No question the strongest East in years

[jmbflame21]

Wasn't a healthy Wade supposed to lead the Heat to a deep playoff run in '06-07? Wasn't a healthy Wade supposed to lead them to a playoff berth last season?

I love the perversity of the argument that the Heat's inability to stay healthy in the past bodes well for them going forward while the Bulls relatively decent health in the past bodes poorly for them going forward.

Wade has not been 100% since he was the finals MVP. In an interview yesterday he stated that he feels better than ever before
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3485668
I expect wade to look great this season, back to his mvp form.

[fallentimes]

barring injuries the Heat should easily double their win total but that doesn't make them a contender. James Jones had a fluke season last year and even though Chalmers has shown promise and was more than likely a steal in the second round, it's doubtful he'll have a PER higher than 14. Wade's health and Beasley will decide if this team slips in as a 7 or 8 seed.

[JeremyB0001]

Wade has not been 100% since he was the finals MVP. In an interview yesterday he stated that he feels better than ever before
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3485668
I expect wade to look great this season, back to his mvp form.

What'd he say in interviews during the past two years? That he felt like a shell of his former self?

[Farm Raid]

Please. Why do you keep having to attach Bulls with the Heat. The Heat have perhaps all new starters from last year. A ton of games were started by players that shouldn't be even in a good teams rotation. No comparison between last years Bulls and Heat. Nothing in the basketball bible that says that the Heat and Bulls have to be close to the same level. The Heat have a superstar that carried them to a NBA title. The Heat have another player in Marion who been averaging about 60 wins over the last few seasons.

I thought past seasons don't count!? Or, as I thought, past success only counts when it has to do with the Heat or their players- when it comes to the Bulls it doesn't count.

Thank you, you said it all right there.

[richboy]

Please. Why do you keep having to attach Bulls with the Heat. The Heat have perhaps all new starters from last year. A ton of games were started by players that shouldn't be even in a good teams rotation. No comparison between last years Bulls and Heat. Nothing in the basketball bible that says that the Heat and Bulls have to be close to the same level. The Heat have a superstar that carried them to a NBA title. The Heat have another player in Marion who been averaging about 60 wins over the last few seasons.

I thought past seasons don't count!? Or, as I thought, past success only counts when it has to do with the Heat or their players- when it comes to the Bulls it doesn't count.

Thank you, you said it all right there.

That's all you have left. Pretty much threw a bunch of junk on the wall hoping something would stick. `Still waiting for were the new wins are coming from that you said are coming. Really haven't said anything about all the new pieces on the Heat. Pretty much just whined and complained but really didn't back up one statement.

[Texas Longhorns]

West owns the East, it doesn't matter how much better it's gotten, West will always own the East.

[Hydroponic3385]

West will always own the East.

That's a stupid thing to say, "always."

[Silk Wilkes]

West owns the East, it doesn't matter how much better it's gotten, West will always own the East.

Which is why the champ is in the East right?

[Manocad]

West owns the East, it doesn't matter how much better it's gotten, West will always own the East.

Which is why the top teams in the East have been regularly abusing the incredibly superior 50-win teams in the West, right?

When a joke of a team like Denver gets 50 wins it's proof positive that the 'superiority' of the West is nothing more than people looking at win totals. It's clear that the West is built to win regular season games and the East is built to win championships. But hey, if being the best means having no championships but lots of regular season wins, the West is best for sure.

[Mr Awesome]

The East isn't built to win championships. The Pistons and Celtics are, that's 2 teams out of the entire conference. To be honest, im not even sure the Pistons are any more. The rest of them, eh, average teams. The conference is definitly better then it has been in years though.

[Wade2k6]

Oh because all of the 7-8 50+ win teams in the West are all built to win championships. The only teams in the West that actually had a legit shot was the Spurs, Lakers.

Rockets, Hornets, Jazz, Warriors, Mavs, Suns, Nuggets are either not built for the playoffs, not championship caliber, or are too young.

[Farm Raid]

That's all you have left. Pretty much threw a bunch of junk on the wall hoping something would stick. `Still waiting for were the new wins are coming from that you said are coming. Really haven't said anything about all the new pieces on the Heat. Pretty much just whined and complained but really didn't back up one statement.

All I have? That's the entire point! You want to count how Heat players have done well in the past for them (whie including the #2 pick) and don't want to acknowledge how Bulls players have done well in the past (together, no less, and with the #1 pick). It's very simple, this isn't rocket science.

I don't know why you keep bringing up "new wins", that makes no sense unless every team in the league has gotten better, and that's obviously not the case. Some teams get better, some get worse. If anything, this thread has proven that you're functionally (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Go sit down in the corner, bye.

[richboy]

That's all you have left. Pretty much threw a bunch of junk on the wall hoping something would stick. `Still waiting for were the new wins are coming from that you said are coming. Really haven't said anything about all the new pieces on the Heat. Pretty much just whined and complained but really didn't back up one statement.

All I have? That's the entire point! You want to count how Heat players have done well in the past for them (whie including the #2 pick) and don't want to acknowledge how Bulls players have done well in the past (together, no less, and with the #1 pick). It's very simple, this isn't rocket science.

I don't know why you keep bringing up "new wins", that makes no sense unless every team in the league has gotten better, and that's obviously not the case. Some teams get better, some get worse. If anything, this thread has proven that you're functionally (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Go sit down in the corner, bye.

Like I said then. Back up your statement. I've looked and I don't see many teams that the Bulls struggled against that have gotten much worse. So what teams are you talking about. Your just making broad statements with no facts or anything.

Reasons you haven't put facts on the board is because your entire argument is baseless. Your relatively saying the Bulls and Heat have to be comparable for reasons other than the Bulls picked first in the draft and the Heat picked second.

You completely ignore the Heat have a entire new roster from the one that started last year. If you took the missed games of Wade and the level of play he did play when he was there you had about 65% of what Miami is likely hoping to get from him next season.

You don't talk about the NBA readiness of Beasley. You don't talk about having Marion for just a few games. You don't talk about the lineups that the Heat put out on the floor that wont play next year.

Simply put the only thing you have said is Heat can't be that much better than the Bulls because we have Derrick Rose and they have Beasley. Again is that all you have?

Oh because all of the 7-8 50+ win teams in the West are all built to win championships. The only teams in the West that actually had a legit shot was the Spurs, Lakers.

Rockets, Hornets, Jazz, Warriors, Mavs, Suns, Nuggets are either not built for the playoffs, not championship caliber, or are too young.

You can't say that. The Rockets, Suns, Hornets all would feel they could beat the Eastern Conference champ. As much as the East has improved. Only 2 teams have a shot to actually win the NBA title IMO.

West owns the East, it doesn't matter how much better it's gotten, West will always own the East.

Which is why the top teams in the East have been regularly abusing the incredibly superior 50-win teams in the West, right?

When a joke of a team like Denver gets 50 wins it's proof positive that the 'superiority' of the West is nothing more than people looking at win totals. It's clear that the West is built to win regular season games and the East is built to win championships. But hey, if being the best means having no championships but lots of regular season wins, the West is best for sure.

That statement is ridiculous as well. The teams that have won titles in the East did so on the backs of players that just left the West.

[DrunkOnMystery]

That statement is ridiculous as well. The teams that have won titles in the East did so on the backs of players that just left the West.

That argument works both ways. You could argue that the only reason the Lakers won their titles was because Shaq ditched an East team to go play out West.

[Farm Raid]

Give it up richboy. Even the statements not to me are looking dumb.