As the 2006/07 season began a few of us here at Cuzoogle made some predictions on who would win the title, take home various hardware and other odd happenings.

Now it is the time to look back at how bad we did.

Cuzzy - posted on Oct. 31 2006

The winner of the NBA Finals will be:

The Phoenix Suns over the Chicago Bulls

This year’s MVP will be:

LeBron James

Eastern Conference playoff predictions:

First Round

Bulls over Raptors

Heat over Magic

Nets over Pacers

Cavs over Pistons

Second round

Bulls over Cavs

Nets over Heat

Semi’s

Bulls over Nets

Western Conference playoff predictions:

First round

Suns over Nuggets

Spurs over Grizzlies

Jazz over Clippers

Mavs over Lakers

Second round

Suns over Mavs

Spurs over Jazz

Semi’s

Suns over Spurs

The NBA’s worst team will be:

Portand Trailblazers

Three surprises this season will be:

Fred Jones will win sixth man of the year

Utah Jazz will win the North West division

Either KG or AI will get traded before Christmas

Three disappointments this season will be:

The Knicks

The Pistons D will be weak

Adam Morrison will not live up to the hype.

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Not bad really, I was way off on Fred Jones but I am smiling about my Jazz prediction

J-bru - posted on Nov. 1 2006

The winner of the NBA Finals will be:

Dallas Mavericks over the Chicago Bulls

This year’s MVP will be:

LeBron James

Eastern Conference playoff predictions:

First Round

Bulls over Pacers

Heat over Magic

Nets over Raptors
Cavs over Pistons

Second round

Bulls over Cavs

Heat over Nets

Semi’s

Bulls over Heat

Western Conference playoff predictions:

First round

Suns over Jazz

Spurs over Grizzlies

Lakers over Clippers

Mavs over Nuggets

Second round

Mavs over Lakers

Suns over Spurs

Semi’s

Mavs over Suns

The NBA’s worst team will be:

Portand Trailblazers

Three surprises this season will be:

Adam Morrison will not live up to expectations

Ronaldo Balkman will have 3 30-point games

Through 30 games, TJ Ford will lead the NBA in assists

Three disappointments this season will be:

Adam Morrison

JJ Redick

Adam Morrison and JJ Redick

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Well T.J. did not lead the league but he was solid and Balkman showed signs of not being a bust. Good call on Reddick

J-Rock - posted on Dec. 12 2007

MVP: I see this as the same scenario as last year: Lebron vs. Steve-o (I still refuse to acknowledge Boozer and the Jazz, for me it is a bad dream). There’s a fairly divisive debate regarding what the criteria should be when voting. Some argue MVP means the best player, pure and simple. Others maintain that it should be the player most crucial to a great team. The question is, how much should statistics be factored in? How about personnel around them? If you put Nash on another team, chances are it would be with a different offense and less scoring options. His own scoring would probably increase and his assists would go down. While PPG continues to be the driving force in establishing a player’s popularity and value (monetary and otherwise), its influence is declining. Just ask Gilbert Arenas, his 29 points was only good enough to get him to the all star game after Jermaine O’Neal dropped out.

I think ultimately you have to balance all the contributing factors, and that said I’m going with Nash. Lebron’s numbers have gone down slightly from last year, while Nash’s are up almost across the board, including points, three-point percentage and assists. The Suns are killing teams, and Amare Stoudamire looks devastating again (25 and 12 average over the last five). Would a Nash-less Suns beat a Lebron-less Cavs? You bet they would, like a red-headed stepchild. But the Suns are a contender, and the Cavs are…well, let’s face it, a contender. They play in the East, for God’s sake.

Rookie of the Year: At one point I was going with Rondo, and I still think he may prove to be the best player from this class. Unfortunately, I think we may have to wait until the post-Doc era before seeing what he can do. Fortunately, I don’t think we have long to wait.

I’d like to say Bargnani, and I’m not ruling that out completely. He has certainly made the most of this recent boost in playing time, which will only increase as the season goes on. But at this point it’s still Morrison. His 15 points a game is well ahead of the field and he plays a major role on his team, even though they are the Bobcats.

Sixth Man: If he qualifies (meaning he doesn’t start in more games than he comes off the bench), it should be Barbosa. I don’t think anyone has the impact coming into the game that he does, and he often plays down the stretch in the fourth quarter. His percentages have gone down, but his scoring is way up and he is just so damn fast.

Other potential winners are Ryan Gomes, Anderson Varejao, Shaun Livingston, Monta Ellis, Adam Morrison, etc. This one is really tough to tell early on as injuries down the road may effect starting lineups.

Most Improved Player: At the risk of further angering any Jazz fans (people from Utah frighten me, seriously), Kevin Martin will lock this one up. When Boozer goes down with a season-ending injury and winds up playing the third lead in SLC Punk Vol. 2, Martin’s 11 PPG increase (double that of Carlos) will continue outshine any competition.

Coach of the Year: At this point, any coach who keeps his job until the end of the season is a candidate. Judging by Orlando’s amazing start, Brian Hill would have to be in the running. This guy just looks too much like my high school coach, and he has the same two expressions: confused, and more confused. But who else has won so many games with mediocre personnel? Alright, I should just shut up and pick Jerry Sloan. Jerry Sloan.

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Nice call on the Brazilian Blur Jackson. Don’t bet against those Jazz next year okay.

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