Eternal optimists that we are, our little fraternity of NBA bloggers has decided to go forward with the annual series of team previews. Just like the players, we have to prepare for the season, and we're not canceling our training camp. No pulled hamstrings for us, I tells ya.
This series is near and dear to my heart as a blogger. When it's my turn later this week, it will be the sixth NBA Preview I've written for this series - I've written many other previews for other sites and magazines and what not, but this one is special. When I posted my 2006-2007 season preview back in October of 2006, Clips Nation was a little over one month old, and I'd been blogging for about six months. Getting a call to participate from Jeff Clark at Celtics Blog, getting a LINK from Celtics Blog.... Well, that was huge for me.
The funny thing is that Celtics Blog wasn't part of SBNation at the time but it is now. Jeff has spearheaded this effort since that first time back in 2006 and it's kind of amazing that we've been able to maintain this little tradition in a medium as nontraditional as the interwebs. You'll notice a strong SBNation flavor in these previews, but that's mainly because the SBNation bloggers tend to be very active and engaged - this series is open to all team bloggers, and there are plenty of non-SBNation sites represented overall (when we get to the Atlantic Division, you'll see like a dozen Celtics previews - those Boston fans are nuts).
Enough introduction.. below are the links to the Southwest Division teams. Can the Mavs repeat? Can the Grizzlies build on their playoff success of last season? What will the Kevin McHale Rockets look like in the first season where they know they don't have Yao? Do the Spurs have anything left in the tank? Can the Hornets re-sign a power forward or two and keep Chris Paul around?
More to come over the next few weeks.
Southwest Division Previews
- Mavericks - MavsMoneyball
- Spurs - Project Spurs
- Rockets - The Dream Shake
- Hornets - At The Hive
- Grizzlies - Straight Outta Vancouver