Tag Archives: Anthony Davis

2015-16 NBA PREVIEW and PREDICTIONS

Here’s what I came up with after looking into my crystal basketball for the 2015-16 NBA season.

kenny_da_swami2

EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF TEAMS:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers      (56-26)

2. Chicago Bulls

3. Miami Heat

4. Washington Wizards

5. Toronto Raptors

6. Atlanta Hawks

7. Milwaukee Bucks

8. Boston Celtics

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF TEAMS:

1. Golden State Warriors (58-24)

2. San Antonio Spurs

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

4. Houston Rockets

5. Los Angeles Clippers

6. Memphis Grizzlies

7. New Orleans Pelicans

8. Utah Jazz

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:

Cleveland Cavaliers over Chicago Bulls

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:

San Antonio Spurs over Golden State Warriors

 

NBA FINALS:

Cleveland Cavaliers over San Antonio Spurs

NBA MVP:

LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James Arms In The Air Postgame 2015

I expect “King James” to pick up his 5th NBA MVP trophy this season!

NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:

Jahlil Okafor – Philadelphia 76ers

NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Anthony Davis – New Orleans Pelicans

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

C.J. McCollum – Portland Trail Blazers

 

ALL NBA 1ST TEAM:

Steph Curry – Golden State Warriors

James Harden – Houston Rockets

Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City Thunder

LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers

Anthony Davis – New Orleans Pelicans

 

ALL NBA 2ND TEAM: Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins and Marc Gasol

KYRIE CONTINUES TO MAKE HIS CASE TO MAKE TEAM USA

 

Kyrie Irving USA Photo

Kyrie Irving played 14 minutes for Team USA Saturday night in an exhibition game Anderson Varejao and Brazil and scored 6 points, handed out 4 assists and collected 3 steals as USA Basketball won the contest 95-78. Irving finished 3 of 5 from the floor and just like in the recent Team USA scrimmage looked to be more of a facilitator than a scorer. He had this sweet crossover move that set up teammate Kenneth Faried –

Kyrie Irving breaking Brazilian ankles and then the dish for an “And 1” 

Irving was happy with the way the win, “I think we played really. For our first exhibition game, I think we came out aggressive. Obviously, there are things that we can do better on both ends of the floor, and I’m looking forward to the next exhibition game in New York.”

Anderson Varejao photoIrving’s Cavalier teammate Anderson Varejao played 21 minutes for the Brazilian national team and totaled 6 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

However the thing that the Cavs organization has to be happiest with is that both players came away from the game without an injury.

Anthony Davis led the U.S. with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots, while James Harden added 18 points and a team high 5 assists.

Derrick Rose, who played in his first game since tearing the meniscus in his right knee back on November 22, 2013, finished with 7 points and 2 assists in 24 minutes in front of his home crowd.

Next up for Team USA, a trip to New York for exhibition games against the Dominican Republic (Aug. 20) and Puerto Rico (Aug. 22).

The first official game for the United States in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup is set for August 30th as they open up pool play against Finland.

USA BASKETBALL SHOWCASE SCRIMMAGE THOUGHTS

Kyrie Irving started for “Team White” with Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, James Harden and DeMarcus Cousins.

Kyrie Irving USA 2

Kyrie Irving started opposite Derrick Rose at point guard and held his own in the first quarter with a bucket and a couple of assists.

Kyrie Irving with a sweet dribble- drive through a number of defenders in the 2nd quarter for a lay-up and he also played some defense tying up Steph Curry for a jump ball.

Love Tom Thibodeau screaming on the sideline, “Dead, dead, dead” and “Deny, deny, deny”  as he’s trying to get these guys to play defense.  Hopefully Kyrie Irving is listening.

Derrick Rose looks like he’s 100% healthy. He blew by a number of players for a lay-up early and then exploded for a serious two handed throw down off a nice pass from Kenneth Faried.

Kevin Durant is indeed the “Baddest” scorer on the planet with unmeasurable range and he the ability to throw down on Anthony Davis like he did in the scrimmage.

Hard to believe that Kevin Durant and James Harden were on the same team in the NBA and Oklahoma City broke that tandem up.  Harden, like KD, can score the ball from almost anywhere.

Team USA’s “Bigs” are the team’s biggest question mark after Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant. Finding a 3rd and a 4th big from Andre Drummond, DeMarcus Cousins, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee will be interesting. Remember this, even though Kevin Love isn’t with the team now doesn’t mean he still can’t make this team as one of the bigs.

Almost didn’t recognize Jazz small forward Gordon Hayward as he has hit the weights and go all swolled up.

Gotta love that Kyrie is getting more coaching from his old college coach Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Thibodeau as he gets ready to play for David Blatt and with LeBron James.

Irving looked like he was trying to be more of a facilitator for his team, which is a smart move since that’s the team is probably looking for as they decide on who their final point guard will be.

The scrimmage ended early because of a worst case scenario happening, as Indiana’s Paul George was seriously hurt attempting to block a shot and landing awkwardly on his right leg and it bent in a way that it shouldn’t. Thoughts and prayers go out to George as he recovers from this horrible injury.

MY 2014 NBA AWARDS

MVP  –  Kevin Durant                                                         Runner Up  –  LeBron James

 

Rookie of the Year  –   Michael Carter-Williams             Runner Up  –  Victor Oladipo

 

Defensive Player of the Year –   Roy Hibbert                  Runner Up  –  Joakim Noah

 

6th Man of the Year –   Jamal Crawford                           Runner Up  –  Taj Gibson

 

Most Improved Player –   Anthony Davis                        Runner Up  –  Goran Dragic

 

Coach of the Year –   Greg Popovich                               Runner Up  –  Jeff Hornacek

NBA Basketball Close Up

Most Surprising Team –   Toronto Raptors                     Runner Up  –  Phoenix Suns

Most Disappointing Team –   N.Y. Knicks                        Runner Up  –  Cleveland Cavaliers

Best Free Agent Move –   Al Jefferson                              Runner Up  –  Paul Milsap

Worst Free Agent Move –   Andrew Bynum                     Runner Up  –  Josh Smith

 

All NBA 1st Team –  Kevin Durant, LeBron James, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge,                                                           Steph Curry

All NBA 2nd Team –  Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Al Jefferson/Joakim Noah(Tie),                                                    Paul George

All NBA Rookie 1st Team – Michael Carter-Williams, Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke,                                                                             Ben McLemore, Gorgui Dieng

NBA Rookie Not Squad –  Anthony Bennett, OttoPorter , Alex Len, Shabazz Muhammed,                                                            Cody Zeller

 

NBA DRAFT IS THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2014