Consensus EC Standings Poll - 1st Seed

[Flight33]

Bulls for sure. Cavs are are going to need some time to figure it out.

Bulls are going to jump from 48 wins to first in the conference by adding a Lowry-level player (coming back from a second major injury) and a washed up Gasol?

That Cavs defense is laughable.

[OlFlashy]

If Miami plays some team ball, they have a lot of talent.

[Kenyon009]

It should be Chicago for now. We have no idea how three ball dominant players are going to play with each other. Chicago had a great season last year and they are young enough to improve a bit. Jimmy Butler is going to improve, Noah is still gonna be a great defensive player, and they added Gasol on top of Rose. I would say that they will win 50-55 games next season. McDermott should be a contributor right away too spacing the floor for Rose.

[agentzero2010]

The Bulls are the ultimate fool's gold IMO. All of their success hinges on Rose's glass knees and also, Gasol is 35 and Joakim Noah is fairly injury prone and he's already 29. "IF" they can stay healthy, they could win 60+ games but i doubt they will. Rose will miss 30+ games, i expect noah to miss 20+ games and Gasol will miss 15+ games.

[UnderdogRaptors]

The Bulls are the ultimate fool's gold IMO. All of their success hinges on Rose's glass knees and also, Gasol is 35 and Joakim Noah is fairly injury prone and he's already 29. "IF" they can stay healthy, they could win 60+ games but i doubt they will. Rose will miss 30+ games, i expect noah to miss 20+ games and Gasol will miss 15+ games.

Thibs is known for running his players into the ground in the RS so I expect injuries from that team Cavs are the safest pick

[TDotsfinest97]

Cavs because LeBron and don't hit me with that period of transition bs(new coach, new system), the moment you have LeBron on your team, your team is an INSTANT contender.

[junot111]

Bulls for sure. Cavs are are going to need some time to figure it out.

Bulls are going to jump from 48 wins to first in the conference by adding a Lowry-level player (coming back from a second major injury) and a washed up Gasol?

That Cavs defense is laughable.

It's questionable but I wouldn't say laughable considering they haven't yet played together AND they have a new coach... you can't say for sure how good/bad their defense will be just yet

[for_tdot]

I voted Cleveland. Because I like to be different.

Like Steve Jobs.

[Waylon Mercy]

Cavs vs. Spurs finals lock it up

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Cleveland....unless Lebron has a stroke. Then chicago, unless Rose gets unjured. Then us. Perhaps.

[Zebsterama]

Bulls for sure. Cavs are are going to need some time to figure it out.

This

[dTox]

Cleveland without question. No other team even comes close.

They have the best player in the league, another top-15 player, and an excellent coach.

I can't imagine a scenario where they don't finish first by at least 5 games.

I have serious questions about their D, a team feat. Irvin/Waiters/Love in the same SL without a defensive stud at C is not walking on water. Chicago is my pick, their D is already elite, they were lacking in scoring and just punched in Rose, Gasol (who is a better scorer and defender than Boozer), Mirotic, McBuckets and having the 2nd best coach in the league on their bench.
I just don't see Cleveland matching that 2 way potential, Lebron's performance on D last year was very questionable, but then again; he was forced to take on more of the scoring load last year so he may take it up a notch, but as he returns to form, it won't be enough to make up for the rest of their starters.

And as I recall, you had mentioned not to long ago that Love is a great offensive player, but his impact on the overall game is watered down with his attrocious defense.

Poor individual defence can be masked by good team defence. I think the Cavs will be fine in that respect. Bosh had almost identical defensive stats to Love before going to Miami.

And I still maintain that Love is a massively overrated player (hence why I called him a "top-15" talent instead of top-10 where his numbers put him).

There's a big difference between Bosh and Love, Bosh has always been a good help defender and is also alot more athletic -- has better make up to have his defense "masked", he's not only shown it with Miami but also was one of the better defenders in the olympics/Fiba. With the exception of last year, Chalmers/Wade are actually good defenders at their respective position where as Kyrie/Waiters are just plain terrible, there's just not enough good defenders surrounding Love to mask his weaknesses.

At the end of the day, I think Cavs are in the same echelon as Bulls, but their lack of defense will certainly bite them during the playoffs, I just don't see them keeping up with a healthy bulls in an 82 game season. Coaching is also to big a factor to ignore, give Thibbs a healthy Bulls and I see them wiping the floor with Miami in a 7 game series.

People forget that the Heat lost in the finals because of their D, not their offence, Spurs had broken records with their fg%, Lebron basically switched to another team with a better offence while taking a step back on the defensive end. I think the Cavs still to make some trades (and they certainly have the assets) in order to balance out their offence/defence.

[Matty]

It looks like the good majority of us see Cleveland going 1st in the East. The 2nd seed poll thread will be a more interesting battle between the Raptors and Bulls for 2nd seed

But hey, it's warranted given what we did last season.

[Sherlock]

Bulls for sure. Cavs are are going to need some time to figure it out.

This

Recall:

That was the consensus view when the Big-3 formed in Boston. They won the championship their first year together.

That was also the consensus view when the Big-3 formed in Miami. They lost in the Finals their first year together.

The new Big-3 in Cleveland? I'm willing to give them first in the conference.

(LeBron is so good right now that any team including him + any four random guys from a YMCA men's league team is probably going to win at least 45 games and make the playoffs in the NBA.)

[chuckdevlin]

I feel like Miami is being very overrated.

Bosh/Andersen/Hamilton
Mcbob/Haslem/????
Deng/Granger/Ennis
Wade/Chalmers/???
Cole/Chalmers/Napier

Look at this
Bosh/Andersen/Hamilton
Mcbob/Haslem/????
Deng/Granger/Ennis
Chalmers/???
Cole/Chalmers/Napier


Look at this
Andersen/Hamilton
Mcbob/Haslem/????
Deng/Granger/Ennis
Wade/Chalmers/???
Cole/Chalmers/Napier

CLE couldnt get into the playoffs with Deng.
If wade misses a game, they have a chalmers/cole/napier backcourt.
if bosh misses a game, they have an Anderson/Mcbob/Haslem front court.

I cant blame them, theyre a championship team. But they are being overrated for the season.

[jonny three time]

Alright Clevelands a lock. 2nd seed lets go!

This will only become interesting around 4 or 5 so let's ge the show on the road here.

[deeps6x]

EC is awesome. Should have stayed in porn

[Ari_Emanuel]

Bulls for sure. Cavs are are going to need some time to figure it out.

This

Recall:

That was the consensus view when the Big-3 formed in Boston. They won the championship their first year together.

That was also the consensus view when the Big-3 formed in Miami. They lost in the Finals their first year together.

The new Big-3 in Cleveland? I'm willing to give them first in the conference.

(LeBron is so good right now that any team including him + any four random guys from a YMCA men's league team is probably going to win at least 45 games and make the playoffs in the NBA.)

That first year the big 3 came together they were still in their prime (albeit at the tail end of it) and were collectively more talented on offense and defense than 'Bron + Love + Irving. There is a HUGE gap between Irving + Waiters and '08 Ray Allen + '08 Rondo. Offensively it is close, and maybe Cleveland has a slight edge but on defense there is no argument. Boston was a better overall team.

[ReaLiez]

Im honestly surprised Raps are not number 1 on the poll by a landslide