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38-44 is what I'm predicting

We lost BG and Washington got better- Orlando got better- Boston and Cleveland got better- Atlanta got better- Toronto got better- Detroit got younger- Philly gets EB back and the Knicks are well, the knicks ---Wins will be tougher to come by in the East this year and I think 40 wins with a 2nd year PG and no low post scoring is going to be tough...

Thoughts?

We were 41-41 last year and this with Deng nearly out all year and before Salmons and Miller came over. We were 16-11 with Salmons and Miller. If that pace continued we would have been 47-35. I think we can get that record and I hope it is good enough for the 4th seed and HCA in round 1. This is of course if we make no other moves.

I guessed 43 wins last year, so I'm going to go with 43 wins this year once again!

45-37 4th or 5th seed

40-42. 6-9th place.

All depends on if we add another piece or not. Roster as is I'm predicting 40-42.

42-40

Being optimistic with Derrick Rose getting calls and having a better season and no BG to hog the ball I'll say 47 - 35.

Last shot time is now clearly Rose's.

45 wins.

losing gordon + other eastern conference teams really improving= hard to improve..

Although the obvious onus is on Deng to perform, I think this years success relies first on Rose's development, and will surprisingly rely much on Johnson's ability to contribute right away.

I think we will go 42-40. I think the improvement in Rose and the full year of deng, miller, salmons will be offset by the loss of ben.

48-50

The evolution of D.Rose with a year under his belt and a better understanding of the game and season. He won't have to deal with any of the growing pains he experienced as a rookie, all though those pains were minimal.

Brad Miller and Salmons with the team for the entire year.

The improvement of Joakim Noah from beginning of last year til the end was huge.

Tyrus should get at least a little better. Not expecting a break-out year but assuming he is working out hard there should be improvements.

Luol will be back and hopefully healthy.

Kirk missed a good portion of the year.

VDN won't make as many rookie coaching mistakes as he did last year.

Salmons and Tyrus are both in contract years.

No Gooden, No Hughes.

Only real negative is losing BG. I think that will definitely hurt us, I think keeping him would have probably adds 5 more wins to the total but I see no reason why we can't win 48-50 games.

44-38, if Vinny can restructure the offense to the strengths of the players left on the team.

37-45 if they stick with last year's offensive "game plan" - or if two heavy rotation players lose significant game time to injury again.

58-24

and on to lose in the Eastern Conference finals from Boston

Assuming roster as is, 39-43.

These are all my opinion:

Within Division:
Cleveland got stronger.
Detroit got a little stronger.
Pacers stayed stagnant.
Milwaukee sucks worse.

Within Conference:
Boston is Stronger
Orlando is Stagnant
Atlanta is Relatively Stagnant
Miami is Stagnant to Worse
Philly is Stagnant
Charlotte is Stagnant but will get better in 2nd year.
New Jersey is Worse
Toronto is stronger
Washington is stronger
Knicks are stagnant.

So that makes, relative to last year:
5 Stronger Teams
6 Stagnant Teams
3 Worse Teams

I'd say our conference is harder.

As for the west:

LA is Stagnant
Denver is Stagnant
San Antonio is Stronger
Portland is Stagnant
Houston is Worse
Dallas is Stronger
New Orleans is Stagnant
Utah is Stagnant
Phoenix is Worse
Golden State is Stagnant
Minnesota is Stagnant
Memphis is Stagnant
OKC is Stronger
Clippers are Stagnant
Sacramento is Stagnant

So that makes:
3 Stronger Teams
10 Stagnant Teams
2 Worse teams

In total:
8 Stronger Teams
16 Stagnant Teams
5 Worse Teams

Then there is us. I'd say we're relatively stagnant, except for the fact that we played much better after the trade. We were on a 50 win pace after the trade, but I'll account for a stronger conference.

High: 50 wins
Low: 40 Wins
Prediction: 47 wins

46 wins.


The good got better, but for the most part I think most teams fell back. Chicago doesn't miss a beat.

Somewhat interesting. Here's last year's thread. Of those that responded in print, quick count has 17 people over, 4 right on, 12 below. Estimates tended to error on the side of optimism.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=841726&start=45

46-36

Rose will be better as will Tyrus. Deng will hopefully be healthy and scoring. Could be better!!