John Hollinger Season Outlook

I agree with it for the most part, a few slides here and there, but i’d say its pretty accurate.

Only thing that really points out to me is Chicago getting 5th seed, especially with Milwaukee above them. I think the Bulls are good for the 3rd seed. And I personally don’t see Philly making the playoffs, I got either the Wizards or Bobcats getting that 7th/8th seed along with the Knicks.

Chicago is kinda low and Philadelphia is a little high

I like the Oklahoma City projection and Houston projection, alot of people are high on them but truth is….OKC didn’t really improve this offseason and Houston has some question marks/average players.

Wow is he serious in saying he think Philly is making the playoffs?  Over the Pacers AND Bobcats?

Is way tooo Low 2nd or 3rd seed definitely

^Is that with or without Carmelo?

Denver is not a 2nd or 3rd seed. There not that good. There not better then Utah.

 no way only 3 teams in the west have above 50 wins!

 Agree with Mr. Jewboy. No way the Jazz get 6th place. Below Portland and San Antonio. 

This is how I see the West finishing out: 1 Lakers 2 Mavs 3 OKC 4 Utah 5 Portland 6 Spurs 7 Denver 8 Houston.

Portland is way better then Utah.

I tend to think people are needlessly lower on Atlanta than they should. Even if a person thinks that they had a bad offseason and overpaid Joe Johnson, they are not worse than they were last year a year in which they were a top five team at home. Milwaukee and Chicago is a toss up. Is Bogut going to be healthy and is Brandon Jennings going to be able to shoot better than 34 percent for the final three-quarters of the year? Is Joakim Noah’s plantar fasciitis going to come back? I also have not heard one solid argument that New York is better than Washington, yet everyone at ESPN seems to think the Knicks will be better than all the other bad teams in the East battling for the 8th spot. I have yet to see why anyone thinks having "New York" on the front of the jersey can help a bad team win games. Anyone outside that 110-mile bubble of Bristol, CT can probably see that the Wizards just have a better roster. I like Doug Collins, but they need a guy in their rotation to hit a jumper on a regular basis in order to win enough games to get one of the final playoff spots. Obviously, Melo would fix that problem. I like Charlotte, and they are another team that can probably get in. It isn’t like Raymond Felton was anything special, and Larry Brown didn’t like Tyson Chandler. I don’t quite get why people think they are worse than they were last year.

As for the West, I don’t think there is a great deal of difference between 2-9 so it is hard to nitpick. I tend to believe Dallas is built for the regular season, and will win around 60 games. The logic behind Portland being better than their record because of the injuries they faced is faulty. While some injuries are random and cannot be predicted, there is value in understanding trends.

 Wow he got my Sixers taking the 7th seed and I would trade our whole team to have the Wizards roster. Maybe thats just me being mad still at missing out on John Wall by one lottery ball.  I flashes me back to 97 when we missed out on Duncan by one ball.  

It’s not just rosters you got to look at it’s coaching too.  And Hollinger knows Doug Collins’ track record with turning teams around and the Sixers have a nice roster and depth at every position we’re just missing out on a defensive big.  

The Bulls and Bucks are closer then people realize and the deciding factor was probably Scott Skiles and him already having success last year with that roster and all they did was improve in the off season plus a healthy Redd is an XFactor.  Although I think Atlanta is better then both of them but once again it goes back to the fact they got a new coach so who knows how well they’ll do this year.

I think Dallas will be better then San Antonio this year.  And Denver is probably not going to even make the playoffs because Melo is almost a lock to be traded.  And the reason their may not be that many 50 game winners in the west is because of how much competition is out there.

And New Orleans will def be in the playoffs.

 @BothTeamsPlayedHard I agree with you 100%

The Knicks do not have enough defense to even smell the playoffs and its not like they’re loaded with offensive weapons.  I really hope that Bill Walker starts at shooting guard for them I think Chanlder is a bench player and Walker still has the chance of having a better career.  And New Jersey and Washington both are easily better then the Knicks.

I tend to think people are needlessly lower on Atlanta than they should. Even if a person thinks that they had a bad offseason and overpaid Joe Johnson, they are not worse than they were last year a year in which they were a top five team at home. Milwaukee and Chicago is a toss up. Is Bogut going to be healthy and is Brandon Jennings going to be able to shoot better than 34 percent for the final three-quarters of the year? Is Joakim Noah’s plantar fasciitis going to come back? I also have not heard one solid argument that New York is better than Washington, yet everyone at ESPN seems to think the Knicks will be better than all the other bad teams in the East battling for the 8th spot. I have yet to see why anyone thinks having "New York" on the front of the jersey can help a bad team win games. Anyone outside that 110-mile bubble of Bristol, CT can probably see that the Wizards just have a better roster. I like Doug Collins, but they need a guy in their rotation to hit a jumper on a regular basis in order to win enough games to get one of the final playoff spots. Obviously, Melo would fix that problem. I like Charlotte, and they are another team that can probably get in. It isn’t like Raymond Felton was anything special, and Larry Brown didn’t like Tyson Chandler. I don’t quite get why people think they are worse than they were last year.

A) Atlanta had alot of things go right for them and they now have a new head coach and Jeff Teague who has not shown the ability to lead a team even in spurts

B) Chicago should be better then the Bucks. Alot of great adds. Milwaukee should be alright, I think there could be some chemistry issues trying to get everyone in the rotation. I believe it could be close if the issues are worked out

C) The Knicks have a better team then Washington. JaVale McGee and Andrey Blatche are good but still have to put it together for 82 games, Gil will have some rust early but should be alright this season, John Wall should be the guy we think he is…that’s it. Josh Howard?  Al Thornton? Average players. The Knicks don’t have a ton of above average players either but I believe Gallinari and Chandler should be able to look above average next season

D) Charlotte doesn’t have a point guard. DJ Augustine has shown nothing and who’s there big men? They have a good 4 (Wallace, Jackson, Thomas and Diaw) but that’s it.

If Teague fails, they still have Bibby for short spurts as well as Jordan and Jamal Crawford. I wouldn’t worry about the point spot. They changed coaches, but I’d argue that isn’t a bad thing.

What imaginary chemistry issues on Milwaukee are you thinking about?

Just to clarify Josh Howard and Al Thornton are average players while Gallinari and Chandler should be able to look above average next season. Ignore the fact that Josh Howard has been an All-Star while Gallinari has not. Also, look past the fact both Al Thornton and Wilson Chandler have shockingly – I repeat SHOCKINGLY- similar careers through three seasons. The "New York" name on the front of the jersey clearly makes Wilson Chandler the better player.

Charlotte didn’t have a point guard last year, and got to .500.

The fact that that the Bucks will have 10-12 players all good enough, I think it will be tough to get them all playing time. I think it could hurt them if someone gets less PT then they feel they deserve. It’s a small issue I know but it could effect them.

I’m not ignoring Howard was a all star, I’m also not ignoring he tore his ACL. I’m not ingoring Al Thornton and Chandler’s similar career arc, I’m also not ignoring the fact Chandler looks to be on the way up while Thornton is looking to be a sub and he didn’t even look good at any point for the Wiz last season

Charlotte had Raymond Felton…he was a key piece for them making the playoffs.

I guess if my favorite team gave Felton $8 million a year that I would want to think that too. He might be better equipped to play 40 minutes than Chris Duhon, but that doesn’t mean he is good.

It has nothing to do with him as a Knick.

He gave the Bobcats: 12-5-3 and 1.5. That’s good considering his scoring decrease slightly due to the addition of Stephen Jackson and the passing was down because Boris Diaw.

If you think DJ Augusine or Shaun Livingston is going to do that, I would beg to differ.

Also, this team has some terrible big men

There is a very short list of point guards in the NBA who could not put up 12-5-3 and 1.5 if given 33 minutes per game.

 Dj averaged 12-4-2 his rookie year and besides being hurt last year he got on Larry Browns bad side which isn’t hard cuz Brown is a weird dude.  But things have changed because not only did they let Felton go they also declined on the opportunity to get Harris thus far because they like Augustine so much.  Chanlder and Thornton are almost a wash because even tho Chandler does look like he’s on the way up, everybody who plays for D’Antoni does.  And I like Dani alot but he needs to learn how to play defense and rebound better.

Washing got 3 guards who are all better then anybody on the Knicks roster, Wall, Hinrich, and Arenas.  They are solid at the wing with Young, Thornton, Howard.  And they have more big men depth that New York with Yi, Blatche, McGee, Serephim and Booker.

Besides Stat the Knicks really don’t have any other proven players.  Felton is far from proven his stats for being the 5th pick and paid 8 million are not on par with other players boasting that resume.  And Im a huge Anthony Randolph but if you wanna talk about somebody who has to prove it for 82 games thats your guy.  Right now Blatche is better.  

So the Wizard have better point guard, and better shooting guard, and a better center, unless Stat plays center then the Wiz have a better power forward.  The only position the Knicks are better then besides wherever Stat plays is small forward but none of their small forwards play defense and that just happens to be Josh Howards specialty.

Idc what you guys say, Felton is gonna be a beast under Dantoni.

sucks.  One thing John Hollinger got right.

Felton probably will be, i hope he is because i was a big Felton fan in college.  

Felton

Bill Walker

Dani

Randolph

Stat

is going to be one of my favorite lineups in the league they’re gonna be fast, and Walker, Randolph, and Stat will be dunking everything while Dani hangs out at the 3 line and jacks up 3’s.  Theyre gonna be fun to watch.

Agreed. I still have questions if Felton can run for 40 because he always seemed pudgy to me but from what I hear, he’s ready to run it.

DON’T FORGET ABOUT TIMOFEY

 Tomofey is probably going to be the starting center and from the tape I saw of him playing in Russia he is going to thrive in D’Antoni’s system but Mike probably already knew that.  From what I saw he kinda reminds me of a Russian Samuel Dalambert, he’s fast, runs the floor hard, and gets off the ground quickly, and oh yeah he’s 7’1!

And i don’t think Felton will have any conditioning issues he never did.  He’s not pudgy like a Jameer Nelson, but he built like a running back.  

1. Miami(59-23)

2. Orlando(57-25)

3. Chicago(54-28)

4. Milwaukee(52-30)

5. Atlanta(51-31)

6. Boston(48-34)

7. Washington(42-40)

8. Indiana(39-43)

1. Los Angeles Lakers(60-22)

2. Utah(58-24)

3. Dallas(57-25)

4. Oklahoma City(57-25)

5. Portland(54-28)

6. Denver(50-32)

7. Houston(49-33)

8. San Antonio(45-37)

Only because Melo isnt gone yet, so subject to change, lol.

Next.

Of course, Utah is my surprise team this year. Idk why, thats just how i feel at the moment. And i dont think Miami will "gel" as much in the early part of the season. Its just an opinion, not everyone think Miami is going to be the best team ever, and especially this year. Its still the Lakers in my mind, and everyone else behind them.

I guess Miami will be one game better than Utah.  Utah should be championship contenders this upcoming season.  Can’t wait to see that evolution.

Oklahoma Higher

San Antonio Lower

Houston Higher

Portland lower

Chicago Higher

like bothteams pointed out and i have mentioned in the past, 2-9 in the west is a toss up and there is absolutely no right or wrong on predicting those seeds as of now. I mean are you really gonna say without bias that there is NO WAY they can finish behind san antonio or portland? Im not even sure utah makes the playoffs.

my west:

1-lakers

2-mavericks

3-blazers

4-thunder

5-rockets

6-spurs

7-jazz

8-suns

i didnt include denver only becasue i think melo will get traded eventually. Grizz and hornets are right there as well and could easily both make the playoffs.

east:

1-heat

2-magic

3-celtics

4-bulls

5-hawks

6-bucks

7-76ers

8-knicks

Timofey better be the starter because Turiaf shouldnt be given double digit minutes on any team.

im not sayin miami isnt better than utah, im not sayin utah is going to win a championship, im not sayin miami wont, im sayin that utah could have a good regular season and miami may win less games in the regular season than most predict. and on top of that miami is getting everyones best shot every night, why is it so hard to believe they will win one less game than sixty? i expect miami to atleast make it to the eastern conference finals and depending on seeding utah can make it to the wc final(which they have recently). regular season records dont mean much to the great teams, once they get in the playoffs they take over.