Mainly got the concept from an article from RealGM but it's speaks lots of truth.-Miami won't be as hungry anymore and repeating as champions in any sport is never an easy task.-The Nets have no depth and they have Carters contract to worry about. An injury to Kidd might also cause serious problems.Heres an interesting little quote describing the Bulls<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Think of it this way - the Pistons had Ben Wallace last year and got bounced by the Heat after nearly being eliminated by the Cavaliers. Why do we suddenly think that Hinrich, Gordon, Nocioni, and Deng are better than Billups, Hamilton, Prince, and Rasheed Wallace? Common mistake by the media of overvaluing a free agent acquisition. Ben Wallace is an excellent defender and his championship experience will be invaluable to a young team, notably Tyrus Thomas. But he's on the decline and will be considered grossly overpaid in 2 years.</div>-Detroit will still be good but they are lacking both good young talent and depth. McDyess is reliable but he is just as injury prone as anyone else. -Cleveland has lots of depth with there lineup, Donyell, Varejao, Damon Jones, Shannon Brown. Also, they played better in the playoffs while Larry was out, they are obviously better with him but they are still a strong team without.Then of course, LeBron James. Many people already have him picked as next seasons MVP and it's hard to argue. I really can't disagree here, Cleveland does look like the best team in the east right now. Many predict a ECF matchup against the Heat.Heres the full article if anyone is interested.Article
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Also, they played better in the playoffs while Larry was out, they are obviously better with him but they are still a strong team without.</div> I still think Larry Hughes needs to find his role on the Cavs. Even when he wasn't out, he struggled at times. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>-Cleveland has lots of depth with there lineup, Donyell, Varejao, Damon Jones, Shannon Brown.</div> Damon Jones has already fell out of flavor in Cleveland. Shannon Brown is a rookie, I wouldn't count him as depth. Miami Heat are still the best team in the east to me, and the others just pan out in no particular order. Their just all battling to be that 2nd team against the Heat. One last thing. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>-The Nets have no depth and they have Carters contract to worry about. An injury to Kidd might also cause serious problems.</div> I don't see any issue in how this will effect the Nets. Most likely Carter will be playing at a high level to show his worth in the upcoming offseason. If he plays at a high level, Nets might be able to trade him by deadline at his highest value. Or simply resign him come next summer, but again keyword next. Shouldn't be a issue this year.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Oct 3 2006, 12:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't see any issue in how this will effect the Nets. Most likely Carter will be playing at a high level to show his worth in the upcoming offseason. If he plays at a high level, Nets might be able to trade him by deadline at his highest value. Or simply resign him come next summer, but again keyword next. Shouldn't be a issue this year.</div>It depends what goes on with the team really, VC has those family problems of his and might want to look to move to another team. How that affects NJ? Think about what will happen if VC leaves Jersey, they will have to go into rebuilding mode. Kidd will probably retire shortly they have a good amount of rookies. I think the top 3 teams in the east will be NJ, Cleveland and Miami. But out of all of them, I would say Cleveland is the most dangerous come playoff time.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Oct 3 2006, 02:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Assuming Miami won't be as hungry is dumb.</div>Do you think Alonzo, Gary, Antoine will want a ring as much as last season? Absolutely not. Hell, I'm surprised Riley, Zo and Payton actually came back to the team this season. And how many times do teams repeat as champions? The ones that do are usually a dynasty.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Melo061 @ Oct 3 2006, 02:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm thinking interms of actual wins it'll be1- Heat2- Pistons3- Bulls4- Cavs</div>Somewhat disagree. I predict something more like:1. Miami2. NJ3. Cleveland4. Detroit5. ChicagoMaybe Chicago can win more then Detroit, same can be said with Miami and Jersey. In actual wins Cleveland won't win the most but in terms of the best team overall they should definitely get consideration.
The Nets in second? I doubt it.I see it going:1. Heat2. Bulls3. Cavs4. Nets5. Pistons, but the Pistons will have more wins than the Nets..
The Detroit Pistons won 12 more games then the next best team in the east last season...and now people have them being 3rd and 4th?
Once again I disagree..I still think they'll be 2nd in the division behind the Bulls or Pistons.But this is my standings..1. Heat2. Pistons3. Nets4. Bulls5. CavsBut the top 5 will be a race for the spot.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BCB @ Oct 3 2006, 10:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Detroit Pistons won 12 more games then the next best team in the east last season...and now people have them being 3rd and 4th?</div>And they have Nazr as there starting center and a weak bench. I see them in the top 5, not in the top 3. And forget about wins for a moment here, Cleveland is the same team that almost upset the team that won 64 games last season. In the playoffs I think the two most dangerous teams from the east will be Cleveland and Miami, possibly NJ as well.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>It depends what goes on with the team really, VC has those family problems of his and might want to look to move to another team. How that affects NJ? Think about what will happen if VC leaves Jersey, they will have to go into rebuilding mode. Kidd will probably retire shortly they have a good amount of rookies.</div> Again, that won't effect the Nets this year, only next summer. And I don't see what's great about the Cavs bench to be honest. Especially last year when you can say they basically underachieved. Donyell Marshall was adequate at best and Damon Jones showed he was a fluke. Shannon Brown/Daniel Gibson are rookies, and not the kind that makes an immediate impact. Bench wise, Varajeo is the only one who jumps out at me. Adding Pollard and Wesley is basically trying to get the best out of some veterans on their last legs. Wesley is more likely another Lucious Harris for them(the Harris they signed after his run with NJ). I mean why bash the Pistons depth who basically added(Flip/Dupree, lost Delk) and then say Cavs have depth? Neither have great depth. Pistons starting five I say is still better then Cavs starting five. That puts them over Cavs imo.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Heatfan32 @ Oct 3 2006, 03:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>And they have Nazr as there starting center and a weak bench. I see them in the top 5, not in the top 3. And forget about wins for a moment here, Cleveland is the same team that almost upset the team that won 64 games last season. In the playoffs I think the two most dangerous teams from the east will be Cleveland and Miami, possibly NJ as well.</div>Thats just ridiculous. Detroit has a weak bench? They have a better bench this year than they did last year. And Cleveland IS NOT the same team they were last year. They have a weaker bench than Detroit does. I dont think there is a team in the NBA with better 6th and 7th men (Flip Murray and McDyess) than Detroit. Name a 6 and 7 better.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Becar @ Oct 3 2006, 03:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Thats just ridiculous. Detroit has a weak bench? They have a better bench this year than they did last year. And Cleveland IS NOT the same team they were last year. They have a weaker bench than Detroit does. I dont think there is a team in the NBA with better 6th and 7th men (Flip Murray and McDyess) than Detroit. Name a 6 and 7 better.</div>And what happens if say Rasheed gets injured? McDyess steps in and who will be there to lead there bench? McDyess is extremely injury proof and hes getting old, Flip only averaged 11 points and he even got to start about 30 games. Donny Marshall never started a game and still averaged 9 a game.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Damon Jones showed he was a fluke.</div>I don't think so at all. In the playoffs he was huge for them, he hit gamewinners and came up clutch when the team needed him in the playoffs. He wasn't great but he did contribute to the team.BrownVarejaoMarshallWesleyThats a much better bench then Dyess and Flip if you ask me.Detroit also lacks youth, besides Tayshaun and Flip everyone else is getting old on the team. Cleveland has a good amount of young players on there squad.
Yeah, I think the Pistons will slip. They lose a huge force in Ben Wallace, and Sheed is declining, as we saw in the playoffs. I could see Rip having a breakout year, but I could see them falling below the Bulls, Cavs, and Heat, yeah..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I don't think so at all. In the playoffs he was huge for them, he hit gamewinners and came up clutch when the team needed him in the playoffs. He wasn't great but he did contribute to the team.</div> He hit one game winner I believe. But it still to me doesn't erase his mark from the regular season. He's a spot up shooter, not a great defender and he was horrible shooting wise through the season. He didn't play up to his expectations. Daniel Gibson will probably beat him out for backup pg as the season wears on. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>BrownVarejaoMarshallWesleyThats a much better bench then Dyess and Flip if you ask me.</div> Eh, we jus disagree on this one. I think Wesley is done as a player imo, as stated with my Lucious Harris comparison. I never count rookies until proven. So until Brown/Gibson show me something, I still think the Cavs bench is mostly Varejao/Marshall. Benches are really even to me.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>And what happens if say Rasheed gets injured? McDyess steps in and who will be there to lead there bench?</div> Considering most teams could be in that position when a starter goes down, I don't see the point. The only position on Cavs who could come in with legit starter is at power forward. Where Varejao or Marshall could step in. Big Z, Bron, Snow or Hughes go out, the quality goes down.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Oct 3 2006, 08:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Considering most teams could be in that position when a starter goes down, I don't see the point. The only position on Cavs who could come in with legit starter is at power forward. Where Varejao or Marshall could step in. Big Z, Bron, Snow or Hughes go out, the quality goes down.</div>Last year in the playoffs, the team actually seemed to do just as good, maybe even better during the Detroit series when Ilgauskas was on the bench and Varejao was in his place. Varejao moved around the basket better on offense, and kept Wallace moving. It really opened up the lanes for James to drive better when Varejao was in. Ilgauskas stayed still on offense and allowed Wallace to not have to move around as much. So if Ilgauskas gets hurt, Varejao can come in, and while he might not be the better player of the two, the Cavaliers will play just fine with him in the game.Also, the Cavaliers won some of the games that Hughes was not there for against the Detroit Pistons, showing that they can play well with him not being on the floor. So while the basketball player in Hughes place may not be as good of a player as Hughes, the team can still play at a very good level without him being on the floor.I really think that should the Cavaliers and Pistons meet in the playoffs this year, the Cavaliers will come out of the series on top and advance. They had a rough time with the Cavaliers last year, and the Cavaliers I feel have gotten better this year, whereas the Pistons defense has taken a step back. The loss of Ben Wallace is going to hurt them when players like Lebron James comes to town, because his shot blocking ability is not going to be behind Prince anymore. That is one of the things that often times helped Prince, he knew how to push his players into driving onto Ben Wallace's side. Seeing Ben Wallace affected James in the playoffs, and had him settling for more jump shots instead of driving into the lane more like he usually does. Without Wallace there, and having studied tape I am sure, Lebron James is not going to be scared to drive in. Brown, Gibson, Wesley, Marshall, and Jones should provide the shooting to open up the lanes for Hughes and James to get into. This year I think we will see Jones and Marshall hitting more shots, knowing they have competition to take their spots. We should also see Hughes and James getting more comfortable with each other, and the team forming more chemistry than last year.
I think people are underating the pistons. They still have 4 ALL STAR quality players in Rip,Chauncey,Price and Rasheed. There were times last season whe they went with Rasheed and Antonio up front,and they didnt miss a beat. I think the Bulls still lack a low post player. They rely to much on there guards to do majority of there scoring.
