Second best team in the East?

TheChosen618 · Post #1 » by **TheChosen618** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 6:25 am

I think it is the consensus that the Heat are the best team in the East and currently the favorites to win the title, but who is after them in the Eastern Conference?

For me, I would have to say it's the Indiana Pacers. I think they are the biggest threat to the Miami Heat and will be the Heat's biggest obstacle to overcome. Pacers matchup well against them and the Pacers are just a great team in general. They play tremendous defense which is really good in winning especially playoff games.

dan_atko97 · Post #2 » by **dan_atko97** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 7:12 am

top 4 in order i would say

heat
pacers
bulls
knicks

koko88 · Post #3 » by **koko88** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 7:16 am

at the moment the pacers which also are the heat's biggest obstacle.

in april don't forget the celtics even without rondo.

JustCame · Post #4 » by **JustCame** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 7:41 am

Pacers or healthy Bulls are significantly better than anyone else in the East.

LikeABosh · Post #5 » by **LikeABosh** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 7:43 am

Pacers with the knicks a close third

HEAT33 · Post #6 » by **HEAT33** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 7:51 am

1 Heat
2 Pacers
3 Bulls
4 Boston
5 Nets
6 hawks
7 Knicks
8. Bucks

yoadknux · Post #7 » by **yoadknux** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:07 am

Pacers. How do you even defend a team that has George Hill, Paul George, Danny Granger, David West and Roy Hibbert? The first 4 have great shooting range and the center is freaking 7"2. And they aren't even known for the offense but for the defense.

nikomCH · Post #8 » by **nikomCH** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:11 am

God the East is such garbage. Yet another cakewalk to the Finals for the Heat but of course they will still struggle anyway

therealbig3 · Post #9 » by **therealbig3** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:15 am

yoadknux wrote:Pacers. How do you even defend a team that has George Hill, Paul George, Danny Granger, David West and Roy Hibbert? The first 4 have great shooting range and the center is freaking 7"2. And they aren't even known for the offense but for the defense.

The league seems to have done just fine defending the Pacers so far...they're 21st in ORating. Granted, they don't have Granger, but he's not the difference between a bad offense and an unguardable offense. They'll still be below average offensively with him.

None of them are that good offensively. They're all really good defensively though, which is why they have an elite defense and a weak offense.

Post #10 » by **Nuntius** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:16 am

nikomCH wrote:God the East is such garbage. Yet another cakewalk to the Finals for the Heat but of course they will still struggle anyway

If the Heat struggle in the Eastern Conference way more than the Finals once again, will we drop the "East is garbage" argument?

BlackBerry · Post #11 » by **BlackBerry** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:18 am

Pacers are a little overated in my opinion. They would match up nice with Heat, however as my man Stephen A. Smith said. There is no way Pacers are going to beat Heat in a 7 game series. Look at last year when Bosh got injured, we still came through and went to the Eastern Conference Finals, then the Finals then the Championship.

If I were to rank it

1. Boston
2. Pacers
3. Bulls
4. New York

Yes. Boston is #1, remember how Boston and Miami matched up earlier on this year without Rondo. Pacers, meh we don't try to hard in the regular season anyways.

Colbinii · Post #12 » by **Colbinii** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:19 am

therealbig3 wrote:
The league seems to have done just fine defending the Pacers so far...they're 21st in ORating. Granted, they don't have Granger, but he's not the difference between a bad offense and an unguardable offense. They'll still be below average offensively with him.

None of them are that good offensively. They're all really good defensively though, which is why they have an elite defense and a weak offense.

They wouldn't be below average with granger. They would be 12-16 imo, which is average.
I do agree on the rest. They matchup with the Heat as well with George/Granger.

therealbig3 · Post #13 » by **therealbig3** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:19 am

After the Heat, you can rank the Bulls, Pacers, Nets, and Knicks in pretty much any order. They all seem to have one other team they can't beat, actually (at least so far).

The Knicks haven't beaten the Bulls (0-3).

The Nets haven't beaten the Heat (0-3).

The Pacers haven't beaten the Nets (0-2).

The Bulls haven't beaten the Pacers (0-2).

The Heat haven't beaten the Pacers or the Knicks (0-4).

Post #14 » by **Nuntius** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:30 am

therealbig3 wrote:Granted, they don't have Granger, but he's not the difference between a bad offense and an unguardable offense. They'll still be below average offensively with him.

According to teamrankings.com Indiana was tied with Portland at #10 in offensive efficiency last season.

Here you go -> http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/of ... 2012-06-21

#10 is not unguardable, of course, but it is quite good. Above average, to be precise. This season, we are #21 in the very same metric.

So, Granger did make a pretty big difference.

In any case, the offense has picked up recently and we have risen to #21 all the way from #29 (only the Wizards were worse offensively for a long while). Actually, our offensive efficiency in February has been quite close to top 10.

Here's an article about it -> http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/ ... ick-it-up/

I will quote a part of it:

Before Feb. 1, the Pacers registered one of the least potent offenses in the league, with 91.8 points a game and an offensive efficiency of 98.9 – good for 28th in the league, just ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats and the Washington Wizards, and one spot behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the 10 games since, Frank Vogel’s squad’s production (102.7 points per game) and efficiency (108.4) have increased drastically, even while its overall pace continues to hover around 93, still one of the lowest in the league.

If the Pacers’ offense has become serviceable, their defense has become terrific. The Pacers registered a league-high defensive efficiency of 96.2 before Feb. 1. The defensive output since, however, has been outright cartoonish: 85.5 points per game, 39 percent shooting (including 26 percent from 3-point range) and an absurd defensive efficiency of 90.2, the last of which has given Indiana a full 2-point lead over Memphis in that category. Coupled with a stellar rebounding rate (52.7 percent, also tops in the league), Indiana’s ability to close out possessions has more than made up for the occasional offensive anemia.

I'm not going to claim that we're going to be world beaters offensively, of couse. But if our offense continues to show those same positive signs and as Granger rounds into shape nicely for the playoffs then chances are that we will be at least average offensively.

Post #15 » by **Nuntius** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:33 am

BlackBerry wrote:Look at last year when Bosh got injured, we still came through and went to the Eastern Conference Finals, then the Finals then the Championship.

Yes, you did. But both teams are vastly different this season. It isn't going to be the same.

TwentyOne920 · Post #16 » by **TwentyOne920** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:37 am

Indiana has to be the frontrunner but only time will tell if their February explosion will hold up over the next months and into the playoffs.

Ronito · Post #17 » by **Ronito** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:46 am

According to teamrankings.com Indiana was tied with Portland at #10 in offensive efficiency last season.

Here you go -> http://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/of ... 2012-06-21

#10 is not unguardable, of course, but it is quite good. Above average, to be precise. This season, we are #21 in the very same metric.

So, Granger did make a pretty big difference.

You can't use last season as a measuring stick. For the most obvious reason, it was a lockout season. Then there's so much different; George is significantly better on offense while Hibbert is significantly worse -- Granger isn't the same guy even if he is back. The Pacers still struggle to spread the floor (practically identical eFG% from the two seasons).

Then there's things out of their control like other teams that were behind them in offensive rankings getting better like Brooklyn, Golden State, Houston New York.

In any case, the offense has picked up recently and we have risen to #21 all the way from #29 (only the Wizards were worse offensively for a long while). Actually, our offensive efficiency in February has been quite close to top 10.

Still well below average. I'm not going to sit here and use arbitrary end points like in X month, or whatever.

With Granger on the court, the Pacers offensive rating is 92.6 and defensive rating is 113.7 per 100 possessions. It's only a three game sample size of course and he is just coming back.

TwentyOne920 · Post #18 » by **TwentyOne920** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 8:52 am

And Granger gets more burn with the bench unit, which for Indiana is... bleh. Their biggest asset is their starting 5.

Honey Bear · Post #19 » by **Honey Bear** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 9:04 am

Right now the 2nd best has to be Indiana.

JoeSchmo24 · Post #20 » by **JoeSchmo24** » Fri Mar 1, 2013 9:16 am

I don't think anybody is beating Miami from the East or West. Although I really do like how the Pacers match up against Miami, but I still think they could lose to a couple other teams in the East in a series. Its really about match ups. For example a team like the Nets would really be incapable of providing a challenge to the Heat, but I could see them beating the Pacers or Knicks in a series.

second best team in the east?