2009 NBA Final Predictions

My final prediction is.............The Los Angeles Lakers become the 2009 NBA Champions!!!! After a long hard season I believe that the Lakers will indeed prevail yet once again. I've been a Los Angeles Lakers fan my whole life and I have seen them defy the odds. They have played with guys injured and with tragedies that happened off the court but make no mistake, they have NEVER given up!! This is one team that fights to the end and works the hardest out of any team in the NBA! It's time to root on our purple and gold and watch them yet again defy the odds and win another NBA Championship. Now with Andrew Bynum back in the lineup this team is more stronger and hungrier than ever. Goooooooooooooooooooo Lakers!!!!!!!!

~Lori Fender

2009 NBA Predictions for the Playoffs:Round 2

Here are my predictions for the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs. May the best team win! Gooo Lakers!!! :)

My predictions for Round 1 of the 2009 Playoffs are.........

Here are my predictions for the 2009 NBA Playoffs: Round 1

2009 NBA Playoffs Bracket

GOOOO LAKERS!!!

Shaq to miss 2 games due to death in family

“Get ready for tomorrow, Robin.” If it wasn’t official before, Amar’e Stoudemire’s postgame proclamation to rookie center Robin Lopez pretty much summed up Shaquille O’Neal’s availability for Wednesday’s night road showdown vs. the Lakers. Robin Lopez will be starting in Shaq's absence against the Los Angeles Lakers.


Minutes after Shaq scored a season-high 35 points in Tuesday’s 125-110 win over the Bucks, word came down that he will miss the game in L.A. due to the death of his great-grandmother. He is also expected to miss Friday’s home game vs. the Magic to attend the funeral in North Carolina, according to Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.
“She raised me and made me who I am,” said O’Neal about his late great-grandmother. “The guys are going to play hard in my absence, and hopefully we’ll get a win.”


As for his biggest offensive output since coming to the Suns last year (and his most points scored in two years), it all came down to touches. “I got more shots,” Shaq said. “I normally don’t do that, but if they keep feeding me like that, those are the kinds of numbers they can expect out of me. Sometime I’ll get that amount of shots, sometimes I won’t, but we still have to protect the ball and play good defense.

I know there were a lot of us, including myself, that were so looking forward to seeing Kobe and Shaq play basketball on the same court once again. Not only are both of these guys extremely talented but they are so much fun to watch as well. It's kind of like this big bad brother trying to push around the little brother, well in the end we all know what happens right? Just as David beat Goliath so will Kobe beat the big man but we'll have to wait till the next matchup. :) I look forward to it and I also look forward to the Lakers winning it all this year!

Until then, Shaq my family sends our heartfelt condolences to you and your family in the death of your Great Grandmother. May you find peace and comfort in these difficult times. See you back out on the court.

~LF

Just Do It....Live In The Present LeBron

The topic of LeBron James' still-two-years-from-now free agency, which hit a crescendo this week upon the Cleveland Cavaliers' visit to New York to play the Knicks, left one opinionated Hall of Famer pleading for James to drop the subject. Charles Barkley, in an interview on "Dan Patrick Radio," said James has no business talking about a future with another team while he's a Cavalier. "If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up," Barkley said in the Wednesday interview. "I'm a big LeBron fan. He's a stud. You gotta give him his props. I'm getting so annoyed he's talking about what he's going to do in two years. I think it's disrespectful to the game. I think it's disrespectful to the Cavaliers."

James, however, felt differently. "He's stupid. That's all I've got to say about that," James said Friday night before the Cavaliers' game against Golden State. Oooh perhaps Barkley hit a nerve with LeBron and LeBron realized Charles Barkley may just be right. Hmmmm........

This subject is no doubt causing quite a stir in Cleveland as well as in the NBA. I completely agree with Charles Barkley on this particular issue. Why focus on what "can" happen two years down the road? Why not just live in the present and just enjoy playing a game that you get paid millions of dollars to play? I have always been a huge LeBron James fan and next to KOBE BRYANT I do feel that LeBron is the next best player in the league but come on LeBron snap out of it! Why not stay focused and determined on the present and make your team better (like Kobe Bryant has done) in order to be a force to be reckoned with in the East? Stop your whining and play basketball like we all know you can. I mean anything can happen in life. I've seen it myself where someone gets injured and winds up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life and can no longer play anything let alone dress themselves and lead a normal life. So for now it seems that you should be grateful for what you have and just do it, live in the present and be thankful for each and every day that you have playing the greatest game ever!! If you have any comments or opinions please feel free to leave them on my blog.

Take care,

~LF

First Big Trade Of The Season

It was announced Monday November 3rd that Allen Iverson would once again be on the move for the second time in 2 or 3 years. Joe Dumars said it as loudly as any team executive can say it back in June, memorably warning his own players to brace for a shakeup after the latest in a string of playoff disappointments for the Detroit Pistons. A mere two games into the new season, Dumars gave his roster that shake and with a vigorous hand I might add.

The Pistons and Nuggets on Monday finalized a trade, which was initially discussed during the summer, sources close to the process told ESPN.com that brings guard Allen Iverson to Detroit and sends Pistons mainstays Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess to Denver. There's a chance McDyess could return to Detroit after a league-mandated wait of 30 days if he can secure his release or negotiate a contract buyout with the Nuggets. Either way, Detroit's identity has been radically changed by swapping Billups...NBA Finals MVP in 2004 and one of the faces synonymous with the Pistons' ensemble-cast approach for a high-scoring attention grabber like Iverson.



Iverson's expiring contract, furthermore, will afford Detroit significant financial flexibility as soon as July....along with Rasheed Wallace's expiring contract if Dumars decides it's time for a more thorough makeover. Yet it appears that Pistons guard Richard Hamilton remains a key figure in Detroit's future, with ESPN.com's Chad Ford reporting Monday night that Hamilton and the Pistons have agreed on a three-year contract extension worth an estimated $34 million.

Trade at a glance
• Allen Iverson has the third-highest scoring average in NBA history.

• Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess have both been with the Nuggets previously. This would be Billups' second stint in Denver and the third for McDyess. McDyess is expected to be bought out by the Nuggets.

• Iverson's scoring average has decreased significantly since averaging a career-best 33.0 points per game in 2005-06.• Iverson has the most points of any active player who has not won an NBA title.

• Billups ranks fourth in Pistons history in assists behind only Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Dave Bing.



Fun Fact

Most career points, active players, who haven't won NBA title
Points
Allen Iverson
23,044
Dirk Nowitzki
17,047
Tracy McGrady
16,798
Vince Carter
16,633
Stephon Marbury
16,209

"We just felt it was the right time to change our team," Dumars told The Associated Press. "Iverson gives us a dimension that we haven't had here and we really think it's going to help us. In this league, six or seven years is an eternity to have a core together. So when a situation like this presents itself where you can cover yourself on both sides -- the immediate impact player and the long-term flexibility -- you have to push the button."

The Pistons introduced Iverson at a news conference Tuesday Nov 4th at 3:30 p.m. ET. At the time it was not yet known which number Iverson was going to wear, since Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey has been wearing No. 3, but sources close to Iverson said he would probably wear No. 1. "He was very excited about the trade," Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, told the AP.


Sources say McDyess, meanwhile, has no interest in playing for any other team than the Pistons, leading to the widespread expectation that the Nuggets will buy him out. Denver also waived veteran forward Juwan Howard to make roster room for incoming players.

Dumars put the entire Pistons roster on notice after they lost to Boston in the East finals, saying that there "are no sacred cows" on his team and vowing to consider trading anyone in addition to firing coach Flip Saunders and replacing Saunders with the untested Michael Curry.


The Pistons could not find a workable deal over the summer after talking with numerous teams, but it emerged then that Billups was the most likely Piston to be dealt. The 32-year-old is in the second season of a four-year contract worth a guaranteed $46 million, with a $14 million team option in Year 5. With Denver's desire to acquire a dependable point guard growing, Dumars moved quickly to finally consummate this deal with the Nuggets, who acquired Iverson from Philadelphia shortly before Christmas in 2006 but failed in two attempts to get out of the first round with a three-man core of Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby.

The Pistons, meanwhile, will undoubtedly contend that their risks are mitigated by the fact that Iverson, who turned 33 in June and carries a salary of $20.8 million, will be highly motivated in the final year of his contract to prove to his many skeptics that he can blend into a team-based system. "It gives us a different way to attack people," Dumars said, referring to Iverson's ability to create his own shot, something Detroit has clearly lacked when its half-court offense bogs down. "We have been extremely successful for a long time. But I also think what comes with that is a little bit of predictability."

I personally think that both teams wound up getting great players. I'm not sure right now which team got dealt the better hand but time will tell. Can Allen Iverson play good enough in Detroit to match the skilled teams in the East such as the reigning champs, the Boston Celtics. Just the same, can Chauncey Billups play well enough to play against one of the best teams in the West, the all-powerful Los Angeles Lakers? Once again time will tell and we shall see. One thing is for certain this will be a good NBA season, no doubt about that!