okay so thats my ambitious prediction for our local heroes dressed in purple. although, it seems reasonable doesn?t it? with kmart's departure the the nets are suddenly mediocre, according to published reports allen houston's knees are going to hinder him seriously for the rest of his career, u know wilkens will be fired with isiah replacing him and anticipate the ensuing drama from gotham city, boston is so rebuilding and philly is too old. so i repeat, "The Raptors are Going to win the Atlantic".
ya, its a possibility but i have a feeling the nets wont be mediocre and sixers can stillo be a good team in the east
i like the sound of it, i think they can be better then the nets, knicks and sixers next year, i have high hopes for this squad... and if they win the atlantic, which was the weakest divison last year i think.... if they win the atlantic they automatically get eithier the 1-2-3 seed in the playoffs no matter what their record is dont they? thers 3 divsions now so each of the top 3 teams i neach divisions get the 1-2-3 seed lets hope they cna take the divsion....
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">i like the sound of it, i think they can be better then the nets,</div> Jason Kidd still makes everyone around him great - meaning, RJ should elevate his game to another level. No one can make full predictions until the season starts. Heck, for all we know Vince Carter could be traded.
I don't know, I'm putting my bet on the Sixers right now, NJ or Raptors will be second, and they'll all have close records.
It will be really close this year, but I think the Sixers will as well, and no I am not biased. Miami should give them a run for it as well.
miami is in a diff divison tho whoever wins the atlantic gets automatically the 1-2-3 seed i nthe East despite their record Atlantic Boston Sixers NY Raptors NJ I wont count out NJ because of Jason Kidd but with Martin most likely signing with the Nuggets and Jason kidd demanding a trade and everything it looks kinda bleak but who knows, persumbly if JK stays, i think they can atleast grab the 2nd seed in the atlantic, i just think Raps have more depth now, a fresh coach and hopefully a healthy Vince Carter... as for the sixers, i think it depends on rampant injuries....their team is still capable of winning without AI now as they proved in various occasions last year but we'll see.....the key for all of these teams is if the superstars stay healthy....
If all goes well; meaning Vince stays, and everyone else is healthy, then thats not a bad prediction. The reason why is beacuse Boston, Philly, and the Knicks can be unpredictable at times. However, I think its just as easy for the Raptors to slip to 4th with these other teams, it all depends on who stays healthy. With that being said, I'm predicting a second or third place finish, I've got a feeling that either on of those aforementioned teams could go on a hot run. They may not have all the talent in the world, but I'd just look at the Bucks from last year and say its possible with either Philly or Boston.
I dunno, I'd say Philly is pretty talented with AI x 2, Kenny Thomas, Dalmbert, Green and Salmons, they look deeper than us. Boston has talent, but they're too young
i think they'll do it provided vince is with the team ... they also need too keep mopete somehow , cuz with the fast break mitchell wants too play mopete really shines
a lot of people are penciling in philly to win the atlantic, do u dudes have amnesia? snow, aaron mckie and coleman are senile. samuel dalemart (sp.), the canadian (the sixers have an affinity for canadian centers) is too raw have a consistent impact on a 82 game season and their draft pick looks like a poor man's gerald wallace. i think the raptors underachieved under o'neill, really simple consensus shared by most observers of the team other than chuck swirsky. with altson and another addition to the rotation the raptors win the atlantic. and for the dude who suggested that nets are going to win, remember j.kidd was a superstar loser before he arrived in new jersey. and he's going to be again this season.
no doubt..the nets are not the nets without kmart. i think they will squeeze into the playoffs somehow. but don't forget, with kmart gone, they have cleared some nice cap room which they can use to sign decent players. also, i think the knicks have more talent than the raps. as for boston, they won't make the playoffs plain and simple. they barely made it last year and they havent improved at all. philadelphia is the question mark. they can overachieve or underachieve. i think it will come down to the knicks and raptors and the raps have a decent chance if everyone stays healthy and plays well. nevertheless, i prefere to make such predictions at the start of the season, not now
Yeaa, Vince should definitely take that into consideration, Raps have a good opportunity here- if Vince stays. I also have a funny feeling about Chris Bosh, I think he might just blow up next season.
yeah, the Celtics ARE rebuilding, and I think the Raps should follow their lead. I don't see them getting anywhere with the roster they have now. By the way, the rebuilding Celtics still had a better record than your Raps last year, so writing them off as a "rebuilding" team seems a little silly if you ask me.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44caliberThrila:</div><div class="quote_post">yeah, the Celtics ARE rebuilding, and I think the Raps should follow their lead. I don't see them getting anywhere with the roster they have now. By the way, the rebuilding Celtics still had a better record than your Raps last year, so writing them off as a "rebuilding" team seems a little silly if you ask me.</div> okay so al jefferson looks promising in summer league while banks, robert swift, tony allen, welsch and west are all projects. the raptors have chris bosh, the best young big man in the game. the only reason why the raptors didn't make playoffs was because of former coach o'neill defensive obsessed half court style which juxtaposed negatively against the abilities of the roster. even coach o'brein said after our big trade for jalen and donyell marshall that the raptors had a 50 win team in the east.
This is from one of my post in the celtics forum on a comparsion to the Celtics <font face="Arial">We have a new coach, GM, and new key players. We filled the roles that were needed, PG and C, with Alston and Araujo. With our new run and gun mentatlity with Mitchell and Alston a.k.a. Skip running the point, with Bosh and VC I think we have a better chance at winning the division than the Celtics. Although the offseason is not done, here is a comparsion. <u>Starters</u> PG: Alston/Atkins SG: Rose/Welsch or Davis SF: Carter/Pierce PF: Bosh/Lafrentz C: Araujo/Blount Bold = Advantage Top Bench Players Raptors: Donyell Marshall, Alvin Williams, Morris Peterson (if raps match), Lamond Murray Celtics: Al Jefferson, Marucs Banks, Ricky Davis/Jiri Welsch The Raps have the advantage for the starters. They win or tie in every category except for the Center, where Blount has the clear cut advantage over Araujo, since he's a rookie and Blount has just come off a monster season...though it was his contract year. Carter and Pierce are tied in my opinion. They're both great offensive players, and passers. Pierce has the advantage at rebounding by about 1 board or so. Their team and one on one defense aren't spectacular, and it would be dumb to give one player with an advantage because of one board or assist. For the bench, you couldn't go wrong either way. The team benches aren't set yet so I just listed the key 3, 4 players. If Ricky Davis was coming off the bench, I could see them with an advantage, but I don't think he will with Doc Rivers as the coach. Marshall IMO, is the best of the players their, coming off a breakout year with the raps, averaging 16.5 and 11. I doubt that Jefferson could post those numbers starting this year, but he should be a presence off the bench. The advantage for the top bench players goes to the raps because they have experienced players who have all been double digit scorers and starters. As of now I see the Raps with the advantage in favorites to win the division, however we have not seen the new coaches work with these players yet, so it might be a little to early predict.</font>
refer to the celtics forum where in my lost response i contrast the celtics with the raptors. and deception be original.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting banks3:</div><div class="quote_post">This is from one of my post in the celtics forum on a comparsion to the Celtics <font face="Arial">We have a new coach, GM, and new key players. We filled the roles that were needed, PG and C, with Alston and Araujo. With our new run and gun mentatlity with Mitchell and Alston a.k.a. Skip running the point, with Bosh and VC I think we have a better chance at winning the division than the Celtics. Although the offseason is not done, here is a comparsion. <u>Starters</u> PG: Alston/Atkins SG: Rose/Welsch or Davis SF: Carter/Pierce PF: Bosh/Lafrentz C: Araujo/Blount </font></div> i like pierce over carter cause pierce has a better perimeter game, mentally tougher, more willing to penetrate creating wide open shots for teammates, more competent defensively, healthier and a better rebounder. u can't quantify all that stuff statistically but carter last year had a much better team to work with so most of the stats aren?t representative of pierce?s advantage.
Yea he has a better perimeter game but shot worse, shot 29.9% from three point range while taking 100+ more three's than Carter, and last year with Walker still only shot 30.2% from three range and averaged more turnovers. Hade a 3.1 to 1 assists to bad pass ratio to Carter's 3.2 to 1 assists to bad pass ratio, not much difference there. He's better at getting to the line though, and is a better defensive rebounder Comparing teams like that means nothing though, their's many othr factors, the bench, chemistry, style of play, all those things come into play, and team defense too, you can't just have one on one comparison's all over. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">a lot of people are penciling in philly to win the atlantic, do u dudes have amnesia? snow, aaron mckie and coleman are senile. samuel dalemart (sp.), the canadian (the sixers have an affinity for canadian centers) is too raw have a consistent impact on a 82 game season and their draft pick looks like a poor man's gerald wallace</div> Wow someone really has no clue about AI, calling him a poor man's Gerald Wallace is pure insanity.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting deception:</div><div class="quote_post">i like pierce over carter cause pierce has a better perimeter game, mentally tougher, more willing to penetrate creating wide open shots for teammates, more competent defensively, healthier and a better rebounder. u can't quantify all that stuff statistically but carter last year had a much better team to work with so most of the stats aren?t representative of pierce?s advantage.</div> I would take Pierce over Carter any day, he also gets to the line at least 7 times a game, where Vince has games where he only gets to the line 3 times. I wouldn't totally worry about the Celtics, I find the Knicks are the team that could beat us for first. If Allan Houston can stay healthy, their back court is as good as ours, and they have something we don't: Big men. I think it all depends on how we play compared to other teams. When healthy the Raptors can win the division, but the east is so unpredictable. On paper our lineup doesn't look that bad, but theres a case of other teams just flat out playing better which worries me a bit, because of the potential in this team.
