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Not saying by who.

Let's face it there are five teams that are title contenders: Boston, Cleveland, San Antonio, Lakers and Orlando.

There are a few teams that will be good, but not contenders: New Orleans, Denver

There are a bunch of mediocre teams: Detroit, Portland, Dallas, Utah, Phoenix, Philadelphia

And let's face it, there are a lot of teams that are going to out and out stink: New York (who might not win a game), New Jersey, Sacramento, Clippers, Miami, Houston, Memphis, Golden State.

If a team goes in with the Belichek additude the could rack up a lot of wins really quick.

I don't know about the all-time win records being set. For one thing, the top teams will cancel each other out to a certain degree-- it's unlikely anyone of them gets 70 wins. Add the fact all of the top teams now have some players with much mileage on the wheels. I would expect the strategy would be to try to stay just ahead of the pack for home-court advantage, but give starters rest rather than go after a relatively meaningless record when the championship could be at stake.

Since there are so many good teams, shouldn't there be no one dominant team?

SonicYouth34 wrote:Since there are so many good teams, shouldn't there be no one dominant team?

Ahh, yes.

I think we have the best shot... and I'm not sold on Orlando. Remember we won 62 games WITHOUT KG! With him (assuming he is completely healthy) with the additions of Daniels and Wallace... Oh my. Rondo and Perk with, yet, another year under their belt... yeah the big trio is another year older, but a stronger bench and more experienced (now with established reputations with officials) players rounding out the starting 5, WHATCH OUT!

While I rooted for Orlando the rest of the playoffs, I still believe we would have beaten them if we had a healthy Powe. We would have sent them packing, definetly, in 5 with KG. I also believe that while they may have gotten stronger from last years overall team and may end up with a better overall record than last year, they actually gotten weaker without Hedo. I know, odd statement to make, but, Hedo made some timely shots for them last year and showed he had a set. This helped the Magic overcome a lot situations. He played out of his mind in the right situations. Somebody else now will have to do the same, and I question if VC could match Hedo's playoff heroism from last year. Is VC capable? Yes. Is VC a better overall player? Yes. Is VC a better situational player? Questionable. Hedo has already proven he can and VC has yet to do it.

Our current team could get there no doubt, but only if someone pushes them there.

Unless we're trying to get HCA for the playoffs, we'll be playing the 2nd unit much more late in the year. That's why the all time record doesn't get pushed too often.

Wow, there are elite teams, ok teams, mediocre teams and bad teams in this league? Thanks for your analysis oh wise one.

SonicYouth34 wrote:Since there are so many good teams, shouldn't there be no one dominant team?

And shouldnt that mean more competition?

Count LA and SA out, the West still has too much strength in their 3rd-9th best range. Orlando won't either, thanks to Shard's suspension. If Shaq only misses a handful of games, Cleveland could do it. We could do it, but we'd have to be totally healthy.