomas]

Mdntrider7 don't u mean the next time New Orleans & Lakers meet instead of Memphis & the Lakers? New Orleans is called the Hornets. U got them confused with Memphis LOL. New Orleans won last night 114-95 & Baron Davis was unstoppable. I saw the highlights on ESPN last night. He was hitting jumpers in Kobe's face bad & everybody else on the Lakers. Cleveland lost again last night to Indiana 91-90 LOL. Well now the Cavs are 0-5 & they play Washington tonight in Cleveland. The Wizards are leading their division right now which is a shocker. They spanked Toronto last night 86-60. LOL@Toronto only scoring 60 points. Toronto's team is horrible. They can't shoot for crap. They scored 56 points last week against Minnesota LOL. Orlando got blown out at home last night in a televised game against Minnesota on ESPN. The score was 100-71. T-Mac only had 4 points. I know the Orlando fans are shaking their head. I saw Grant Hill's crippled ass on the bench last night. I wish he would retire.

[isiahthomas]

Mdntrider7 i see u mentioned Seattle up above. Seattle spanked Portland last night in Seattle 100-82. Did u see Rasheed Wallace dunk on Jerome James? LOL, it was a raw dunk. I don't even know half of these players on Seattle's team. Who are they? LOL. I've never heard of Reggie Evans, Jerome James, Ronald Murray, Asu Sesay. Ronald had 24 points last night. I can't believe Portland's players got spanked by some no name players LOL.

[EricIdlefan]

Just as long as it's not the Lakers!!

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by isiahthomas
Mdntrider7 don't u mean the next time New Orleans & Lakers meet instead of Memphis & the Lakers? New Orleans is called the Hornets. U got them confused with Memphis LOL. New Orleans won last night 114-95 & Baron Davis was unstoppable. I saw the highlights on ESPN last night. He was hitting jumpers in Kobe's face bad & everybody else on the Lakers. Cleveland lost again last night to Indiana 91-90 LOL. Well now the Cavs are 0-5 & they play Washington tonight in Cleveland. The Wizards are leading their division right now which is a shocker. They spanked Toronto last night 86-60. LOL@Toronto only scoring 60 points. Toronto's team is horrible. They can't shoot for crap. They scored 56 points last week against Minnesota LOL. Orlando got blown out at home last night in a televised game against Minnesota on ESPN. The score was 100-71. T-Mac only had 4 points. I know the Orlando fans are shaking their head. I saw Grant Hill's crippled ass on the bench last night. I wish he would retire.

Yeah, I meant New Orleans. Sometimes my brain has trouble keeping up with my fingers when I'm typing. I got the two teams confused because they both changed locations recently.

Anyway, I'm surprised at how bad Kobe's been playing. I knew he would obviously be affected with all the other crap that's going on in his life, but I had no idea his game would suffer this much. He'll probably get better as the season goes along, because I just can't see him playing this bad for much longer.

As far as Toronto goes, I agree, they just flat out SUCK!!!!!!!!! If they continue to play like they have been, I doubt Vince Carter will remain with them next season. Infact, If they keep playing like a Middle school team, he might even get out this year. They are tarnishing his legacy, and making him look really bad. He was voted by ESPN as the most overrated player in sports history. That's just plain RIDICULOUS!!! Just because most of his team sucks, that doesn't mean he's overrated, it just means he needs help. I think voting him as the most overrated player of all time is perhaps the dumbest thing ESPN has ever said, or written. It must have been take your kid to work day when they came out with the overrated list, because only a kindergartener can think that Vince Carter is the most overrated player ever.

I couldn't disagree with you more about Grant Hill. I actually feel really bad for him. What I think he should do is take two to three years off to totally heal, and then come back when he's completely healed so that he can finish off his career with some respectability. He keeps trying to come back when he's probably not fully ready, and I have a feeling that if he'd just take more time off to heal, he would come back at 100 percent, and end his career on a high note. He's still pretty young, so I think he could do it. It would be ashame to see a player who was probably going to be one of the 50 greatest of all time have to bow out of the game on the bench.

Originally posted by isiahthomas
Mdntrider7 i see u mentioned Seattle up above. Seattle spanked Portland last night in Seattle 100-82. Did u see Rasheed Wallace dunk on Jerome James? LOL, it was a raw dunk. I don't even know half of these players on Seattle's team. Who are they? LOL. I've never heard of Reggie Evans, Jerome James, Ronald Murray, Asu Sesay. Ronald had 24 points last night. I can't believe Portland's players got spanked by some no name players LOL.

Yeah I saw Sheed dunk on him. I literally jumped up out of my seat on that play. That was probably the best dunk Iv'e seen this year. Did you see that 3/60 shot that Zach Randolph made? Why he did a 3/60 is beyond me, but it was an amazing shot. I'm sure those plays will make ESPN's top 10 list this week. They better!

I do know most of the Seattle players, only because I follow them closely considering the fact that I use to live in Seattle. Luke Ridnour, (the little white point guard) played for the Oregon Ducks last year, and is originally from Seattle. He was named the Pac 10 player of the year last year. His ball handling was a little sloppy at times last night, but I think he has the potential to be the next John Stockton, (another Washington native). Luke just needs to put on some weight, and work on his defense, and I'm sure he'll be a really good player. Brent Barry is originally a Seattle native as well, and I think he is very underrated. He won the slam dunk contest a few years back, (one of the only white guys to ever do that), but he is probably best known for missing two wide open layups when he was playing for some other team. I remember he got alot of crap for that, and they traded him shortly thereafter. I think he fits in good with Seattle though, and he seems happy to be there. Ronald Murray may have been a no name player at the beginning of the season, but he is quickly making a name for himself as one of the leagues highest scorers. Last year (His first season) he averaged 1 point a game, (with limited play), but this year, so far he is averaging 24 a game. He could potentially be a big star in the future. I doubt his first three games were a fluke. If he, and Rashard Lewis can keep up this level of basketball, then Seattle can end up being a dynasty once Ray Allen comes back. I know it's early in the season to say that, but I see great things for Seattle in the very near future. I'm guessing a Championship within the next five years.

One of the announcers said during Portland's game last night that at their last home game they only drew 15,000 people, which is the fewest people they've had in the Rose Garden's history. I started laughing when I heard that. The Rose Garden has 22,000 seats available, and for almost every game since the Rose Garden was built, it was close to a sellout everytime. Until this season that is. The fans here have stood behind them despite their childish, and disrespectful behavior for a long time, but it looks like they've finally had enough. Hopefully less and less people will show up to their games until either the players straighten up their behavior, or management makes some big time moves. We don't want to support a team that has so many players who have absolutely no respect for us, or for themselves for that matter. We pay their salaries, and they repay us by not signing little kids autographs in Hawaii, and talking crap about us in Sports illustrated. Rasheed probably wouldn't have even been in Hawaii if it weren't for fans like that little kid he treated like crap who asked for his autograph last Summer. The blazers are fortunate that we didn't turn our backs on them a long time ago. I remember after Bonzi Wells made those cracks about the Portland fans in Sports illustrated a couple years ago, the fans booed him for a couple games, and then forgave him after he made a mandatory, and half hearted apology. And how does the team repay that kind of forgiveness? By acting like asses on and off the court. Rasheed has improved alot in his on court behavior, but off court he is still known for being a jerk. Like I said before, I hope we do have a bad season this year. That way management will have no other choice than to rebuild the team. I would keep Zach Randolph, and a couple others, but they should get rid of the rest.

Btw Isiah, I noticed from reading on the music board that you're a rap fan. Did you ever hear Rasheed Wallace rapping on E:40's Hall Of Game cd? He actually is a pretty good rapper believe it or not.

[sinatrastar]

A good rapper? That is an oxymoron.

[isiahthomas]

Naw i didn't hear him rap on E-40's cd. I can't stand E-40. He is a horrible rapper.

[EricIdlefan]

Originally posted by isiahthomas
Naw i didn't hear him rap on E-40's cd. I can't stand E-40. He is a horrible rapper.

I can't stand rap music!! I detest rap music!!

[Brad Russ]

Originally posted by EricIdlefan
I can't stand rap music!! I detest rap music!!

I can understand that. I'm not a huge rap fan anymore either. I use to be like 4 or 5 years ago, but about two years ago I gave all my rap albums away. Too much vulgarity and cursing for my taste these days.