The WNBA season has come to an end, with only the Finals left to go, and the Detroit Shock and the San Antonio Silver Stars begin their quest for the championship on Thursday night.
Thanks to the Olympics, the summer has not entirely been NBA basketball free, but now we’re coming up to the start of the season, only 27 days away. Regular season for the NBA begins on October 28, 2008, with three games on tap.
Each team will play a handful of exhibition games throughout the course of October.
Some players will not play very much… for example Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, who were on their respective Olympic teams, are expected to be rested by coach Phil Jackson until the season begins.
Boston Celtics vs Cleveland CAvaliers The Boston Celtics open their season at home on October 28 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two teams last met in the second round of the NBA finals way back in May, with the Cavaliers taking the Celtics to a seventh game before eventually losing 97-92.
Because of the rivalry between Celtic Paul Pierce and Cleveland’s LeBron James, any meetings this season between these two clubs are bound to be intense ones.
And of course the atmosphere will be especially tense each time the Celtics meet the Lakers!
Milwaukee Bucks vs the Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls have a new coach. Vinny Del Negro was hied in June to replace Jim Boylan (the interim coach who had replaced Scot Skiles after he’d been fired late in the 2007-08 season.)
The Bulls are a team in transition, after having had a bad year despite high expectations. Del Negro has never coached before, so it will be interesting to see if he can get the team’s stars to rally round him. He will be assisted by veterans Delmer Harris, Bernie Bickerstaff and Bob Ociepka.
The Milwaukee Bucks will also be unveiling a new coach…Scott Skiles. So there will be drama there as Skiles will want his new team to severely thrash his former team!
Over the off-season, the Bucks added forward Richard Jerfferson (which sent their Chinese star Yi Jianlian to New Jersey, as well as Bobby Simmons.)
Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers The Lakers, losers to the Celtics for the NBA championship earlier this year, will open their regular season at home against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers will have rookie Greg Oden in the lineup. He missed the entire 2007-2008 season with a knee injury, so Blazers fans are anxiously awaiting to see what he can do. Nate McMillan continues to coach the Blazers.
And the Lakers are, of course, the Lakers!