NBA PREVIEW AND PREDICTIONS

With a shortened NBA season to begin on Christmas day, it's time to give my opinion on what lies ahead.

Headlines
Where will Dwight Howard be traded? We saw the same situation last year with Carmelo Anthony quietly requesting a trade and finally getting dealt to the New York Knicks. This year it's Superman requesting the trade, the only difference is Howard has asked to be traded to one of three teams...LA Lakers, New Jersey Nets, or the Dallas Mavericks. Considering that Dallas has already made an off season move to get Lamar Odom, they don't look like the destination. The Nets were looking like the team for Howard until Brook Lopez was injured in a pre season game and has to undergo surgery on his ankle. Brook Lopez was the one guy the Nets could have used in a proposed trade to the Magic. That leaves the Lakers, and I'm sure at some point they will make an effort to get Howard, only time will tell.

Are the LA Clippers the new team in Los Angeles? With the signing of Chris Paul, Caron Butler, and Chauncey Billups, the Clippers went from a one man show in Blake Griffin, to a playoff contender. That being said, I still believe the Lakers will be the team in LA. Did people all of sudden forget about Kobe Bryant? Sure he is in his 16th NBA season, but the guy accepts any challenge that comes his way and he remains an elite player in the league. That is Kobe's city, and he isn't ready to give up that title to the Clippers yet. His supporting cast is still way better than average with Paul Gosol, Andrew Bynum, and Metta World Peace (what was Ron Artest thinking with that name?).

Will the Miami Heat win an NBA Championship? aka will Lebron step up if they make it to the NBA finals?
The big 3 are determined to get back to the NBA finals, but the key still remains with Lebron. If you are the "best player in the NBA" than how do you not show up in the series that matters most? The east looks like they have three teams competing for the eastern conference crown...the Heat, the Bulls, and the Knicks. The Heat remain my favorite to win the East and Lebron seems to have a new perspective going into the season. Look for the Heat to win the most games in the NBA and reach the NBA finals again. However, I'm not ready to pick them as the NBA champs, it depends on who comes out of the west, which looks wide open to me.

here are my 8 playoff teams in both conferences.
West-1. Dallas Mavericks 2. OK City Thunder 3. LA Lakers 4. LA Clippers 5. Memphis Grizzlies 6. Denver Nuggets 7. San Antonio Spurs 8. Portland Trail Blazers

East- 1. Miami Heat 2. Chicago Bulls 3. New York Nicks 4. Atlanta Hawks 5. Boston Celtics 6. Philadelphia 76ers 7. Indiana Pacers 8. Orlando Magic

League MVP
Kevin Durant

Rookie of the year
Kyrie Irving or Ricky Rubio

6th Man
(the usual) Lamar Odom or Jamal Crawford (though one of these guys could be starters for their new teams)

NBA FINALS-I wasn't going to make a prediction but I lied
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Miami Heat
Miami Heat in 6 games are the 2012 NBA Champs

Final JRM322 Post: what I learned in Feature Writing

My feature writing class was everything I expected and more. From frequently updating our blogs to writing a profile story, I was able to experience the many different aspects and benefits of feature writing. I would have to say my favorite blogs were usually the free style ones, but one of my favorite pieces we had to write a blog post about was the personal essay written by the sister of Steve Jobs. Not only did I enjoy learning more about Jobs himself, but the personal interaction in the personal essay was a great example on how to write a good personal essay.
I learned that with the constant changes in media and journalism today, there are multiple ways to get your work out there for others to read. There are blogs out there on just about anything. Twitter continues to grow and be a primary source of breaking news and Facebook still leads the charge of social media.
Feature writing has shown me the many aspects that go into writing good stories that people will be interested in reading. Reviews, profiles, personal essays, and even blogging are all ways to practice and make your writing better.