By the end of the month we'll be in first place....

[bstein14]

By the end of the month we'll be in first place.... In the central division.

And the central division winner is guaranteed a top 4 seed in the playoff standings...

Detroit - Milwaukee - Indiana - Cleveland - Chicago

I think there is a chance none of these teams finish above .500.... which means we have a chance to win one of the worst divisions in NBA history.

Are you with me?

[Choob]

I doubt it. We're way too good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Today was a fluke

[Bucksmaniac]

By the end of the month we'll be in first place.... In the central division.

And the central division winner is guaranteed a top 4 seed in the playoff standings...

Detroit - Milwaukee - Indiana - Cleveland - Chicago

I think there is a chance none of these teams finish above .500.... which means we have a chance to win one of the worst divisions in NBA history.

Are you with me?

There is no way under .500 wins the division, and the Detroit Pistons definitely will not be the winner of the division. Your team is talented individually, but poorly constructed. Were it not for Scott Skiles, the Bucks might be in a similar situation. However, knowing Skiles teams take time to gel, but eventually play great defense on a consistent basis, I feel pretty confident we will be better than .500. The Bulls should be, as well. Consider that they are playing without Boozer. My guess is both Milwaukee and Chicago will challenge 50 wins, with one of them making it. Regardless, one of the two will be above .500. Book it! If you want, I'll bet you on it.

[FroJoeNoRip]

@Bstein -

Have you looked at the schedule? Please do and then get back to me about this.

[ComboGuardCity]

By the end of the month we'll be in first place.... In the central division.

And the central division winner is guaranteed a top 4 seed in the playoff standings...

Detroit - Milwaukee - Indiana - Cleveland - Chicago

I think there is a chance none of these teams finish above .500.... which means we have a chance to win one of the worst divisions in NBA history.

Are you with me?

There is no way under .500 wins the division, and the Detroit Pistons definitely will not be the winner of the division. Your team is talented individually, but poorly constructed. Were it not for Scott Skiles, the Bucks might be in a similar situation. However, knowing Skiles teams take time to gel, but eventually play great defense on a consistent basis, I feel pretty confident we will be better than .500. The Bulls should be, as well. Consider that they are playing without Boozer. My guess is both Milwaukee and Chicago will challenge 50 wins, with one of them making it. Regardless, one of the two will be above .500. Book it! If you want, I'll bet you on it.

If your team consistently starts slow, its going to eventually develop into a problem, especially with a team with so many question marks. Magette has not adjusted very well, Bogut has a lingering elbow problem, and Jennings has been pretty underwhelming. Salmons as a #1 option does not get you 50 wins. I feel like the Bucks are in the same situation as the Pistons and don't know it yet.

[Spider156]

^I agree with Comboguard. If Salmons is your number one, you're in trouble. He's not consistent at all. The Bucks will deteriorate by the middle of the season. They'll start to realize how hard it really is to make a chemistry. You can call the Pistons lucky to have the chemistry they had but it was the man behind the curtains that got us it... Dumars. Now he's just doing a bad move after bad move. I have a feeling he's not going to anymore. I don't think you can make us any worse than we are right now. He can only make us better from now on. I hope he proves me right.

[princeofpalace]

Central is the worst division in basketball this season.

The only team that has a shot to b win over 40 is Chicago if Boozer pans out.

The Bucks aren't a good team. They simply over acheived last season. Bogut is good but he's not as great as some people want to pretend. Jennings is a chucker- for all the hate Stuck gets, Jennings is a far more inefficient. Salmons/Maggette aren't even better than Rip & Tay. Bucks are a team that over acheived and then got overrated. They aren't going anywhere.

I'd take Indiana 2nd. Collison & Hibbert are a better PG/C duo then Jennings/Bogut + Pacers also have Granger. Once the Pacers get some good pieces at PF/SG and on their bench they will become relevant again.

I think it will go

Chicago
Indiana
Milwaukee
Cleveland
Detroit

[BadMofoPimp]

First place to get the most ping pong balls in the draft.

[Bucksmaniac]

Central is the worst division in basketball this season.

The only team that has a shot to b win over 40 is Chicago if Boozer pans out.

The Bucks aren't a good team. They simply over acheived last season. Bogut is good but he's not as great as some people want to pretend. Jennings is a chucker- for all the hate Stuck gets, Jennings is a far more inefficient. Salmons/Maggette aren't even better than Rip & Tay. Bucks are a team that over acheived and then got overrated. They aren't going anywhere.

I'd take Indiana 2nd. Collison & Hibbert are a better PG/C duo then Jennings/Bogut + Pacers also have Granger. Once the Pacers get some good pieces at PF/SG and on their bench they will become relevant again.

I think it will go

Chicago
Indiana
Milwaukee
Cleveland
Detroit

Right now the Bucks are 29th in offense, 29th!. If you think that's going to last, I don't know what to say. Bogut's offense will continue to improve as he gets back into consistent game shape, same with Salmons. I hope Maggette and Gooden will shoot above 40% as the season goes along, and if they don't, their play will be monumental collapses, the likes of which have never been seen.

Why do I tell you this? It just illustrates the slow start the Bucks have had. Despite this, the defense has been nearly as good as last year. When the offense starts to improve into the low 20s, which I'm confident it will, you will see that the Bucks are at least good for low to mid 40s in wins.

[bstein14]

Honestly, I think the entire central divison is mediocre. Bulls have the only chance of being slightly better than average.

Would not be surprised to see all the Central Division teams win 30-42 games a piece this season.

If my life was on the line to pick the Bucks win total within 3 games either way I'd probably pick 38 wins.

[Master Shake]

When Boozer comes back I bet the Bulls are real solid. At least compared to the rest of the East.

Rose doesn't impress me much, but can't say that he isn't good. Noah is a guy every team would love to have. A few decent role players, then Boozer is a proven 20-10 guy. Don't see how they don't win at least 45-50 games.

I mean it is possible for us to somehow get some chemistry and hold on to these big leads we get, but unless Monroe starts beasting, I doubt we are even 2nd in the central.

[Manocad]

Book it! If you want, I'll bet you on it.

Don't waste your money. I've been hearing this about the Bucks for about...let me think here...yeah, about 20 years. If there's one thing you can count on the Bucks for it's under-achieving.

[motorcity15]

salmons isn't consistant because he got paid, no more playing for a contract

[Todd3]

I cant believe how bad the East is this year overall so far. Only 5 teams with a winning record. We're only 1.5 games behind CHI for 1st in the division after starting 0-5? I didn't know CHI was so bad as well, and we've had the 4th hardest opening schedule in the league based on opponents win %. Luckily, it seems like we sorted all our problem out early, so I could see us getting going now, and the OP being right on this one.

[King Bugs]

Wait... this isn't a joke thread?

[Master Shake]

Wait... this isn't a joke thread?

Unfortunately no...

[Todd3]

I cant believe how bad the East is this year overall so far. Only 5 teams with a winning record. We're only 1.5 games behind CHI for 1st in the division after starting 0-5? I didn't know CHI was so bad as well, and we've had the 4th hardest opening schedule in the league based on opponents win %. Luckily, it seems like we sorted all our problem out early, so I could see us getting going now, and the OP being right on this one.

[triplet1984]

Yeah but Chicago will be better when Boozer is back and healthy.

[b-diddy]

there must be a 10 drink minimum to post in this thread.

bucks and bulls are significantly better than us, and we're probably last.

[qm22]

I'm not buying the Bulls being better than us until they prove it. They have one more win than us at the moment, and they were incredibly lucky to have a win against us, IMO.