Southwest Division Preview

1. New Orleans Hornets: The obvious choice for first place I suppose, although it wouldn’t surprise me if people are really high on the Rockets right now. And yes, Houston is a lot better with Ron Artest there, but the Hornets are one of the top three teams in the League. With their core still intact and new addition James Posey, the Hornets are legitimate contenders for the title. Last year we truly saw how good they really were, and with Chris Paul was getting MVP consideration, defenses will try to smother him. But would that bother CP3? When he is double-teamed, there’s always a great shooter somewhere on the court, like Peja, Posey, Mo Pete, and power forward David West has a pretty good range too. If that doesn’t work, Tyson Chandler might be hovering around the rim waiting for that lob, or the promising Julian Wright will be cutting through the lanes to finish an easy two. This team is really something, so who will beat them? Will this be the third Finals trip in Byron Scott’s young career?

2. Houston Rockets: Honestly I think I might’ve placed them too high, but the Spurs are getting older, and the Rockets have all the material to at least win more regular season games than San Antonio. When you have two stars in Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, you throw Ron Artest into the mix, what do you get? I don’t know either. Will there be games that Artest is the only healthy player of all three? How tired is Yao already? Is there a part of T-Mac’s body that doesn’t hurt? But if you’re a Rockets fan you might not think too much about these things, and you just hope to go deep into the playoffs. Another bright spot is Luis Scola. He might not give you 30 points every night, grab 20 rebounds or block five shots, but he’s active, crafty and has a high basketball IQ. A perfect fit for this team, one where three players will probably carry the bulk of Houston’s offense, and Scola will be depended on to do the dirty work. But it’s too early to tell how far they will go with this “new” team, we’ll re-evaluate in month or so.

3. San Antonio Spurs: It’s the same old Spurs, although they made a smart move getting Roger Mason to come over. Mason really played well in stretches for the Washington Wizards last season, and now with Manu Ginobili probably out until December, Mason could see a lot of minutes early on. The others? We know them, and we know what they can do. Bruce Bowen is still a premier defensive player, and behind him is another Bowen in the making: Ime Udoka. So all things considered the Spurs are still good enough to compete for the title. The aforementioned Ginobili, with Tony Parker and superstar Tim Duncan will lead the NBA’s oldest team into the playoffs, but back to the Finals might be a bit too much.

4. Dallas Mavericks: Too bad the Mavs are in one of the most competitive divisions of the whole League, because is there anyone out there who thinks that they will finish above the Hornets, Rockets or Spurs? Sure, they still have a lot of talented players, but so does the rest. Jason Kidd is still a great passer, but defensively he has lost a step. Dirk, although still good, wasn’t in MVP form last season, and Josh Howard also needs to get back to his all-star level of play. New coach Rick Carlisle is a good choice to run things, but don’t expect them to be higher than the 6th spot in April.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: There’s a new Gasol in town. Same shaggy hair, same scruffy beard, different playing style. Marc Gasol has a wider body that his brother and former Grizzly Pau. Marc is more of a banger, a true power forward, or, in today’s NBA, he might end up playing center if Darko Milicic doesn’t get the start. The Grizzlies might not win many games, but they will certainly be exciting to watch with Mike Conley as their point guard, who has O.J. Mayo on one side, and the versatile Rudy Gay on the other side. Trading Mayo for Love (and Mike Miller) was a great deal, and although Mayo will have his share of difficulties by playing so much as a rookie, he’s the real thing. And since Rudy Gay already is a star, they could be one Ricky Rubio away from achieving a winning record again in Memphis.