31.5 Wins. Over or under?

[Hornet Mania]

Under but, not by much., I expect 30 wins. I wouldn't be shocked if the final total was 33-34, but I'd be very pleasantly surprised if we win more than that.

We look pretty good in the preseason, but the preseason is meaningless. The team has been downright horrific the last couple years (last year in particular) when MKG isn't there to cover for everyone on defense. Shooting has definitely improved, but that's extremely relative since were really bad from deep last year, and I'm uncertain it will be able to offset the loss of MKG and keep up with other improving teams in the conference. I know we got better (MKG injury aside) but so did just about everyone in the conference, I don't think it's fair to say "we're better than last year, thus we win more than last year". Last year teams were getting crushed by injuries left and right, we were among them to be fair, and some of the previous tankers like Orlando will play to win now as well. It's going to be tough, and the guys are really going to have to gel as a unit to make a run at 35+ wins.

[Durant Durant]

40 wins

[13th Man]

Definitely over. If I had any extra money to "invest" I'd certainly take this bet!

[tondi123]

Assuming everyone else stays relatively healthy I still think we have a nice shot at finishing around .500.

[therebirth]

I think this team will win between 45 to 50. Remember the second of 2012-2013 season? This is a better team than that one. I didn't feel good about last years team at all during the pre season and people thought I was overreacting. I say 47 wins.

[JDR720]

I think this team will win between 45 to 50. Remember the second of 2012-2013 season? This is a better team than that one. I didn't feel good about last years team at all during the pre season and people thought I was overreacting. I say 47 wins.

yea but we were below .500 for a good while before Al went bonkers.

[predators]

Over but mainly because 31.5 is absurdly low rather than a lot of confidence. If Batum misses 10 or more games I think well be under A Marv\PJ\Lamb roation at SF is brutal.

[spaceballer]

Over but mainly because 31.5 is absurdly low rather than a lot of confidence. If Batum misses 10 or more games I think well be under A Marv\PJ\Lamb roation at SF is brutal.

The roster is not finalized yet, and there's still the Disabled Player Exception they could potentially apply for, as well as the full MLE that's outstanding.

They'll probably want to see how the rest of the pre-season goes, and if there's any standout solution that emerges from the pack, or if someone gets cut and becomes available from another team's pre-season roster during the trimdown.

[therebirth]

I think this team will win between 45 to 50. Remember the second of 2012-2013 season? This is a better team than that one. I didn't feel good about last years team at all during the pre season and people thought I was overreacting. I say 47 wins.

yea but we were below .500 for a good while before Al went bonkers.

I just think he will not need to go bonkers this year because of better team players are around him. If we stay relatively healthy then we can do it. Also last year brought the worst out cliff but I think this year will bring the best out of him. Always thought cliff begrudgingly played MKG. This is his dream team now.

[Liver_Pooty]

The key component to our season with MKG out isn't going to be Batum, Lin, Al, Kemba... It will he Cody Zeller. If he has a great year we will be fine.

I've been very high on him since his rookie year. One of, if not the most underrated player in the NBA, let alone our team.

[Flip Murray]

Line has jumped to 34

[Bassman]

I'm also agreed that it's over the original mark of 31.5 wins. The new number of 34 shows how many bets were coming in in agreement. Still, the many variables make it impossible to gauge. I do like the increased number of shooters, and our general depth. The pre-season ball movement has been pretty good. When the defenses start clamping down for real, this team will be tested. I'm still not convinced Cliff won't push an agenda that just doesn't work, which is his MO. He badly wants Batum to fit the 2 slot, when he clearly looks more comfortable at the 3.

Looking forward to seeing what this team can do.

[MPM]

Over. I got my bet in at 33.5 and still feel very solid about it. I think this is a 39-40 win team barring further injuries.

[LamarMatic7]

ehh... I think it was a very solid pick to make when MKG was still healthy but now I'm not so sure any more. It's all good vibrations at this point so it's easy to be optimistic. But it isn't all too hard to imagine a scenario where our defense collapses, guys like Al, Batum, Marvin have just as mediocre years as last year and we're out there having sloppy battles against the Eastern morass.

I see us winning between 30 and 35 games, haven't settled on a concrete number yet though.

[KM6]

I think this year, Hornets can be good enough to get 42 wins or more as long as there is no more major injuries. One game at a time though, I think there is a better than 50% chance for the hornets to win the season opener at Miami.

[DY_nasty]

we won 33 last year looking like complete trash start to finish

cmon

[tyusedney]

Line has jumped to 34

and back down to 31 after news that PJ will be starting