Post by briarduck on Jul 10, 2009 0:00:54 GMT -8
The Detroit Tribune…NBA News Notes
1995 Playoff Recap…
The tale of two conferences…
The crème of the crop West wins out vs the Underdog winning East in the first round!
Round one, in the West we saw the top four advance easily while in the East the bottom four advance, its in two round where in the West things got interesting, and what do you would expect with a battle of the best four teams in the West with the Sonics, Jazz, Suns and Nuggets, with some very close games. The East was again a different story, with the Pistons and the Pacers handling the Heat and Celtics quite easily!
The conference Championships were two very interesting match-ups, in the East it wasn’t much of a series with the Pacers coming close to sweeping the Cinderella Pistons who came very close after an amazing season. In the West it was the Sonics versus the Suns and it was quite a good series with the Sonics edging the Suns in what looked like a Sonics sweep the Suns battled back to make it a close one but the Sonics finishing them off in game seven to earn their first Championship versus the Pacers!
The Championship series was set, it would be the Pacers versus the Sonics, David vs Goliath, many didn’t believe the Pacers could even make it a series and after game three no one would believe the out come fans had started to think of next season with the eventual sweep looming. Well that must have woken up the Pacers players reading the newspapers/emails/message boards, watching sports center because what the did next was simply amazing, winning four straight in dramatic fashion….we can still hear the chats “The Pacers Win, the Pacers WIN!! That’s one for the records book!
What a year, so what’s next? Can 1995/96 season match the excitement? Lets have a look ahead…
1995-96 Pre-Season Western Conference Power Rankings
1. Seattle Supersonics
How they Finished in 1994/95? Conference Champs and Champion ship runner up!
What they did in FA? C Joe Kleine, SG Ron Harper, PG Doc Rivers, PF Michael Cage, PF Chris Gatling, SF Eddie Johnson
Did they improve TC? SuperSonics GM couldn’t be happier with their teams development, and why not, they were just one step away from winning it all!
How will they do this year? We expect Seattle to be happy yet again with another long playoff run! Will they make it all the way again? We think so but did they do enough in FA and in the offseason to improve to make it happen?
2. Utah Jazz
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? SG Bobby Phills, SF Derek Strong, SF Patrick Traylor, SG Jimmy King
Did they improve TC? Jazz GM was happy but their focus was less on getting the young guys going but more on figuring out what happened in the playoffs last year! He did note that one guy in particular C Shawn Bradley “while doing a good job needs to be more of a presence in the middle”.
How will they do this year? We don’t see them winning it all this year, their stars are getting older but maybe there is one more run left in the tank!
3. Denver Nuggets
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? C Dikembe Mutombo, PG Robert Pack, SF Billy Owens
Did they improve TC? Sabs, Ellis were tireless in their work in the offseason and they look forward to a longer playoff run, Nuggets GM was happy but would have liked to see more out of the other young players.
How will they do this year? We see a similar run in the playoffs, this is a great young team!
4. Portland Trailblazers
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? PG Kenny Anderson, C Brad Daugherty, SG Derek Harper
Did they improve TC? Blazers fans can rest assured, their young guns are developing at a fantastic rate, it should be one heck of a year!
How will they do this year? If they improve like we think they will, look out!
5. Phoenix Suns
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? SG Steve Smith, C Luc Longley, SG Gabriel Ilgauskas
Did they improve TC? Suns were reasonably happy with their group of young guys but were hoping for more development after the summer league were over.
How will they do this year? After all the changes last year you would have thought they were rebuilding, no not these guys they just reload! Look for a another solid playoff team.
6. San Antonio Spurs
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? C Sam Bowie, PF Frank Brickowski, SF David Benoit, PF Doug Smith, SF Alex Holcombe
Did they improve TC? Spurs had a decent camp but only Sean Elliot showed real improvement. It must have been all the extra work he put in, he really is a team leader during the offseason.
How will they do this year? Anytime a team has MJ we like their chances but do they have a strong enough supporting cast?
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? n/a
Did they improve TC? After a disappointing year they focused on getting on teams on the same page mentally and physically and with little youth they worked on fundamentals and conditioning the TWolves coach and GM said.
How will they do this year? We love the balance in this lineup, will the stars align for this team? Barkley and Willis would love to rings before their careers are through. We like this team and maybe a surprise playoff run is in them like the Pistons last year but maybe one step better!
8. Sacramento Kings
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? C Benoit Benjamin, SG Tracy Moore
Did they improve TC? Kings management were a little disappointed after the summer league and TC was over some of their guys simply didn’t improve or regressed a little or made minor adjustments to their games, does this team lack a team leader? Mitch Richmond said ”they are going to be just fine” and “we will just have to wait and see” we hope you are right Mitch!
How will they do this year? We like this team but do they have enough depth to make a strong playoff run? First round and out is our guess.
Outside looking in…
Los Angeles Clippers
OUR PREDICTION
Division Champs? Seattle Supersonics and Denver Nuggets
Championship Game? Seattle Supersonics
1995 Playoff Recap…
The tale of two conferences…
The crème of the crop West wins out vs the Underdog winning East in the first round!
Round one, in the West we saw the top four advance easily while in the East the bottom four advance, its in two round where in the West things got interesting, and what do you would expect with a battle of the best four teams in the West with the Sonics, Jazz, Suns and Nuggets, with some very close games. The East was again a different story, with the Pistons and the Pacers handling the Heat and Celtics quite easily!
The conference Championships were two very interesting match-ups, in the East it wasn’t much of a series with the Pacers coming close to sweeping the Cinderella Pistons who came very close after an amazing season. In the West it was the Sonics versus the Suns and it was quite a good series with the Sonics edging the Suns in what looked like a Sonics sweep the Suns battled back to make it a close one but the Sonics finishing them off in game seven to earn their first Championship versus the Pacers!
The Championship series was set, it would be the Pacers versus the Sonics, David vs Goliath, many didn’t believe the Pacers could even make it a series and after game three no one would believe the out come fans had started to think of next season with the eventual sweep looming. Well that must have woken up the Pacers players reading the newspapers/emails/message boards, watching sports center because what the did next was simply amazing, winning four straight in dramatic fashion….we can still hear the chats “The Pacers Win, the Pacers WIN!! That’s one for the records book!
What a year, so what’s next? Can 1995/96 season match the excitement? Lets have a look ahead…
1995-96 Pre-Season Western Conference Power Rankings
1. Seattle Supersonics
How they Finished in 1994/95? Conference Champs and Champion ship runner up!
What they did in FA? C Joe Kleine, SG Ron Harper, PG Doc Rivers, PF Michael Cage, PF Chris Gatling, SF Eddie Johnson
Did they improve TC? SuperSonics GM couldn’t be happier with their teams development, and why not, they were just one step away from winning it all!
How will they do this year? We expect Seattle to be happy yet again with another long playoff run! Will they make it all the way again? We think so but did they do enough in FA and in the offseason to improve to make it happen?
2. Utah Jazz
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? SG Bobby Phills, SF Derek Strong, SF Patrick Traylor, SG Jimmy King
Did they improve TC? Jazz GM was happy but their focus was less on getting the young guys going but more on figuring out what happened in the playoffs last year! He did note that one guy in particular C Shawn Bradley “while doing a good job needs to be more of a presence in the middle”.
How will they do this year? We don’t see them winning it all this year, their stars are getting older but maybe there is one more run left in the tank!
3. Denver Nuggets
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? C Dikembe Mutombo, PG Robert Pack, SF Billy Owens
Did they improve TC? Sabs, Ellis were tireless in their work in the offseason and they look forward to a longer playoff run, Nuggets GM was happy but would have liked to see more out of the other young players.
How will they do this year? We see a similar run in the playoffs, this is a great young team!
4. Portland Trailblazers
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? PG Kenny Anderson, C Brad Daugherty, SG Derek Harper
Did they improve TC? Blazers fans can rest assured, their young guns are developing at a fantastic rate, it should be one heck of a year!
How will they do this year? If they improve like we think they will, look out!
5. Phoenix Suns
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? SG Steve Smith, C Luc Longley, SG Gabriel Ilgauskas
Did they improve TC? Suns were reasonably happy with their group of young guys but were hoping for more development after the summer league were over.
How will they do this year? After all the changes last year you would have thought they were rebuilding, no not these guys they just reload! Look for a another solid playoff team.
6. San Antonio Spurs
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? C Sam Bowie, PF Frank Brickowski, SF David Benoit, PF Doug Smith, SF Alex Holcombe
Did they improve TC? Spurs had a decent camp but only Sean Elliot showed real improvement. It must have been all the extra work he put in, he really is a team leader during the offseason.
How will they do this year? Anytime a team has MJ we like their chances but do they have a strong enough supporting cast?
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? n/a
Did they improve TC? After a disappointing year they focused on getting on teams on the same page mentally and physically and with little youth they worked on fundamentals and conditioning the TWolves coach and GM said.
How will they do this year? We love the balance in this lineup, will the stars align for this team? Barkley and Willis would love to rings before their careers are through. We like this team and maybe a surprise playoff run is in them like the Pistons last year but maybe one step better!
8. Sacramento Kings
How they Finished in 1994/95?
What they did in FA? C Benoit Benjamin, SG Tracy Moore
Did they improve TC? Kings management were a little disappointed after the summer league and TC was over some of their guys simply didn’t improve or regressed a little or made minor adjustments to their games, does this team lack a team leader? Mitch Richmond said ”they are going to be just fine” and “we will just have to wait and see” we hope you are right Mitch!
How will they do this year? We like this team but do they have enough depth to make a strong playoff run? First round and out is our guess.
Outside looking in…
Los Angeles Clippers
OUR PREDICTION
Division Champs? Seattle Supersonics and Denver Nuggets
Championship Game? Seattle Supersonics
