NBA

Why They Might Be Good: Amare Stoudamire has apparently fully recovered from last year's knee issues, although it's been reported that his vertical leap took a hit, dropping from eight feet to 6.5 inches. And Steve Nash has vowed to play this season with a chip on his shoulder—although since he's a super-nice Canadian chap, the chip is only the size of an Intel 64-bit microchip.

Why They Might Be Good: They have lots and lots of tall people under contract, including long-necked All-Star Chris Bosh. Granted, the majority of these pituitary cases—e.g., 7-foot first overall pick Andrea Bargnani and 6' 10" Uros Skolar—haven't played against NBA competition. Or NCAA competition. Or high school competition. Or sixth-grade intramural competition.

Why They Might Be Good: Ha. Tee hee. Heh heh heh. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah. Ha.

Why They Might Be Good: Over the summer, future first-ballot Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett told the entire Wolves roster, "I know you guys stink, and you know you guys stink, so I intend to shoot the second the rock touches my hands. This sharing-the-ball thing ain't working. If you don't obey me, I'm going to shove the $1.5 billion I'll earn this year right down y'all's throats."

Why They Might Be Good: You could sextuple-team freakishly accurate shooting guard Michael Redd at mid-court, and he'd still go 7-for-11 from the arc. Thing is, Redd is a team player, the putz. If he decides to buy into the NBA's "me first" paradigm and hurls up 30-plus shots a game, he could be one of the league's poster boy ballhogs a la Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Paul Pierce.

During an October 13th practice at the Berto Center, Bulls backup center Michael Sweetney informed coaches he would be leaving practice early to tend to an undisclosed family matter.

After persistent lobbying from the NBA Player's Association, Commissioner David Stern has agreed to go with a "Make-It, Take-It" game format for the 2006-2007 season.