ESPN's huge season preview

[nelsogotskillz]

All of them are underrating the Knicks. They assume that no one on our team is getting better. Truth is, all of our young guys are a lot better than they were last year.

best description of the magic:

SOUTHEAST: 2 | EAST: 8 Stan Van Gundy can coach, and he'll bring this young squad together. Rashard Lewis will be better in the East than he was out west, but unless J.J. Redick can prove he's legit, the Magic will be abysmal at the 2 spot.

best description of the Pistons:

CENTRAL: 2 | EAST: 3 Basically the same cast of characters from the disappointment of losing four straight to the Cavs. Some say Rodney Stuckey can really play, but there's concern about lack of significant changes.

best description of the celtics:

ATLANTIC: 1 | EAST: 1 You'll keep saying Boston doesn't have nearly enough around its new big three to go far ... and I'll keep responding by saying that this ain't 1987. In today's East, you can get to the Finals without a Bill Walton or Scott Wedman off the bench.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Best of the Magic -

SOUTHEAST: 1 | EAST: 4 Best team the Magic have fielded since Tracy McGrady left town. Rashard Lewis will open things up for Dwight Howard, who appears to have developed a few offensive moves. J.J. Redick will be usable. Seriously.

Best of the Pistons -

CENTRAL: 3 | EAST: 5 Still a dangerous team, but the days of Finals appearances are probably over. The youth of Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Rodney Stuckey will help, but they'll have to be dynamic for the Pistons to contend again.

 

[RipCity32]

Your a joke CC, if you think the Magic are better than us it just shows how biased YOU are. You think Shard will bring you such a great season, the guy is good don't get me wrong, but he has been an All-Star once in his life. He will get you 20 points, but you fail to see there is no depth on your team and your frontcourt is a joke, you won't win anything with Foyle.

Plus I heard somewhere that Lewis is probably going to be forced to play the 4 spot, rather the 3. Which he has said he hates doing. Your acting like Lewis is a superstar player, like LeBron, but what it boils down to, he's not.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

The Magic will win their division, the Pistons will come in 3rd in theirs. That gives them an automatic 5th place...

Lewis is playing 3/4, as is Turk. We're going 4 perimeter players surrounding Howard in the paint. Shard's not a superstar, but he gives us the one thing we needed most last year, a consistent scorer that can both slash and shoot...

If you don't think we're improved from last year, you're a moron...

 

[RipCity32]

The Magic will win their division, the Pistons will come in 3rd in theirs. That gives them an automatic 5th place...

Lewis is playing 3/4, as is Turk. We're going 4 perimeter players surrounding Howard in the paint. Shard's not a superstar, but he gives us the one thing we needed most last year, a consistent scorer that can both slash and shoot...

If you don't think we're improved from last year, you're a moron...

No <Censored> you improved, but your not finishing first in your division. And you might not finish 2nd. If the Wizards stay healthy they are better then you. And the Heat don't look to bad this year either. So that will put you around 6-8th in the East. And Pistons will finish 1-2 in our division.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Really? We're not better than the Wizards? The team that didn't play defense at all last season and lost their best post defender for the season? That team was a fluke last season. Everything was going perfect for them until those stars got injured. I think they're a playoff team, but they won't win the division.

As for the Heat, sure they have Davis. But Shaq's on the decline, and Wade can't carry that team all on his own. Their depth is attrocious, they have no consistency at point guard, an with the exception of Haslem all of their starters either are injury prone or don't gel with the team. They're hardly a playoff team, much less a division winner.

The Magic had the best free agent acquisition of the offseason. The nucleus of the team before that was very young. Howard is the best big man in the East and is only getting better. Nelson has improved. Redick is healthy and stretches defenses. Seriously, this is the best team in the Southeast.
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As for the Central division.

The Bulls are the best team in the division, maybe even in the conference. Kobe or not, they'll win the division on the legs of Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng, an extremely dangerous young trio. Nocioni, Sefolosha, and Duhon are strong off the bench, Joe Smith is an improvement over P.J. Brown, Tyrus Thomas is a manchild, and of course they have Ben Wallace.

And then there's the Cavaliers. It doesn't matter that they don't have Varaejo or Pavlovic, although I do think they'll get both back. They still have LeBron, and that's all they need to be better than the Pistons. We all learned that in Game 5, didn't we?

Seriously, you're Pistons are no longer elite. They need to begin to build on the front court which is obviously the key factor to this team not being elite. Other than the Bulls who had the greatest player of all-time on their roster, the last time the championship winner didn't have an all-star big man was early 90s. Even if they get Webber back, they're not a championship caliber team...

 

[RipCity32]

Really? We're not better than the Wizards? The team that didn't play defense at all last season and lost their best post defender for the season? That team was a fluke last season. Everything was going perfect for them until those stars got injured. I think they're a playoff team, but they won't win the division.

As for the Heat, sure they have Davis. But Shaq's on the decline, and Wade can't carry that team all on his own. Their depth is attrocious, they have no consistency at point guard, an with the exception of Haslem all of their starters either are injury prone or don't gel with the team. They're hardly a playoff team, much less a division winner.

The Magic had the best free agent acquisition of the offseason. The nucleus of the team before that was very young. Howard is the best big man in the East and is only getting better. Nelson has improved. Redick is healthy and stretches defenses. Seriously, this is the best team in the Southeast.
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As for the Central division.

The Bulls are the best team in the division, maybe even in the conference. Kobe or not, they'll win the division on the legs of Hinrich, Gordon, and Deng, an extremely dangerous young trio. Nocioni, Sefolosha, and Duhon are strong off the bench, Joe Smith is an improvement over P.J. Brown, Tyrus Thomas is a manchild, and of course they have Ben Wallace.

And then there's the Cavaliers. It doesn't matter that they don't have Varaejo or Pavlovic, although I do think they'll get both back. They still have LeBron, and that's all they need to be better than the Pistons. We all learned that in Game 5, didn't we?

Seriously, you're Pistons are no longer elite. They need to begin to build on the front court which is obviously the key factor to this team not being elite. Other than the Bulls who had the greatest player of all-time on their roster, the last time the championship winner didn't have an all-star big man was early 90s. Even if they get Webber back, they're not a championship caliber team...

You wasted your time with that, cause I'm not reading 6 paragraphs of biased bull <Censored>.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Ok, thanks for giving me the win in this debate

 

[RipCity32]

Ok, thanks for giving me the win in this debate

Whatever helps you sleep at night bub. I'll read it later.

 

[Grandy28]

You're saying the Heat don't have depth? Have you looked at the Magic's depth chart? D-Wade can't carry a team himself, but LBJ can? Did you forget that Wade actually won a championship and LBJ didn't? The Heat have Wade,Davis and Shaq who can all score. The Magic have Lewis who won't make as much of a difference as you think. I like the Magic, they have great talent, but they aren't the best team in the division.

Pistons have added depth, you have to admit that. A reason why we lost last season was, because of what, our starters got tired. What helps them rest up during the season? Hmm, a good bench. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the Bulls will win the division this season. The Pistons will finish either 1st or 2nd in the division.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Wade didn't single handedly win that ring though. He had Shaq who was still a 20-9, which is a big factor. Miami can't win a championship now because they don't have Shaq giving them 20-9.

As for Detroit. Of course they've added depth, to their backcourt... They can't contend with their mediocre front court...

 

[Grandy28]

Wade didn't single handedly win that ring though. He had Shaq who was still a 20-9, which is a big factor. Miami can't win a championship now because they don't have Shaq giving them 20-9.

As for Detroit. Of course they've added depth, to their backcourt... They can't contend with their mediocre front court...

We didn't need to add to our front court. Well we added Hayes to backup Prince- good addition in my opinion. Maxiell and Amir Johnson are both young great talents. Amir Johnson is still young on 20 or 21 I believe. We gave him like 3 years 10 million and he has barely played.

Shaq wasn't as dominate during the series with the Mavs and everyone could tell. Wade carried the team and thats why he won the MVP.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

But the Pistons don't have anybody that can given them consistent scoring. 'Sheed's numbers have declined each of the last five years. McDyess hasn't been a great low post scorer since 2001. Webber isn't even on the roster at this point, but his scoring average dipped 9 points last season. Maxiell and Johnson might have potential, but they're raw, and aren't going to do anything that makes this team elite this season. Nazr Mohammed averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds for his career.

They don't need help in the frount court? Oh and BTW, when I say front court, I really mean low post players. For some reason I've always put the SF position in with the backcourt. But yes, I'm talking low post scorers, or the lack there of on the Pistons roster...

 

[Grandy28]

But the Pistons don't have anybody that can given them consistent scoring. 'Sheed's numbers have declined each of the last five years. McDyess hasn't been a great low post scorer since 2001. Webber isn't even on the roster at this point, but his scoring average dipped 9 points last season. Maxiell and Johnson might have potential, but they're raw, and aren't going to do anything that makes this team elite this season. Nazr Mohammed averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds for his career.

They don't need help in the frount court? Oh and BTW, when I say front court, I really mean low post players. For some reason I've always put the SF position in with the backcourt. But yes, I'm talking low post scorers, or the lack there of on the Pistons roster...

As you know, Rasheed as lost 25 pounds and thats going to help him in the post. Maxiell could have a breakout season. Last season he shown the potential to be a good low post player. With C-Webb gone he could get the last to play 15-20 minutes and show what he is made of. I'm hoping that we give Amir Johnson some good amount of playing time this season. McDyess has been coming off the bench. This season his scoring should go up to about 13 points per season. We don't need a ton of low post scoring. Look at the other top 3 teams in the East. C's-Only KG in the post, Bulls-Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas aren't better in the post, and the Cavs have LBJ and he doesn't play post.

 

[Whisper]

That's not a noob prediction, sorry.

Kevin Garnett is the most versatile player in the league on both offense and defense. When the Timberwolves had Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell, and absolutely no bench, they were a very dangerous team who could've won the championship if Cassell hadn't gotten injured.

Well, KG hasn't lost a step, paul pierce and Ray Allen are MUCH better players right now than Sprewell and Cassell were, and the Celtics bench isn't bad at all.

Glen Davis is proving to be a steal. Eddie House is a very good back-up point guard and may get 20 minutes a game because he's such a good shooter. Posey is a good player. Allen has a lot of potential and had many games last year where he was just as good Gerald Green.

This Boston team is scary. No other way to put it. Just last night, KG had the first of many triple doubles on the team.

This team will outrebound you, outpass you, outdefend you, and most importantly outscore you.

They haven't even reached half of their potential.

What holes in this team do you see?

It's easy to say that all Rondo has to do is bring the ball up the court, pass the ball to one of the big-three, and get the hell outta the way, oh and hit the occasional jumper.

But only if it were that easy, besides Posey, their bench looks like a d-league squad. House is situational and the over sized baby doesn't impress me. KG's sidekick in the front court, Perkins has underachieved since he came in the league, that could all change but once the 82 day war is on we'll just have to see how it goes.

Rondo is good, you can hate a player but skills are undeniable. But if it's something Rondo doesn't have, it's a solid jumper, which is what most guys are talking about, he's going to be left open so he's going to be forced to make defense's pay with something he doesn't really have, jumper and experience. He could improve and potentially break out this season but with the big-three all on the wrong end of the age stick, can they wait that long if he doesn't pan out as expected, this soon? Because the pressure is on now that the expectations are championship or bust. Oh it doesn't just apply to Rondo either, that goes for the young bench as well. Can they pan out as expected and perform--consistently--game in and game out? Only time will tell.

There's a reason why the Spurs have been so successful, yes, Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker. But not only that, they have everything else a team needs besides superstars, a bench, and guys that can perform their roles on a consistent basis. Besides the big three, Beantown has a generally young team.

Now here's a kicker, you said that once Cassell went down, so did the T'Wolves... well the league is changing into a more up-tempo game, not only are these guys on the wrong end of 30 but Allen is also coming off two ankle-surgeries, and its been a while since Allen or Pierce have played a full season. Once one of them goes down, the team has to be able to rise to the occasion. But with the way their squad looks, another question is simply, will they be able to?

Potential is nice, but out of the many players in the league and around the nation, few reach that potential.

The season hasn't even started yet, just like I do with the Chargers, just let the players do the talking. They either prove you right, or prove me wrong. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[$tunna]

another negative write up for the Hawks..................

I look to SI and hear even more negative comments.............

:suicide:

 

[Whisper]

I like the Hawks. I think that Law and Horford will bring something to the team, they don't have to rely on JJ as much anymore but it's still going to take at least another season or two for them to really ascend to higher heights.