I predict a falloff this year out of the Pistons. Not that they won't make the playoffs, but I don't think they'll scare anybody at the top of the conference. The chemistry there is just getting a little stale, and a couple of key players are getting some mileage on them. I'm also not convinced the Sixers are a lock for the playoffs. I've never been as high on Brand as many, although I certainly would have welcomed the Nets getting him prior to the Kidd and RJ trades. If you want to consider some REAL intangibles, I think what he pulled with the Clippers is going to bring some bad karma to the Sixers, who, IMO, don't have enough shooting and offensive talent anyway to be an absolute playoff lock. Wizards are also vulnerable. Obviously committing such a huge amount of money to an ailing Arenas is a concern. But they've stayed with the same core year after year and never have much (if any) improvement to show for it. I think the diminishing returns are dangerously close, if they didn't already start last year. Celtics, Cavs (obviously only if James stays healthy), Pistons, and Magic are, IMO, the only playoff certainties in the east. The other four spots will be culled from Toronto, Philly, Atlanta, Miami, NJ, Milwaukee, Washington, and Chicago in that rough order of probability. I expect a very, very tight race for the last two spots involving at least 4 teams.
David Thorpe says a lot of things. He is paid to says things, not to be correct. If I had a nickle for every time he exaggerated how good one of his clients was doing in the off season, I could take a very nice vacation.
I think Vince is delusional if he thinks they're making the playoffs. As putrid as the East is probably going to be, I don't see the Nets making the playoffs. At this point, I don't see them as any better than 9th or 10 in the East. I see Atlanta, Philly, Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, and Washington all being better than them still. I also think Indiana could be better then them, and depending on what happens with Ben Gordon, the Bulls could too. For that matter, if the 'Cats stay healthy, they could as well. Despite all this rambling here though, in the long run, the East is so pitiful and wide open that anyone can make it. So I'd say the Nets have as good a chance at making the playoffs as any other team outside of Boston, Detroit, Orlando and Cleveland.
If anything, it's good for Vince, as a leader, to step up and say these things. And even if he didn't say it the media, I'm sure they all talk about it privately. In all their heads I really believe that THEY believe they can make the playoffs. They come off as being humble to the media, but you can just hear the confidence in everything these guys say. When you veteran leaders like Dooling and Najera, you believe in them more.
As much as I really dont care if the NEts makes the playoffs, VC has to play like he plays every last month of every regular season.
