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The Orlando Magic - though I hope they do poorly since Detroit owns their #1 pick.
Hawks or Bobcats.
Last edited by awmyplace; 07-21-2006 at 04:51 PM.
The Orlando Magic - though I hope they do poorly since Detroit owns their #1 pick.
The Pacers- A nice blend of veteran players and young talent. Al Harrington will help solidify this club if the sign-and-trade with Atlanta goes through. Rick Carlisle is an underrated coach who did a great job of keeping this team afloat during the adversity they faced in '05 and '06.
If this club stays healthy next season, they could very well challenge the Bulls, Pistons and Cavs for the midwest division le and return to prominence as a eastern conference power.
I know it is ... she's told me in pm's.
She's actually very knowledgable.
Hornets is Western.
she probably meant charlotte, which in that case she means the bobcats.
My bad!I meant the Bobcats.
I meant the Bobcats.
Pacers or Celtics
Because the word Bobcats looks like the word Hornets, right?
because the hornets used to play in charlotte...
awmyplace is the smartest one on this board. i can see past the poster's names as you all know. that is why i picked him to build the ark
Yes, of course. The Magic and the Raptors. But your sig sucks.
She's still fricking stupid.
Last edited by td4mvp21; 07-21-2006 at 09:10 PM.
Knicks, Charlotte, Bucks
However:
I don't know if you can really call anyone a sleeper in the East as most of the bad teams added the talent to be better. Expectations are for them to show improvements.
The Magic played great at the end of the year once they dropped Francis, and added Arroyo and Darko. We should expect them to continue an upswing.
Charlotte will get Okafur (injured) back ... along with May (injured last year) and rookie Morrison.
The Bucks made a great deal to get Villaneuva. He and Bogut are going to one of a tandem for quite awhile. Add that to Redd, Williams and Simmons, and they may be a top 5 team in the East.
I suppose you could specualte on the Hawks, Raptors and Knicks.
Hawks add Claxton ... only a slight improvement over Lue IMO. Harrington will be gone. Will Sheldon Williams start alongside Zaza? Last year they won 26 games ... they might improve to 35.
Toronto lose James and Villaneuva. The additions of TJ Ford, Bargnani and Anthony Parker do not make up for those losses. Maybe 30-32 wins.
The Knicks may be in the best position to show an improvement ... even if it is addition by subtraction. LB being gone will have a huge impact. Isiah may not have the X's and O's that LB does but the atmosphere will be less stressful to all involved. Alittle consistency form the coach's will offer confidence to a team that was confused all last year. There is individual talent on this team. now it's just a matter of making them play as a team. Lee, Robinson and Frye are nice young pieces. Likely the future of the team. Q, Crawford, Francis (being traded for K Mart?) , Starbury, Jalen, Malik and Curry ... all of them together should be good for 40? wins?
To me the bigger question regarding the East this year is which teams will fail to meet their expectations.
Chicago will have a lot of pressure to advance past the first round ... which I don't know if they can.
The Lebron Cavaliers are one of the sweethearts of the League. People believe in James. They believe he will take them to the promised land ... it won't happen this year, or next. They still need other players to surround him with. Whil Big Z statistically may be on of the better C's in the league, his game leaves alot to be desired. Their PG rotation of Eric Snow, Damon Jones and newly drafted Shannon Brown may be the weakest in the League. And they may be losing Gooden. They may struggle to match their 50 wins of this past year.
Miami didn't play well most of last season. It was only in the latter part of the year where the started to put it together ... and Wade took over in the playoffs. Injuries led to many of their struggles. But with an aging Payton, Shaq and Mourning, injuries can always be a question mark. Not to mention that A Finals winner often times enters the new season with a bit of arrogance and iness that typically hinders the performance of the team. Oneal is fading. The team has shifted to Wade. No longer will the ball be fed continously to Shaq. That might be the right move ... but I'm not a fan of Wade becoming an Iverson or Kobe ... which I think will happen. They'll be around at the end ... but no repaet is in their future.
Detroit loses Ben. The sky is falling the sky is falling. I actually still expect them to lead the East next year, and make it back to the ECF. Will they win? We'll see. However my views are obviously biased .....
I can't wait to see it all play out. I think the East will be a much more exciting Conference to watch this year. I think I may have to get the NBA league pass this year!
Last edited by Pistons < Spurs; 07-21-2006 at 09:50 PM.
The Pacers. If they actually stay healthy and avoid drama for a full season they can make some noise.
No ones talking about the Bucks, but I think you could see them make a big jump. I expect them to make a big jump. Bogut is going to be a solid player and Charlie V. will help out a bunch. I think Redd is one of the best 2 guards in the league. I also like some of their role players. The Bucks will be for real next season. Wouldn't shock me if they finish top 4 in the East.
I'd say Bobcats. I keep waiting for them to really make a move here. They are beginning to be tough on the floor and I think it will come. They just need to get their act together a little more.
Bobcats they had almost the entire first team injured at one point last year and they still didn't finish last, they will come much stronger this year.
Toronto too. Raptors have Rasho, how can they miss playoffs?
You and Angel would make a great couple
slightly unrealisticly thinking couple ... but a couple nonetheless.
(not the fact that toronto will make the playoffs.. they might ... just for the fact rasho is supposed to be the catalyst)
Last edited by jman3000; 07-22-2006 at 03:50 AM.
Thank You!I'm a female not a male.
Raptors and Magic
Rasho never misses the play-offs- not only in the NBA but also consecutive Euroleague Final Fours. Rasho actually played in the Euroleague championship game and the NBA play-offs in the same season. Don't think anyone else can say that.
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