This topic contains 6 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar SmooveKRYPT 6 years, 8 months ago.

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  • #66982
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    2quick4u
    Participant

     1. BOSTON: last year they already finished first in RS in the east, so with the addition of hayward and tatum plus the improvement of their young players things should remain the same.

    their last year’s collective numbers were: 8th in "Off Rtg"/7th in pts-g/13th in "Def Rtg"/8th in "SRS" and 13th in pace; the offensive numbers should really improve and they could become a top 5 team in the league in offense, but their defense might be hurt with the lost of bradley..even if their defense remains about the same, that’s not a good defense for a contender, so in order to be a more competitive team and compensate that "weak" defense, they should play at a much higher pace.

    record: 57-25

    2. CLEVELAND: don’t really understand what’s going on in cleveland as they haven’t done any move, and it’s clear they have very very few chances of winning the tittle with this team. in fact the distance between them and boston is shorter and there could be surprises in playoffs..

    cleveland’s offense is fine (3rd in "Off Rtg" and 4th in pts/g) but their defense is just horrible (21st) so there’s just no way they can beat the warriors with that kind of defense; their only chance of winning the title with that defense, is that the warriors lose in the CF..

    record: 54-28

    3. TORONTO: they’ve lost some depth losing joseph, tucker, carroll and patterson but they have very interesting young players like anunoby, poeltl, delon wright and specially bruno caboclo whom i think could become their "x" factor next year.

    if they mantain last year’s numbers they should finish here, although the battle for the 3rd place is gonna be tough, as there isn’t much distance between the next 3 teams.

    record: 51-31

    4. HORNETS: toronto, wizards and hornets are very close but i really like the moves the hornets have made and i think they’re gonna be a team very difficult to beat in playoffs.

    last year they finished 14th in "Off Rtg" and "Def Rtg" but with the additions of howard, monk and bacon i think they could be a top 10 team in both sides, so that should give them a lot of victories and playing at a slow pace should help howard; don’t forget they won 48 games 2 years ago..

    record: 49-33

    5. WASHINGTON: their core looks great but they have done nothing to improve their depth; in fact they’ve lost a weapon in bogdanovic and gortat is 33.

    their offense is fine (7th in "Off Rtg"/5th in pts-g) but losing bogdanovic will affect them; in the other hand their defense is very mediocre (20th) so with this view i can’t see them getting much higher than this.

    record: 48-34

    6. BUCKS: jason kidd is one of the very few who seems to know where the league is heading and what needs to be done to build a champion team, but the team is still very young and a work in progress.

    giannis is the next mutation in the evolution of basketball players and will dominate the league in 4-5 years, and kidd is putting the right pieces around him.

    their goal next year should be to improve the defense (19th) 5-6 spots.

    record: 45-37

    7. MIAMI: miami is one of the best defensive teams in the league (top5) so that assures them a playoff spot, but i’m not sure their wings are very compatible with dragic, a combination which makes a non fluid offense.

    record: 43-39

    8. DETROIT: many people don’t have any faith in this project but i believe they have something they can build upon, that is their defense. 

    last year they already finished 8th in "Def Rtg" and the addition of bradley will only improve those numbers..their biggest hole is their offense and in big part due because of having a point guard like jackson;  that type of player makes that the offense doesn’t flow, they should get rid of him and try to get bledsoe for their next year 1st pick..

    trading or benching jackson plus the additions of bradley, kennard and hellenson should really improve their offense and fight for a playoff spot; if they get bledsoe or another decent point guard they could climb the ladder.

    record: 42-40

     

    *SIXERS: i know many people will neg me and will be dissapointed for letting the sixers out of the playoffs, but looking at the team and at their numbers i just can’t see them making the playoffs yet..

    the sixers are the perfect example of how franchises try to build just adding pieces without any sense, without looking at a bigger picture and without any idea of the type of team they want to become or the type of basketball they want to play.

    their collective numbers are just very bad and i’m not sure that the additions of simmons and fultz will be enough to make them a playoff team.

    aside from their collective numbers, i think that the team is just very unbalanced and i can’t see how the players they have will fit together; also, many of their players are very inefficient so that won’t help neither.

    and what is worse they have the 5th highest pace, which doesn’t make any sense taking into account that their franchise player is embid; i really can’t understand that and i really doubt embid will stay healthy if they play that fast.

    record: 39-43

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • #1104002
    AvatarAvatar
    FUNKYBUNCH
    Participant

     I think they end up with a better record than DET… It’s a good list though. I feel the 76ers will actually try to win this year. 

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  • #1104003
    AvatarAvatar
    SeattleSuperChronics
    Participant

    1. Cavs

    2. Celtics

    3. Bucks

    4. Wizards

    5. Raptors

    6. 76ers

    7. Hornets

    8. Heat

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • #1104011
    AvatarAvatar
    cohenbc1
    Participant

     I think you’ve got Boston and Cleveland just right, though I would still consider Cavs heavy favorites in a series w/ Boston.

    Toronto didn’t just lose depth; they lost all their tough-nosed, defense-minded glue guys. I guess they hope that the young guys you mentioned are ready to fill those shoes, but I think the Raports are going to crater and may well miss the playoffs, especially if Lowry misses his usual 20+ games. 

    Charlotte? I just don’t see it. Monk and Bacon were good draft picks but I wouldn’t put any faith in them actually improving a team’s offense in their rookie seasons. The jury is out on whether Dwight Howard is a team cancer.

    And I pretty much agree with you on the rest of the teams, I would just bump them all up two spaces because I think Toronto and Charotte will disappoint. 

    Pacers are my surprise team in the East. I think they will hustle and defend their way to 40-45 wins and a playoff spot.

     

    1. Celtics
    2. Cavs
    3. Wiz
    4. Bucks (I think we should just start calling them the Freaks, btw.)
    5. Heat
    6. Pistons
    7. Pacers
    8. Sixers

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • #1104014
    AvatarAvatar
    SwatLakeCity
    Participant

     Celtics, Cavs, Wizards, Bucks, Raptors, 76ers, Hornets, Heat

    Lottery teams (best to worst): Pacers, Pistons, Magic, Nets, Knicks, Bulls, Hawks

    I do think the 76ers will make it because of the veterans they added this year. They will try and win games this year. I don’t know if Embiid will stay healthy, But Simmons and Fultz should be fine. This will be the first season where there will be no back to backs or 4 games if five nights. That was something I think that really contributed to a lot of injuries. Not much rest for the players and that was detrimental to their health. So getting rid of those should help a lot. 

     

     

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  • #1104031
    AvatarAvatar
    Choppy
    Participant

     I don’t see Charlotte being that high, primarily because of the Dwight factor. He hasn’t made teams better for at least 5 years and I don’t see that pattern changing. I think the 8 seed will come down to Philly/Charlotte/Detroit. One of those 3. A lot will depend on injuries. Other than that, I like the order of the rest. 

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  • #1104098
    AvatarAvatar
    SmooveKRYPT
    Participant

    1. Celtics – They always play hard and never take a night off. That plus the addition of Hayward, I think they’ll edge Cleveland again as far as regular season record goes. 

    2. Cavs – LeBron hasn’t been lower than a 2 seed this decade. He’s not about to start now with the conference taking a step back from last season.

    3. Raptors – Untrustworthy come playoff time, but they have been a very consistent regular season squad. Full season + training camp with Ibaka should help their coaching staff get a feel for what lineups/combinations work best and how to fit the pieces together.

    4. Wizards – The bench is still a huge question mark, but that backcourt is entirely too good to put them any lower. I hope they don’t become complacent, because the edge they played with as a group last year was key for them. Oubre needs to take a step forward offensively for them to be any better. They need Mahinmi to at least suit up the majority of the season with all that $ they’re paying him.

    5. Hornets – I’ve been saying this is the place Dwight should go since his last season in Houston when they were considering moving him at the trade deadline. I like the fit on both sides of the ball. Kemba is going to love the looks he gets of pick & rolls with him. They should be a top 10 defense and have more options offensively too. The 2nd unit is quality now with Monk, Lamb, Frank the Tank, and Zeller. Cliff is still a very good coach and has a roster that’s more tailor made for his system than last year. If Batum can get his shooting back above 35% from 3, all the better.

    6. Bucks – They’re still not a greatly equipped regular season team for the modern NBA. Question marks surrounding how long Parker will be out and how much they’ll have to limit him/shift things when he comes back. The talent up front is so great that they’ll still be a middle of the road playoff seed and a nightmare to take out in a series.

    7. HEAT – "Bet on yourself and double down" They took Waiters’ motto and applied it to their offseason plan once they learned they wouldn’t be getting Hayward. Virtually the same roster from last year minus Reed, + Olynyk and Bam. The 11-30 start and 30-11 finish is hard to read…most likely is they’ll average out somewhere in the middle and be a few games over .500 this year. I’m still not sold on Justise Winslow, but if he can stay healthy and take a step forward this season that would be huge for them. Having Richardson healthy for the season should help too.

    8. 76ers – This is an optimistic outlook. They need a lot to go right for this to be the case. #1 being health which Philly has proven time and time again is their biggest question mark. Figuring out lineups and roles will be a challenge, but you can’t question the talent. They may still be 1 year away, however the East is so bad now I wouldn’t be shocked to see them qualify for a playoff spot.

    9. Pistons – SVG the President keeps getting in the way of SVG the coach. He continues to irresponsibly pay more than anyone else is thinking to for guys just because they fit his system. The Reggie Jackson leadership questions still linger, is Drummond a worthy centerpiece, what the hell is going on with Stanley Johnson and is he going to get off the pine this year? I love the Bradley trade, and Tobias should also benefit from no longer being miscast next to Morris who operates from the same places on the floor. They’re in play for the 8 seed I’m just not sure about them.

    10-15. Everyone else either needs to do a full rebuild (Orlando) or are starting the process.

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