This blog, admittedly has become more about style and design than basketball and technology. And that’s okay.

Writing styles, preferences, they change over the years. The benefit of having free reign over your own personal publishing machine is that it can evolve with you. I’ve increasingly become more interested in the worlds of fashion, design and food than other subjects and TTS is starting to reflect that.

My love for basketball however still burns bright. In the offseason, I felt I’d leave the posting to the professionals; Henry being the main man in that field. Now the 2008-09 NBA Season is underway and while I couldn’t be more excited, I do feel that this year is gonna be pretty similar to last. So while I may still report on the game from time to time, I feel I can sum up this season in one post, starting with my home team…

The Raptors

The Raptors have improved in the areas they needed to this year – defense and rebounding – with the acquisition of Jermaine O’Neal. However, they’ve also lost some key pieces – T.J Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and Carlos Delfino – that made their 2nd unit one of the most dangerous in the league.

How long J.O. can play on his surgically repaired leg will determine how far the Raps will go, but I’m putting their +/- at 46 wins based on the fact that Bosh improved his defense, speed and shooting this summer, Calderon is looking like a top 5 point guard and the Raptors are chalk-full of 3-pt shooters that will have free reign if defenders dare not to double Bosh up-high or JO down-low. But even with the starting line-up, the drop off after Andrea Bargnani (who’s looking better himself) is huge and the Raptors probably won’t make it past the first round again.

The Contenders

The reality of the NBA is that there is little parity. As Darren Rovell points out only a handful of teams have won the crown in the last 15 years. Sadly, I think this year is no different, with the only dark horse being Houston.

Houston GM Darryl Morley went out and got Ron Artest for peanuts and now, with a healthy Yao and T-Mac, the Rockets look even more dangerous then they looked last year… before they eventually fizzled in the first round (again).

My picks for this year’s champ look eerily similar to last year’s contenders – the Lakers (improved with Andrew Bynum back and off to a great start already), the Celtics (although losing James Posey may hurt them down the stretch), the Spurs (depending on how quick Manu can heal), the aforementioned Rockets, and the Hornets (who have gained by getting Posey). With all do respect to LeBron James (who’s Cavs I can only see beating the Hornets in the finals, if either make it that far) and the Pistons (just not as good as people make them out to be) it’ll be more of the same come June (again and again…).

The MVP

Kobe, LeBron or Chris Paul. No defense needed of any of those candidates. But really, the old rule applies when picking a winner — more wins, more likely to win. Which makes me think Chris Paul is going to have to take it to another level to win MVP. Not sure that’s possible. (How do you spell ‘awesome-er’?)

A healthy Kobe will repeat as MVP. (What’s that John Legend song? Oh yeah. “Again.”)

The Verdict

Tonnes of player swapping in the off-season, player injuries and improvements from summer Olympic play, more parity in the (still weak, but improving) Eastern Conference, and coaching changes (Mike D’antoni, Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown) bring some intrigue to this year’s season. But the only thing that could top last season, capped with a storied Lakers-Celtics final, is…another Lakers-Celtics final. Again.

Welcome to the NBA!