#DoTheMath - The 2015-16 Playoffs Watch Thread

Post #1 » by **yosemiteben** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 4:05 pm

May as well get this puppy started to track the EC playoff race over the course of the season.

Still think BOS, MIL, and IND were being overrated in the off-season. Wouldn't surprise me to see any or all of those teams miss the playoffs.

Post #2 » by **fatlever** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 4:37 pm

The race for the last few spots in the EC is going to be an absolute dogfight come March/April. Detroit, Indy, Boston, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Orlando, NY - all have a legitimate chance. Orlando has been looking really tough so far. Even their losses have been really impressive. The Knicks, if they can find a point guard during the season, might have a chance, otherwise, they'll probably bow out come spring. Boston has all the depth, but no real starting 5. It will be interesting to see if BS can get that team happy all year. So many guys needing/wanting minutes. Shooting is an issue. Bucks just haven't been the same since they traded Knight. We'll see.

Cleveland
Miami
Atlanta
Toronto
Washington
Chicago (they have too much talent not to get it figured out sooner than later)
----
DOGFIGHT
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Philadelphia
Brooklyn

If you made me pick, right now for the last 2 spots, I'd probably take Detroit and Indy since they have the two best players - George and Drummond.

Post #3 » by **BigSlam** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 4:43 pm

fatlever wrote:The Knicks, if they can find a point guard during the season, might have a chance, otherwise, they'll probably bow out come spring

Grant could earn the starting PG gig by Jan once he's had a chance to adapt to the NBA.

He'll be fantastic for them.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Post #4 » by **fatlever** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 4:47 pm

BigSlam wrote:
fatlever wrote:The Knicks, if they can find a point guard during the season, might have a chance, otherwise, they'll probably bow out come spring

Grant could earn the starting PG gig by Jan once he's had a chance to adapt to the NBA.

He'll be fantastic for them.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Yeah, I was considering that as part of "finding a PG". If he can really earn that job, that could be huge. Porzingis looks like the real deal and they have plenty of depth across the rest of the roster and a legit 25ppg scorer, which is more than most of the dogfight teams can say.

Post #5 » by **fatlever** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 4:55 pm

Zach Lowe ‏@ZachLowe_NBA 18m18 minutes ago
Zach Lowe Retweeted Tommy Beer
If one of Galloway/Grant isn't starting by the end of next week, I'll be surprised/disappointed.

HornetJail · Post #6 » by **HornetJail** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 5:39 pm

To me, Cleveland is the only lock to be a top 4 team. They're absolutely head and shoulders above every other team in the East, which is as weak as it's ever been at the top. Barring a catastrophe, I think Chicago, Washington, Atlanta, Toronto, and Miami are locks for the playoffs. I think Brooklyn and Philly are the only locks to miss the playoffs. That leaves Charlotte, Milwaukee, Boston, Indiana, Orlando, New York, and Detroit in the mix for two playoff spots. Seven teams fighting for two playoff spots. Out of these two, I'd pick us and either Detroit or Milwaukee.

Liver_Pooty · Post #7 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sat Nov 7, 2015 5:46 pm

We're going to win 45 games. So I think we'll be fine.

HornetJail · Post #8 » by **HornetJail** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 1:19 am

Liver_Pooty wrote:We're going to win 45 games. So I think we'll be fine.

IMO 45 games puts us in the conversation for the 3 seed.

I'm not sure we get 45, but it's possible

Liver_Pooty · Post #9 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 1:20 am

MotorKeepsGoing wrote:
Liver_Pooty wrote:We're going to win 45 games. So I think we'll be fine.

IMO 45 games puts us in the conversation for the 3 seed.

I'm not sure we get 45, but it's possible

I have a ton of faith in this squad. Lord only knows if we had MKG.

HornetJail · Post #10 » by **HornetJail** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 1:25 am

Liver_Pooty wrote:
MotorKeepsGoing wrote:
Liver_Pooty wrote:We're going to win 45 games. So I think we'll be fine.

IMO 45 games puts us in the conversation for the 3 seed.

I'm not sure we get 45, but it's possible

I have a ton of faith in this squad. Lord only knows if we had MKG.

Where do you think we rank offensively and defensively? I think we could be about #10 offensively, and #20 defensively, good for about 41 wins. MKG's defense would add 8+ wins to that total and push us back to top 10 defense territory.

Liver_Pooty · Post #11 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 1:27 am

MotorKeepsGoing wrote:
Liver_Pooty wrote:
MotorKeepsGoing wrote:IMO 45 games puts us in the conversation for the 3 seed.

I'm not sure we get 45, but it's possible

I have a ton of faith in this squad. Lord only knows if we had MKG.

Where do you think we rank offensively and defensively? I think we could be about #10 offensively, and #20 defensively, good for about 41 wins. MKG's defense would add 8+ wins to that total and push us back to top 10 defense territory.

Saw a figure on facebook yesterday that had us #5 offensively so far, and 20th defensively in the small sample size we have thus far. Think it was off of a blog or something, but sounds about right. I'd be elated if that continued.

HornetJail · Post #12 » by **HornetJail** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 1:28 am

I would be over the moon if we managed to be a top 5 offensive team. That would be insane. With MKG and a top 5 offense, we'd probably be a #2 seed in the East lol

Post #13 » by **yosemiteben** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 2:05 am

Liver_Pooty wrote:We're going to win 45 games. So I think we'll be fine.

Sticking with 48.

Post #14 » by **JDR720** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 7:22 am

random thoughts on each east team.

-Cleveland, easily the best team in the east.
-Hawks, i thought they would take a step back but so far they have been excellent
-Toronto, they have impressed .finally got some defense to go with their offense
-Pistons, Drummond might be the best center in the league. i though they'd be a playoff team but not a 4 seed (as they are right now)
-Bulls- i figurd they would take a step back but not this large a step back. they cant defend at all
-Bucks, they haven't been quite as good as expected but Giannis has really taken off
-Pacers, George appears to be back if they can get some bigman production watch out
-Wizards, one of the most overrated teams in the league. they have nothing outside of Wall and Beal
-Heat, the 2nd best eastern team on paper, Whiteside seems to be legit
-Magic, they may have a losing record but they have really punched above their weight so far. Dipo turning into a star
--Celtics, not a great start but was probably expected, too many guards not enough defense
-Knicks, healthy Melo is still pretty good and Lamars Cousin is the steal of the draft
-Hornets, cant defend that well but the offense seems much improved
-76ers, still suck but Noal and Okafor are studs
-Nets, dumpster fire and they dont even have a draft pick until 2020 or something

the middle of the east is going to be super competitive. still have us in the mid-low 30's though (wins)

Liver_Pooty · Post #15 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 7:26 am

I wish I was a diehard Sixer fan right now. Okafor with a shot blocking young PF next to him in Noel in 2-3 years is going to be something insane.

Braggins · Post #16 » by **Braggins** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 7:33 am

Liver_Pooty wrote:I wish I was a diehard Sixer fan right now. Okafor with a shot blocking young PF next to him in Noel in 2-3 years is going to be something insane.

I saw a little of the Sixers game tonight. Okafor is a beast. I can't believe people compared him to Al. The way they operate is not similar at all. Okafor was manhandling people under the basket with his strength as well as putting moves on people. Hes got a true low post game. Al is more mid-post and finesse.

Not news to you obviously, but I was really impressed with his strength and aggressiveness.

Liver_Pooty · Post #17 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 8:16 am

Braggins wrote:
Liver_Pooty wrote:I wish I was a diehard Sixer fan right now. Okafor with a shot blocking young PF next to him in Noel in 2-3 years is going to be something insane.

I saw a little of the Sixers game tonight. Okafor is a beast. I can't believe people compared him to Al. The way they operate is not similar at all. Okafor was manhandling people under the basket with his strength as well as putting moves on people. Hes got a true low post game. Al is more mid-post and finesse.

Not news to you obviously, but I was really impressed with his strength and aggressiveness.

Okafor is in phenomenal shape right now. At Duke he obviously bullied people around, but that was just shear talent. He was kind of chubby, and got winded.

Right now at the age of 19 he has as good of a low post game as Jefferson, but he is a really bad rebounder right now. He will learn though. I never truly understood why the Lakers took Russell over him. If Okafor ever learns how to properly box out and rebound he will be a level headed version of Demarcus Cousins without the drama. And that my friend is one insane type of player.

Braggins · Post #18 » by **Braggins** » Sun Nov 8, 2015 9:39 am

Liver_Pooty wrote:
Braggins wrote:
Liver_Pooty wrote:I wish I was a diehard Sixer fan right now. Okafor with a shot blocking young PF next to him in Noel in 2-3 years is going to be something insane.

I saw a little of the Sixers game tonight. Okafor is a beast. I can't believe people compared him to Al. The way they operate is not similar at all. Okafor was manhandling people under the basket with his strength as well as putting moves on people. Hes got a true low post game. Al is more mid-post and finesse.

Not news to you obviously, but I was really impressed with his strength and aggressiveness.

Okafor is in phenomenal shape right now. At Duke he obviously bullied people around, but that was just shear talent. He was kind of chubby, and got winded.

I definitely noticed how much better shape he is in. He looks built to destroy now. He still needs to work on his cardio, but he looked and moved great.

Post #19 » by **fatlever** » Mon Nov 9, 2015 7:28 pm

http://swarmandsting.com/2015/11/09/charlotte-hornets-will-make-playoffs/

MasterIchiro · Post #20 » by **MasterIchiro** » Mon Nov 9, 2015 8:38 pm

If Zeller and/or Kaminsky doesn't step up and there isn't a clear upgrade over PJ, I'm not so sure we can squeak in. The East looks much better. I'm all of a sudden worried about the Pistons, Pacers, Magic, even the Knicks. Are they getting Afflalo back? They need a PG but that's about it.