NBA Forum

NBA Season Win Totals

Posted By: monkey82
Date: 25 Oct 01, 2:37 pm

In Response To: NBA season win picks (Teddy Ruxpin)

I agree with Fez about the L.A. Lakers.

There's a lot of talent in both conferences, and I predict that many teams who did well last season will do very poorly this season.

3 units:
LA Lakers under 60.5 wins (-115)

2 units:
Miami Heat under 49 wins (-120)

1 unit:
Dallas Mavericks over 51.5 wins (-115)

These are all of the plays I plan to make as of right now.

LA LAKERS under 60.5 wins: My reasoning for the Lakers going under is that in order to win this bet, they're going to have to go 61-21. Last year, they only went 56-26. Even though they made some good off-season acquisitions, the Shaq toe injury scares me, and if either Kobe or Shaq get hit with a long term injury, this bet is going under for sure. I definitely do not think that the Lakers are a good enough team to win 5 more games than they did last season.

MIAMI under 49 wins: Off season moves by Miami have resulted in the losses of PF/SF Anthony Mason, PG Tim Hardaway, and backup SG Dan Majerle, among others. C Alonzo Mourning is going to be back, but his health is always going to be in question. The Heat picked up SF Kendall Gill, SF LaPhonso Ellis and PG Rod Strickland, which are not impressive off-season acquisitions at all, in comparison to who they lost.

Gill is a good defender who will be useful at the SF, but the Heat will surely miss the all-around abilities that Mason provided for them on both ends of the court. Possibly the worst loss for them was Hardaway, who was an excellent PG when healthy, and an irreplacable leader on and off of the court. Neither Strickland or Anthony Carter will be able to do a decent job for Miami this year.

Miami went 50-32 last year, but that was while playing well above their abilities, which was apparent when they got destroyed by Charlotte in round 1 of the playoffs. With the rapid growth in talent in the Eastern Conference, I think it is fair to say that young, talented teams like Orlando and Atlanta are on their way up, and Miami is on their way down.

DALLAS over 51.5 wins: Dallas was one of the most surprising teams in the NBA last season, finishing at 53-39. Most people predicted that they would not even make the playoffs last season, but instead they made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals, where their youth and inexperience succumbed to the San Antonio Spurs.

A large part of their success is due to savvy owner Mark Cuban. His unrelenting dedication to the team has been a major part of their remarkable turn-around. Last season he made a trade for SF Juwan Howard and C Calvin Booth, both of whom were key instruments in the Mavs' brief playoff run. In this off-season he did well by getting rid of underachiever Howard Eisley's contract, and bringing in excellent leaders and role players in PG Tim Hardaway, SF Danny Manning, SF Adrian Griffin, and C Evan Eschmeyer. The Mavericks have as potent an offense as any other team in the league, and they have solidified themselves by adding quality players into the mix, without losing much. The new zone defense will allow C Shawn Bradley to become even more dominant on defense. Everything seems to be going the Mavs' way right now. They will do even better than last year, I predict, so the over 51.5 line seems like a steal.

All opinions and comments are welcome!

Good luck,
Monkey82

Messages In This Thread

NBA season win picks -- Teddy Ruxpin -- 24 Oct 01, 6:44 pm

Lakers under 60: chunk bet!! -- Fezzik -- 24 Oct 01, 10:10 pm

Zone defense?? -- David Matthews -- 24 Oct 01, 10:42 pm

Skeptical about this, ... -- Teddy Ruxpin -- 24 Oct 01, 10:54 pm

Like it -- StevieY -- 25 Oct 01, 4:19 pm

NBA Season Win Totals -- monkey82 -- 25 Oct 01, 2:37 pm

where is Mason now? (nt) -- docriver -- 25 Oct 01, 4:08 pm

Mason was signed by Milwaukee this afternoon (nt) -- monkey82 -- 25 Oct 01, 4:14 pm

that should improve MIL alot -- docriver -- 25 Oct 01, 5:42 pm

Results: 6-6 unweighted/14-11 weighted, +1.35 units -- Teddy Ruxpin -- 18 Apr 02, 12:45 pm

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