Amid all the hype over college football, Damian and the Blazers return
Oct. 27, 2014 / By Cliff Pfenning, Oregonsports Journal
Now that Lebron is back in Cleveland, can anyone stop the Cavaliers - especially with Kevin Love on the frontline?
Plenty of teams, as the Chicago Bulls get favorable press across the country as the chief team to challenge, and in many cases, beat Cleveland to the reach the NBA Finals.
Cleveland may have the bigger names from off-season acquisitions, but the Bulls have Derrick Rose back from injury, off-season pick-up Pau Gasol from the Lakers, and coach Tom Thibodeau, who is respected about as much as any NBA coach after Greg Popovich of the Spurs.
So, it's an easy pick to put either Cleveland or Chicago into the NBA Finals from the Eastern Conference.
The West? That's the key discussion of Episode 21 of Sportsland, Oregon, 2014. The NBA and college football, which has the Oregon Ducks headed toward their nemesis from the past two seasons - Stanford - this weekend.
The Blazers are a key figure as a wild card in the Western Conference, having two All-Stars on the team in LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard, who is getting national publicity thanks primarily to Adidas. Lillard has the game to put himself in conversations with Lebron, but he doesn't have the playoff magic. At least until last year. Portland won a first-round playoff series for the first time in more than a decade last year on a series-ending shot by Lillard. Can the team and Lillard match or improve on that this year? And, in a crowded Western Conference where the top eight teams seem fairly consistent, but where they are within that top eight might change weekly.
Defending NBA Champion San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland, Memphis, Dallas, Golden State and Houston.
Chicago and Cleveland in the East. Just about anyone in the West, as long as one of the conference finalists is San Antonio.
HERE'S OUR PRESEASON PICKS:
DEREK WEBER CLIFF PFENNING
EAST EAST
- Chicago 1. Cleveland
- Cleveland 2. Chicago
- Brooklyn 3. Toronto
- Toronto 4. Miami
- Washington 5. Washington
- Miami 6. Charlotte
- Atlanta 7. Brooklyn
- Charlotte 8. Indiana
WEST WEST
- San Antonio 1. Los Angeles Clippers
- LA Clippers 2. San Antonio
- Oklahoma City 3. Portland
- Memphis 4. Oklahoma City
- Houston 5. Dallas
- Portland 6. Golden State
- Golden State 7. Houston
- Dallas 8. Memphis
CONFERENCE FINALS
Derek - Chicago def. Cleveland; San Antonio def. Oklahoma City
Cliff - Cleveland def. Chicago (or Miami if DRose lost for season); Los Angeles Clippers def. Golden State
FINALS
Derek - San Antonio def. Chicago
Cliff - Los Angeles Clippers def. Cleveland
What's a guy like new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer get for his $2 billion purchase of the Clippers? A few good calls?
It's all in this episode of Sportsland, Oregon, recorded Monday at Blitz Pearl in Northwest Portland.