ESPN: Eastern conference predictions - nets snubbed?

DrazenForThree · Post #1 » by **DrazenForThree** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:23 pm

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/95599 ... -standings

Dont mind the bulls at and heat at the top but im pretty shocked they have the nets at just 53 wins and even more shocked they have the nets behind the pacers.

I mean, i get it, the pacers are going to be super overhyped because they matchup well with the heat and gave them a tough series. but honestly, they werent much better then us, got smacked by us head to head, and we got much better this offseason then they did, even if they did improve.

but the biggest reason they wont finsih ahead of us, is that there division is much tougher. thats extra games against the:

Bulls (top 2 team)
Bucks - playoff team a year ago
Pistons - extremely improved
Cavs - also improved, potentially very good if bynum can contribute

vs

Knicks - not as good as the bulls
celtics - decimated hot trash
sixers - even more decimated and even trashier
Craptors - at least they got rid of bargani

i think the nets floor is 54. let alone 53. I also love how they cite chemistry for us, yet the knicks and pacers have just as many new faces, and those new faces arent guys who have great chemistry with eachother coming in like KG/PP

Paradise · Post #2 » by **Paradise** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:54 pm

Stopped taking ESPN seriously a long time ago. 3 game win improvement without a write up on each situation is pretty dumb. The Nets tied for 3rd, last season.

Even, the Knicks with 48 wins is stupid. Meanwhile, they have one guy that projected 64 wins, Simmions has us at 55-60 wins.

They really have no proper way of ranking teams whatsoever. Everyone has all sorts of opinions. Facing Miami in the 2nd round would be pretty terrible.

jeff1624 · Post #3 » by **jeff1624** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:17 pm

53 wins is fine. This team will rest it's players more than any of the other top teams in the East. The regular season won't be nearly as important to us as it was last season. We're built for the playoffs... not to battle for the entire season.

DrazenForThree · Post #4 » by **DrazenForThree** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:12 pm

jeff1624 wrote:53 wins is fine. This team will rest it's players more than any of the other top teams in the East. The regular season won't be nearly as important to us as it was last season. We're built for the playoffs... not to battle for the entire season.

we would have to have a disasterous season for us to win just 53 games, even with pierce and KG playing 20-25 mpg and getting nights off. hell if one of those two was out for the season we should still win mroe then 53.

last years team + terry and kirilenko is a 54 win team

Hello Brooklyn · Post #5 » by **Hello Brooklyn** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 1:52 am

I could care less about ESPN, and their love affair with Derrick Rose.

He is in my eyes, one of the most overrated players ever. The Bulls won the same number of games vs the Heat with him, and without him.

The success of the Bulls stems from their coaching and toughness.

I'm not putting them ahead of the Nets, Pacers or Knicks.

And as much as I hate the Knicks, they are being underrated. They are not going to be worse than last year in my opinion

Putting as at 4 is not a big deal to me either. It gives us something to prove.

Post #6 » by **NyCeEvO** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:16 pm

Yeah, the main assumption is that Rose will be just as good, if not better, than he was at the time he was injured. They're also assuming that there will be no chemistry issues and he'll be able to fall back in line without any problems.

If he stays healthy, I think they'd win around 53 games or so, but with the improved competition in the East, I find it hard to believe that they'd approach 60 wins like they did a few years ago.

DrazenForThree · Post #7 » by **DrazenForThree** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 6:48 pm

NyCeEvO wrote:Yeah, the main assumption is that Rose will be just as good, if not better, than he was at the time he was injured. They're also assuming that there will be no chemistry issues and he'll be able to fall back in line without any problems.

If he stays healthy, I think they'd win around 53 games or so, but with the improved competition in the East, I find it hard to believe that they'd approach 60 wins like they did a few years ago.

i think rose will be ok... i mean, he basically took an extra full year off. Look at guys recently like shumpert and adrian peterson. the rehab and recovery on an ACL injury isnt what it once was. Hell, even knowing from tearing mine in 2009, 14+ months you are certainly feeling great physically

Post #8 » by **NyCeEvO** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 8:43 pm

I'm not factoring in injury at all for him. I'm mainly referring to the intangible things that physical skill improvement can't improve.

The Bulls have great team chemistry.

Maybe they will pick up right where they left off when Rose went down, but maybe they won't. That's a variable that a lot of people are overlooking/discounting and I think it is something that people should think about when evaluating how good the Bulls will be this year.

Idee Mixed · Post #9 » by **Idee Mixed** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 9:38 pm

The Funny thing is always reading the comments on the Knicks board.

They are saying that BSPN is against them.

They dont realize that BSPN has vested interest in the success of Lakers, Knicks, Boston and Chicago. BSPN is always rooting for those teams. They have Anal-ysts that support those teams Magic, Bill Simmons, and Wilbon that do the half time shows.

I hate that BSPN is disregarding the Nets because of who we are, but Knicks fans are delusional on both sides of the spectrum.

bobbyc · Post #10 » by **bobbyc** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:20 pm

I think we are a better team than last year even without Pierce and Garnett.

INDY adds Scola, Granger adds 5 wins

BKN adds Garnett, Pierce, Kirilenko, Terry adds 4 wins SMH

Knicks losing Copeland, Kidd makes them lose 6 games SMH

What the hell were they thinking when they did this.