Eastern Conference Rankings

[LUKE23]

Can someone explain to me why some people have the Cavaliers finishing with a better record than the Raptors?

The Raptors roster is an abomination.

[Stun704]

You know why rankings like these are stupid? Because after the consensus top 3, then everyone's homer goggles turn on and they rank according to what team they like the most or drop a team they don't like. But here I'll humor you guys and do one

1.Miami Heat
2.Orlando Magic
3.Boston Celtics
4.Chicago Bulls
5.Atlanta Hawks
6.Milwaukee Bucks
7.Philadelphia 76ers
8.New York Knicks

9.Charlotte Bobcats
10.Indiana Pacers
11.Detroit Pistons
12.Washington Wizards
13.Cleveland Cavaliers
14.Toronto Raptors
15.New Jersey Nets

No Felton is going to destroy you guys. Couple that with not adding that post threat in the offseason = No playoffs.

if DJ develops right, he is better for our system then felton is, he stretches the floor.

[King of Troy]

You know why rankings like these are stupid? Because after the consensus top 3, then everyone's homer goggles turn on and they rank according to what team they like the most or drop a team they don't like. But here I'll humor you guys and do one

1.Miami Heat
2.Orlando Magic
3.Boston Celtics
4.Chicago Bulls
5.Atlanta Hawks
6.Milwaukee Bucks
7.Philadelphia 76ers
8.New York Knicks

9.Charlotte Bobcats
10.Indiana Pacers
11.Detroit Pistons
12.Washington Wizards
13.Cleveland Cavaliers
14.Toronto Raptors
15.New Jersey Nets

No Felton is going to destroy you guys. Couple that with not adding that post threat in the offseason = No playoffs.

I don't buy the argument that no Felton is going to destroy Charlotte. He was the wrong guy for the system they had. I think Charlotte will be just fine.

[jojo152433]

The Raptors aren't going to be that near the bottom. They will fight for the playoffs. Most of you guys only get to watch them a couple times a year so you have no clue who some of their guys are. Losing Bosh (which is all they've lost), won't be that big a deal.

Also, BC is one of the busiest GMs in the L so we have no clue how the team will look come November. They'll likely be in the 6-10 range.

Also, there is no way the Knicks compete for the playoffs. I like the Knicks but they stink. Amar'e isn't that big an improvement over Lee other than athletically andn ow Nash isn't feeding him the ball. The three guys that they got for Lee are scrubs too.

[Sixerlover]

No Felton is going to destroy you guys. Couple that with not adding that post threat in the offseason = No playoffs.

Felton is horrible at running the pick and roll

Felton is a very good defender. A team that is predicated on defense begins with the defense of the PG, especially a successful Larry Brown run team. If he allows too much penetration that causes havoc behind him. I don't believe in Augustin or Livingston.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

Seedings:

1. Orlando Magic
2. Boston Celtics
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Miami Heat
5. Atlanta Hawks
6. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Charlotte Bobcats
8. New York Knicks


Really unsure about the 8th seed. Ah hell. Whatever.

[Stun704]

No Felton is going to destroy you guys. Couple that with not adding that post threat in the offseason = No playoffs.

Felton is horrible at running the pick and roll

Felton is a very good defender. A team that is predicated on defense begins with the defense of the PG, especially a successful Larry Brown run team. If he allows too much penetration that causes havoc behind him. I don't believe in Augustin or Livingston.

I misunderstood what you said, I thought u were implying the knicks was going to destory us because of felton, regardless, DJ is better for our system then felton is because he stretches the floor, (that is if he develops right) and livingston has better court vision and is 6'7, I believe our PG position is better then it was right now currently, and it could get even better. we won't lose a step because our PG's(and besides Sherron Collins, our 3rd PG, plays like a rookie felton)
And we didn't have a solid post presence last year, tyson missed almost half of the season, we can only imporve our C position with dampiers contract, or just having Dampier play C.

[Rendezvous]

Here is Mine....

1. Miami
2. Orlando
3. Boston
4. Bulls
5. Hawks
6. Bucks
7. Knicks
8. Pacers
9. Bobcats- This one is kinda hard since they don't have a Starting PG atm. If felton was here i'd put them at 7

10. Wizards
11. Nets
12. Sixers
13. Pistons
14. Raptors
15. Cavs

[Mags FTW]

6) New York
7) Milwaukee

I seriously think Milwaukee will take a step back this year, just sayin'.

They acquired more talent but will take a step back?

[ballhawk1]

1. Heat
2. Celtics
3. Magic
4. Hawks
5. Bucks
6. Bulls
7. Sixers
8. Bobcats

9. Pistons
10. Wizards
11. Cavs
12. Knicks
13. Nets
14. Raptors
15. Pacers

[Tim_Hardawayy]

The Hawks have peaked?

Yeah never mind the fact that they are STILL one of the youngest teams in the league. And the youngest team to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs last year. They've peaked.

And the whole but everybody around them got better thing. Yeah how's that worked out the last 3 years when the Hawks have still increased their win total and overall seeding every year.

Josh Smith and Al Horford are still improving as well as the fact that Jeff Teague gives the Hawks a legit PG that will see some time next year as well as having basically a mix of Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford in Jordan Crawford as an upgrade over say a Mo Evans off the bench.

This team is a Shaquisition away from being the 2nd best team in the East.

Didn't want to clutter it up with a long explanation. But I don't mean peaked as individuals, rather as a team. They imploded last season in the playoffs, and I've seen that happen before (happened with my Heat in 2000). I think at this point, they would've been better served going in another direction from JJ and trying to put new pieces into place.

And for all the things Woodson did wrong, he got them to play defense, which can help any team to compete. If they slack on that end this year with a new coach, which I can definitely see if the guy isn't a hardass, it will cost them.

[Teckon]

1. Magic
2. Heat
3. Celtics
4. Bulls
5. Hawks
6. Bucks
7. Bobcats
8. Pistons

9. Sixers
10. Raptors
11. Knicks
12. Cavaliers
13. Nets
14. Wizards
15 Pacers

[Dobber-16]

Is that a JOKE???

No, it isn't. Brandon Jennings says he'll be a lot harder to guard this year, and he's added new things to his game. Guess the league is in trouble!!!

Until we see it on the court against other NBA teams those words mean jack.

Right on Luke!

[Dr Positivity]

I seriously think Milwaukee will take a step back this year, just sayin'.

They acquired more talent but will take a step back?

Not an uncommon occurance. Last year's Bucks were built on d, 3pt shooting, and clear distribution of roles. They've done their best to minimize all 3 of those strengths. This team is built more similar to the Redd Bucks than last year's team. There's 3 guys on the perimeter who need the ball in Jennings, Salmons, Maggette, Maggette and Gooden are questionable defenders effort wise, Bogut is all of a sudden 4th in line in offensive touches again, no Luke Ridnour, almost no spot up 3pt shooting (they have Delfino who'll get questionable minutes, Ilyasova, and that's about it).

And let's face it if the Bucks came into last year with Jennings, Salmons, Maggette, Gooden, Bogut lineup, everyone would've predicted 25 wins like they did last year. Last season they obviously busted that prediction, but for reasons that have almost nothing to do with this team... the way you outperform your talent level is to do what the Bucks did last year. Play d, shoot 3s, pass. Is this team made to outperform their talent level? Does that look like a a 47 win+ team on paper if we didn't know about last year. Definitely not. They'd look like 30 wins. We are only predicting that high because of last year's result, and that line of "last year's result + Y = X" thinking gets proven wrong every season...

[FrieAaron]

Skiles is not going to allow anyone to not give an effort on D, nor do I see him allowing the team using Bogut as a 4th option.

[rilamann]

6) New York
7) Milwaukee

Haha,when I saw that I was like WTF is this dude serious? then I scrolled down 2 inches and fittingly saw a Knicks sig.

[SolidSnake008]

Got this Write-up from: http://thehasbeenssports.com/2010/07/16 ... -rankings/ I think it's a pretty good view of the Eastern Conference
Mods if i broke some kind of rule by posting this let me know


1.) Miami Heat – The Heat seem to be the talk of the town these days, and for good reason. Not only did they resign Dwyane Wade, but they also lassoed Chris Bosh and persuaded LeBron James to take his services to South Beach. Not bad, I say. The question quickly became, “who else plays alongside these 3 superstars?” Well, Mike Miller signed. So did Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Resigning Udonis Haslem for $14 million less than what he had on the table from teams like Dallas and Denver was a surprise. All of this adds up to one solitary fact: this is the newest top dog in the Eastern Conference. I don’t see how there can be much debate over that considering a James-Wade-Bosh triad is one of the best the NBA’s seen in quite some time (could it go down as the best of all time?). Throw in a Miller, Ilgauskas, Haslem and a guy like Mario Chalmers, and you have yourself a studly cast of characters that are ready to challenge for an NBA Championship right now.

2.)Orlando Magic– After getting ran off the court in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals this past year, it was apparent that the Magic needed to make some moves to reinvigorate a team that was a year removed from going to the NBA Finals. Though not headliner signings, getting Chris Duhon as a back-up point guard was very saavy; he should be able to help shoulder the load and take some of the pressure off of Jameer Nelson. Also, Quentin Richardson should see plenty of minutes for Orlando, especially after shooting a career high 39.7% from 3-point range last season with Miami. Add this to what Orlando already had on the roster (minus Matt Barnes who will be sporting a different jersey next year) and this team looks solid yet again. I think we see Dwight Howard progress even more this year offensively, and I believe Rashard Lewis bounces back from an abysmal year last year to put up much more respectable numbers. Orlando looks to be a major contender yet again.

3.) Boston Celtics – I’m very up in the air with this team. They still look like they are contenders on paper, but the likes of Pierce-Allen-Garnett are also a year older. Garnett seems to have lost a step if the NBA playoffs were any indication; he just doesn’t seem to have that explosiveness that he once had. Also, losing Kendrick Perkins for who knows how long is a blow to a team that relied so heavily on its defense, with Perkins being a large contributor (literally and figuratively). Couple this with Rasheed Wallace retiring, and it was obvious they had to get a big. They did just that with the signing of Jermaine O’Neal. I’m not overly crazy about the move, but something had to be done and the Celtics responded by getting a guy who can score a little bit and grab some rebounds. Rajon Rondo has quickly established himself as one of the elite point guards in basketball and Pierce can still score in droves. If Allen and Garnett don’t completely break down before season’s end (something I’d expect more from KG than Ray-Ray), Boston can make another run at the title…could it be the last one we see from them for a while?

4.) Milwaukee Bucks – This team looks to be a much scarier squad than I think people believe. Brandon Jennings, a rookie of the year candidate last year, looks to build on his rookie success (15.5 ppg, 5.7 apg, 1.3 spg) and elevate his game to the next level. John Salmons was brought back after helping the Bucks to a 22-8 record after being acquired from Chicago, Chris Douglas-Roberts was added to bolster the bench, and Corey Maggette was shipped in from Golden State to add another scorer and another dimension to a seemingly dynamic offense. With Drew Gooden, and a healthy Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee seems to be sitting very pretty in a much tougher conference than last year. If Michael Redd is healthy, watch out for the Bucks; the “Fear the Deer” adage might be out in full-force again this year. I know this might seem ballsy, but I’m calling the Milwaukee Bucks a contender.

5.) Chicago Bulls – Chicago lost role players’ Hakim Warrick and Kirk Hinrich. Pressed into making a move with a huge amount of cap space, the Bulls came through with the signing of Carlos Boozer. I know it wasn’t ‘Bron or D-Wade, but I applauded the move when it happened and I still stand by it today as I believe it was an excellent signing. They also managed to take his Jazz teammate, Kyle Korver, with him as well. For that, I say kudos. It was a definite upgrade, notably over the Warrick/Hinrich tandem, and makes Chicago a better team than what it was at the end of this past season. That being said, I still don’t see Chicago as a serious threat. Yes, I do believe Derrick Rose is a star-in-the-making, and I do like Joakim Noah’s game a lot, but I don’t believe this team is overly deep (something that is needed now more so than ever in the overly competitive Eastern Conference), and I still don’t see a game-changer on this squad. Look, I love Rose’s game, but he’s the closest thing they got to someone than can take over a game in the 4th quarter and I don’t believe he’s ready for that role yet, at least not on a consistent basis. This is the most apparent reason why I don’t see the Bulls as true threats to win the East.

6.) Atlanta Hawks – You know the Eastern Conference has to be deeper if I have a Hawks squad that won 53 games this past season, and didn’t lose anybody off of that squad, 6th in the conference. Signing Joe Johnson was a must, but it came at a much steeper price tag than originally anticipated. The point guard situation in Atlanta does not look very good right now. I think Mike Bibby’s time as a starting guard in the NBA has run it’s course, yet, do you hand the reigns over to 2nd-year guard Jeff Teague? I don’t think so. Defensively, Josh Smith is as good as they come, but he still needs to take his game up a notch offensively if the Hawks want to move forward. Al Horford seems to be Mr. Consistent for this squad (14.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg last year) outside of Johnson, but they have to get more production from Marvin Williams. He could hold the key to Atlanta’s fortune if they wish to be more competitive this year. Jordan Crawford, a guy they acquired from the Nets, should be someone who sees noticeable minutes as a rookie. I love the kid’s game and fieriness. He seems to have the tools needed to play in the NBA and Atlanta was smart in trading for him. Add his scoring punch off of the bench with Jamal Crawford, and there could be some highly-scored games in ATL next season. All-in-all, Atlanta looks to be a good squad, but not enough to hold up as a serious contender.

7.) New York Knicks – The Knicks have had a very active off-season. They’ve acquired 4 players via S&T, most notably Amare Stoudemire and Anthony Randolph, and they signed Raymond Felton away from Charlotte to run point. Now we sit back and wait to see what goes wrong first…joke, Knicks fans, but you have to wonder if New York did enough to make a playoff run. I’m in the group that believes they did, albeit barely. A starting 5 consisting of some combination of Felton, Chandler, Gallinari, Stoudemire, Randolph/Turiaf/Curry seems to be one that could go out and compete on a nightly basis. Outside of that, I’m not sure how good this team really is. Losing David Lee hurts, and Al Harrington’s scoring prowess is something that might not be easily replaced (I’m stressing the word might). But I believe New York had a nice draft with all 3 picks (Rautins, Fields, Jordan) being 2nd round picks, even though I don’t know how much these guys will contribute as rookies. And I’m very high on Toney Douglas. I think this kid is a solid player who can not only score, but dish out the rock and be a pest defensively. If Kelenna Azubuike is 100% healthy, perhaps he could be a nice pick-up as well, but I just don’t think the Knicks surrounded themselves with enough talent to be considered legitimate threats in the East.

8.) Charlotte Bobcats – When I think of Charlotte, I think of a formidable squad that plays pretty well in the regular season, but could never do any serious damage when it came playoff time. I still stand by that thought. Look, they have some nice pieces in guys like Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace and Tyrus Thomas, but outside of those guys, it gets thin in a hurry. They lost starting point guard Raymond Felton to the Knicks, so we will get a chance to see just how good D.J. Augustin is as a guy playing heavy minutes night in and night out. They lost Tyson Chandler to Dallas, although he didn’t play much in Charlotte, yet did manage to get Erick Dampier, a guy who, at the very least, will play hard every game (but won’t put up any significant numbers). The catch is that there is a strong possibility that Dampier is either released or traded before the season starts due to his $13 million non-guaranteed expiring contract. Regardless, the bottom-line is that Charlotte might be a playoff team, but that’s it.

Just missed the cut: Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors

[_BBIB_]

The Hawks have peaked?

Yeah never mind the fact that they are STILL one of the youngest teams in the league. And the youngest team to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs last year. They've peaked.

And the whole but everybody around them got better thing. Yeah how's that worked out the last 3 years when the Hawks have still increased their win total and overall seeding every year.

Josh Smith and Al Horford are still improving as well as the fact that Jeff Teague gives the Hawks a legit PG that will see some time next year as well as having basically a mix of Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford in Jordan Crawford as an upgrade over say a Mo Evans off the bench.

This team is a Shaquisition away from being the 2nd best team in the East.

Didn't want to clutter it up with a long explanation. But I don't mean peaked as individuals, rather as a team. They imploded last season in the playoffs, and I've seen that happen before (happened with my Heat in 2000). I think at this point, they would've been better served going in another direction from JJ and trying to put new pieces into place.

And for all the things Woodson did wrong, he got them to play defense, which can help any team to compete. If they slack on that end this year with a new coach, which I can definitely see if the guy isn't a hardass, it will cost them.

Well again as much as I think people are overlooking us, unfortunately because of the stupid playoff format, even if we finish with a better record than Chicago, we will still be forced to be a 5th seed if we have two teams in our division with a better record than we do and the Bulls win their division as they should.

[RapsGM]

1. Orlando
2. Miami
3. Chicago
4. Boston
5. Atlanta
6. Bobcats
7. Bucks
8. Wizards
9. New Jersey
10. New York
11. Raptors
12. Philadelphia
13. Detroit
14. Pacers
15. Cleveland

Any team from the bottom tier can make the 8th or 7th spot in the east.

[JordansBulls]

Some of you just hate putting the Knicks in the playoffs dont you. LOL.

1. Miami - LeBron always wins a lot of season games.
2. Orlando - Team is filled with talent.
3. Boston - Getting up in age but no one considerably improved to knock them off the top 3.
4. Atlanta - Good team.
5. Chicago - Improved with Boozer. Enough to be number 5.
6. Milwaukee - Added chuckers. Im not sure if thats going to work out.
7. New York - Improved at every position.
8. Charlotte - Lost their point guard. Didnt improve at all.
9. Indiana - Good season from Granger but dont have enough firepower.
10. Detroit - Good season from Ben Gordon.
11. Philadelphia - Not that good of team.
12. Toronto - Too young and not that good.
13. New Jersey - Travis Outlaw, Petro, Farmar = Blueprint to Greatness? LMAO
14. Washington - They suck
15. Cleveland - Fall apart with chemistry. Limited talent.

Bulls would be #4 seed wise if they win the central.