Pick one for the East and one for the West.East: Cleveland CavaliersThey have at least one solid player at every position on their roster, they need a PG, but Daniel Gibson has been getting some burn and actually becoming a part of the rotation. LeBron's supporting cast is Hughes, Gooden, Ilgauskas, Pavlovic, Marshall, Gibson, Varajeo, and Jones. That's pretty good if you ask me. Cleveland needs to learn how to stay consistent and sometimes they just come out flat. They could easily win this pathetic East.. West: Los Angeles ClippersAfter a strong season last year, and making the playoffs for the first time since '93 (correct me if I'm wrong), the Clipps have been a sub .500 ball club. With guys like Elton Brand, Shaun Livingston, Cuttino Mobley, Chris Kaman, Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette, and Tim Thomas I honestly do not see why this team should be underachieving. They have been battered with injures (especially to Cassell), but they're talent level is much better than their record. However, I still believe they'll make a run for one of the bottom spots in the West for the playoffs.
LA Clippers. They were a great team last year with practically the same roster, but this year they aren't even a playoff team so far. They have underachieved big time. They don't seem to play that hard, and they are just average on both ends.Cleveland Cavaliers-They have been very inconsistent. Lebron doesn't have much of a supporting cast, and even Lebron hasn't had his best season. They seem to go up and down. They are too inconsistent to be a great team at this stage,New Jersey Nets-I know they do not have RJ or Krsitc right now. But even when they did have those guys, they still were under .500. I honestly do not know what it is. They have a ton of talent, and they were a great team last year. I just don't know what's going on here.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Feb 19 2007, 09:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>New Jersey Nets-I know they do not have RJ or Krsitc right now. But even when they did have those guys, they still were under .500. I honestly do not know what it is. They have a ton of talent, and they were a great team last year. I just don't know what's going on here.</div>RJ was hurt all year and playing well below his averages from last year (up until the last 2 weeks up until his surgery where he started to play real well and nets went on a roll, he was at like 14PPG and like 5RPG). Krstic obviously was a huge loss, and there are MANY new parts....House, Nachbar, Moore, Williams, Boone, etc... It's a shame, too, because the bench FINALLY has improved a lot, and we got 2 decent big men in Moore and Boone.As for my choice, it has to be the Clippers. Last year they were a huge surprise and finally broke out of that mold where every year Clippers are sh*t. This year, they are back to crap. Elton brand hasn't been what he was last year, and they just aren't cohesive and not clicking like they were last year.
West - Clippers awful what happened from last year I have no idea. They got plenty of talent to be atleast as good as last year.East - Nets they should have had a good start Kristic is a good center. Jefferson awsome young alll star kinda a guy. Carter+Kidd another 2 all stars only problem for them is PF before Kristic got season ending injury.
As of right now (2/22/07). It's the Lakers. I know they are having serious injury problems but still, they can't even beat the Blazers on their home floor.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Feb 22 2007, 03:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>As of right now (2/22/07). It's the Lakers. I know they are having serious injury problems but still, they can't even beat the Blazers on their home floor.</div>I agree, the Lakers have the most talented player on the planet, a coach who can make a strong case for being the best in history and a solid supporting cast and they can't seem to beat the pushovers of the league nor can they win away from staples center. One day you see them rough up someone like San Antonio and the next night they are being beat like a red headed step child at the hands of Charlotte or Portland.
West- LA Clippers: Playoff contender expected this year, last year that made a run in the playoffs and were a pretty good team. This year they have done terrible in comparison.East- New Jersey: With all of those great players, (Kidd, Jefferson, and Carter) you really expect more out of them.
Well, the in the West, it is obviously the Clippers. They were great last year, did nothing to get worse, and they have been doing terrible this year. I also think that the Spurs should be doing better than they are right now.As for the East, give me the Cavs. They started off the year doing pretty well, and they have just been doing terrible as of late. No other team in the East really stands out to me. I could say the Heat, but they have had major injury problems all year...And oh yeah, the Nets as well. I know Nenad has been out, but RJ has been there alot of the year, and they still have Kidd and Carter....That is alot of talent. Even though they have had injuries, they still should be doing better.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Michael Bryant @ Feb 22 2007, 05:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>As of right now (2/22/07). It's the Lakers. I know they are having serious injury problems but still, they can't even beat the Blazers on their home floor.</div>LMAO more like overachieving are you kidding me under achieving?
In the East, I'll have to go with the Bulls. Many, many experts thought Ben Wallace would make them title contenders right away but they're having problems closing out games. They are 21-7 at home which is great, only the Mavs and Jazz have better home records but 10-18 on the road isn't going to cut it. In the West, is it too early to say the Nuggets with Iverson are underachieving? They are sitting at .500 which isn't good in the West, it's good to be around .500 if you're an average team (which they are) but many people think they're better. 17 of their next 30 games are against teams currently in the playoffs too, I don't know if they'll be able to turn it around just like that. Especially if they can't stop anybody on defense.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MoNeY_MiKe__ @ Feb 23 2007, 07:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>In the East, I'll have to go with the Bulls. Many, many experts thought Ben Wallace would make them title contenders right away but they're having problems closing out games. They are 21-7 at home which is great, only the Mavs and Jazz have better home records but 10-18 on the road isn't going to cut it. In the West, is it too early to say the Nuggets with Iverson are underachieving? They are sitting at .500 which isn't good in the West, it's good to be around .500 if you're an average team (which they are) but many people think they're better. 17 of their next 30 games are against teams currently in the playoffs too, I don't know if they'll be able to turn it around just like that. Especially if they can't stop anybody on defense.</div>I agree with the Bulls, but I think it is WAY too early to say the Nuggets are underachieving when you consider that AI and Carmelo have only played together in 7 games, and when you factor in all the injuries (Camby, Iverson's ankle/ribs, JR Smith out 3 more weeks at least) it is going to be hard for them to get any sort of rhythm and consistency down the stretch of the season. This season has been a disaster for that team, and I think it's unfair to make a definitive decision one way or the other until at least 20-30 games into next season... once they are all healthy and have a full training camp/summer to get everything together.I haven't read the entire thread, so my bad if this has already been mentioned, but another team I'll toss out there is Cleveland (yes, I realize they have the third best record in the East). After all the talk about how they pushed Detroit in the playoffs last season, I was expecting LeBron to step up his game just a little bit more, and the Cavaliers to be better than they have been thus far in terms of consistency.But the Clippers have BY FAR been the most disappointing team.
