2012-2013 preview: Cleveland Cavaliers.

We're just over a month away from the start of the new NBA season, and if you count preseason games (which I don't) then you're only 15 days away! So in celebration and anticipation of the new season I'm launching a project of looking at all 30 NBA teams and trying to figure out where they'll go this season. Yes, I'm joining the bandwagoning group of NBA fanatics who are predicting everything. The plan is to cover 30 teams in 30 days, while also finding time to write about what goes on during the preseason. So we'll se how this goes! I've always found predictions to be a sketchy thing, especially with teams that acquired lots of new players or lottery picks. You don't know how the chemistry will work and you don't know if that lottery pick could turn out as a bust or not. Nevertheless, I'm doing it anyway! We're starting off in the East and working our way from cellar-dweller to Conference champion and then repeating the process in the West. Most of this probably won't be a surprise, so don't be disappointed if you aren't shocked too often. So here we go...

The Dwightmare Extravaganza!

It all started about two years ago. When Lebron James went on national television and announced "The Decision" we weren't really surprised. It had been talked about for months about the potential for a new superpower to form. For months people had guessed that Lebron wouldn't stay in Cleveland. For months (and even years) ahead of that summer, teams cleared cap space to make a run at the best in the NBA. When he signed with Miami and everything was done, our interest soon dissipated and we asked "What next?"

Please give me free tickets...

I took a weeklong break from my upcoming Dwight Howard piece after hearing of a blog contest for lower level tickets to a Blazers game. I was asked to write about which Blazers ticket package was my favorite, and I felt like this was something I could write about since I bought one of those ticket packs two weeks earlier. To look at the tickets packs, you can look here. I decided that since I took a week to write and edit this 2500 word piece, I might as well share it on here! Also, I started school last week which means that I won't really have much time for writing on my blog anymore. I'm hoping that, after my Howard post, I can do a division-by-division forecast for the upcoming season over the next two months. Anyway, here's what I wrote:

Why I hate my team.

Because the summer is a bit of a boring time for basketball, I don't really have a lot to write about. I don't follow college basketball so I don't have anything to say about the draft picks until they actually play in the NBA. I don't want to talk about Free Agency and trading until later in the offseason so I can write a comprehensive column. The Dwight Howard saga is still going, and hopefully will end soon. When it does, I will definitely be writing about that "Dwight-mare". The Summer league has just started and I'm excited to see some of these new guys in action (Especially when the Anthony Davis debuts against Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard!)
Anyway, one of the biggest signings so far has been Brandon Roy's return to the NBA via a two year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves. I, along with every other member of Rip City, loved Roy when he played with us and was deeply saddened when he retired. Seeing him return is both good and bad. I'm happy that he is (hopefully) able to continue a moderately successful career, and sad that he isn't doing it with Portland. Rip City members are used to this type of bad luck and suffering though. While I'm glad Roy didn't turn to the dark side and join a team like the Lakers or the Heat, I feel like its yet another diss on Portland and wouldn't be surprised if his comeback with the Wolves was quite successful. This story got me thinking about other bad luck stories Rip City has written over the years, and after going through them all (and there are a lot of them), I came up with 10 stories that showcase Portland's bad luck the best.

Building for contention 101.

Before I say anything basketball related, I'd like to apologize to anyone who's been checking up on my blog for not posting anything this past month. I was bombarded by high school graduation, and then completing Finals and other school-related things. Now that summer is upon us though, I have a little more free time in which to spend on my blog. I know I said in my last column that I hope to be posting more regularly but this time I really mean it. Really. So now that that's out of the way... on to basketball! This article is for all my Blazers fans out there, and I hope you enjoy it! I was in the middle of a column about the NBA Finals finishing but I interrupted that for a quick (Yes, this is quick. Fastest 5,000 words I've ever written) column about the draft. Which is a mere 16 hours from the time I am publishing this article. So you'll likely be getting two columns from me in two days. Exciting! This column is, as the title suggests, how to build the Blazers into a Finals contender. Enjoy! (Note: I was recently told that paragraph breaks make things easier to read, so I tried implementing that in this column.)