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Boston
Detroit
Toronto -added JO
Phili -added Brand
Cleveland
Washington-healty Arenas?
Miami- added Beasley (healthy Wade)

I think all these teams have legit shots at 50 wins if they stay healthy

not only that but

Charlotte added Larry Brown to a talented roster
Milwaukee added Scott Skiles and RJ
Chicago added Derrick Rose

It may be very tough to get back to 50 wins.

We'll be better than all those teams except Boston and Detroit.

A pessimistic thread by Richboy!! I'm in shock!! We got alot better too, you know. The only team that had a big significant upgrade is Philly. I think we can have a better reg season than Boston and Detroit too.

Boston and Detroit are a step above but I think the next 6 could all be within a few games of each other in the standings. In terms of talent on the floor I don't see no difference between 3 to 8.

You may be right, but I think we are scarier than all but one team in the East.

Boston - sure, the favorite.

Detroit - New (first year) coach. Hopefully the chink in the armor to get us to the ECF.
Toronto - A nice pickup for sure, but goodluck seeing JO play 70+ games
Philly - Good pickup, but meh...this team is an enigma
Cleveland - Szerbiak and Wallace were disappointing and now a year slower. Ferry is not building for the future and the present ain't so great.
Washington- They didn't get too far in their prime. Not sure they've gotten any better, just back to where they were before Arenas went down, which wasn't Detroit EC Champ territory by any means.
Miami - I spit on Miami. IF Wade hasn't lost it for good, IF they prop up 4 other stiffs around Wade and Marion and Beasely, they'll be great in 2010.
Chicago - scares me.

I Feel, personally, that other teams like Detroit and Boston and Toronto etc. look at us and say.. Man, Orlando is gonna be a contender for the next 5 years.

I really like the Bucks to make the biggest jump from last year, though if Miami has a heart transplant, they have nowhere to go but up.

Remember last year around this time when everyone was making threads just like this one? Many were even saying that we werent even going to make the playoffs, because teams like New York would be a top tier team with the addition of Zach Randolph, we all saw how that worked out. Lets not put teams high on the totem pole until they prove that they can actually play together.

DiplomaticMagic wrote:A pessimistic thread by Richboy!! I'm in shock!! We got alot better too, you know. The only team that had a big significant upgrade is Philly. I think we can have a better reg season than Boston and Detroit too.

Its a realistic thread to discuss our place in the conference. You can close your eyes if you don't like.

I'm not sure how we got a lot better. We added MP who less productive than Evans and Lee who is a rookie. We have 7 maybe 8 teams in the East that have made a major upgrade in talent. A lot bigger than MP.

richboy wrote:

DiplomaticMagic wrote:A pessimistic thread by Richboy!! I'm in shock!! We got alot better too, you know. The only team that had a big significant upgrade is Philly. I think we can have a better reg season than Boston and Detroit too.

Its a realistic thread to discuss our place in the conference. You can close your eyes if you don't like.

I'm not sure how we got a lot better. We added MP who less productive than Evans and Lee who is a rookie. We have 7 maybe 8 teams in the East that have made a major upgrade in talent. A lot bigger than MP.

Pietrus didn't get minutes though. Here he will get time, I remember he put up some decent stats while J-Rich was injured. He just never got consistent playing time. Not to mention he's a tall guard which we desperately needed. Lee is a rookie, but he's an NBA ready guard who will help us right away. He seems to be perfect for our guys. And we're getting Battie back, which will help the frontcourt a lot. We just need to fix the PG rotation a bit.

DiplomaticMagic wrote:

richboy wrote:

DiplomaticMagic wrote:A pessimistic thread by Richboy!! I'm in shock!! We got alot better too, you know. The only team that had a big significant upgrade is Philly. I think we can have a better reg season than Boston and Detroit too.

Its a realistic thread to discuss our place in the conference. You can close your eyes if you don't like.

I'm not sure how we got a lot better. We added MP who less productive than Evans and Lee who is a rookie. We have 7 maybe 8 teams in the East that have made a major upgrade in talent. A lot bigger than MP.

Pietrus didn't get minutes though. Here he will get time, I remember he put up some decent stats while J-Rich was injured. He just never got consistent playing time. Not to mention he's a tall guard which we desperately needed. Lee is a rookie, but he's an NBA ready guard who will help us right away. He seems to be perfect for our guys. And we're getting Battie back, which will help the frontcourt a lot. We just need to fix the PG rotation a bit.

MP averaged 7 points per game on a team that got 100 possessions per contest. Even if he played more it be tough for him to produce more at our pace. With Bogans, Lee and if Battie plays we could see Hedo play some SG. I don't know how likely it is we see MP playing a lot more with us.

Almost all those teams added rookies. What makes Lee a big upgrade for us over Speights in Phili or Chalmers in Miami, Hickson in Cleveland, Hibbert in Toronto, McGee in Washington. You hope he be a big upgrade and better than all them but we have no clue right now.

richboy wrote:
MP averaged 7 points per game on a team that got 100 possessions per contest. Even if he played more it be tough for him to produce more at our pace. With Bogans, Lee and if Battie plays we could see Hedo play some SG. I don't know how likely it is we see MP playing a lot more with us.

Almost all those teams added rookies. What makes Lee a big upgrade for us over Speights in Phili or Chalmers in Miami, Hickson in Cleveland, Hibbert in Toronto, McGee in Washington. You hope he be a big upgrade and better than all them but we have no clue right now.

Pietrus will get a lot more time here than GS. He prolably will start. He averaged 12 ppg when he was starting in place of J-Rich a year ago. I doubt Bogans will get much playing time this year. And many of those rookies are all based on potential. Lee spent 4 years in college, this kid is gonna be able to come and produce. A lot of those rookies can very much turn into players who never come off the bench. And Hibbert was traded to Indiana. Also we're still a young team and still growing. So some of our players are going to be better than next year. IDK what to tell you, if you can't see that we clearly gotten better.

Orange Ave. wrote:You may be right, but I think we are scarier than all but one team in the East.

Boston - sure, the favorite.

Detroit - New (first year) coach. Hopefully the chink in the armor to get us to the ECF.
Toronto - A nice pickup for sure, but goodluck seeing JO play 70+ games
Philly - Good pickup, but meh...this team is an enigma
Cleveland - Szerbiak and Wallace were disappointing and now a year slower. Ferry is not building for the future and the present ain't so great.
Washington- They didn't get too far in their prime. Not sure they've gotten any better, just back to where they were before Arenas went down, which wasn't Detroit EC Champ territory by any means.
Miami - I spit on Miami. IF Wade hasn't lost it for good, IF they prop up 4 other stiffs around Wade and Marion and Beasely, they'll be great in 2010.
Chicago - scares me.

I Feel, personally, that other teams like Detroit and Boston and Toronto etc. look at us and say.. Man, Orlando is gonna be a contender for the next 5 years.

I really like the Bucks to make the biggest jump from last year, though if Miami has a heart transplant, they have nowhere to go but up.

I think its the exact opposite. KG didn't even mention the Magic as a team that could win the East. I think to a man most teams would say that Cleveland is a better team than we are.

Thing about Washington is they have not been healthy for 2 years. If Arenas is 100% back they have 50 win talent. The last time all 3 of them were healthy the Wiz sported the best record in the East at the all-star break.

Unless Detroit makes a move I have them much better than we are. This team one the series pretty easy without Billups.

Don't sleep on Phili. Thaddeus Young IMO is a future all-star. They add Brand. They now have some of the best defenders in the league by position in the league. They could use a little outside shooting but that team should be a top 10 team in both offense and defense based on last years production. They were 8th in defense with Thad Young playing at PF. I could see them going around 10th in offense and a top 5 defensive team. That usually means a lock for a big season.

Cleveland- is perhaps the best playoff team outside of Boston in the East. If defense and rebounding wins in the playoffs then Cleveland a much better bet than we are right now.

DiplomaticMagic wrote:

richboy wrote:
MP averaged 7 points per game on a team that got 100 possessions per contest. Even if he played more it be tough for him to produce more at our pace. With Bogans, Lee and if Battie plays we could see Hedo play some SG. I don't know how likely it is we see MP playing a lot more with us.

Almost all those teams added rookies. What makes Lee a big upgrade for us over Speights in Phili or Chalmers in Miami, Hickson in Cleveland, Hibbert in Toronto, McGee in Washington. You hope he be a big upgrade and better than all them but we have no clue right now.

Pietrus will get a lot more time here than GS. He prolably will start. He averaged 12 ppg when he was starting in place of J-Rich a year ago. I doubt Bogans will get much playing time this year. And many of those rookies are all based on potential. Lee spent 4 years in college, this kid is gonna be able to come and produce. A lot of those rookies can very much turn into players who never come off the bench. And Hibbert was traded to Indiana. Also we're still a young team and still growing. So some of our players are going to be better than next year. IDK what to tell you, if you can't see that we clearly gotten better.

JRich wasn't even on the roster last year for GSW. He lost his minutes to Kelenna Azubuike.

Playing 4 years in college means nothing. Remember we have a guy that played 4 years in college at Duke that barely plays. We also had another guy Reece Gaines who played 4 years at Louisville who did nothing in the NBA. Lee playing 4 years could just as much be an indictment on what level of player he is. Like the saying goes now. If he so good why has he been playing college basketball for 4 years. I think its crazy to say well our guy will be better because he played 4 years at Western Kentucky.

Why you figure we a young team. We had 1 player on our rotation that was under 25 years old last year. The only player that you can truly expect improvement is Dwight.

richboy wrote:

DiplomaticMagic wrote:

richboy wrote:
MP averaged 7 points per game on a team that got 100 possessions per contest. Even if he played more it be tough for him to produce more at our pace. With Bogans, Lee and if Battie plays we could see Hedo play some SG. I don't know how likely it is we see MP playing a lot more with us.

Almost all those teams added rookies. What makes Lee a big upgrade for us over Speights in Phili or Chalmers in Miami, Hickson in Cleveland, Hibbert in Toronto, McGee in Washington. You hope he be a big upgrade and better than all them but we have no clue right now.

Pietrus will get a lot more time here than GS. He prolably will start. He averaged 12 ppg when he was starting in place of J-Rich a year ago. I doubt Bogans will get much playing time this year. And many of those rookies are all based on potential. Lee spent 4 years in college, this kid is gonna be able to come and produce. A lot of those rookies can very much turn into players who never come off the bench. And Hibbert was traded to Indiana. Also we're still a young team and still growing. So some of our players are going to be better than next year. IDK what to tell you, if you can't see that we clearly gotten better.

JRich wasn't even on the roster last year for GSW. He lost his minutes to Kelenna Azubuike.

Playing 4 years in college means nothing. Remember we have a guy that played 4 years in college at Duke that barely plays. We also had another guy Reece Gaines who played 4 years at Louisville who did nothing in the NBA. Lee playing 4 years could just as much be an indictment on what level of player he is. Like the saying goes now. If he so good why has he been playing college basketball for 4 years. I think its crazy to say well our guy will be better because he played 4 years at Western Kentucky.

Why you figure we a young team. We had 1 player on our rotation that was under 25 years old last year. The only player that you can truly expect improvement is Dwight.

I said a year ago, I meant the last year J-Rich was there. Pietrus is better than what we have. He's a better slasher, defender, rebounder. Playing 4 years in college, means you are more mature to adapt to the next level of play. Lee is not even close to players like Gaines or Redick. Lee can shoot, and is athletic, strong, and quick, He has an NBA body. He will have a better impact right away. Those other guys are mostly projects where you have to wait a couple years.

Oh Yeah, the only player who's going to improve is our franchise player. If Dwight gets one step better. We get one step better. I think Jameer will get better too, I think he's learning the PG game a lot better. It takes awhile to get used to the PG position (see Nash, Billups, Parker). One guy I think is going to be key coming off the bench is Gortat too. He'll be a whole lot better than Foyle. Just where is his minutes gonna come with Battie coming back.

I'll see your Elton Brand, and raise you one Pietrus...game, set, match...

Good The Leastern Conference needs come competiton, nah, i still think we can make a push for the east, the one problem that kills us is depth within our bench, being MP over to put Bogans on the bench should do anything, but we need a good backup PG, and a cheap biggie, we should be straight, oh, i think if Battie and Cook stay Healthy... its gonna be nice

We have a pretty good trump card named Dwight Howard (the best center in the NBA). We certainly have some improvements to make in the next 2 seasons. We seem to make a lot of laterall moves. For now we should still be top 3 in the east.

Same thread we see every year.

Only prob, and I say this every year aswell, there isnt enough wins to go around.

I am definatly worried about Phili; they were a good team last year and just got considerably better.

I just hope this would end all the talk about the East being so weak and the West being superior to everything and all of that. Some more league parity would be good.

A lot of teams are catching up this year. I still expect the Magic to improve though, although fighting for homecourt advantage could get interesting again this season.

Boston
Detroit
Orlando
Cleve
Washington
Miami
Toronto
Chicago

Barely miss: Atlanta, Philly

Improve: Bobcats, Indiana, Knicks, Milwaukee

I said a year ago, I meant the last year J-Rich was there. Pietrus is better than what we have. He's a better slasher, defender, rebounder. Playing 4 years in college, means you are more mature to adapt to the next level of play. Lee is not even close to players like Gaines or Redick. Lee can shoot, and is athletic, strong, and quick, He has an NBA body. He will have a better impact right away. Those other guys are mostly projects where you have to wait a couple years.

Oh Yeah, the only player who's going to improve is our franchise player. If Dwight gets one step better. We get one step better. I think Jameer will get better too, I think he's learning the PG game a lot better. It takes awhile to get used to the PG position (see Nash, Billups, Parker). One guy I think is going to be key coming off the bench is Gortat too. He'll be a whole lot better than Foyle. Just where is his minutes gonna come with Battie coming back.

I'm hoping Dwight gets better. Fact is though his numbers went down as the season played out last year. He averaged under 20 the second half of the season last year. With his injury and now the Olympics I wonder how much improvement we can expect.

Jameer has pretty much been the same player for years. The only thing we saw differently was he shot the ball less and was more effective when he did shoot. Jameer has yet to come close to his level of play even in his second season.

Why do people always give the it takes awhile for PGs comments look at Billups. 90% of the point guards never get. Nelson has very little in common with those guys. Billups issue was no one knew what position to play him at when he entered the league. Since he was always moving he never could establish himself. Tony Parker was 19 years old. Do we really want to compare the skills of Jameer Nelson as a PG to Steve Nash. Nash was better as a rookie than Nelson is right now.

I had a feeling you was going to start reaching for Gortat.

I know what you meant about JRich. Its like your suggesting Jrich slowed him down. JRich wasn't even on the roster the following year and he played less.

Lee is probably more comparable to Gaines. He may be a little more athletic. Fact is Gaines who was an all-american player and potentially Redick would have been considered better players than Lee when coming out of college. Does that mean that Lee can't be better pros than them no. I'm just saying to automatically suggest well Lee played 4 years and will have a big impact is a little homeristic. Think about this. In the last 15 years the player taken 22 in the draft only 1 has started the majority of his games in his career. Only a couple of them played over 1500 minutes in his rookie year. Hope for the best with Lee. Perhaps this means a player is due to do something special drafted at that spot. History says don't go into the season expecting or needing immediate impact from a player taken 22 in the draft.