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So there's a glut of teams in the East with nearly the same record. The 6th-12th seed are seperated by 1/2 game

6. Washington Wizards 5 4 .556 2
7. Boston Celtics 6 5 .545 2
8.Detroit Pistons 6 5 .545 2
9. Toronto Raptors 7 6 .538 2
10. New York Knicks 6 6 .500 2.5
11. Charlotte Hornets 6 6 .500 2.5
12. Orlando Magic 6 6 .500 2.5

You also have the Bucks at the 13th seed at 5-6.

I know the season is early, but who do you guys feel is going to breakaway from this pack and who do you think is overachieving and is going to come back down to Earth?

Out of those up there, I think the Pistons , Celtics and maybe Pacers(not the way PG13 has been playing) have the biggest chance to fall out. You know the Raptors are going to make the playoffs and the Bucks are going to make a strong push. It sure its going to be really competitive to make the playoffs in the East this year(havent said that in a while). Obviously I want that 8th spot to be ours but its going to be hard. This will be a big test to our guys.

Yeah I made the observation in the spec thread that there are only 3 east teams under .500 and one is the Bucks at 5-6. Helps that the Nets and 76s are absorbing a ton of losses. I kinda feel like there is a lot more parity this year. Lot of good, but not great teams. That doesn't mean they'll all stay clumped up like this, but I think you'll see the playoff line closer to 40-42 this year as opposed to 36-38 like past years.

I have a feeling that we will rise quite a bit once a lot of these teams see rise in the level of talent they will be facing. We have had a very tough beginning to the season. I'm confident that we have a great chance to end up in the playoffs this year despite the indications of these close records early on.

Celtics, Knicks, hornets will fall from grace. Magic obviously will RISE!

Hornets, Milwaukee and Wizards are being buoyed by offense, while their defenses have not been good...they'll drop unless they turn that around.

I think Detroit, Indiana, Boston, New York, and Charlotte all drop.

1. Cleveland
2. Chicago
3. Atlanta
4. Toronto
5. Washington
6. Miami
7. Milwaukee
8. Orlando
9. Detroit
10. Boston
11. Indiana
12. New York
13. Charlotte
14. Brooklyn
15. Philadelphia

I could see one of those teams rising and maybe Washington falling out if they don't get their act together. If Wade gets hurt for Miami, they'll drop quickly. I imagine at least one of these teams will have a key player injured. Hopefully it's not us.

Yea I've been saying since before the season started pretty much every team except for the nets/sixers will be fighting for the playoffs. I could see the Hornets falling out of the race eventually. Unless a key injury happens I don't think there's an obvious team that will separate themselves from the pack, including us. Our offense really needs to improve.


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I personally think Milwaukee is stealth tanking so to the bottom of my list

1. Cleveland
2. Chicago
3. Atlanta
4. Orlando
5. Miami
6. New York
7. Indiana
8. Detroit
9. Washington
10. Toronto
11. Boston
12. Charlotte
13. Brooklyn
14. Milwaukee
15. Philadelphia

Pretty expected Eastern Conference so far. The bottom got better. There are more mediocre teams and it'll be like this throughout the season. I'm not all that concerned about the standings so much as the record. If the team can be .500 but still miss the playoffs, I'd consider that a successful season. Playoffs would obviously be nice this year, but I wouldn't be mad if we still ended the season with a winning record.

the_hobo wrote:Celtics, Knicks, hornets will fall from grace. Magic obviously will RISE!

Here's to hoping you're correct. I believe we'll get better. Vic's been in a slump offensively, EP has slowly been coming into his own under Skiles new system. Some more experience, development, and more learning of the new system Skiles staff have put in place, and we're going to be getting better as the year progresses. Hopefuy Mario starts doing what he is - a long, athletic player who can shoot lights out, another 3 point shooter aside from Evan will do this team wonders. Future is bright indeed.

One way to look at is how awesome it will be with the closeness of the records once we end up the 5th seed since the fifth and the 8th will be separated by 3 games :0

Edual wrote:I personally think Milwaukee is stealth tanking so to the bottom of my list

1. Cleveland
2. Chicago
3. Atlanta
4. Orlando
5. Miami
6. New York
7. Indiana
8. Detroit
9. Washington
10. Toronto
11. Boston
12. Charlotte
13. Brooklyn
14. Milwaukee
15. Philadelphia

You got us at 4???

The Hawks have played 5 more games than the Wizards, that's unreal.

Optimus_Steel wrote:

Edual wrote:I personally think Milwaukee is stealth tanking so to the bottom of my list

1. Cleveland
2. Chicago
3. Atlanta
4. Orlando
5. Miami
6. New York
7. Indiana
8. Detroit
9. Washington
10. Toronto
11. Boston
12. Charlotte
13. Brooklyn
14. Milwaukee
15. Philadelphia

You got us at 4???

at this point magic is not playing good enough for 4th but.... I figure the only team below 3rd that is going to get better through the season would be magic...and maybe boston and detroit.... those other teams seem like they are only going to get worst as the season goes. So basically assuming we get better with every game

To be where we are at with Oladipo playing like garbage and the team itself shooting a low percentage I think we seriously have a shot at rising.

Oladipo will figure it out and Payton seems to be getting it going. We are going to compete.

One thing is for sure and that is every loss counts. Every loss could be the one single loss that bounces us from the playoffs. Gotta play to win every quarter.

Edual wrote:

Optimus_Steel wrote:

Edual wrote:I personally think Milwaukee is stealth tanking so to the bottom of my list

1. Cleveland
2. Chicago
3. Atlanta
4. Orlando
5. Miami
6. New York
7. Indiana
8. Detroit
9. Washington
10. Toronto
11. Boston
12. Charlotte
13. Brooklyn
14. Milwaukee
15. Philadelphia

You got us at 4???

at this point magic is not playing good enough for 4th but.... I figure the only team below 3rd that is going to get better through the season would be magic...and maybe boston and detroit.... those other teams seem like they are only going to get worst as the season goes. So basically assuming we get better with every game

Why do you think Milwaukee is stealth tanking?

Orlwillbeback wrote:

Why do you think Milwaukee is stealth tanking?

They got rid of most the vets who helped win a lot last year

Edual wrote:

Orlwillbeback wrote:

Why do you think Milwaukee is stealth tanking?

They got rid of most the vets who helped win a lot last year

Even though they signed Monroe to a max deal?

Orlwillbeback wrote:

Edual wrote:

Orlwillbeback wrote:

Why do you think Milwaukee is stealth tanking?

They got rid of most the vets who helped win a lot last year

Even though they signed Monroe to a max deal?

Monroe is still just 25 years old... and at least this year I think Monroe helps them lose more then win... bucks look like they did what magic did for the past couple of years, get rid of their decent vets and sign vets that will cause more losses then wins... I'd say the bucks win something like 20 games this year, so far they have lost the majority of their 7 loses by huge margins, their wins come against the worst in the league... except the win vs cavs