Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

[55]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

[Macroh]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

Pretty confident Heat will win it all again.

I really hope Lakers turn out to be one of those teams that looks much better on Paper than in practice, won't be happy with a Lakers Championship :P Haha

[Jasong7777]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

If the Lakers can somehow get past the Thunder, then I say the Lakers should win. The Lakers actually match up pretty well against the Heat if they faced them in the Finals.

[BezO]

I'll go with the Heat.

I have a problem with the Lakers' best players. Kobe & Nash are aging & Howard sucks at the line.

And I don't think the Thunder got better than the Heat over the summer.

[DBMcGee3]

Chicago bulls

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Bulls! I wish, but maybe next year. Let's go D Rose!

[Kashanova]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

Heat will win again, Thunder will beat the lakers but will fail to beat the heat.

[Cavsfan4life]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

Boston Celtics

They added Terry and Courtney Lee on the perimeter, both bring 3 point shooting and Lee is a good defender.

They get Jeff Green back who has looked good so far, and it gives them someone who can play PF/SF for small ball.

They added size in Darko and Melo, as well as getting Sullinger

Along with who they already had, this has to be one of the more versatile teams in the league, being able to mix and match depending on matchups.

Id have the Heat second, Thunder third, and Lakers 4th. Heat did add Allen, but they still lack size other than Bosh. Plus, it remains to be seen if Wade can stay healthy.

Thunder added Jones and more size, I see them coming out of the West again, but I think Cs would give them problems.

The Lakers look great on paper, and they should be good offensively, but Mike Brown and the coaching staff are going to have to find ways to hide Nash on defense as well as avoid their bigs getting into foul trouble. Their bench is mainly spot up shooters as well, they really dont have a playmaker that can create for others, which means Nash and Kobe will still see a lot of playing time.

[vtcha]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

i dont think the heat can handle 82 games, and one injury to bron, wade, n they done.

I believe that applies to every team not just the Heat...

Man people act as if the 82 game is much more gruelling than a lockout season .. if you ask me, I'm sure any player would prefer the standard 82 games rather than a condensed 66 game season as there wouldn't be as much 'wear and tear' on the body, let alone playing back-to-back-to-back games


As for my predictions:
Final Four: Heat, Celtics, Thunder, Lakers
Dark horse: Clippers, Nets
2012-13 NBA Champions: Heat

[GageC13]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

Heat vs. Thunder rematch.

Heat win in 6 games.

[ehh]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

Def the Heat. LeBron with the monkey off his back and playing free and loose all post season.

[Strangerstake]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

I would say the Heat too, Lebron showed that he can step it up last year and he had a firm control over team USA in pretty much all the games. He scored whenever he wanted to, The Heat as a team can look more better if Wade can come off really good after the surgery. Its the same with Dwight, We dont know how good is he really going to be after his surgery. Hopefully he will still be as good as he was before if not better. The Lakers look strong on paper but you cannot say anything until they prove it on court. The Celtics lost a lot in Ray Allen. He was a mentor to a lot of younger players and he was a really good fit in the offense. I do not see Terry filling in the spot Allen left. Celtics only hope is Rondo. Clippers look just too unfocused. Thunder look really good. It will be tough between Thunder/Lakers/Heat but in the end it is going to depend on the best defensive team in the finals. The team who plays better defensively will win which I think the Heat can with Lebron at the PF if they face the Lakers.

[ojandpizza]

Simple....the Los Angeles Lakers. Everyone can get off the Heat bandwagon. Last year was a shortened season so disregard it. Let's see how the Heat due in an 82 game schedule. Last time they did I believe they lost in the Finals.

Short or long season means absolutely nothing once the playoffs start? Anybody could obviously see that their first season was a chemistry issue and not a long season issue..

[ojandpizza]

I want a Heat/Thunder finals for the next few years.. I think a new rivalry is just what the NBA needs right now, and how awesome is Bron&Wade vs. Durant&Westbrook..

That being said, I would LOVE nothing more than to watch Kobe lose to LeBron in the finals.. I just don't see the Lakers beating the Thunder..

Also, those who say Dwight is going to demand double teams obviously don't actually watch much NBA basketball.. Dwight has literally ZERO post game. Turn and dunk can only get you so many points.. In fact, if he can get 20-30 points of turn and dunks and you effectively shut down the other guys by not doubling, I think almost any league in the team would take that..

Dwight has been the go to, franchise star on a horrible Orlando Magic team and still has only managed to shoot 11 shots per game.. Why? Not because they couldn't get him the ball, or because of double teams, but because once Dwight has the ball he can literally do nothing with it.. Those who actually watch games would notice that most teams over the past couple seasons have completely stopped with the Howard double teaming because they know the dude can't make a move.. Less double teams=less kick outs=Magic going from a title contending team to a mediocre team over the past couple years..

Also, why are you people sold on the fact that Kobe can even play with a great PG? He's yet to do so thus far.. Nash and Gasol combo could be absolutely LETHAL next year.. But what are the chances of Kobe letting Nash run the show?

Also people forget their coach is Mike Brown. His coaching game plan in Cleveland- give the ball to LeBron, his coaching plan in LA- give the ball to Kobe. LeBron was fairly successful in this simply because he is very good at setting up his teammates, For Kobe it resulted in bad shot selection, bad FG%, and one of the most inefficient seasons of his career..

[Vni]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

I'd say Heat again.

I just hope it's not OKC v Heat again because it was pretty boring to watch.

[daveberg]

Re: Sound Off: Your 2012-13 NBA Champions are __?

I'll be too busy watching retro NBA games to care.

But, if I had to hazzard a guess, either the Lakers or Heat.