Links: Gilbert and Lang’s NBA Preview (pt. 1)
In which we rank the Southeastern Division…
OK, so we’re getting down to crunch time here, with the NBA season just around the corner. About a month ago, I started working on the SLAM NBA Preview, which runs in our NBA Preview issue every year. I’ve written it the last few seasons, and the hard part isn’t ranking the teams — even Charley Rosen could do that — the tough part is coming up with some kind of theme or hook for the preview, so it’s not just a bunch of boring text.
This year, I was still trying to come up with an angle when I got a call: Gilbert Arenas wanted to talk. He was in New York, and we were supposed to talk about the SLAM shoe we designed for him. But then I had an idea: Why not co-write the NBA preview with Gil? So I got our friends at adidas to block out 45 minutes of Gilbert’s time (thanks, Kristen) and I came prepared, with my rankings already sketched out. Gil and I sat down and went division by division, and finally agreed on how it should look.
I was going to try to put the previews online this week, but then on Friday I was given a copy of the video of Gilbert and I chopping it up. So, I’ve edited it down and we’re going to drop a division per day. Please ignore my hat hair and focus on the rankings, because this is exactly how it’s all gonna play out. At least, that’s what Gilbert and I think.
(And as I just watched one of the videos, I discovered that my words sound kind of garbled. That’s because I was attempting to speak Gilbertology. Gil sounds fine, though. And if I listen with headphones I can understand all of it.)
Anyway, here’s the video…
And here’s how we ended up ranking the Atlantic Division…
1. Washington
2. Miami — Gil loves them adding Smush Parker
3. Orlando
4. Atlanta — The part on the tape where I’m pumping my fist is when Gil talks about how much he loves the Hawks…in three years.
5. Charlotte — Morrison wasn’t even hurt when we did these rankings, but that obviously doesn’t help anything.
70 Responses to “Links: Gilbert and Lang’s NBA Preview (pt. 1)”
Oct.22 at 11:53 am
Adrian says:
“If we’re healthy we’re the number one team in the Eastern Conference”….hahahaha. Good luck with that Gil.
Oct.22 at 11:55 am
H to the izzo says:
Josh Childrish?
Oct.22 at 11:56 am
white hot eboy says:
Lang needs more hair. Gil is like me, not feeling Grant not being in Orlando with Rashard as the new man. And the WIZ, number one in the CONFERENCE?!! Oh Lord. Great post, Lang.
Oct.22 at 11:58 am
Myung says:
Atlanta will be #3 in the Southeast and #7 in the conference. 1,2,3, Playoffs! (hmm…this is becoming my version of “play wit it”… i should stop soon, else i’m going to hate myself).
Oct.22 at 12:00 pm
Dre Baldwin says:
You shoulda asked Paul Shirley to help you.
Oct.22 at 12:00 pm
namik says:
Nice tee Lang…did Gil see Smush play with the Lakers? BTW did anyone read Gil’s new blog post? He had fun!!!
Oct.22 at 12:04 pm
Bryan says:
I don’t even regonize Lang without a braves hat.
Oct.22 at 12:07 pm
floe says:
well lets look at it this way.. if washington is healthy, i believe, they are a better team than cleveland and cleveland was the number one team in the east last year. the east is wide open, washington might as well be number one.
Oct.22 at 12:08 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Yeah, I can be hard to regonize sometimes.
Oct.22 at 12:08 pm
H to the izzo says:
Gil expects Smush’s potential impact on the Heat to be about 100% more than it will be.1,2,3 Playoffs!
Oct.22 at 12:08 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Also, Gil backtracks on the Wizards first in the conference stuff in the days to come…
Oct.22 at 12:08 pm
TADOne says:
Wiz # 1!? Oh that Gil is one crazy mutha……
Oct.22 at 12:09 pm
H to the izzo says:
Lang supports the L.A Galaxy.You better regonize!
Oct.22 at 12:10 pm
Bryan says:
Dang I hate when I typo and don’t catch it.Haters.
Oct.22 at 12:16 pm
Mendel says:
Where are the LINKS?
Oct.22 at 12:20 pm
Captain America says:
Nice work, Lang. The vid was a good touch too.
Oct.22 at 12:34 pm
Myung says:
LOL, Izzo. Don’t mock us Hawks fans. We are a fragile bunch (and by bunch, I mean there’s about 10 of us in the world, and out of the 10 of us in the world, 4 of us are frequent SLAMonline commenters and 1 of us is a SLAM employee).
Oct.22 at 12:36 pm
Myung says:
I forgot to write “1,2,3,playoffs.” I didn’t realize having a sign-off tag required such hard work. I now have a new found respect for all the times homeboy wrote “play wit it.”
Oct.22 at 12:40 pm
white hot eboy says:
Smush HAS to have some relation to Agent Zero. Only a relative could pass a compliment like that to his weak-ass.
Oct.22 at 12:40 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Lang’s head is literally twice as big as Gil’s. Just wanted to make sure nobody missed that.
Oct.22 at 12:45 pm
white hot eboy says:
Hi Ryan.
Oct.22 at 12:56 pm
Jay Davis says:
Gil might not be that far off about Washington being No. 1 in the East if healthy. The Wiz were No. 1 in the East until the break last year, I think.
Oct.22 at 1:03 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Perspective, Ryan.
Oct.22 at 1:05 pm
Nadav says:
did Gilbert only agree to be on camera with Lang wearing an adidas sponsered jersey?
Oct.22 at 1:27 pm
albie1kenobi says:
hi Myung.
1,2,3,playoffs!
Oct.22 at 1:46 pm
AP says:
when is/or is this SLAM shoe being released to the public?any pics?
Oct.22 at 1:51 pm
Myung says:
Hi Albie.
Oct.22 at 1:56 pm
Cheryl says:
This is actually the Southeast division, right? Anyway, this was great. Can’t wait for the others.
Oct.22 at 1:56 pm
H-town nick says:
I’m at college in the A, and am actually looking forward to catching a lot of hawks games…this team could be good. so put me one the 1,2,3 playoffs bandwagon.
Oct.22 at 1:59 pm
Hoop Dreamz says:
albie1kenobi should change his name to albiesure
Oct.22 at 2:03 pm
white hot eboy says:
Hoop Dreamz should change his screen name to Hoop Dreamz Of Having A Tight Game. ( I haven’t forgotten your smart-ass comments to me, big son!!!)
Oct.22 at 2:05 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
i caught that too cheryl. the langster, makin copies.
Oct.22 at 2:35 pm
Rasheedionics says:
Is Gil saying that Grant Hill is better than Rashard Lewis? Lewis won’t open up Howard??? Grant Hill is 25% career shooter from the 3, while Rashard is dropping them at 38% rate… Big difference. With DH beasting inside and Lewis, Turkogly and Reddick spreading the floor, they should take that division easily.
Oct.22 at 2:41 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/slamleague
Oct.22 at 2:45 pm
Jer Boi says:
that aint the atlantic division…
Oct.22 at 2:49 pm
BETCATS says:
Charolete is better than Atlanta and Miami and Orlando (if rashard isn’t playing) bull $hit, yall are just hatting
Oct.22 at 2:50 pm
Myung says:
The core of Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Salim Stoudamire, Zaza Pachulia is entering its 3rd season together, and their unity on and off the court will finally pay dividends (a la the Baby Bulls of 3 seasons ago). Chemistry and cohesion is often overlooked in this day and age of player movement, via free agency and trades. Last year’s rookie bust (and what a bust he was) Shelden Williams was the team’s best player on its Summer League squad. Throw in two solid lottery players (Al Horford and Acie Law), and you mix in three veteran PG’s (Ty Lue, Speedy Claxton, Anthony Johnson) and you’ve got the makings of a (low seed) playoff team. I firmly believe we’ll make it, in spite of our sorry excuse for a coach (and IF Josh Smith limits his knuckleheadedness this season).
Oct.22 at 2:51 pm
white hot eboy says:
Sheed, it’s not gonna work. Rashard has never had to meet expectations. Now he has them. We’ll see if he shows up. Them big dollars are gonna make him content. Don’t be surprised.
Oct.22 at 2:52 pm
white hot eboy says:
Myung is feeling no pain.
Oct.22 at 2:53 pm
Myung says:
I like Wallace and Felton a lot, BETCATS, but I think losing May and Morrison for the year hurts their depth a lot. While I can respect your opinion, I think the Bobcats will be at the back of the pack this year (but not for long). And Herrmann DOES have the best hair in the NBA.
Oct.22 at 2:54 pm
Myung says:
eboy, I’m sure I’ll get flamed by many for being a Hawks backer, but I’m used to it. =) It comes with the territory when you pull for a team like this.
Oct.22 at 2:56 pm
Johnny Kilroy says:
I was under the impression that Smush Parker sucked, am I wrong about that?
Oct.22 at 2:57 pm
BETCATS says:
myung, morrison and may are never gonning to be our difference makers, but we did lose something so you =are right. But we got JASON RICHARDSON, who is equal to or better than Joe Johnson
Oct.22 at 2:57 pm
BETCATS says:
johnny i was too
Oct.22 at 2:59 pm
Bryan says:
Grant Hill MIP.
Oct.22 at 3:00 pm
BETCATS says:
he’s on Phoneix Bryan.
Oct.22 at 3:03 pm
Bryan says:
yes he is…?
Oct.22 at 3:08 pm
BETCATS says:
why did you put that on a preview that is not dealing with that?
Oct.22 at 3:10 pm
Myung says:
I’d have to respectfully disagree with you on that. They’re both the same age. Both from the same draft class. But Joe’s been more durable (J Rich has missed 24 more games than Joe in their respective careers). Joe was an All Star (same can’t be said for Richardson). Joe’s scoring AVG has been spiking up the past few years, while J Rich’s has been falling. Joe is better on assists, 3’s, FT%, and FG%. I think for every 10 NBA fans you polled, you’d hear from 8 out of 10 that Joe Johnson > Jason Richardson.
Oct.22 at 3:15 pm
BETCATS says:
that is true, but Jason Richardson did step up huge last year, and i am not truly sure how much of that was b-diddy but i think he will have simmular numbers to joe this year
Oct.22 at 3:18 pm
Gilbert’s NBA Preview: Atlantic Division | Gilbertology.net says:
[…] Slam’s Lang Whitaker sat down with Gilbert to write and rank a NBA Preview for each division. It looks like there will be one division a day. […]
Oct.22 at 3:45 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
um, no betcats. joe will have tons more assists
Oct.22 at 3:56 pm
Madtice says:
It would have been a funny video if Lang had the Wiz at the bottom and the Hawks on top and seriously tried to defend it against Gil. I like this take on the previews though, SLAMonline should post more interview videos, I’d watch ‘m! Way to go Lang!
Oct.22 at 4:00 pm
Johnny Kilroy says:
is the entire NBA preview co-written w/ gil or are different players giving lending views on their respective divisons?
Oct.22 at 4:14 pm
BETCATS says:
hey tarzan zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Oct.22 at 4:14 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
No, Gil did the entire preview. Sorry I got my divisions confused — yes, this is the Southeast. Atlantic will drop tomorrow.
Oct.22 at 4:22 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
lang, you gonna join the slam fantasy league?
Oct.22 at 5:06 pm
Holly MacKenzie says:
Lang, this was perfect. Gil is classic. He is what I love about the NBA. He is a great player, great for the game, creates controversy and then at the end of the day he is just as big a fan as the rest of us. Funny to hear him going through the rosters the same way we do as fans getting ready for a fantasy draft, etc. These vid clips are going to be the highlight of my week!!
Oct.22 at 5:13 pm
albie1kenobi says:
Hoop Dreamz, i had a suggestion before for “albiedamned”. at least yours is a little more positive. and maybe i can pretend i can sing some good R&B.
still haven’t watched the video yet. i’ll do that on lunch break in a bit. though i have to say that if Gil doesnt claim wiz is #1 in the east, something’s wrong with him.
Oct.22 at 6:02 pm
Tom says:
great feature Lang, this will def. help the week go by smoothly, and Wiz can definitely take the Southeast, and sorry to the Heat contingent on here but Stan van Jeremy and the Magic are gonna be the 2 seed….whats the over/under before Pat Riley buries Smush on the bench……..i say mid-december
Oct.22 at 6:25 pm
Spurs DYNASTY!! says:
you need to do this with every division yeah have agent 0 do every division. You guys would probally rank the mavs ahead of the spurs… yeah atlanta will be real good down the road
Oct.22 at 6:56 pm
JB21 says:
Can I join the slam fantasy league????
Oct.22 at 11:03 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
what is your email jb21? are you rasheedionics?
Oct.22 at 11:15 pm
Bruno says:
that line from Ryan was damn funny
Oct.23 at 7:33 am
David says:
Which team is more vulnerable with an injury, Boston or Miami?
Oct.23 at 11:04 am
Rubens says:
do you remember sir charles making fun of lang’s hair?
Oct.23 at 11:56 am
Rubens says:
* made fun… sorry about that
Oct.23 at 11:53 pm
JpT says:
am i in the drew carey show?
Oct.26 at 12:13 am
davidR says:
myung, joe was an allstar for the EAST. theres no way he’d make the allstar game if he were still with phoenix. also, i think last year was the only year jrich didnt increase his scoring avg (he was injured). hes been increasing his numbers since his rookie year, which says a lot. i dunno if you can say 8 out of 10 would say JJ > jrich. im thinking they’re equal players
Oct.31 at 6:11 pm
gdongdon says:
lol jrich and joe johnson are equal players? lol when did this happen. In fact, I’d take 1 joe as opposed to 2jrich’s. Also, was kinda surprised that Gil actually said he’ll have trouble shooting against the Hawks. Is that, dare I say, humility from agent zero?? o.O