We might as well start this now that one preseason session is behind us, and you all have stats. Feel free to do this now or any time in the next week-- season starts next Sunday (regular season). My picks: East 1. Bucks A lot of people are betting against them in this upcoming season. I wouldn't do that. They acquired probably the best player in basketball, and definitely the Eastern Conference. Unloaded some unnecessary depth and got some good role players to go with the star. 2. Nets The Nets still have a very talented team, and since most players are young they should still get better. After losing Dream and Camby I expect the Sixers to slip, and the Nets should capitalize. 3. Sixers They will still be a tough out come playoff time, with a lot of clutch players. But after losing Dream and Camby and replacing them with Woods and Mo Taylor, they are a little soft on the interior. They probably can't equal last season's regular season success unless another move or two is made. 4. Pacers Again, this is another team that most people don't like. However, I'd still expect them to have a good season. They increased their talent through the draft, landing a good big man in Elden Campbell and a solid PG in Chris Whitney. Bender should get better, and they have a lot of hard workers. 5. Celtics This team has a lot of potential as well. Mourning is dominant on the interior, and White looks like he may be able to contribute immediately. Dermarr Johnson should continue to get even better, and if Stephen Jackson and Jerome Moiso can contribute, they have a very well rounded team. 6. Pistons Should continue to move right along from their 7 seed last year... picking up Iverson is a plus, and they also have some very hard workers inside in Jerome Williams and Nazr Mohammed. 7. Bulls Don't be too surprised. This team has a lot of talent from the 1-4 spots, and if Brad Miller can just play solid from the 5 spot and provide some defense and rebounding, I like their chances. 8. Wizards Still a solid team all around, but losing Jermaine O'Neal will hurt. Jahidi White can't provide what Jermaine did, and the Wiz never were a great regular season team anyway. Very close to getting in: Knicks, Heat West 1. Dallas Mavericks Assuming Malone doesn't slow down, they return 5 of the better players from last year's dominant team. No reason to think they should fall off too much this year. 2. Houston Rockets (by record, would be 3 because of division) I believe I have the talent to do this-- the question is with injuries. I have always built for this year, and I have 9 very good players on my roster. If they can stay healthy, I should win a lot of games. 3. Portland Trail Blazers They should be even better than last year, esp. by playoff time. Dream is a better player, esp. in the clutch, than Sabonis and Andre Miller is better than both Damon Stoudamire and Baron Davis. 4. Utah Jazz Can the young team contribute so soon? This team has great talent, with Grant Hill, David Wesley, Al Harrington, Patrick Ewing, etc. However, two key team members are high schooler Sagana Diop and European Vladimir Radmanovic. Can they contribute big time minutes in their first season? It will be key. 5. San Antonio Spurs The Spurs will still be a very good team, but I think they might fall a couple of notches after losing Duncan. They came out with some very nice players in that trade, and probably have better talent this year. However, I'm just not sure how much a team without a dominant post player can do in the West. 6. LA Lakers Lakers will still be tough, as long as Shaq and Kobe are around. The addition of Danny Fortson will help a lot too, but will it be enough to put them past the talent stacked teams in the West? 7. Minnesota Timberwolves The draft hurt them a little bit... they lost their big time scorer in Dickerson and it remains to be seen if Sabonis will keep contributing next year. The Timberwolves will still win 50-60 games next year, but I think they may drop a notch or two unless Peterson turns out better than expected at shooting guard. 8. Seattle Sonics or Sacramento Kings These two teams went down to the wire for the last playoff spot last year, and neither team has distanced itself from the other. Both have improved, but remain very similar in terms of overall talent. I would pick Seattle based on their strong close, but trading two of those starters (Snow and Penny) makes it difficult to predict if the new starters can keep the chemistry going. The Kings have one of the deepest teams in the league, but they need to find a way to get everyone some minutes. A 2 for 1 type deal to get another consistent threat would help them out a lot. The Grizz will also make a run, but I think they need a couple more quality bench players to be on par with Seattle and Sacramento. Very close: Sonics/Kings, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Clippers ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Woo Hoo, finally ranked as an underdog again! ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams and Lisa Malosky fan club. atheistalliance.org
Okay, here's mine: I'll start with the east, since they won the championship this year. 1. CriscoNets- I really think I have the talent to dominate the regular season this year, especially considering the schedule is back to normal. At least one of my young stars should put up better numbers this year, and I'm betting it's McGrady. 2. Milwaulkee- I rate them this high because of their player's performances in the preseason, but they will do no worse that 3 or 4 even if their role-players falter. 3. Philly - I can't let Heath's team fall too far, as they are the defending champs and still have their core intact, but everyone knows that they are lacking a strong frontcourt presence. Methinks a trade might be in the works for the future? 4. Pistons - imo they are a better team at almost every position now. Nazr is better than Z, Iverson is better than Stackhouse, and Cassell is better than Miller. 5. Bulls - Good solid team. Mash, Davis, Anderson and Fizer should put up good enough numbers to get the Bulls into the playoffs. 6. Wizards - Solid team with good depth. Kept their team intact after almost trading away its best player. Losing Jermaine O'Neal and Croshere should'nt be too much of a loss, as they weren't contributing all that much anyway. White should be a better fit. 7. I would rank this team higher as it has some serious talent but... none of that talent is at the pg position. Boston will struggle unless they can make a trade to land a good pg. 8. I'm going to have to go with the Pacers. The team has improved and really wants to scare me in the playoffs. Might move up to 7 or 6 if my team falls to 2 or 3. West... bleh 1.Mavs 2.Blazers 3.Wolves 4.Rockets 5.Spurs 6.Lakers 7.Jazz 8.Sacramento ------------------ .,.·^*'´'|'\..........,.·^*'´¯¯¯'`*^·,...,/|'`*^·-, '|.......'|::\......,·'.....,.·:*:·,......'`i:'|.......| '|.......'|:::|.....;.......':,:::,:·.......';:|.......| '|.......|::;i - ·;i'`:,......¯¯.......,·´|::|.......| '|.......'´.......'|'i:::`*:~·.–·~^*'´: :'|::|.......'`*·-, '|........,.-:^:':'\:'`:;:: :: : : : :: ::;·'i::/`':^·.,......`'i '|..,.:'´:::::::::::'\| '`*^~·:–:·~^*'´..'|/:::::::::'`:^:., | '´:;:::::::::;:-·^*'´.....................`'*^·:;-.....:;·' ....`·;:·'´........................................'`^·:;·´
East 1. Nets It will be the year of the grease next season 2. Sixers Better offense this year, worse defense 3. Bucks Duncan might need some more help. For now Smith, Stoudamire, and Baker will do. 4. Wizards Walker still the anchor for this team 5. Celtics Mourning will do great of course. But unless Johnson and White step up this team won't rise too much 6. Pistons Improved at pretty much every position 7. Pacers Bender should get way better this season. Adding Elden should help as well. 8. Bulls Bulls have done well rebuilding, getting Anderson, Mash, Hughes, and Davis in addition to holding on to Fizer. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again. [This message has been edited by vj23k (edited July 17, 2001).]
I acknowledged his being on your team, just didn't type his name. Just named a few. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
West 1. Blazers With the addition of the Dream, I think this will be the year the Blazers regain the top-gun title. 2. Mavs Everyone underestimated them last season, but with the best record in the league, I don't think anyone will this season 3. Wolves The draft definitely hurt this team greatly...Giving up Mike Olowakandi and Michael Dickerson, and taking Quentin Richardson, Arvdas Sabonis, and Maurice Jeffers, but I think the team will still bounce back, Tim Thomas should get some more time this season without Michael Dickerson. 4. Spurs No Duncan, but more depth with Allen, Robinson, Rogers, and Robinson 5. Jazz Made a great deal, picking up a superstar in Grant Hill 6. Rockets Francis, Vince, and Nowitzki make for a great trio, Battier, Divac, Alexander nothing to scoff at either. 7. Lakers Hard to imagine the real NBA's champions(With additions Van Exel and Fortson) being this low, but that is how loaded the west is. 8. Kings Should improve since most of the core is very young, DV might consider dealing Odom or Peja for a more pure PG... ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
im not mad at where you put me or anything , but what about jalen rose ? ------------------ mgh 1924 - 2001 http://www.al-gore-2004.org/
Come on everyone, make your predictions before the season starts so the teams that get eliminated can have something to look back at during the playoffs. <u>West</u> 1. Mavs - Since this team didn't really lose any starters, they should be able to recover from the tremendous losses of Lorenzen Wright and Cedric Ceballos. This team will continue where they left off at the end of the 2nd regular season, but they'll be disappointed once again b/c of one man, Karl Malone. So far he's been a part of two very disappointing playoff runs, it seems like he's cursed in this sim. 2. Blazers - Another team that hasn't really lost much in the common draft. They actually gained in the C department by replacing Sabonis with Dream. Hakeem might actually be the key to pushing Smeg over the hump and into championship glory...that is if he can get past the Jazz. 3. Jazz - I still attribute my fall from 4 to 5 last season to messing with my team too much and trading away my depth for Vince Carter. I was actually within a few games of the Spurs at the 3 spot last season, I then chose to trade for Vince Carter hoping that it would push my team to the 3 spot. Unfortunately the acquisition had a negative effect on my team. Then towards the end of last season, I made a massive trade with Cat for more depth. The added depth helped me make out of the 1st round for the first time only to lose to the Mavs 4-1 in a 7 game series. The only downfall in my plans might be my weakness at C and PF, hopefully the Ewing/Diop and Harrington/Coleman platoons can survive against the superstar lineups in the West. Also, I should add that my preseason team with all rookies starting managed to go 6-3 during the preseason, and 20-12 during the regular season when Cat had to fast forward for a live game. Now I'm adding Ewing, Hill, Wesley, and Kukoc to my roster so I doubt I'll be any lower than a 4 seed. 4. Spurs - DC also felt changes were needed to his lineup to compete with the top 2 teams in the west. Many people thought he won the deal for Ray Allen and Glen Robinson, but the as the preseason ended, some GM's were changing their minds. I still think it was a good deal just for the fact that something had to be changed. His best chance for winning with that team was last season so he had to trade his most valuable commodity. His once strength, is now his weakness, but his more balanced lineup could overwhelm some teams that have traded their depth for their superstars, otherwise known as the "Nomar Syndrome"... 5. Rockets - Cat's really done a 180 on his trades lately. After making some questionable trades last season that left him with very little depth, he's slowly taken advantage of a couple GM's and re-built his team into a nice squad. His starters and primary bench players are all solid. Unfortunately he has one of the weakest frontcourts in the division in my opinion. First you have Dirk who doesn't grab as many boards as he should with his body, and then you have Vlade Divac who spends more time laying on his hands and knees from a flop than on his Nike's. His team will still be vastly improved and be tough to knock out in the playoffs. 6. Lakers - Fade basically replaced Ho Grant with Danny Fortson and Glen Rice with Larry Johnson. I think his team is slightly worse than the team he fielded last season, but Shaq and Kobe will still carry this team to a 6 seed. I just can't see a team with the MVP ever falling out of the playoffs. 7. T-wolves - vj's team falls to 7 b/c he hasn't really gained much since last season, this could be attributed to the fact he seems to have been on vacation for the last 2 months. Just by going over the depth chart Heath provided in his evaluation thread (thanks heath), it looks like vj's team is a shell of it's former self. Add to that, I don't like SAR or Brand so that also accounts for his dramatic fall to 7. 8. Sonics - I really didn't agree with RR's latest trade giving up Hunter and Russell for the underachieving (compared to real life) Ben Wallace. I almost placed the Grizz ahead of him, but the Grizz are still just too shallow in my opinion to get into the playoffs. They need a C and a SF in my opinion... Anyway back to the Sonics, RR's bench is slightly weak with Googs as backup PF/SF, but his starters should be able to carry the major load for him. Center's a weak spot for him still b/c of Wallace's underachieving in this sim, but I see his team gaining the 2 games on the Kings, pushing DV out of the top 8. <u>East</u> All I know is the Nets will be the 8 seed... ------------------ President of the CC.net Realist Club, everyone needs a dose of reality once in a while... [This message has been edited by Pete Rose Mobster (edited July 20, 2001).]
My Predictions WEST - 1. Blazers - Miller/Dream huge improvements over Stoudamire/Sabonis 2. Mavs - See above 3. Rockets - Now have talent and depth with addition of Battier,Szczerbiak and others 4. Jazz - Radman, Eze, Moon all playing well early to add to an already deep bench 5. Lakers - Shaq, Kobe and Nick should get a lot of help from Fortson 6. Spurs - Loss of Duncan should hurt against Western rivals, but Allen, Robinson, Rose trio will make them tough to beat 7. Wolves - Brand/Rahim/Brandon leadin the way 8. Kings - M. Jackson, CWebb, Peja, Mobley, Odom 8. Grizz - Camby, KG, Griffin, Stack, M. Jackson Next year watch out for the... Sonics - They could make it this year too...with the steal they got on the Warriors 1st round common they should be able to add a very good player in the common draft and improve a lot. EAST - 1. Bucks - Duncan will own the Eastern conference power forwards 2. Nets - Jamison, Pippen, McGrady and Marbury...enough said 3. Sixers - Lost Hakeem and Camby, but have lots of depth, including 2 star pg's and should be able to land a dominant big man 4. Celtics - White off to an excellent start 5. Wizards 6. Pistons 7. Bulls 8. Pacers Next year watch out for the... Hornets!...not really. Give me 2 more seasons with 1st overall common picks while Kwame develops... Raptors - Young athletic team with a potentially explosive backcourt in Terry/Forte
The Cavs have a GM? When did that happen? ------------------ President of the CC.net Realist Club, everyone needs a dose of reality once in a while...
Little harsh on the Pups aren't ya? It is the summer, I am entitled to something of a break... Say all you want about SAR, Brand, Peterson, etc... I don't have the one superstar as many others do(BGM's Hill, VOR's Finley, Kidd, and Malone, Heath's Payton) But I have a good 7-8 guys who can score double figures at any time, SAR has started the season like a monster, and Brandon and Brand are as consistent as ever. Guess we will wait out the season and see. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
well i got my pg in crawford so make my core jackson,webber,odom,peja,crawford ------------------ How Sweet It Is! How Sweet It Is! Gene Peterson on the rockets winning the 1995 championship over the Orlando Magic
