NBA 2010-2011 Preview: Southwest Division

Looking up the sky you can see that there is no distinction of East or West; it’s only us who made that distinction and believe them to be true.

The NBA has recently opened and the battle for supremacy has begun. I have tackled the Eastern conference teams on my previous articles and will now take down the West side.
The South West division will be the closest and most competitive division in the West because all the five teams are equally talented with a mixture of young and veteran teams. Let’s try to evaluate each team and their new acquisitions.

South West Division:

Dallas Mavericks

New Acquisitions:
Alexis Ajinca, Brian Cardinal, Ian Mahinmi, Steve Novak and Tyson Chandler
Rookies:
Dominique Jones

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd are the face of the Dallas franchise. They will run their offense in consistency and stability, the go to guys in the clutch. But if Dallas wants a championship then they need more than what the two future Hall of Famers can offer. Tyson Chandler is a good pick up for Dallas because he can provide the defense needed in the post. But what Dallas needs big years from Caron Butler and Shawn Marion. The sky is the limit for this team if both those players break out this season.

Houston Rockets

New Acquisitions:
Brad Miller and Courtney Lee
Rookies:
Patrick Patterson and Ishmael Smith

24 minutes. That’s the time Yao Ming plays on the court and beyond that would be risking the 7'6" center’s health and could give another blow to the Houston Rockets season. But they knew if that happens they will have to be ready this time and that’s why they signed the veteran center Brad Miller. The Rockets have slowly transitioned their offense with Rick Adelman into a fast paced, run and gun style, and with a deeper bench the Rockets could very well carry over if Yao Ming becomes unhealthy again. But, of course, it helps to have a 7'6" center manning the post.

Memphis Grizzlies

New Acquisitions:
Acie Law and Tony Allen
Rookies:
Xavier Henry and Greivis Vasquez

This could be the most exciting and youngest team in the league today, with Zach Randolph as their oldest player in the roster at only 29. They can run and they can post up with Marc Gasol and Randolph. They can very well win a lot of games this year, in fact they could have gone to the playoffs last season if not for a bad start (1-8) that ended with Iverson out in Memphis. This could be the season the Grizzlies make their playoff run after three first round playoff exits in 2004-06.  I guess they could have the same result this season, but the good thing is this is a young team and they definitely will be a championship contender in the near future.

New Orleans Hornets

New Acquisitions:
Jason Smith, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, DJ Mbenga, Willie Green, Trevor Ariza, Joe Alexander, Marco Belinelli and Jerryd Bayless
Rookies:
Quincy Poindexter

With all the recent rumors on Chris Paul demanding a trade and giving up a good solid backup point guard in Darren Collison the Hornets still can make it out this year. They only have to have Chris Paul and David West and everything seems to be pretty much OK then even if they have nine new faces on their roster. They might get into the playoffs this season but everything will revolve around Chris Paul. Make him happy and he will win games for you. A bargaining chip could be Peja Stojakovic’s expiring $14 million contract which they could trade for a younger and better defensive player.

San Antonio Spurs

New Acquisitions:
Bobby Simmons and Alonzo Gee
Rookies:
James Anderson, Gary Neal and Tiago Splitter

This could very well be the last push for the aging San Antonio Spurs this season. There were talks about a Tony Parker trade that could land the Frenchman with New York in the  final year of his contract. But Parker is still in San Antonio and Duncan and Ginobili is fit and healthy.

This could be their last push; infusing young blood like George Hill and up and coming rookie Tiago Splitter could work this time for the Spurs. They might have struggled last season with injuries but they still won 50 games, so they are capable and can very well be up for a championship run. But everything will depend on how healthy they are throughout the season.