NBA Predictions and week 9 NFL vegas style

Hey, hey, the NBA is here or as I like to call it, The Lebron James Show. Here's something that you never heard any team athlete say. "I want to go down as the greatest of all time". Think about it. Ali said it, Tiger has said it, but they compete[d] in individual sports. You've heard many an athlete say, I want to be considered an all-time great or one of the greatest, but no one has ever said, I want to be the greatest to ever have played my sport... until now. Lebron said it. I mean who says something like that. I'm in the business of stand-up comedy, where narcissism and ego manicalness (yep, I just created a new word, acknowledge me Webster) is the way of life and I've yet to hear a comic say they want to be better than Richard Pryor. No one would dare put themselves under that kind of microscope. James identified Michael Jordan as the best and that he wants to surpass him. I think that's fantastic. We're going to be watching him and everything he does, we will stack it up against MJ. Yesterday a buddy called and said can you believe that Miami lost to Philadelphia last night, that would have never happened to an MJ led team. It has begun LeBron it has begun

Western Conference
Pretender
Oklahoma City Thunder oh what could have been. Serge Ibaka, Jeff Green, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden would have made an impossible team to defeat. That could have been the line-up if they hadn't traded away Green for Kendrick Perkins and Harden for cheapness. Now they have a team that's still talented with 2 top 10 players in Durant and Westbrook but not near the firepower needed to come out of the loaded West. Sure they'll be no easy out but they can't match-up with these teams

Dark Horse
Memphis Grizzlies is a deep talented team but if Zach Randolph isn't gonna be the dominant force that he was 2 years ago, then they have no chance. They don't have enough outside shooting to unclog the lane and give Marc Gasol and Randolph the room to operate. However if Mike Miller and Conley stroke it consistently and Randolph paces himself ala tim Duncan they could sneak in the championship.

Not Quite
The Golden State Warriors are a fun team to watch. They can stroke it with the best of them, but I've yet to see a team that doesn't play defense win a championship. Run and gun is great for the regular season, but you gotta be able to clamp 'em up son. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson can conceivably give you 10 3's a game between them, but where's the easy points coming from... Andrew Bogut?!!! ummmm...

Fraud
So the favorites in the west is suppose to be from a Center who can't shoot free throws, a power forward who can't shoot free throws and is your leading scorer but doesn't have a go to move, 2 shooting guards who can't guard anyone and your best player on the team is 6 ft. How many championships have been won when the unquestioned best player on the team is led by a little guard in the last 30 years. The answer is one, Isaiah Thomas and the Detroit pistons who won 2 chips by playing stout defense and I think Doc Rivers is a great coach but this team has too many holes. I'm just wagering with history boo.

Which leaves
I'm done writing off the San Antonio Spurs. Greg Popovich is the best coach in the game. They're deep and Kwahi Leonard will replace Manu Ginobli and become the third headed monster next to Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. No other team in the West is as versatile as the Spurs. The only way they don't make it, is if a serious injury to one of their core players happen. Which is definitely possible but I bet they hold off all competitors for 1 more year and Tim Duncan solidifies his stature as the best player of his era

Eastern Conference
Pretender
I think the Boston celts... er, I mean the Brooklyn Nets have a solid team. They have second round written all over them, but their go too players are a bit soft. I used to think Deron Williams was the best point guard in the league. Now he may not be top 5, would you take him over Paul, Rose, Westbrook, Curry or Irving? Brook Lopez can score in the post and is a solid 7 foot, athletic big, but what's up with only 7 boards a game?!!! Pierce and Garnett along with Johnson and Terry are nice pieces but KG's has gotta put some mental toughness in that team, throw in Jason Kidd as the coach and something just doesn't sit right with me and this team

Frauds
The New York Knicks owner James Dolan said that he expects to win a championship this year http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/9903108/james-dolan-new-york-knicks-owner-expects-championship-year. Ummmm, Raymond Felton, Amar'e Stoudemire, Bargani, J. R. Smith, Peace... I know right. If by championship he means, we'll make the playoffs and lose in the 1st round then he'll be correct

Not Quite
Indiana Pacers are definitely not a dark horse after giving the Heat everything they could handle in last year's Eastern Conference finals. Paul George is a superstar and he could at least make Lebron's impact somewhat negligible. Hibbert is a beast. I love the pick-up of Luis Scola and the experience they got from last year's playoffs. However the uncertainty of Danny Granger and the backcourt of Lance Stephens and George Hill doesn't give me the confidence to pick them to win it all.

also Not Quite
The Miami Heat????? What, wait, why??? Here's my simple answer. Resting Dwayne Wade in the 2nd game of the season says one thing. The Heat will semi-coast thru the regular season and gear up for the playoffs. Which means they are contempt to NOT have home court advantage. Which means they will have to play a combination of Indian and Chicago to get thru the East. They struggled last year with those 2 teams and this year, both the Pacers and Bulls are considerably better than they were last year. Which means the Heat will have to deal with Hibbert, Noah, West, Scola, Boozer and Gibson, which means... They're gonna have to count on Greg Oden, gulp. I hate to best against Lebron but if they're gonna sacrifice home court ...

Which leaves
Maybe I'm a homer in picking the Chicago Bulls but despite the throttling the Heat gave them in the season opener, this team is not nearly the team they're gonna be at the end of the season. Jimmy Butler will be a bona fide star, Rose will have shaken off the rust and Mike Dunleavy will be a difference maker (god I hope so) The Bulls are ready and so am I

Bulls over San Antonio in 6

Let's not forget the all important week 9 picks of the week
Cowboys -10.5 over Minnesota
Cowboys/Vikings over 48
Buffalo +3.5 over Kansas city
Oakland- 3 over Philadelphia
Bears/Packers u 50.5

P.S. the Indiana Pacers are getting 15-1 odds to win the championship this is great value

See you next week

Kevin Bozeman can be heard every sunday on 560wind.com from 10am- noon cst and heard every Sunday night on foxsportslive.com at 10:15 cst. Kevin bozeman is a frequent guest on the Mancow show. Be sure to catch Kevin Bozeman on the stand up circuit, check for tour dates here www.kevinbozeman.com
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