Predicted Record
45-37 (Tom), 34-48 (Gil)
Last Year’s Record
42-40
Tom’s Commentary
The way the playoff surprise teams usually work is to give their fans a better regular season than the previous one, followed by a playoff run that fails to match the previous season’s magic on any level, including the number of rounds to which they make it. That sounds about right for the Warriors, whose coach has always been just good enough to win every game one step below his team’s collective talent level, and whose best player one can imagine napping on his couch so as not to climb any stairs. They lose Jason Richardson, which is a decent number of points to have to make up from a team that doesn’t always play efficiently.
Rejoinder From Gil
Has any player ever been suspended and then named a captain before finishing his suspension? If not, Stephen Jackson enters the record books. Fortunately, Cap’n Jackson has a new tattoo: according to ESPN, it’s “two praying hands in front of a church window holding a gun.”
Gratuitous Comics Connection
In Oakland you’re only 11 miles from San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum.
Gratuitous Pharma Connection
Amgen, Genentech, and plenty of other biotechs are based out in the Bay area.
The Bottom Line
Baron Davis gets hurt because he never gets in shape before the season begins. They get off to a crappy start and manage to miss the playoffs again. Don Nelson laughs all the way to his bank in Hawaii. –GR
Comics and hoops. You got the best gig going, Tom! Prediction: Warriors are gonna win 60 this year. Players like J. Rich are a dime-a-dozen. Its always easy to find another shooting guard who can score 18 to 20 a night. Nellie is gonna run every team (aside from Phoenix) off the court. Predictably, though, they’ll flame out in the playoffs.