<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> NEW YORK, September 25, 2006 -- The East was the Best in the 2005-06 NBA Season, thanks to the Miami Heat. But what changes and issues will the Knicks and the rest of the league have to look out for in 2006-07? NYKnicks.com previews the Ten Most Cutting-Edge Trends, Issues, And Situations in the Eastern Conference That'll Impact The NBA Races This Year: EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. SMALL BALL Customarily, and entirely understandably, the team that wins the NBA championship inspires a host of would-be imitators the following season. But this year WILL be different: first of all, it's impossible to duplicate Bionic Man Shaq or even remotely reflect the delightfully two-way genius of Michael Jordan-esque Dwyane Wade. Secondly, the true, life-size, dominating low-post center is going the way of the dinosaur. Thus watch more and more teams move towards the Phoenix Suns' high-flying, three-point gunning, run n' stun style, one that's liberally tinged by international play. Winning the Pacific Division with a 54-28 record and going to the Western Conference Finals -- without premiere big man Amare Stoudemire and playing onetime guard Boris Diaw(!) in the middle -- was trend-setting awesome. As Indiana Pacers President Donnie Walsh says: "Teams will want to see five playmakers, skilled guys who can move, pass, and shoot the ball, out on the floor at the same time." 2. HEALTH MEANS WEALTH The moral of the story is you've got to be out on the floor. Have there ever been more injuries suffered by more important players than the avalanche we experienced last season? It's safe to say that the Pacers, Knicks, Suns, Nuggets, Cavaliers, Bobcats, Magic, Rockets, Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Jazz, and Warriors were seriously impacted by the amount of games missed by Stoudemire, Stephon Marbury, Emeka Okafor, Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Peja Stojakovic, Tracy McGrady, Larry Hughes, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer, Baron Davis, Kenyon Martin, Marcus Camby, et. al. 3. BIG BEN Add Ben Wallace to a team that has already led the league in defensive field goal percentage last year, and what have you got? The 2006-07 Chicago Bulls, more than likely a very serious NBA title contender. 4. NO BIG BEN Subtract Ben Wallace from the defensively devastating equation in Detroit and what have you got? A still very good team, albeit one in transition. A re-defining of team identity is definitely in order: expect the Pistons to play more zones, both to cover up for the loss of Wallace and to take advantage of their exceptional overall team-length. And watch Coach Flip Saunders expand the play-book quite extensively on the offensive end. 5. RILEY'S RETURN The only thing that's tougher than winning a NBA championship is doing it again the following season. Hence the importance of master motivator Pat Riley's return to the bench can not be underestimated. "He's got my attention," says Shaq. And how essential is that? O'Neal, the league's 34 year-old Center of Attention, has been to five of the last seven NBA Finals, winning four of them. 6. STRAIGHT TO THE POINT The Boston Celtics went all out -- trading the rights to the No. 7 pick in the draft (superb Villanova guard Randy Foye) along with Raef LaFrentz, Dan Dickau, and cash -- to make 21 year-old Sebastian Telfair their point guard. If the superbly gifted Sebastian turns out to be a true point with the speed and vision he's sometimes shown, a long-standing Boston problem has been solved. If not... 7. NO KIDD-ING If Jason Kidd, the 33 year-old point genius of Jersey, can put together another top-notch year -- and do it at an age where a lot of small-s begin to slip just a tad -- the Nets will be super dangerous. Young Yugo-center Nenad Krstic is coming along very nicely and the once-short bench appears much improved. 8. HAVE GUN, WILL SCRATCH The Charlotte Bobcats lacked a pure-shooting two/three last season, hence the selection of Gonzaga gunner Adam Morrison in the draft. If this purest of perimeter poppers can get his shot off at the NBA level -- and he's averaged 24.6 ppg. in Summer League play -- Michael Jordan's new team will be far better-balanced and much-improved. 9. OUT OF THE DARK-O Mr. Milicic, religiously ignored in Detroit for two and a half years, averaged 4.82 blocked shots per 48 minutes -- ranking fifth in the NBA -- following his trade to Orlando. If this 21-yearold 7-footer -- who was picked ahead of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony in the brilliant 2003 draft, after all -- turns out to be a player, it could be Magic-time in Orlando. 10. NBA, EUROPEAN STYLE Moving toward playing a more international style is one thing. But what they're doing in Toronto is downright revolutionary. New GM Bryan Colangelo -- arriving from, no surprise, the Phoenix Suns organization -- hired Italian League stalwart Maurizio Gherardini as his top assistant then, not at all coincidentally, proceeded to select 7-foot Italian forward-center Andrea Bargnani as the top pick in the draft (a first for a European player). Colangelo then signed 6-9 power source Jorge Garbajosa (Spain) and 6-10 swing forward Uros Slokar (Slovenia) who, along with Bargnani, both played for Gherardini's Benetton Treviso team. The Raptors then added Anthony Parker, a 6-6 swing-man who was Euroleague MVP with Maccabi Tel Aviv over the last two seasons. Toronto has also added 7-0 Rasho Nesterovic (Slovenia) to a team that already had talented Spanish point guard Jose Calderon (he averaged 7.1 ppg. and 6.2 apg. before suffering an Achilles injury last year) and Senegalese forward Pape Sow on the roster. Given the direction the league is moving towards -- and if Bargnani is indeed the second coming of Dirk Nowitzki -- this could all turn out to be interesting in the extreme. However, it's worth to remember that it took some time even for devastating Dirk to get fully accustomed to the league. </div> http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/nbaissues_060922.html
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Chutney:</div><div class="quote_post">Knicks fans are lucky. You're site actually gives you interesting and readable articles.</div> If only they gave us interesting and watchable games...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">If only they gave us interesting and watchable games...</div> Exactly lol
