newyorker4ever wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

EwingsGlass wrote:For some perspective -- this is 538's choices.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2017-nba-predictions/?addata=espn:frontpage

Clearly they and I are at opposite ends of the spectrum on the Lakers and Nets. Maybe I just thought "which teams are the worst" when I picked my sleepers.

They have the Bulls winning 10 more games than the Knicks.

The Bulls ended up putting a pretty damn good team together when everyone thought they were just throwing in the towel after the DRose trade and Noah leaving. I love J.Butler and think they'll be good but keep a eye on their chemistry as the season goes on with Rondo.

no outside shooting for that team, the Bulls last night: Rondo 1-7, Wade 3-14, Bulter 5-16

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400897299

StarksEwing1 wrote:

nychamp wrote:Staying with my original prediction from the thread way back in the summer after all the signings. Knicks win between 40-45 games. Most likely compete for playoff spot 6-8, could miss postseason with 41 wins if East is very strong again. If things come together nicely, team has good luck (with injuries, etc.), pieces fit together (which I think they should), east is weaker, they could win between 47-52 and be a 3-4 seed. Lose in conference finals. Absolute best case scenario.

I think you are spot on. The only way I see over 50 wins if literally EVRYTHING goes right which means no injuries and many players have bigtime years. I predicted 42-45 which is probably where we end up.

2012/13 54 win team
PG--R.Felton
SG--J.Kidd
SF--Melo
PF--Amare
C--T.Chandler
bench--M.Camby, KMart, JR Smith, Shump, R.Wallace, K.Thomas, S.Novak

2016/17 roster
PG--DRose
SG--C.Lee
SF--Melo
PF--KP6
C--J.Noah
bench--B.Jennings, L.Thomas, Billy, J.Holiday, KOQ, Kuzminskas, N'Dour, Sasha, R.Baker, Plemlee, C.Randle

If we can stay somewhat healthy and our bench can keep us in games when they're on the floor we have a chance at being as good as the 2012/13 team. That 2012/13 team did have some beasts though that played very hard and would knock you around, unforunately you can't get away with playing the way they played anymore.

The mitigating factors are not only health but the strength of the East in general. These teams will be battling to a draw for much of the season until attrition kicks in later in the season. At that point we may see some separation.

New York Knicks

Teams with injury-risk starters and unproven reserves are just a bad bet in the regular-season. The Knicks spasmed through more roster turnover than almost anyone, and it will take time for them to figure out how they want to play -- how much triangle they want to use, how Carmelo Anthony and Joakim Noah will share the elbows, and the best way to mesh Derrick Rose's pick-and-roll speed with Melo's slicing triple-threat game.

Placing the Knicks here is really a vote of no-confidence in Rose. He just hasn't been good in years, even when healthy, and he needs the ball to be of any use. If Noah moves in and out of the lineup, the Knicks may struggle (again) to get stops. They ranked 18th in points allowed per possession last season, and that may overstate things; opponents shot just 35.4 percent on wide-open 3s, per SportVU data provided to ESPN.com, tied with Dallas for the lowest such mark in the league.

nixluva wrote:

knickscity wrote:Even though I have the team pending health which is the primary factor in how successful they can be at 47 wins, folks really need to temper down on the 50+ talk. Only two teams even hit 50 last year in the east because 3-8 were very much on equal playing field. Only way Knicks hit 50 will take a major turning back the clocks on Rose and Noah and a major step forward with Porzingis. That's too much to ask for.

Not sure I would agree that ALL of that has to happen for the Knicks to hit 50. The Knicks overall quality level should be high enough to make the game easier for everyone. So Rose doesn't have to be MVP Rose and Noah doesn't have to be DPOY Noah either. Collectively the talent on this team should allow each of them to play a role in a team concept most of the time and pick their spots when they raise their level of play. Just go and look at the 54 win team's production. They should be able to spread the load this season.