by Adrian Doerfler
Daily Lobo
With the start of a new NBA season, there are a few things that come to mind.
Is the Eastern Conference finally seeing a power shift heading its way?
And also, please God, don't put the Spurs in another Finals.
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The Spurs and "The Big Fundamental" Tim Duncan cruised to another NBA championship to continue the most boring dynasty in the history of basketball. I'm sorry, but I want to see high-flying alley-oops and 360 dunks in my NBA games, like the show the Golden State Warriors put on in last year's playoffs.
It's supposed to be entertainment, right? Actually, shots of Eva Longoria in the stands every 10 minutes makes anything you are watching pretty exciting.
The Spurs will come into the season as heavy favorites expected to repeat. This is a possibility, as the other top teams in the West - the Suns, Mavericks and Rockets - have virtually the same returning teams. The most notable upgrades include the addition of Grant Hill to the Suns and Steve "Franchise" Francis heading back to his original franchise, the Rockets.
Elsewhere in the West, Kobe Bryant wants to be traded and get out of Hollywood quicker than he wanted to bolt from Denver after those rape accusations. And I can't blame him. I don't see how Kwame Brown - perhaps the worst No. 1 pick of all time - and Luke Walton can help Kobe make it past the first round.
In the East, Danny Ainge and the Celtics gave the rest of America more reason to hate Boston. Both Kevin Garnett and Ray "He Got Game" Allen were traded to the Celtics to join Paul Pierce in an attempt to take over the East. That shouldn't be hard, as three teams in the East that reached the playoffs were .500 or below.
LeBron James is not expected by some experts to do anything this year, but I won't put anything past King James.
The Heat are questionable this year, as Shaquille O'Neal is only worth 15 points and eight boards a game, and there isn't anyone else who can help
Dwayne Wade.
Detroit and Chicago will win a lot of games this year, but a surprise team that will do a lot of damage is the Orlando Magic.
To compete against the West, a team is going to have to have a talented front court. The Magic signed forward Rashard Lewis to play alongside Dwight Howard. Howard can be counted on for a double-double every night, and Lewis is in his prime, scoring 20 points per game the last three seasons.
Overall, Kevin Garnett is the most selfless superstar of the NBA. And as much as it hurts me to say this, he will lead Massachusetts to a likely clean championship sweep of all three major sports titles.
