LOS ANGELES LAKERS Advanced Stats: PACE #18 93.3 OFFENSE: #07 107.9 DEFENSE: #06 101.3 The last season of Phil Jackson as coach didn’t go very well for him and for the Lakers as they were humiliated and swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs. I won’t waste a lot of time with the Lakers last season other than saying that they were one of the few teams that were in the top... Read more

NEW JERSEY NETS Advanced Stats: PACE #23 92.5 OFFENSE: #27 100.2 DEFENSE: #22 107.0 The New Jersey Nets doubled the number of wins that they had achieved in the previous season, but it seems only important to me to analyze the Nets season since the moment Deron Williams was traded to New Jersey. The Nets managed to be a decent defensive team during some stretches of the past season, but overall their... Read more

SAN ANTONIO SPURS Advanced Stats: PACE: #15 94.3 OFFENSE: #2 109.4 DEFENSE: #11 102.8 The Tim Duncan Era ranks: Season Pace OffRtg DefRtg 1997-98 23 15 2 1998-99 24 10 1 1999-00 24 9 2 2000-01 25 3 ... Read more

ORLANDO MAGIC Advanced Stats: PACE #19 93.3 OFFENSE: #13 105.5 DEFENSE: #03 98.9 I left Orlando’s preview to be one of the last to be released due to Howard’s situation, as it is likely that he will be traded and his presence or absence is motive enough for this preview to need to be completely changed. Howard was a monster last season, in my opinion he should have been the MVP last year and he only... Read more

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS Advanced Stats: PACE #29 90.7 OFFENSE: #19 103.8 DEFENSE: #09 102.5 Talking about the Hornets’ last season is a mere exercise of futility because going for this season, the Hornets have lost their two best players not only from the last season, but of the whole franchise. Monty Williams did a terrific job with the Hornets in his first year as a coach! The Hornets improved dramatically... Read more

HOUSTON ROCKETS Advanced Stats: PACE #10 97.1 OFFENSE: #6 108.0 DEFENSE: #13 106.2 Last season no team started the season in such a disastrous way like the Rockets and probably this was the reason that cost them the 8th seed in the Western conference. The Rockets knew that Yao Ming couldn’t play in back to back games, but they found quickly that Ming couldn’t play at all. Then they started 0-5 the... Read more

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES Advanced Stats: PACE #14 94.7 OFFENSE: #16 104.4 DEFENSE: #8 102.5 In the first half of last season, Memphis looked like to go for a pretty average season for them, with a 19-23 record by January 19. Even though they were showing a lot of potential, they were being incredibly inconsistent and in point in December, they lost 4 games in a row, followed by 4 wins in a row and then,... Read more

PHOENIX SUNS Advanced Stats: PACE #8 96.5 OFFENSE: #9 107.0 DEFENSE: #25 107.4 Steve Nash is a special player, but even him can’t produce miracles every single season and for the first time in the “Nash era” in Phoenix, the Suns had a losing regular season record. The Suns under Nash were known for being not just a top offensive team, but the most efficient offensive team in the league! In fact... Read more

DENVER NUGGETS Advanced Stats: PACE #2 98.0 OFFENSE: #1 109.5 DEFENSE: #17 104.8 The Denver Nuggets are coming from a season in which they had two completely different teams! They were one of the most talked teams in the league, but not for the good reasons as “the Melodrama” soap was a big distraction in the first half of season. Nevertheless, with Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets had a 32-25 record... Read more

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS Advanced Stats: PACE: #19 95.6 OFFENSE: #29 99.5 DEFENSE: #29 109.0 The Cleveland Cavaliers showed last season why LeBron James has been arguably the best player of the league in the last 3 years. With basically the same roster minus James, the Cavs won just 19 games and established one NBA record by losing 26 consecutive games between Dec. 20 and Feb. 9. Without James... Read more