Let's get it started again

PARIS (The Monday International Show) - Will the new NBA season be remembered as the "looming lockout season" or the "Phil Jackson's fourth threepeat season"?

Will it be the "three amigos budding dynasty season" or the "Spurs fading dynasty season"?

Will it be "old Boston's last gasp season" or "Orlando's first title season"?

Here's my take on 2010-2011.

The Lakers will threepeat again because their players are at the peak of their careers where brains and brawn mix together beautifully between the ages of 28 and 32 years old. In two years they will start declining, especially Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom, but that time isn't here yet and Kobe can pass Jordan by winning seven titles as he leans more and more heavily on a dominating Pau Gasol.

I bet Phil Jackson even hangs around one more season after this one to help Kobe do it! Then it will be Miami's turn after two season's of losing and growing together if the amigos and their bosses are patient enough and the supporting cast is drastically improved. This season for Miami will be all about learning how to play together and managing the media hype and unrealistic expectations thown upon them.

Maybe Doc Rivers will move closer to his home in Orlando next season to help. Now, who will meet the Lakers in the Western conference finals considering that Denver, Phoenix and Utah seem weaker than last season for different reasons?

I think the Spurs can whip up a last hoorah together because their big three rested this summer and Tiago Splitter is a player. Tony Parker is playing for new contract at the peak of his career and will be motivated to shine.

Dallas is the other potential West finalist with a copious roster and Jason Kidd or Dirk Nowitski's biological clock ticking down! If you add an ever-improving, possible MIP, Nicholas Batum's Portland squad and future MVP and leading scorer Kevin Durant's Thunder youth movement, that makes eight playoff teams even though Houston, with the return of Yao and the brillance of Scola and Brooks, might be able to oust one of the weaker sisters aforementioned.

The NBA is the opposite of the NFL where unexpected teams like New Orleans last season can surprise everyone and win the title. In the NBA there will always be a limited number of true candidates for the throne, five or six maximum and these are usually teams that progress from year to year in the playoffs and finally break through one day.

This is why a sudden recruiting phenomenon like Miami doesn't impress me at all and I'm still trying to figure out what Jeff Van Gundy was drinking the night he said that Miami would beat Chicago's regular season record of 72 wins, never lose two games in a row and waltz easily to the title. No way, Jeff!

Miami's weakness at point guard and center is evident and with Mike Miller out until january opponents will be packing the paint and the feeble and elderly bench will be huffing and puffing just trying to keep up. The three amigos will alternately play isolation ball to profit from matchup advantages but to be a real champion they will need defence, ball movement and an offensive hierarchy like the Lakers with their triangle offence and that will take time.

I would bet on a Boston-Orlando East final with Miami and Chicago as losing semi-finalists which would still represent a net improvement for both teams. Chicago would be content and Miami probably not! Joakim Noah's Bulls will start really clicking when Carlos Boozer comes back and the Frenchman's new contract totally liberates him to attack the rebounding title and a spot on the East All-Star roster.

I see Atlanta stagnating or dropping off a bit after severely over-paying Joe Johnson this past summer. Their may be a little suspense in the East about which teams round out the top eight for a playoff berth and a team like Charlotte might have trouble holding off challengers like Rookie of the year John Wall's  Washington or Stoudemire's New York especially if Milwaukee confirms their surprising 2009-2010 campaign with a highly internationalized roster.
 
Teams like Detroit, New Orleans, Sacramento and Indiana will once again show how difficult it is to recuperate recent but bygone glory in today's NBA! As I've stated all along, all this posturing should still lead us back to the usual supects and an LA-Boston or LA-Orlando NBA Finals in june, which would be fine with me. What do you think?

George Eddy