Eastern Conference

1. Miami-60 wins
2. Chicago-58 wins These two teams are pretty obviously the class of the East, the only question is what order they finish. I have Miami 1 and Chicago 2 but they could easily flip flop. The biggest question: has Thibodeau figured out that he shouldn't run his players into the ground during the regular season so they're actually healthy for the playoffs?

3. Indiana-53 wins A good, young team getting better with experience. A much improved bench. Granger's back and he'll either help them on the court or he'll be traded for help on the court. They should hit 50 wins easy.

4. Brooklyn-50 wins And this is where I start to have doubts. Everyone in the world is confident Brooklyn will be great... I'm not. They weren't a particularly good 3point shooting team last season and I don't see that improving. Pierce and KG are good but old with an increased chance of injury. Lopez has fragile feet. I'm not sure how their best five guys; Lopez, KG, Pierce, Johnson, Deron; work defensively. I still don't trust Deron Williams to run a team. And they have a rookie head coach in Kidd who has never coached at any level before. There's a very distinct chance that this experiment is an utter failure, similar to the Lakers last season. But, I'm too much of a coward to put them any lower.

5. New York-49 wins I don't hate the Bargnani trade as much as a lot of other fans; I do believe there's a chance all he needed was a change of scenery to salvage his career. There's also the possibility that he's as bad as a lot of people say he is. I know a lot of people are excited about MWP but I can only assume none of them have watched a Lakers game over the last 3 seasons: he's washed up. And I like Udrih as a solid backup pg. I don't like that we drafted Hardaway; he was a bad player in college and nothing I've seen in the preseason leads me to believe he'll be successful in the pros. I'm worried that we're going to trade Shumpert for pennies on the dollar because of Dolan's hurt fee-fees. I'm worried that Shumpert and JR won't both be able to start and one of them causing a rift in the locker room. I'm worried that Melo had the best season of his career last year and he might be due to regress. I'm worried that the only solid, defensive big men we know are on the team are injury prone Tyson and KMart. I'm worried about an improved Easter Conference. And I'm worried that I can't get the number 43 wins out of my head. But, as long as nothing catastrophic happens we should compete for the division title again this year.

6. Atlanta-43 wins
7. Detroit-41 wins
8. Washington-41 wins

Jmpasq wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:

knicks1248 wrote:majority of knick fans believe we have a better squad then last yr, but don't seem to think that we will be better then last yr..I dont get it

I think we are slightly better because we are younger and healthier. But the East was a joke last year. Brooklyn, Chicago and Indy drastically improved this year and Miami is Miami

Yep thats thing the teams in the East improved . Good new is we lost every game to the Bulls so we cant lose any wins there

The east did not improve as much as one may think and heres why is say that. .

Bulls....rose is great but nate and jimmy butler filled in quite nicely in his absence. Noah has on going battle with foot issues just like Camby..kirk, boozer, deng..injury prone no way they play more then 60 games..

NETS...mark my words they will not win more 47 games they will not win the atlantic and will get beat by any team that averagely fast.

Pacers..There good but not because of granger,scola, and copeland...its all about hibert and paul George. .they pose mismatches like crazy..

HEAT..can be beat by any of the top 5 teams in the east.

Knicks..We have a bunch of ? As well but nothing that any of the efc contenders don't have. .

VCoug wrote:Woo-hoo, I've been waiting for this. Make sure you bookmark this thread so you can call everyone out at the end of the season

Eastern Conference

1. Miami-60 wins
2. Chicago-58 wins These two teams are pretty obviously the class of the East, the only question is what order they finish. I have Miami 1 and Chicago 2 but they could easily flip flop. The biggest question: has Thibodeau figured out that he shouldn't run his players into the ground during the regular season so they're actually healthy for the playoffs?

3. Indiana-53 wins A good, young team getting better with experience. A much improved bench. Granger's back and he'll either help them on the court or he'll be traded for help on the court. They should hit 50 wins easy.

4. Brooklyn-50 wins And this is where I start to have doubts. Everyone in the world is confident Brooklyn will be great... I'm not. They weren't a particularly good 3point shooting team last season and I don't see that improving. Pierce and KG are good but old with an increased chance of injury. Lopez has fragile feet. I'm not sure how their best five guys; Lopez, KG, Pierce, Johnson, Deron; work defensively. I still don't trust Deron Williams to run a team. And they have a rookie head coach in Kidd who has never coached at any level before. There's a very distinct chance that this experiment is an utter failure, similar to the Lakers last season. But, I'm too much of a coward to put them any lower.

5. New York-49 wins I don't hate the Bargnani trade as much as a lot of other fans; I do believe there's a chance all he needed was a change of scenery to salvage his career. There's also the possibility that he's as bad as a lot of people say he is. I know a lot of people are excited about MWP but I can only assume none of them have watched a Lakers game over the last 3 seasons: he's washed up. And I like Udrih as a solid backup pg. I don't like that we drafted Hardaway; he was a bad player in college and nothing I've seen in the preseason leads me to believe he'll be successful in the pros. I'm worried that we're going to trade Shumpert for pennies on the dollar because of Dolan's hurt fee-fees. I'm worried that Shumpert and JR won't both be able to start and one of them causing a rift in the locker room. I'm worried that Melo had the best season of his career last year and he might be due to regress. I'm worried that the only solid, defensive big men we know are on the team are injury prone Tyson and KMart. I'm worried about an improved Easter Conference. And I'm worried that I can't get the number 43 wins out of my head. But, as long as nothing catastrophic happens we should compete for the division title again this year.

6. Atlanta-43 wins
7. Detroit-41 wins
8. Washington-41 wins

I agree with you regarding the knicks drafting hardaway. He looks exactly like he did in college super inconsistent and until he learns how to shoot a mid range jumper he's nothing more then suspect.

Artest is far from washed up..he brings more then novak and copeland combine and his 3pt shooting looks better then avg.

AB even if he struggles from deep he is still a threat from mid range in a pick and roll set he also has solid foot work and hits ft at a high rate

Beno is ok very good insurance for pablo or ray..

out of the 4 I believe AB will have the biggest impact. .

But I dont expect them to go on any double digit win streaks, and I certainly dont expect them to have the same record against the +500's that they recorded last year.

I have them on a more steadier 47-50 wins....just get a first round hca in the first round and whatever happens...happens.

Playoff health>>>regular season wins.

smackeddog wrote:

dk7th wrote:45 wins... so long as factions don't develop. i can imagine a shump/artest/chandler troika or a felton/melo/smith troika. if they do develop then the bottom will drop out.

there is not a single player around whom the team can cohere and rally.

So you're predicting 7th seed? (I'm just joking, not trying to be vindictive!)

I would guess 5th or 6th seed is the 45 win margin.

smackeddog wrote:

dk7th wrote:45 wins... so long as factions don't develop. i can imagine a shump/artest/chandler troika or a felton/melo/smith troika. if they do develop then the bottom will drop out.

there is not a single player around whom the team can cohere and rally.

So you're predicting 7th seed? (I'm just joking, not trying to be vindictive!)

hard to predict seeding but 45 wins usually means 5th or 6th seed in the east, doesn't it. who are the teams that will flesh out the last 2-3 spots in your opinion? atlanta...?

knicks1248 wrote:

VCoug wrote:Woo-hoo, I've been waiting for this. Make sure you bookmark this thread so you can call everyone out at the end of the season

Eastern Conference

1. Miami-60 wins
2. Chicago-58 wins These two teams are pretty obviously the class of the East, the only question is what order they finish. I have Miami 1 and Chicago 2 but they could easily flip flop. The biggest question: has Thibodeau figured out that he shouldn't run his players into the ground during the regular season so they're actually healthy for the playoffs?

3. Indiana-53 wins A good, young team getting better with experience. A much improved bench. Granger's back and he'll either help them on the court or he'll be traded for help on the court. They should hit 50 wins easy.

4. Brooklyn-50 wins And this is where I start to have doubts. Everyone in the world is confident Brooklyn will be great... I'm not. They weren't a particularly good 3point shooting team last season and I don't see that improving. Pierce and KG are good but old with an increased chance of injury. Lopez has fragile feet. I'm not sure how their best five guys; Lopez, KG, Pierce, Johnson, Deron; work defensively. I still don't trust Deron Williams to run a team. And they have a rookie head coach in Kidd who has never coached at any level before. There's a very distinct chance that this experiment is an utter failure, similar to the Lakers last season. But, I'm too much of a coward to put them any lower.

5. New York-49 wins I don't hate the Bargnani trade as much as a lot of other fans; I do believe there's a chance all he needed was a change of scenery to salvage his career. There's also the possibility that he's as bad as a lot of people say he is. I know a lot of people are excited about MWP but I can only assume none of them have watched a Lakers game over the last 3 seasons: he's washed up. And I like Udrih as a solid backup pg. I don't like that we drafted Hardaway; he was a bad player in college and nothing I've seen in the preseason leads me to believe he'll be successful in the pros. I'm worried that we're going to trade Shumpert for pennies on the dollar because of Dolan's hurt fee-fees. I'm worried that Shumpert and JR won't both be able to start and one of them causing a rift in the locker room. I'm worried that Melo had the best season of his career last year and he might be due to regress. I'm worried that the only solid, defensive big men we know are on the team are injury prone Tyson and KMart. I'm worried about an improved Easter Conference. And I'm worried that I can't get the number 43 wins out of my head. But, as long as nothing catastrophic happens we should compete for the division title again this year.

6. Atlanta-43 wins
7. Detroit-41 wins
8. Washington-41 wins

I agree with you regarding the knicks drafting hardaway. He looks exactly like he did in college super inconsistent and until he learns how to shoot a mid range jumper he's nothing more then suspect.

Artest is far from washed up..he brings more then novak and copeland combine and his 3pt shooting looks better then avg.

AB even if he struggles from deep he is still a threat from mid range in a pick and roll set he also has solid foot work and hits ft at a high rate

Beno is ok very good insurance for pablo or ray..

out of the 4 I believe AB will have the biggest impact. .

I can't agree on Artest; he's been really bad offensively the last few years in LA. And he really doesn't have a 3-point shot. When he was in LA playing next to Kobe and Gasol he never shot better than 35% from downtown. And the last 2 years he shot 29% and 34%. Defensively he's still solid though you can't put him on any wing in the league like you used to.

Considering his lack of defense and rebounding, Bargnani really needs to be able to hit from 3 in order to be a real positive contributor. If all he's doing is shooting well from midrange than we might as well have kept Copeland.

I really hope I'm wrong about Hardaway but I just don't see a quality NBA player when looking at him. I hope we don't regret passing on Bullock.

Also, I'm not sure about this, but won't we play our division opponents more than the rest of the teams? If that is the case, then it doesn't hurt that that Philly and Boston will probably suck. And I don't see the Raptors as being that much improved.

Edit: also, i'm wearing my positive glasses today. I was leaning towards 45 wins just yesterday. flippity flop