Easily the Raptors for me. I expected them to be 4th or 5th seeds with Bosh-JO-Bargnani-Parker-Calderon.
I'd have to say Warriors (and I do think they were expected to be pretty good and the most entertaining team). After going to the playoffs, then winning almost 50 games, they should be much better than they are. They lost Baron but added Maggette, Turiaf, Anthony Randolph. Traded a malcontent for Jamal Crawford. Their supposed starting PF was coming into his second year after not playing much last season. I thought 45 wins was a very reasonable expectation. Now, it just hurts to watch them.
I can't say the Warriors were disappointing. They lost Baron Davis in the offseason plus Ellis injured over half the season. So I definitely can't consider them to be a bust this season given their expectations shouldn't have been that high. I also can't call the Clipps a disappointment. They were team just thrown together without chemistry being thought of. You can't just bring in all sorts of parts and expect it to work immediately, especially when you have a very lackluster coach.
I didn't expect them to actually do anything noteworthy this season, but the dismal performance by Sacramento is almost boggling, and oddly, they don't seem to have a plan to change that at all.
The Sacramento abomination is quite odd. I expected them to be able compete for the 8th seed, not be one of the bottom-dwellers in the NBA.
Among Playoff teams: Philadelphia (Elton Brand specifically) - Despite making the playoffs and even shocking Orlando in game 1.. having a player with Elton Brand's caliber out is in itself a disappointment. I hope he can get back next year and make Philadelphia even better. New Orleans - They were great last year, and this year they did not live up to expectations. I thought they would be in the top 3, not number 7. Moreover, being blown out by Denver is really horribly disappointing! Among non-playoff teams: Toronto - Myself and a lot of people (I think) believed that Toronto was on the rise, this year was very disappointing. They didn't even make the playoffs. Chris Bosh started the season hot but then cooled down towards the end.. hope they can do better next year. Clippers - They have a loaded line up. B. Diddy, Camby, Zebo, Eric Gordon, and Kaman. With that kind of talent, they should be doing much much better than they did this year. GS Warriors - Monta Ellis' injury was a big disappointment for all the fans of GS. Then Magette didn't quite fit in as he should have. They acquired J. Crawford but then there were a lot of issues and ultimately the team didn't do well. Having a roster of good scorers including Ellis, Jackson, Magette, Crawford, Azubuike, Morrow, etc. This should have been a good year, especially with Nelly's run and gun style. But it didn't pan out. I think others would also include Detroit, as they were a top 3 team last year. But I didn't have expectations from that team, and so I don't really care what happens to them. hahahahaha
