Opening Day for Da Bulls!!

Happy Halloween, Fuckers! The 2007-08 NBA season officially tipped off last night, with wins for Houston, Utah and the defending champs. Tonight, your Chicago Bulls will be in New Jersey take to on the Nets, which has been house of whor..er (that means you Joumana Kidd)horrors for the Bulls. They've lost 11 straight games there, with one that really hurt at the end of last season as Mikki Moore ripped apart the Bulls, preventing them from taking the #2 seed. Luckily as Mike North pointed out this morning, the Bulls killer has departed to Sacramento, so thank god for that.

For a quick injury report, Joakim Noah will not be playing tonight with a sprained ankle while Ben Wallace is doubtful. For New Jersey, back up guard and UCONN product Marcus Williams will not be available tonight, and there's no indications yet if Nenad Krstic will be on the floor either.

Since the season is only two days in, I'm going to make my NBA predicitons, and if I go homer on the Bulls, sue me. It will be interesting to see what develops with Kobe Bryant over the next month, but I think that he will be moved. To the Bulls? I'm not sure, but then again who is, really? I could definitely see him going to Washington if he doesn't go to Chicago. The Lakers need names to keep Jack in his season seat. Anyways. Here's my predictions for standings, followed by playoffs, followed by individual awards:

EAST:
1. Detroit - Still the most complete team
2. Boston - Atlantic sucks outside of Raptors
3. Washington - Whether its Kobe or Arenas, they need to stay healthy to earn this
4. Chicago - I see them either in 4th or 1st, it'll be a finish race between them and DET
5. Toronto - They'll be even better this year
6. Cleveland - According to the Nike Commercials, I don't want to be LeBron..ok
7. Miami - Last dance with Mary Jane, but not for Ricky Davis
8. New York - Randolph and Curry should be formidable enough for .500

WEST:
1. San Antonio - They've never won back to back..that should shut every critic's mouth
2. Phoenix - Can they finally get over the hump?..probably not
3. Utah - Northwest is the weakest division in the West
4. Dallas - Coming into the season with the biggest chip in their shoulder, period
5. Houston - They're going to be up and down to start while figuring out Adelman's offense, but should be tough down the stretch
6. Denver - Can K-Mart play this year? He would be a huge difference maker if healthy
7. Golden State - They showed they can play, but how much more can they do?
8. New Orleans - I dont care who finishes in this spot, they're fucked.

EAST PLAYOFFS: Det over NY, Bos over Mia, Was over Cle, Chi over Tor. 2ND ROUND: Chi over Det, Bos over Was. EAST FINALS: Chi over Bos - 7 games

WEST PLAYOFFS: SA over NO, Phx over GS, Den over Uta, Dal over Hou 2ND ROUND: Dal over SA, Phx over Den. WEST FINALS: Dal over Phx - 6 games

NBA FINALS: DAL OVER CHI - 6 GAMES: I think the Bulls have enough to get to the finals, but the amount that's going to take them there is going to be alot. Dallas was the best team last year, got cocky playing Golden St. and lost because of it. Not this year. Much like I said with Chi/Det in the Central, it will be a photo finish in the Southwest. I think Dallas matches up well with the Bulls, and if the Bulls don't have Kobe, Dirk can/will hit big shots that Ben Gordon can not.

NBA MVP: Kevin Garnett
NBA Scoring Champ: Kobe Bryant
NBA Defensive Player: Dwight Howard
NBA Sixth Man: Leandro Barbosa
NBA Comeback Player: Kenyon Martin
NBA Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant