Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic, Jamaal Magloire, Jason Collins, Marcus Williams, Antoine Wright, Sean Williams, Josh Boone, Eddie House. I think if healthy, they could win the East. Williams and Boone will have another year under their belt, Krstic and Jefferson will be back. Opinions?
The East is wide open, and I really wouldn't be surprised if New Jersey made a big run. It is possible. I don't like making predictions this early, but I wouldn't say your prediction is outrageous. I think that a healthy Nets team is better than a healthy Cleveland team. I'm not so sure I'd put them above Detroit, though. Chicago could be there as well. Toronto will improve. Boston could have a big year, and likely will improve the roster by the deadline. Again, it's wide open, and I won't lay down my initial predictions until after training camp, but I think they have an outside shot.
The Nets will definatly be up there, no doubt. If they can bear injuries, their front-court, which has been their weakness since K-Mart left, will be considerably better. Krstic will be good for 15-18 PPG, while Magloire is a big body who will pull down a lot of rebounds and provide some occasional scoring. The improved front-court will also take some pressure off of the big 3 and they won't have to wear themselves out. Their bench will be a big factor though. It's a really young bench that has "potential" talent.
There are 4-5 teams that could potentially come out of the east. This will be Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, and Richard Jefferson's third year together, they've come together as a big three and it showed in the Raptors series last season. Now with Nenand Kristic back, Sean Williams drafted, and Jamaal Magloire signed, they definetely have a strong enough roster to win the Eastern Conference. However, the Nets will need to beat the Cavaliers, Pistons, Bulls, Heat, Wizards, Celtics, and Magic. It will be difficult but it is possible.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GArenas @ Jul 24 2007, 10:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>There are 4-5 teams that could potentially come out of the east. This will be Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, and Richard Jefferson's third year together, they've come together as a big three and it showed in the Raptors series last season. Now with Nenand Kristic back, Sean Williams drafted, and Jamaal Magloire signed, they definetely have a strong enough roster to win the Eastern Conference. However, the Nets will need to beat the Cavaliers, Pistons, Bulls, Heat, Wizards, Celtics, and Magic. It will be difficult but it is possible.</div> I wouldn't consider the Wizards, Magic or Cavaliers threats to take the conference. I think it's between New Jersey, Chicago and Detroit.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 25 2007, 10:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I wouldn't consider the Wizards, Magic or Cavaliers threats to take the conference. I think it's between New Jersey, Chicago and Detroit.</div>I'm pretty high on the Magic right now. Last season, they had the defense to get them far, but they just didn't have the consistent offense. They were lacking an outside scorer to compliment Howard inside, and Lewis was the perfect pickup, though overpaid. I really think the Magic can challenge this season. I still wouldn't rule out the Cavs. I know they had an easy road, but they still knocked off the best team in the East last year to get to the Finals. The East is pretty wide open IMO.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GArenas @ Jul 24 2007, 11:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>There are 4-5 teams that could potentially come out of the east. This will be Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, and Richard Jefferson's third year together, they've come together as a big three and it showed in the Raptors series last season. Now with Nenand Kristic back, Sean Williams drafted, and Jamaal Magloire signed, they definetely have a strong enough roster to win the Eastern Conference. However, the Nets will need to beat the Cavaliers, Pistons, Bulls, Heat, Wizards, Celtics, and Magic. It will be difficult but it is possible.</div>I like how you add in the Celtics but not the Raptors. Its like youre saying they are a better team already.
The Nets will definitely be a force in the East this season. If you look at last year, they played well without RJ for a good bit of the season (though he returned late, wasn't at full strength though) and without Krstic for the entire 2nd half of the season. Just think if Krstic was there in the Cleveland series and if RJ was completely healthy....they could have possibly beaten them.Bringing in Magloire was a solid move, as he provides the defense and, especially, the rebounding edge the Nets need. Sean Williams, if he can stay out of trouble, will provide more defensive help.The main things for the Nets this year are:1. Let VC be the star, but don't let him try to take over games where he is struggling, like they did last year, especially in their biggest games of the season. If the guy isn't on, you have other options...use them. (example, game 6 against Toronto).2. Kidd needs to continue to teach Marcus Williams what it means to be a PG. The kid still has a bit of a "shoot first, then pass" mentality, and it needs to be fixed. There was a lot of talk here in NJ on how Marcus and VC didn't get along cause of Williams' tendencies. He needs to just learn from J Kidd that he isn't the #1 option. If he does that, Williams could have a very solid season.3. RJ needs to get back on track. The guy has had some injury plagued seasons the past few years (2 of the last 3) and now has taken a back seat to VC. RJ just needs to realize that he will still score 15-18 points a game and will be a big key on D.4. Krstic needs to be ready to go this season. He was sorely missed last season, especially in the playoffs when the Nets couldn't stop the big men on Toronto and Cleveland from getting rebounds and scoring nearly at will sometimes. He has been working on long range shots during his rehab, trying to extend his range. If Krstic can take advantage of that range and Magloire can score inside, things could be interesting.5. Maybe most important...Lawrence Frank needs to learn how to rotate his players better. He had tons of problems with this last year, and the starters would get tired quick. He needs to understand that the Nets bench isn't that bad and he needs to give them a chance to prove themselves more. When he started to do that with about 10 games left in the season into the playoffs, it worked out very well.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RaptorFan#1 @ Jul 25 2007, 12:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I like how you add in the Celtics but not the Raptors. Its like youre saying they are a better team already.</div> And someone can't have that opinion?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 25 2007, 01:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>And someone can't have that opinion?</div>Yes. The Raptors are the best team in the NBA BY FAAAAR. You didn't know?I partially agree with this post but I really don't think that New Jersey will contend. They basically have the same roster as last year except you can replace Moore with Magloire who will give the same production, maybe even less.The East is the Bulls to lose IMO. They have the best chance to win it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (playaofthegame @ Jul 25 2007, 12:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Yes. The Raptors are the best team in the NBA BY FAAAAR. You didn't know?I partially agree with this post but I really don't think that New Jersey will contend. They basically have the same roster as last year except you can replace Moore with Magloire who will give the same production, maybe even less.</div>Magloire is a bigger body and a better rebounder than Moore is, not to mention that the Nets will have a healthy Krstic who get them around 15 points and 7 rebounds a night. It's not really the same roster as last year.
But Magloire is past his prime though. He is not his former all-star self. The most he could give the Nets is 10ppg and 7rpg at the max.Mikki Moore was fitting in well in the New Jersey Nets system. They should have kept him. Magloire is a slow player. If the Nets want Magloire to be successful in NJ, they will have to run a halfcourt offense. I don't think Magloire can keep up with RJ, VC and J-Kidd on the fastbreak.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 25 2007, 12:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, Nenad Krstic, Jamaal Magloire, Jason Collins, Marcus Williams, Antoine Wright, Sean Williams, Josh Boone, Eddie House. I think if healthy, they could win the East. Williams and Boone will have another year under their belt, Krstic and Jefferson will be back. Opinions?</div>I think you look at the players too much, and exclude chemistry..The Nets couldn't get anything done when the had all their best players in the lineup, early last season .Also, it is bad to have too incapable offensive bigmen in Maglore and Collins. What happens when they both play at the same time? I'm thinking it would be like playing 3 on 5 on offense.The Bulls, Cavs, and Raptors will all be better imo...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolverine30 @ Jul 25 2007, 01:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But Magloire is past his prime though. He is not his former all-star self. The most he could give the Nets is 10ppg and 7rpg at the max.Mikki Moore was fitting in well in the New Jersey Nets system. They should have kept him. Magloire is a slow player. If the Nets want Magloire to be successful in NJ, they will have to run a halfcourt offense. I don't think Magloire can keep up with RJ, VC and J-Kidd on the fastbreak.</div>Every player fits in well with the Nets system because of Jason Kidd. Magloire will fit in well too. Moore's good season was because of the Krstic injury, and it was a contract year. Moore's best season before last year was in 1999 when he played 29 games for the Pistons and averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds. I wouldn't be surprised if Magloire put up 9-10 rebounds a night either. Their front-court is definatly improved.
man I hope Vince will go somewhere else(not in lakers pls.) cause tthe team is nice and if that happens I will be very happy.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (wolverine30 @ Jul 25 2007, 01:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But Magloire is past his prime though. He is not his former all-star self. The most he could give the Nets is 10ppg and 7rpg at the max.</div> Jamaal Magloire was never an all-star caliber player, he made it because there was nobody else, I wouldn't say he's past his prime, he's being brought in because he's big and tough, and is a pretty good rebounder, something New Jersey doesn't have.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Jul 25 2007, 01:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think you look at the players too much, and exclude chemistry..The Nets couldn't get anything done when the had all their best players in the lineup, early last season .Also, it is bad to have too incapable offensive bigmen in Maglore and Collins. What happens when they both play at the same time? I'm thinking it would be like playing 3 on 5 on offense.</div> Magloire and Collins aren't going to play at the same time that often, if they do, it would in short stretches and ultimately wouldn't make much of a difference. The Nets beat your 'chemistry heavy' team last season in the playoffs. So...
Moore was a big part of their team last season and really fit into their style of play. I really like Kristic and believe he is a solid NBA player but I dont really see him fitting this team as nicely as Moore did. IMO Nets will make the playoffs but you will not lead the East....I think Chicago is pretty much tailored to dominate the EC this season followed by Detriot, Cleveland and Toronto.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Jul 25 2007, 02:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Magloire and Collins aren't going to play at the same time that often, if they do, it would in short stretches and ultimately wouldn't make much of a difference. The Nets beat your 'chemistry heavy' team last season in the playoffs. So...</div>Without our starting C and RJ not near healthy. The only team I am worried about is Chicago. Any other team, if we are both healthy, we are better. I think we could win the conference next year, if we could stay healthy.
