CHRIS YODER
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007

THE NBA: WHERE amazing happens. That's the league's new slogan at least. For the next seven months, the world gets to see just how amazing this league is. What's going to make this season good, bad, or ugly? Or amazing?

The Chicago Bulls would definitely fit into the "good" category. Last season, they won 49 games and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since Michael Jordan wore home whites at the United Center.

The Bulls don't really have a marquee player, such as LeBron James or Steve Nash, but they’ve shown it doesn't take a high-profile superstar to win games.

That's why they don't need Kobe Bryant. As good as Bryant would be for the Bulls' marketing department, a potential blockbuster trade for Bryant would disintegrate the young core of players the Bulls franchise has built. Luckily, such a trade looks like it won't happen in the near future.

When Michael Jordan retired (the second time), the Bulls broke up, and the team became the laughingstock of the league. As a result, many local fans moved their loyalty to other NBA teams. But now that the Bulls have a good team, though not a standout individual, they are my pick to win the Eastern Conference this year. They've struggled thus far, but there are five months left to play.

The Boston Celtics have chosen a different route toward playoff contention. They opened their checkbooks and bought two big names — Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — instead of developing talent from within.

Last year, the Celtics had the second worst record in the NBA. This year, the Celtics are in contention for an Eastern Conference championship. However, NBA teams cannot be revitalized completely in one offseason, so it looks like they'll come up a bit short.

For all the parody in the rest of the Eastern Conference, no one else, save perhaps the Detroit Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers, has a shot at the NBA Finals. The New Jersey Nets, the Toronto Raptors, the Washington Wizards — they all have pretty good teams, but they certainly can't be considered "great." The real talent lies out West.

The Western Conference has about as many good teams as Uni has good students. For as boring as they are to watch, the San Antonio Spurs have an NBA Finals trophy to gloat over. The Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns both are about as good as the Spurs — and much more fun to watch, I might add. The Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz, and the Houston Rockets would all be first-tier in the East but have to settle for "good" in the West.

So how do you sort through the rest of the best in the West?

Deron Williams, a former Illini, was wise to leave Illinois a year early. When he and Carlos Boozer draw Stockton/Malone comparisons, the Jazz have to be favorites in the Northwest division, though Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony make a dynamic duo in Denver.

In the Pacific Division, no one stands a chance against Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns.

But it's three teams in Texas setting the pace in the Southwest.

Behind Tim Duncan, the Spurs haven't done much except collect championships. His signature bank shot won't get 8-year-olds to gawk, but it goes in most of the time.

Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks do pretty well at getting wins too. Then you throw in the Houston Rockets, and their duo of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady (not to mention former Illini Luther Head), and you have a recipe for a competitive division.

I see San Antonio coming away with the Southwest title yet again, while the Mavericks and Rockets line up for high playoff spots.

What about the ugly? Tim Donaghy didn't do much good for the game by gambling on games he officiated, as he admitted this summer. All sports have their problems — MLB's steroid problems come to mind — but when the result of a game is made different by something out of a player's control, the game loses integrity. If everything goes smoothly, and the referees stay out of the newspapers, this season should be one to remember.

So who's your MVP? It's not just the best player, but the one who does the most for your team. Kobe, LeBron, Gilbert Arenas — they're all big names, but if they don't do much in the playoffs, they can't be considered.

So only a few players are serious candidates. Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan fit the criteria of being great players on great teams. Since the Suns look primed for the playoffs, and Nash looks more motivated than ever, I'll give him my MVP vote. I'll give the Suns my NBA title vote, too.

This season there's more talent than there's ever been in the NBA. More teams than ever have hopes for the postseason. So if the refs stay neutral, there should only be one word to describe this season:

Amazing.