Sports Guy's NBA Preview, Part II

[Extra Stout]

from ESPN.com:

Spurs highlights:

3. Now that Quentin Richardson and Brandy have finally broken up, which will be the next high-profile NBA breakup: Rafer Alston and Jeff van Gundy, Tony Parker and Eva Longoria, Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss, Cuttino Mobley and Steve Francis, Doug Christie and Mrs. Christie, or Bill Simmons and Bobby Simmons?

Here's my guess: I think Tony and Eva call it quits -- he's too busy, she's too famous. I just hope she falls into the arms of Shaun Livingston for the skinniest celebrity-athlete relationship of all-time. If those two ever went out to dinner and actually ate something, Sally Struthers would probably start sobbing in joy.

THE SEVEN TEAMS THAT CAN WIN THE 2006 NBA LE

(Note: I would have included Denver until Nene's injury, which squashed their plans to trade for another shooter. They don't have enough now. Too bad.)

1. San Antonio
Loaded team, phenomenal bench, resident superstar on hand, tons of confidence ... why couldn't they finish like 74-8? Who's stopping them? I feel like every Spurs loss would be an accident -- this is the most stacked NBA team since the '97 Bulls. I can't even think of anything interesting to say about them.

WEST PREDICTIONS:
15. New Orleans (17-65)
14. Portland (23-57)
13. Memphis (31-51)
12. Utah (35-47)
11. Golden State (37-45)
10. Sacramento (39-43)
9. Seattle (41-41)
8. LA Lakers (42-40)
7. Phoenix (43-39)
6. Minnesota (44-38)
5. LA Clippers (45-37)
4. Denver (49-33)
3. Houston (53-39)
2. Dallas (63-19)
1. San Antonio (70-12)

The pick: San Antonio over Detroit in five.

[samikeyp]

wow....70 wins. I love my Spurs but I just don't see it happening. Not that I would mind though!

[2centsworth]

wow....70 wins. I love my Spurs but I just don't see it happening. Not that I would mind though!

If they tried they could, but I don't think they'll try hard enough.

They'll coast most of the season and get serious towards the end.

[1Parker1]

Dallas 63-19? Is that guy or one of Mouse's aliases?

[TDMVPDPOY]

74-8?? give me sum smack his smokin

[SA210]

I know in my heart, that if we tried that we could beat the Bulls record. But we will not try this. Player health and the playoffs are more important. The thing that bothers me is, I know we won't even try even though I think we can do it, we will be critcized as not being that good and some other team someday will do it.

[easjer]

They don't need 70 wins, and every game will be a difficult game because that team will always have something to prove against the defending champs and the favorite to win.

So some of those gams Pop will play the bench to try new things or he'll sit Manu or Tim to rest them. He's not interested in 70 wins, he's interested in playoffs, and winning there.

[CosmicCowboy]

Spurs will only try to win 70 games if it looks like someone else in the west will win 69.

sooo...it's highly unlikely

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

70? Wow, that's generous. The Spurs are good, but Pop's not going to push his players to win any more games than they have to. If they can lock up the West with 65 wins the big guns will only play until they have 65 wins.

[strangeweather]

It's not completely unthinkable -- the bench is so deep that if someone isn't playing at full speed on a given night, Pop has a lot of options to turn to, and there will definitely be guys hungry for the minutes.

Still, I think the classic Spurs model of going slow while the team gels, then turning in an insane record after the All-Star break is a lot more likely.