Fernando GalloPhoenix Suns

The NBA season is about to begin, and everyone is in first place right now (even the Kings!). But when it’s all said and done, and the never-ending NBA playoffs are finally over, the Phoenix Suns will be NBA Champions.

There are plenty of quality teams in the league that could compete for a title, but all of them have flaws.

Dallas can score as much as anyone in the West and plays solid defense, but Dirk Nowitzki is the Alex Rodriguez of basketball and will choke again in the playoffs.

Houston is going to be a great team this year, but everyone in Sacramento knows that head coach Rick Adelman can’t win the big games (thanks again for all those Game 7 losses, Rick).

San Antonio is always dangerous, but if not for Robert Horry’s hip-check foul on Suns guard Steve Nash, Phoenix would have beat the Spurs in last year’s playoffs.

The Celtics look impressive on paper, but after paying Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, they couldn’t afford to sign any other decent players to fill up the bench.

That leaves the Suns as the team with the best chance to finish the season with a victory parade. The Suns can put up over 100 points a game without breaking a sweat, and have a beast in the middle with center/power forward Amare Stoudemire.

They also added Grant Hill in the offseason to what was already one of the most talented rosters in the NBA. Hill is going to play some of the best basketball of his career because he knows this is his last real chance for a championship.

And don’t forget the conductor of Phoenix’s speedy and high-flying offense is two-time MVP Steve Nash, who you can always depend on for about 18 points and 11 assists a game.

The Suns are playing with a huge chip on their shoulder because they feel like they got robbed in last year’s playoffs and want to prove they are the best team in the NBA. They will get their chance for revenge against San Antonio this year in the postseason and beat them on its way to the first NBA title in franchise history.

Victor NietoBoston Celtics

Boston, Boston, Boston. Can the media get enough of Boston? I mean, I initially liked the Sox getting past its demons and reversing the curse, and I even liked hearing about a young quarterback from Northern California leading his team past the Raiders during the “tuck-rule game” but since those early years during the beginning of this decade, things have gotten worse.

The Red Sox now make it to the playoffs almost every year and come up with annoying catch phrases such as “cowboy up” and “idiots,” which is fine if you rope bull for a living. Oh, and the Tom Brady thing has become so ridiculous that sports media people everywhere are suggesting that they have “man crushes” on the guy and that he’s Joe Montana reincarnated.

Months and days filled with endless ballyhooed adulations for these programs made me thankful for Boston Celtic basketball, because for every year from November to March, there is a quiet, almost harmonious sound coming from The Garden.

A steady stream of clinks and dinks coming off the rim fill the background beat. The off and on thud of a player hitting the ground to a season ending injury gives the hook, and everywhere in between you can hear the fans of The Garden serenading the stadium with boos.

Now, all of a sudden we have Danny Ainge going out of his element and actually acting like a general manager by making big time acquisitions of superstars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen while keeping the teams most valued asset: Paul Pierce. With KG demanding a double-team in the low post, Allen is poised to put up career numbers, and the only obstacle facing this team appears to be managing the egos that go along with three superstars on the court.

Be prepared for a slew of bandwagon fans surfacing the area wearing green jerseys with white-outlined trim because the Celtics are poised to be good for the first time in over a decade – leaving people like me looking for some extra-strength Tylenol.

Alicia de la GarzaBoston Celtics

The future success of the Boston Celtics was obvious at the beginning of the 2005 season when the team signed free-agent forward Brian Scalabrine and Paul Pierce.

That season was arguably the best of Pierce’s career. He scored 30 or more points in 13 of 14 games. No other player in Celtics history has ever done that.

In February, Pierce scored a league-high 33.5 points per game. The last time a Celtic led the NBA in scoring for a month was 50 years ago.

When the team captain is leading the NBA in points per game for a month, you have to know the team is going somewhere.

Providence College star Ryan Gomes only played about 10 minutes in each of the first 48 games of the season, but by the time February came, he was on fire. He was averaging 12.6 points per game and was named to the 2005-06 NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

Then again, the Celtics were part of a multi-team, multi-player trade that gave them veteran player and ex-Timberwolf Kevin Garnett. Just looking at that guy during a game scares me.

His intensity is so high, he has to be intimidating to any other NBA player. He is already averaging 13 points per game in just three preseason games so far.

KG is definitely going to be a key factor in how well the Celtics do this year. If you compare his current stats with career stats, it looks like he is going to put out another great year of ball.

The real success of the Celtics comes from Pierce. In only three preseason games, he has put up big numbers offensively and defensively.

As long as the Celtics remain healthy and as long as Pierce doesn’t “accidentally” get poked in the face with someone’s elbow, the team is looking at a long road of success for the new season.

The Celtics have already won all of the preseason games thus far. Just put KG in front of the opposing teams and they will surely be afraid.

The Celtics have the makings of a good team for the 2007 season. Now let’s just hope they make it to the playoffs.

Lamont WeaverLos Angeles Lakers

It’s the end of October and that means two good things: MLB is over and the NBA is back.

Despite finals being boring every year, the NBA season is always interesting and full of action, intrigue and of course, controversy. Even before the season started, there were a hundred things rotating around the league. Trades, sexual harassment and even rape have already brought the NBA back into the ESPN spotlight before the first game of the season.

Even with all the drama, the NBA is all about the teams that compete with each other in hopes of winning the title in June.

Like every season, there are some great teams, good teams, bad teams and teams that come out and shock everyone like the Golden State Warriors did last year. There are a lot of teams to talk about, but for me, the only team that comes to mind is MY Los Angeles Lakers.

Last year at this time, the Lakers came into the season confident that they would go far. Kobe Bryant led a team of average Joes and a guy named Smush to a near upset of the top-seeded Phoenix Suns. Despite another great year by #24, the Lakers average Joes and Smush couldn’t keep up and were swept in the playoffs by the same team they gave so much trouble to during the playoff before.

This summer Kobe finally stopped reading his WWJD (what would Jordan do?) rulebook and said what needed to be said. Bryant blamed the Lakers for not doing anything to make the team better, Lakers owner Jerry Buss for being an idiot, young center Andrew Bynum because he can’t play and the real slapper: he wanted to be traded.

As a lifelong Laker fan (1988-present), I can’t imagine the Lakers without Kobe. I’m still getting over Shaq bouncing to South Beach and if Kobe left, I don’t know what I would do. Forget the Laker preview because if Kobe leaves, there are no Lakers. With Kobe, the Lakers are far from another title, but without him, the Lakers should just go and join the WNBA.

The State Hornet staff can be reached at [email protected].