NBA Predictions: Atlanta Hawks

The NBA season is just a few weeks away and with team rosters almost complete, it's much easier to predict how certain teams are likely to perform next season. Several websites for betting on sports have already released season predictions for every NBA team, providing general insights on teams that expected to be good and those that are anticipated to have a bad year. If you like to bet on sports, these predictions might come in handy for you.

The Hawks in Limbo

The Atlanta Hawks are one of the few teams that are still in limbo when it comes to season prediction. There's the assumption that the team will try to tank in order to get a better positioning for the next year's loaded draft. However, if you look at the current roster of the team, they have enough talent to be competitive in the east.

Master of Their Own Fate

 The Hawks can go whatever direction they see fit. They are the master of their fate. If they decide to compete for the playoffs, there's a very good chance that they'll be able to do so. However, I don't think that the team would want to only reach the playoffs.

The Likely Ending

The way I see it, the Hawks will try their best to be competitive in the early part of the season. If things doesn't pan out, you can expect the management to make some big changes in the middle of the season that is likely to worsen the team but help with the rebuilding cause.

Did the Knicks Upgrade Over the Summer?

After a successful regular season wherein they were able to have the second-best record in the eastern conference, the New York Knicks faltered in the playoffs against a tougher opposition in the form of the defensive Indiana Pacers. The Knicks offense who featured the year's scoring champ were stifled. Their defense wasn't any better. To put it bluntly, the team still needed a lot of work if they are to become legitimate contenders for an NBA title.

In a tougher eastern conference

This offseason saw several new players added to the Knicks while some  players from last season were traded away or left during the free agency period. The team has been active, to say the least. However, all the transactions that the team have made still doesn't put them on the upper echelon of the league, or even the eastern conference for that matter. Even if they did improve, the other teams in the east has upgraded by leaps and bounds over what the Knicks have done so far.

Knicks' summer acquisitions

One of the significant transactions of the Knicks this summer is the trade for Andrea Bargniani that sent away Steve Novak. The presumption is that Bargnani, with his better skill sets, will provide the Knicks with another option in the offensive end. However, with several players on the Knicks that constantly handles the ball to be effective, it is very likely that his role will be relegated to what Novak used to do. The fact that his field goal percentages from last season  declined from the previous is a cause for more concern.

How is your favorite NBA team doing?

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Coach Kidd Now Also an Owner

Kidd during his time with Dallas Mavericks
Source: Keith Allison (CC BY-SA 2.0)   

So here's the news. Jason Kidd isn't just a franchise player and current head coach of the Brooklyn Nets anymore. He now also owns a small part of the team after reportedly buying half of Jay-Z's stake on the franchise. There are several interesting aspects of this development.

I guess he is the boss?

After the Nets signed him as the new coach for the team, many questioned his ability to reel in players and make them follow his vision. This isn't without reason per se. He has no experience in NBA coaching and the fact that he is a friend with some of the players on the team made everyone think of how awkward things can be if he needs to be hard on those players. Basically, it all comes down to respect and command.

Now that he is an owner, he is basically one of the many employers of the team's players. He is their boss, which I think should give him more authority. I'm not certain about how the authority bit will play out though.

What if it doesn't pan out?

And here's another awkward situation. What if him coaching the Nets doesn't pan out? We have seen so many coaches get sacked that it's quite the norm already. However, him being an owner makes it a tricky situation if indeed the team doesn't perform well under his command. I can just imagine how awkward ownership meetings can become.

More sporting news and activities

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Are the Rockets the Best Western Conference Team in 2013-14?

If there was a winner for the offseason in the NBA, the award will likely go to the Houston Rockets. They signed Dwight Howard, the biggest free agent of the summer, and they still have the tools and pieces they can use to improve until the trade deadline next year. That makes them a pretty dangerous team once the playoffs come. So, are they going to be the best team in the west next season?

I don't think so. And there are just some of the several reasons for that. 

The reality of the challenge

For a team that were already discounted even before the season started, you can say that the Rockets had a fairly successful run in 2012-13. They won games behind James Harden's impressive performances and they were able to reach the playoffs as the eight seed. It's reasonable to expect that the addition of should bolster their position for next year.

So, do you think Howard will be able to take them 7 steps higher for the number spot?

Dwight isn't going to solve everything

One of the main problems of the team last season were turnovers. Those turnovers led to opponents scoring in transition. And as good as a defensive player Howard might be, he will be useless when the opposing team is running fast breaks and transition offense against them.

Adjustments

The team will also have to make certain adjustments. Unlike Omer Asik who was fine with receiving leftovers, Howard wants the offense to pass through him. That is why the team will need to figure out how to balance the possessions between Howard, Harden and even Jeremy Lin who needs to have the ball to be effective.

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My NBA Teams to Watch for 2013-14

With the NBA season  only a little over 2 months away from starting, it's time for those who bet on sports to start planning the teams to follow and the games to watch. The NBA regular season alone will have 1230 games. You know you're going to need some extra effort in choosing the games to watch.

I, obviously, can't say what games you should watch since everyone has their own preferences in terms of entertainment. However, I do have certain teams in mind that I know I'm going to give a close look. Here are the five team's that automatically comes to my mind. These teams are pegged by a website for betting on sports as contenders for the title next season.

Houston Rockets

Toyota Center will be packed next season.

Hate him or love him, Dwight Howard is definitely bringing in plenty of attention to his new team. People will be watching how his decision to leave the LA will turn out. I, on the other hand, can't wait to see how he pairs up with talented players who are just reaching their prime. 

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers will be ready to clash with the eastern conference titans
Source: Zach Primozic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The media might try to ignore the team yet again next regular season. However, the recent improvements they made in the roster this summer might produce too loud of a noise to ignore once they step on the court.

Brooklyn Nets

The season is going to be either white or black.

The team has acquired some prominent players. The downside is that these same players are old. Then there's the new coach with a zero coaching experience in the NBA. If this was a story, there would be too many loopholes that the team will need to patch up. I could get pretty or it could get ugly. Either way the story goes, it sure is going to be interesting.

The Search is Over: 76ers Hire Coach

With the Bundesliga just having started, soccer online betting is back on the top of sports betting Australia. It doesn't mean, however, that the exciting news are exclusive to the sport of soccer. The NBA have some worthwhile news of its own.

Kevin Burkett / CC-BY-SA-3.0

It's been a strange off-season for the Philadelphia 76ers. The team has made plenty of mind-boggling moves that somehow, points to the direction that the team is going. What direction you ask? Well, the general consensus is towards the bottom of the league. Yes, no one will say it out right but everything that has been going on for the last two months clearly indicates the team tanking the season.

The trading away of Jrue Holiday for the injured rookie Nerlens Noel was one of the more obvious evidence as to what the team, under new GM Sam Hinkie is trying to do. Also, the fact that it took them until now to find a coach pretty much seals the deal.

So who got the job?

Brett Brown. So who is this guy? Brown has worked for the Spurs since 2002 as a director of player development. In 2006 and until a few days ago, he was an assistant coach under Popovich.

Expectations

People expect a lot from coaches and officials that worked for or with Pop in San Antonio. However, just because the team now has a head coach that worked under the one of the most successful organizations in the NBA doesn't mean the team is going to suddenly change their direction.

Brown was tentative to accept the job at first as people who are close to him advised him against it due to the fact that the team is expected to have a 60-loss season.  However, the 4-year guaranteed contract that shows how the team is dedicated in making him a part of the development process was so hard to pass up.

Still, part of the development process will be drafting key players which can be better achieved by having a losing season.