Rice World's 4th Annual
2001-2002 NBA Season Preview
(brought to you by Miss Rice World 2000)

By: Gerry Wang

    Ah, the good ol' Lakers. I've picked them to go all the way the last couple years, and they've made me look like a friggin genius. So why change? The Lakers will 3-peat, giving coach Phil Jackson his 9th ring.

    The Lakers will play San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals, and then take on Milwaukee, who will defeat Philadelphia in their own respective conference final. People will bitch and moan about these four teams being the semi-finalists for the 2nd straight year, but true fans like me will relish in it.

Here are my predictions for individual accolades:

- League MVP- Kobe Bryant, who will finally be appreciated for being Shaq's underappreciated wingman that quietly holds the team up.

- Rookie of the Year- Shane Battier, who is the most polished rookie to come out this draft. He can stroke it from the perimeter, finish, and play D.

- Defensive Player of the Year- Kevin Garnett, only because people are sick of Dikembe Mutombo winning this award every year. If Alonzo Mourning holds up the entire year, he'll win it.

- Sixth Man of the Year- Darius Miles, who will have a breakout year and lead the team in highlight-reel dunks. Tim Thomas should come in a close second.

- Coach of the Year- Alvin Gentry, for guiding the young Clippers into the post-season for the first time since Danny Manning and Mark Jackson played for them.  

    Before we proceed, there are some things to make note of. This season will see some dramatic rule changes that some of the most revolutionary reforms ever. Basically, teams are no longer restricted to man-to-man defensive schemes and could play zone. Here’s what I yanked off nba.com:

“The three rules changes that go into effect for the 2001-02 season will impact the game for its players, coaches and also the officials. No longer looking for illegal defenses, the officials will, however, keep their eyes open for:

Every defensive player in the key or the four feet extending past it must actively be guarding someone within three seconds or be called for a defensive three seconds violation.

The offensive team has eight seconds now instead of 10 to advance the ball past the midcourt line.

The hand-check guidelines have been changed to allow for incidental contact as long as it doesn't impede the offensive player.”

    What this means for the league is that we’ll no longer see post-up/kick outs that drain the life from the game. Instead we’ll see more passing and cutting. This really is tailor-made to showcase the talents of guards, who can dribble against the zones and spot up to shoot.

    The ones that suffer are the ones like Shaq, who catch the ball in the blocks, dribble, dribble, kick it out, reposition, demand the ball back, repeat. Shaq will see some box-and-one zones, which basically zones off anything inside the key.

    I think these new rules will be good for the game and show basketball the way it’s meant to be played. I think most teams will use man-to-man the majority of the time, and switch to zone once someone gets hot and keeps burning them. We’ll probably see a resurgence of the 20-foot jumper.

    Well, I’ve kept you waiting pretty long. Here’s the meat & potatoes of the preview. The teams are listed in order of projected finish, w/ their conference ranking next to them. This determines the seeds in the playoffs. I’m sure you know how it works. If you don’t, ask Rice. I’m tired.

2001-2002 NBA Eastern Conference Preview

2001-2002 NBA Western Conference Preview