2011-2012 NBA Preview (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1, which was posted on December 18.

10) Washington Wizards

This team is still developing and loaded with potential, but the playoffs probably aren't realistic for this coming season. Except for the veteran Rashard Lewis, every starter on this team has room to grow. If Jordan Crawford is able to break out beside John Wall, the Wiz could have a top backcourt for years to come. Wall's development is key: he needs to play better on-ball defense, decrease his alarmingly high turnover rate, and move better without the ball. All of this comes with experience, and he has superstar potential. Washington also has a two big men capable of averaging a double-double in Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, as well as rookies looking to make an impact in Jan Vesely and Shelvin Mack. While the future does look bright for this organization, it should be a few years before this team makes any noise.


11) Toronto Raptors

DeMar DeRozan is the future of this team. He has the superstar potential, and Toronto should really try to keep him there for the long term. Andrea Bargnani is a potent scorer but also one of the worst rebounding centers in the league. Look for Ed Davis to take the starting power forward job from Amir Johnson in the near future; both of these guys are young, but Davis should be able to make more of an impact on both sides of the ball. Toronto hopes 23-year-old Jerryd Bayless is the heir apparent to Jose Calderon for the starting point guard job, something only time will tell.


12) Detroit Pistons

The Pistons invested $25 million in Rodney Stuckey, which is odd considering it may be Brandon Knight who becomes the point guard of the future for this team. They also brought back Tayshaun Prince, who will give them about thirteen points and four boards a game for the next few years. Much of the success of this team hinges on the development of Greg Monroe, who goes into the season as the starting center. Far from a sure thing, though, is the power forward position, which is currently held by Jason Maxiell. Behind him is a big waste of money in Charlie Villanueva. The team's 2011 2nd-round pick, Vernon Macklin out of Florida, may be the eventual replacement for Maxiell.


13) New Jersey Nets

The ultimate goal here is still to bring in Dwight Howard. Until then, even with Deron Williams on their side, the Nets will continue to be basement-dwellers. Brook Lopez scored well but only recorded what is an embarrassing six boards per game considering the guy is seven feet tall. I don't see any more 25-game losing streaks for this team, but success is still a long way off.


14) Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland actually started winning quite a few games by the end of the season, finishing at 5-5 in their last ten. The city would love to see Omri Casspi develop into a viable NBA starter in LeBron's former position, and Kyrie Irving to start off strong. It's almost a given Kyrie will commit way too many turnovers in his rookie campaign, but become a force to be reckoned with right out of the get-go.


15) Charlotte Bobcats

This roster is full of holes the management has created. DeSagana Diop, a vet who averaged 1.3 ppg last year, goes into the season starting in the middle. Next to him is Boris Diaw, a man with a monstrous contract who has underachieved tremendously. At least their backcourt isn't too shabby, where D.J. Augustin can score fifteen a night from the point guard slot. Gerald Henderson can score alongside him as well, and of course, Kemba Walker looms from the bench.

Western Conference will be written soon. 

Cavs Not Sold on Irving

While Kyrie Irving is expected to be the first pick in the NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, it is not a done deal. Derrick Williams, who led his Arizona squad past Irving's Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA tourney, is still in contention for the spot.

The Cavs have not informed Irving that he will be picked, and have given no indication of which of the two players they are leaning toward. Most people connected with the league believe Cleveland will, in fact, go with Irving.

A possible scenario is that the Cavs pick Irving first overall and then use the fourth pick on center Enes Kanter, who played in Turkey before entering the draft. Kanter was a student at Kentucky last season, but was ruled ineligible to play by the NCAA.

Cleveland could also take Williams and Kanter, which would leave Baron Davis as the likely starting point guard. As he is aging, this would put pressure on them to sign another field general.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have said they will take either Irving or Williams, depending on the Cavs pick. Irving would join impending arrival Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn as point guards in Minnesota, and Flynn would likely be placed on the trading block.

The Utah Jazz have the third pick, and with Irving and Williams gone, will decide between Kentucky guard Brandon Knight and Kanter.

2011: The Year of the Improbable Final Four

Butler's Matt Howard

Connecticut, Kentucky, Virginia Commonwealth, Butler. Not the Final Four most of us predicted, or would have even thought possible. Many said (myself included) that one of the teams, VCU, should not have even been selected into the tournament in the first place. And judging by their regular season resume, they indeed should not have. Butler returns as a Cinderella for the second consecutive year, being an inch or two from knocking Duke off in the championship game a year ago and becoming national champions. In order to do it this time around, they will have to knock off the suddenly surging Rams of VCU, then upset one of the big name schools, the winner of UConn and Kentucky, in the championship game.

By now your bracket may have already been through the paper shredder, possibly just after the first round. You're not alone. As you may already know, this was possibly the worst bracket year ever. Two Final Four teams probably wins you your pool. Some pool winners might only have one correctly picked Final Four team. After all, there is only ONE bracket of the almost six million on ESPN's Tournament Challenge that have all four selected correctly. The wild card causing this was VCU, who had no impressive victories in the regular season and had to begin their Road to the Final Four with a play-in game against USC. After knocking off the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks this past weekend, Jamie Skeen and the VCU Rams are one of the last four standing, their improbable journey not yet completed.

Apart from the team, university and its fans, who has enjoyed this VCU run the most? Probably the selection committee's chairman, Ohio St. A.D. Gene Smith. Why? The bracket his committee unveiled was criticized to no end (see my post from March 10, Let the Madness Begin, where I was also critical of the committee's selections), because of the admittance of VCU and UAB in place of Colorado and Virginia Tech for the final at-large bids. ESPN's Jay Bilas called this "a joke", and college basketball analysts and fans across the country were in an uproar. But boy, has VCU ever proved them all wrong. Sure, UAB went on to haplessly fall in the play-in, and maybe Colorado should have made it in to the tourney instead of them, but VCU's admittance into the Dance was meant to be. The Rams have made Smith and the committee look like geniuses.

VCU seems to play better on short rest, when teams have less time to prepare. Lacking the athleticism and pure skill of the teams they have knocked out, they find ways to win in other ways, such as moving the ball around for open threes. Other teams have not had a chance to see them play much, and only a day or so to prepare, so they do not know what to expect. The only team that came close to beating VCU was the 10th-seeded Florida St. Seminoles, who had the multiple days in between the first two rounds and the Sweet Sixteen to prepare. Butler will have an entire week, and I am sure few will be taken aback if the Bulldogs advance one again to the finale.

National Player of the Year candidate Kemba Walker leads the charge for UConn as they face Brandon Knight and the young guns of Kentucky. Most people had Kentucky losing to Ohio State on their bracket (I boldly went with Kentucky in one of the few picks I got right). UConn, the Big East champ, was a favorite along with Duke out of the West region. While UConn is the favorite, based on the way Kentucky has played recently this game is essentially a toss-up, and an argument could be made for either squad.

Most of this country will be cheering loudly for the mid-major to knock of the big-name school on April 4 in Houston for the conclusion of *arguably* the greatest postseason all of sports has to offer. Does either VCU or Butler have enough left in the tank to pull out two more Ws? Or will this year be a repeat of the last, where Goliath gets the best of David? We'll know next week.