The Southeast Division NBA Preview

Atlanta Hawks - 40-26 last season. 5th seed in the playoffs. Lost to the Boston Celtics in the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Anthony Morrow, Josh Smith, Al Horford / Lou Williams, DeShawn Stevenson, Kyle Korver, Anthony Tolliver, Zaza Pachulia

Storyline/s: The IsoJoe is no more, as the Nets sent assets down the dirrrty south to acquire the All-Star. They also rid themselves of the disappointment of Marvin Williams. Now, Larry Drew can reshape the team to what he'd like to envision. With the East being reshaped, they have a chance.

X-Factor/s: Lou Williams came home after leading the Sixers in scoring as its top offensive option of the bench.

Prognosis: Exiting the 1st round of the playoffs.

Charlotte Bobcats - 7-59 last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bismack Biyombo, Byron Mullens / Ramon Sessions, Ben Gordon, Reggie Williams, Tyrus Thomas, Brendan Haywood

Storyline/s: They were clearly the worst team in the NBA last year. How bad they were last season can be described as at an all-time worst. The new coach in Mike Dunlap will look to Kidd-Gilchrist to set the tone for everyone to follow.

X-Factor/s: Will Tyrus Thomas ever gain the maturity needed to be a positive influence for the team. Is Kemba ready to handle the playmaking chores full time?

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Miami Heat - 46-20 record last season. Division Champions. Conference Champions. NBA Champions

Ideal Rotation: Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier, Lebron James, Chris Bosh / Norris Cole, Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Rashard Lewis, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony

Storyline/s: They won the title. Can they do it again? How will Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis fit the Spoelstra scheme? Can Lebron handle his new-found role as a post presence. Is Chris Bosh fit to play slotman minutes? Wade's dynamic with James was made possible given his health status. With both healthy, it will be interesting what the structure turns out to become.

X-Factor/s: How Ray Allen adapts to his new role would probably determine how far the Heat go.

Prognosis: Division Champions. Eastern Conference Champions. NBA Champions.

Orlando Magic - 37-29 last season. 6th seed in the playoffs. Lost to the Indiana Pacers in the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis, Gustavo Ayon / E'Twaun Moore, JJ Redick, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic

Storyline/s: Life after Dwight Howard begins for the Magic. Just as it was in life after Shaq. Former Orlando playmaker Jacque Vaughn returns to the Magic, this time as its head coach. Schooled under the Popovich line, the Magic are hoping they find a coaching gem the way Doc Rivers became for them years ago.

X-Factor/s: Will Big Baby step up to the plate and be the go-to-guy?

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Washington Wizards - 20-46 last season. Missed the playoffs.

Ideal Rotation: John Wall, Martell Webster, Trevor Ariza, Nene, Emeka Okafor / AJ Price, Bradley Beal, Chris Singleton, Jan Vesely, Kevin Seraphin, Jordan Crawford

Storyline/s: Randy Wittman replaced Flip Saunders, with the Wiz setting up a good finishing kick to the season. That removed Randy's interim tag. They traded away malcontents and acquired character guys to surround Wall with, in spite of the Kentucky alum's injury that is to linger awhile.

X-Factor/s: Since John Wall will be unavailable to start the season, can either Jannero Pargo or AJ Price mitigate the expected drop-off? Can Emeka Okafor provide the maturity, stability and leadership that this team clearly lacked last season?

Prognosis: Missing the playoffs.

Remaking Atlanta

For most of the basketball people, they consider Atlanta as a mediocre franchise, a struggling team that had the tools to make the playoffs because really could not progress. Middling, but stuck on neutral. They do fine in the regular season, but always disappoint when it comes to the next level. As a result, Rick Sund, the GM, gets canned in an effort to see if they can do something to change their fate.

Danny Ferry was hired to be the new GM to do precisely that. He said this during his press conference:

he wants the Hawks ''to have a value-based identity with good guys who play hard, who play together and share the ball that can be professional on the court.''

And he pretty much got work immediately. In the Draft, they selected Vanderbilt shooter John Jenkins in the first round at 23, while grabbing Virginia PF Mike Scott twenty picks later in the second round.

Ferry looked for players that according to him:

We are going to need guys that can come in and contribute. Guys that can add something. Certainly when coach Drew is looking down the bench and is trying to figure out why would I put this guy?

Just earlier on Monday, he pulls off two proposed deals.

The first one involves multiple All-Star Joe Johnson. He sends him (and that albatross of a contract) to the Brooklyn Nets for: DeShawn Stevenson in a sign-and-trade (said contract is a three-year deal for $6.9 million, with only the first year of $2.3 million guaranteed), a lottery-protected first round pick of the Houston Rockets and the expiring contracts of Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Jordan Williams and Anthony Morrow.

The second one involves Marvin Williams, whom Ferry sent to Utah for Devin Harris.

This is now would theoretically be Atlanta's lineup:

Jeff Teague, Jenkins, Josh Smith, Scott, Al Horford, Zaza Pachulia, Farmar, Petro, Williams, Morrow and Harris.

They will need to find someone to plug a hole at the small forward spot and or find some height in the backcourt, but after removing the burden of bad contracts, this will be pancakes for Ferry.

Atlanta will now become players in the Summer of 2013, as Smith and Zaza become unrestricted free agents and Teague is restricted that year.

It may be a step back for them, but looking forward, there might be a bright future.

Blog Outsourcing 8/8 edition

Welcome to today's edition of The Victory Formation.

I just finished watching a documentary on the History Channel here that showed the Manila Hostage Crisis. It was almost a year ago today that the gruesome scenario took place. Ugh. I still am embarrassed with how the persons-in-charge handled it and the bad press the Motherland got and is still suffering from until now.

Here forth are the links after the jump:
The Community Shield is retained by Manchester United. (c/o The Guardian)

Let the bidding war for Wesley Sneijder commence. (Yahoo! Eurosport UK)

Who wants Michael Bradley? (c/o SoccerAmerica)

Jerryworld was a soccer stadium for a day. (c/o Barca Blaugranes)

Thanks for the memories at Old Trafford, Scholly. (c/o Big Apple Soccer)

August does not augur well for the Gunners. (c/o Mirror Football) Here lies the rest of the Champions League draw. (c/o Goal)

The Sun is hotter than Mercury. (c/o SB Nation Arizona)

Hey, it's the America's Cup. Sailing time. (c/o San Jose Mercury-News)

Yup. It has been 75 years since Jesse Owens and his legend and legacy. (c/o TeamUSA)

The triathlon is one punishing sport. (c/o Wall Street Journal) Considering that the Philippine Ironman is this weekend already...

Rashad Evans makes his return to the MMA scene. (c/o Heavy)

Here is what you should know about UFC 133. (c/o Bloody Elbow)

Fedor being let go. (c/o The Times and Democrat)

The odds keep getting iffy for the mega-fight we have been waiting since eternity. More likely that the venue will be a courtroom. (c/o Opposing Views). Meanwhile, it's time to get the hype going for PacMarq III. (c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer)

This gives hope for people with broken ankles everywhere. (c/o Pocono Record)

Life after Tiger is sweet for Steve Williams, when the tourney he won was also had Tiger in it. (c/o The Independent)

Should Donnie Nelson go after Bruce Pearl? (c/o The Two Man Game)

Where's Bubba? (c/o Kings of Kauffman)

Sean Avery in trouble again. (c/o TruthDive)

New ownership in the NBA whilst there is a lockout. (c/o Atlanta-Journal Constitution)

Hey look, Stephen Strasberg just pitched. (c/o Washington Times)

Canton welcomes its newest homies. (c/o New York Times' The Fifth Down)

Parting shot, because someone preferred I do not use 30 Seconds to Mars here.

Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

C/o ESPN

From the original 8, there are now just four teams left in the East. Congratulations are in order for Chicago, Miami, Boston and Atlanta. Happy trails to Orlando, New York,  Philadelphia and Indiana. Let's see how the teams and match-ups fare for this round:




1 - Chicago vs 5 - Atlanta

Regular Season  Matchup: Chicago won with 2-1 edge. All 3 games were in a span of 3 weeks in the month of March, so they already had Kirk Hinrich in tow. Josh Smith did not play in the first meeting, which was the only one that the Hawks won and was the only close game. The other two meetings were major Chi-town blowouts. Speaking of which, the second game (and first blowout) did not feature Carlos Boozer.

Keys for the Bulls: Derrick Rose went nova on the Hawks, scoring 34 and 30 in their final two meetings. Considering Kirk Hinrich is nursing a strained hamstring, the mismatch got even bigger. In both of their blowouts, they had a huge edge in rebounds, taking advantage of their athletic bigs. There is a slight concern with the ankle, though. Luol Deng has been playing well, but he is mainly benefiting from the presence of Rose and what he does as well as the attention to Boozer.

Keys for the Hawks: They pretty much frustrated Orlando in such a way that it absolutely was putrid to watch their games. Yes, it was really that difficult to watch how ugly this series got offensively. They might have to do the same thing to the probable MVP Derrick Rose. Larry Drew must realize that they don't have much depth, so they'll have to keep things close and not allow Chicago to pull away. As such, he must also figure out a way to minimize the Iso-J**** (Joe, Josh, Jamal) situations a.k.a. Clogged Toilet offense that stops ball flow. Atlanta needs to be efficient with their offense knowing their limitations.

X-Factor/s: Jamal Crawford will be absorbing most of Kirk's minutes, while Jeff Teague will be a nominal starter just like Jason Collins. Hawks cannot afford to have bad nights, so Crawford needs to get buckets. Bulls need better numbers from Carlos Boozer, who struggled mightily in the last playoff series.

Prediction: Bulls in 5.

2 - Miami vs 3 - Boston

Regular Season Matchup: Boston won with a 3-1 edge, winning the first three. It is important to note that all three wins by Boston came before the Kendrick Perkins trade. The first two games also featured Udonis Haslem for Miami, who then got hurt. Also playing in two games were the O'Neals. Shaq played in the first two, Jermaine played in the first and the last. Delonte West only played in their final meeting. The three Boston wins were close to an extent, but the Miami win was a huge blowout.

Keys for the Heat: The supporting cast. Sure, they probably have the best collection of young studs, but they can only get you so far. Will Mike Bibby, Mike Miller and James Jones be enabled to shoot? Can their collection of bigs get the job done down low, or in Z's case, make the 15 foot jumper?

Keys for the Celtics: The supporting cast. All three wins in their regular season faceoff also had a role player making a major contribution, from Glen Davis to Nate Robinson to even Von Wafer. They'll need that because it will entail a massive effort from Paul Pierce to have to deal with limiting Lebron James. Oh, and Rondo needs to get off his funk. Sure, he eviscerated the Knicks at Madison Square Garden the past game or two, but his form has been off in general compared to how he got serious MVP votes

X-Factor/s: Shaq did not play in the first round against the Knicks. He did not play in Game 1, but he did travel to Miami. As they traded away Kendrick Perkins, it is a must that Shaq plays. On the other hand, Joel Anthony has been the solid defensive presence to complement Chris Bosh, something sorely missing due to Udonis Haslem's injury. Can he keep that up? We'll see.

Prediction: Celtics in 6.