RealGM

http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2013/08/05 ... edition/2/

Paul Pierce will not have to be the de facto point guard, as he was after Rajon Rondo’s injury. Kevin Garnett will not have to be the de facto center, which he was for the past two seasons. Andrei Kirilenko and Andray Blatche can get them past the Pacers. Jason Kidd can be the good cop, Garnett will be the bad cop. They will be fierce.

#Respect

I often disagree with Sheridan, but he seems to be only NBA analyst that believes Pierce and Garnett will add more than just a few wins to our last season record.

I read through his rankings and I don't really have a problem with anything. He's clearly not buying CHI as a legit contender like most people are.

I often disagree with Sheridan, but he seems to be only NBA analyst that believes Pierce and Garnett will add more than just a few wins to our last season record.

You forgot to also mention Kirilenko....I agree with you...We won 49 games last year and added more talent than I could ever have imagined, so I shake my head when people assume we will be about the same as last year.

If Pierce, Garnett and AK are "all in" we should be awesome.

I'm pretty confident that the only way we don't make the ECF or Finals is because of the Heat. I say we beat Indiana and Chicago in a seven game series, our bench will wear them down.

MrDollarBills wrote:I'm pretty confident that the only way we don't make the ECF or Finals is because of the Heat. I say we beat Indiana and Chicago in a seven game series, our bench will wear them down.

no way indiana would take us to 7. we would smash them in 5. they are super insanely overrated. it wouldnt be shocked to see them as a 6 seed

Not trolling...with all due respect, the Nets are not the only team with a good bench...the Pacers look to have improved exponentially in that respect this offseason by adding Scola, Watson and Copeland to replace the disappointing Augustine and Green on the second team with Mahinmi and whichever of Granger or Stephenson ends up up on the second unit...I respect the Nets, but they don't scare me anymore than any other good team, and maybe less than the Bulls...It's going to depend on how much Garnett and Pierce have left...looks good on paper, but those guys were young when dinosaurs walked the earth...

And it makes little sense to say a team that was far and away the best defensive team in the league in every major category "insanely overrated," especially one so good defensively despite its core being so young......

MrDollarBills wrote:I'm pretty confident that the only way we don't make the ECF or Finals is because of the Heat. I say we beat Indiana and Chicago in a seven game series, our bench will wear them down.

Agree.

I think we would beat Chicago, Indy or NY in 6 games or less.
Miami, I still don't like our chances against, truth be told, but there is no one who's chances I like against them.

Out West, the Spurs and Rockets would be my biggest fear.
The Spurs with their experience and TP and TD.
The Rockets with Harden, Dwight and I assume some shooters by then.

I think our size would be too much for LAC or OKC.
I don't like how we match up with GSW but they wouldn't make the Finals so it doesn't matter.. kind of like Memphis who matches up with us well.

Squeedump wrote:And it makes little sense to say a team that was far and away the best defensive team in the league in every major category "insanely overrated," especially one so good defensively despite its core being so young......

the pacers are way overrated. they can beat up on scrubby small teams because of their size. but anytime they face a team with a real big they get smashed. which is why even a bad nets team last year was able to embarass them 3 times.

pacers were a 49 win team that added a bench. they will be good again, but nowhere near the nets/bulls/heat and maybe not better then the knicks if carmello is healthy. id put them in the same boat as the cavs right now

PetroNet wrote:pacers were a 49 win team that added a bench. they will be good again, but nowhere near the nets/bulls/heat and maybe not better then the knicks if carmello is healthy. id put them in the same boat as the cavs right now

Have to play Devil's Advocate on that one. They were kind of, to my mind, a 60 win team (49+11) with a solid opportunity for an extra win taken away by tragedy and those 11 wins against tougher-than-average competition. Point being you cannot forget their playoff run when assessing them. Whether the Nets improvements outweigh Indiana's additions enough to make up for that difference, well, I think they will. But we'll see. I just wouldn't take them out of the mix by any means...

MaxZaslofskyJr wrote:

PetroNet wrote:pacers were a 49 win team that added a bench. they will be good again, but nowhere near the nets/bulls/heat and maybe not better then the knicks if carmello is healthy. id put them in the same boat as the cavs right now

Have to play Devil's Advocate on that one. They were kind of, to my mind, a 60 win team (49+11) with a solid opportunity for an extra win taken away by tragedy and those 11 wins against tougher-than-average competition. Point being you cannot forget their playoff run when assessing them. Whether the Nets improvements outweigh Indiana's additions enough to make up for that difference, well, I think they will. But we'll see. I just wouldn't take them out of the mix by any means...

it was about matchups. if they were the 4 seed instead of the 3 seed they probably lose in 5 or 6 games. the east was dog turd last year. they are overhyped for how they match up with miami. there is no potential playoff team im more confident we would crush. and i see now way they win more games then us.

Well then, each to their own.

Match-ups are kinda random.

If they were, say, the 7th seed I'm fairly confident that they would have won the first round in six!

On paper, the Nets have an incredible team. And if the new coach is smart, and keeps the older players minutes down in the regular season, this should be an ECF team. Maybe even make it to the Finals.

Unless Oden can really contribute by the playoffs, and I think the odds are against it, the nets should have enough of an inside game to beat the heat. You can't play small ball against the heat. You need quality big men who can score, and with Lopez and Garnett (yes, I know KG isn't really an inside the paint scorer, but he is close enough) the nets can get it done. Miami is really weak inside defensively. Both Indiana and the spurs should have beat them. If Parker would of actually acted like a point guard and gotten the ball to Duncan in good scoring position more often, I think Duncan would of destroyed them (just like Hibbert almost did).

The blueprint has already been given to you. I believe you have the personnel to do it. Can the coaching staff figure this out? How could this not be obvious to everyone?

I haven't been this excited about an NBA season in 6 or 8 years. Lots of good teams. Lots of potential. Should be some great regular season games, and some incredible playoff matchups.

Some people don't seem to realize that Indiana also potentially improved their team a LOT. Don't count them out until you see how well their new team meshes. I consider Indiana and the Nets the slight favorites in the East. It should be a great year of basketball.

Pacers, Bulls & Nets all have an excellent chance to dethrone the Heatles. EC will be exciting!

marcusaurelius wrote:The blueprint has already been given to you. I believe you have the personnel to do it. Can the coaching staff figure this out? How could this not be obvious to everyone?

I know this doesn't mean much but Kidd and Terry were members of the only team to beat MIA in a playoff series since the Big 3 formed.

Also, Kidd played a significant part in the gameplan that went into effect when the Knicks played (and blew out) MIA a few times last season.

I don't think Kidd is as stubborn or unaware as our previous coaches. I'm confident that he (and more importantly the entire coaching staff as a collective group) will do a fine job.

MaxZaslofskyJr wrote:Well then, each to their own.

Match-ups are kinda random.

If they were, say, the 7th seed I'm fairly confident that they would have won the first round in six!

Carmello and JR were healthy in the first round. im not sure indiana beats the knicks had the played them in round 1