2010-2011 Eastern Conference Predictions

[synekec]

Miami Heat 78-4
Boston Celtics 65-17
Orlando Magic 57-25
Chicago Bulls 52-30
Atlanta Hawks 48-34
Cleveland Cavaliers 46-36
Milwaukee Bucks 42-40
Washington Wizards 39-43
________________________
Indiana Pacers 38-44
New York Knicks 36-46
Detroit Pistons 33-49
Philadelphia 76ers 31-51
Charlotte Bobcats 30-52
New Jersey Nets 24-58
Toronto Raptors 19-63

NON-Playoff Teams
I see the Toronto Raptors quickly becoming the leagues worst team, I was probably extremely generous giving them 19 wins.
The Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets had lottery picks this past year, but I don't see Derrick Favors or Evan Turner providing substantial win increases for either team. They are solid pieces, but both teams have a long way to go. (I mean NJ only won 12 games last year!)
Charlotte Bobcats lost their leader in Raymond Felton in addition to Boris Diaw.. don't see them being a playoff team.
Detroit Pistons - A joke (talk about washed up), still will win their fair share of ball games though
New York Knicks - Will be a little better than last year, but they have much work to do to get the right pieces around Amar'e (not a playoff team)
Indiana Pacers - Will contend for a playoff spot with Hibbert, Collison, and Granger leading the way.. (love their young talent)

Playoff Teams
Washington Wizards - John Wall is good enough to get this team into the playoffs
Milwaukee Bucks - Very worried about Andrew Bogut's health.. if he is healthy this team is as high as a 4 seed (if not, which I expect.. they will be 7th or 8th)
Cleveland Cavaliers - Still have a great young core, tradeable assets, a great coach, and a huge trade exception. If the Cavs are in the hunt around the deadline, expect some deals to make this team a true contender
Atlanta Hawks - Business as usual, make the playoffs but no progress
Chicago Bulls - Think they will have a solid season, but could fall flat on their faces with a new head coach (big mistake getting rid of Vinny)
Orlando Magic - Business as usual, expect similar results as the past few seasons
Boston Celtics - Very powerful team, with a mix of young talent and all star veterans, expect big things from them
Miami Heat - Going to own this league like we have never seen before in our lives (Unfortunately).. I almost made them undefeated

 

[Obawan12]

One thing I would like to point out- everyone says, "Miami will struggle on the interior on defense." Even if they do, who the fuck is going to guard LeBron and Wade on offense? Whatever match-up problems teams pose for Miami, Miami poses 10 times as many problems. It works both ways...

 

[abraxas]

NON-Playoff Teams
I see the Toronto Raptors quickly becoming the leagues worst team, I was probably extremely generous giving them 19 wins.
The Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets had lottery picks this past year, but I don't see Derrick Favors or Evan Turner providing substantial win increases for either team. They are solid pieces, but both teams have a long way to go. (I mean NJ only won 12 games last year!)
Charlotte Bobcats lost their leader in Raymond Felton in addition to Boris Diaw.. don't see them being a playoff team.
Detroit Pistons - A joke (talk about washed up), still will win their fair share of ball games though
New York Knicks - Will be a little better than last year, but they have much work to do to get the right pieces around Amar'e (not a playoff team)
Indiana Pacers - Will contend for a playoff spot with Hibbert, Collison, and Granger leading the way.. (love their young talent)

Playoff Teams
Washington Wizards - John Wall is good enough to get this team into the playoffs
Milwaukee Bucks - Very worried about Andrew Bogut's health.. if he is healthy this team is as high as a 4 seed (if not, which I expect.. they will be 7th or 8th)
Cleveland Cavaliers - Still have a great young core, tradeable assets, a great coach, and a huge trade exception. If the Cavs are in the hunt around the deadline, expect some deals to make this team a true contender
Atlanta Hawks - Business as usual, make the playoffs but no progress
Chicago Bulls - Think they will have a solid season, but could fall flat on their faces with a new head coach (big mistake getting rid of Vinny)
Orlando Magic - Business as usual, expect similar results as the past few seasons
Boston Celtics - Very powerful team, with a mix of young talent and all star veterans, expect big things from them
Miami Heat - Going to own this league like we have never seen before in our lives (Unfortunately).. I almost made them undefeated

78-4, lol. Loaded teams have lost to far inferior teams during the olympics/world championships, and it's happened in the NBA too. I would bet everything I got they won't win 78 games. I would bet a lot they won't win 70. They are not the Celtics of 08. This is a different team, brought together for different reasons, and under different circumstances. Call it denial, but I'm still not sold the Magic don't own #1 this season.

 

[Kouki]

One thing I would like to point out- everyone says, "Miami will struggle on the interior on defense." Even if they do, who the fuck is going to guard LeBron and Wade on offense? Whatever match-up problems teams pose for Miami, Miami poses 10 times as many problems. It works both ways...

No one is denying that it works both ways.

Although the Boston frontline will be able to do a tremendous job of keeping the "Big Three" in check. Wade and James are still dependent on driving to the hoop.

And LA is no slouch either, with two great defenders in Artest and Kobe, as well as Gasol and Bynum to back them up.

 

[davedugan43]

Yeah, but when you have 2 of the top 5 players in the game, you expect them to be good.

I would say they have the second, fourth, and seventh best players in the league (Kobe= #1, LeBron #2, Durant #3, Wade #4, Paul #5, Melo #6)

 

[davedugan43]

My prediction:

1. Heat 56-26 :thumbdown
2. Magic 54-28
3. Celtics 53-29
4. Hawks 50-32
5. Bulls 50-32
6. Bucks 49-33
7. Cavs 44-40
8. Knicks 41-41
9. Bobcats 39-43
10. Wizards 37-45
11. Pistons 34-48
12. Pacers 34-48
13. Sixers 32-50
14. Nets 32-50
15. Raptors 17-65



Eastern Conference 2010-2011 Playoff Predictions:

Round 1
Heat over Knicks in 5 (Knicks sneak one in the Garden, Amare has huge game, but they fall to Wade and the Wadettes in Game 5 at AAA)
Magic over Cavs in 4 (Cavs don't have the big man to fight Howard, this won't be pretty)
Celtics over Bucks in 6 (Jennings and the Milwaukee Bucks put up a huge fight, falling in OT in Game 6)
Bulls over Hawks (Bulls have too much firepower for Atlanta now, Joe Johnson can't match Boozer, Rose, Noah, and Deng)

EC Semis
Heat over Bulls in 7 (Booze gives Bosh a run, Rose and Wade duel, and the Heat struggle, but move on)
Magic over Celtics in 5 (Shaq gets abused and finally passes the crown to Dwight)

ECF
Heat over Magic in 6 (Lebron isn't relied on ((AKA he lets Wade shoulder the load and plays sidekick)) and Bosh chips in about 16 a game, Miami wins

Lakers over Heat in 5 (Kobe plays the best NBA Finals of his career, shuts down the "super team" and ties the Lakers with Boston for most championships....In my opinion, the Lakers beating the quitter and Wade and Bosh is a victory to me.

 

[ncf135]

Miami 64-18
Orlando 58-24
Milwaukee 51-31
Boston 50-32
Atlanta 47-35
Chicago 45-37
Charlotte 42-40
New York 38-44
----------------------
Cleveland 34-48
Philadelphia 33-49
Indiana 32-50
Washington 30-52
Detroit 29-53
Toronto 24-58
New Jersey 20-62

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

I would say they have the second, fourth, and seventh best players in the league (Kobe= #1, LeBron #2, Durant #3, Wade #4, Paul #5, Melo #6)

Chris Bosh is not a top 10 player in the league, let alone top 7.

 

[Chris]

I would bet good money the Heat do not even sniff close to 70 wins...that is ridiculous.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

1.) Miami- 66-16
2.) Orlando-62-20
3.) Chicago-54-28
4.) Boston- 52-30
5.) Atlanta- 47-35
6.) New York- 45-37
7.) Cleveland- 43-39
8.) Milwaukee- 41-41
________________________________________
9.) Indiana- 36-46
10.) Charlotte- 33-49
11.) New Jersey- 31-51
12.) Detroit- 30-52
13.) Washington-27-55
14.) Philadelphia- 24-58
15.) Toronto- 17-65

I'm going to make a few predictions here that might go against conventional wisdom..

1.) Milwaukee- I feel that this team is unbelievably overrated. They will miss Luke Ridnour, Corey Maggette is a career loser who will not help them especially since he struggles to shoot the ball. John Salmons has inked a contract and will not enjoy the touches and potential PT lost to Corey Maggette. Salmons had a good string of games, but people forget how pathetic he was in Chicago earlier in the year when he wasn't trying because it wasn't an ideal situation for HIM. I predict Salmons comes down to earth and after a string of losses the team starts to tune Skiles out. They will trend downward this year and fall apart next year. Watch.

Charlotte- Larry Brown is already disinterested and their PG situation is a mess in a system that relies so heavily on PG play. They have no legitimate bigs, their only good players are Wallace and Jackson, both injury risks who avoided it relatively well last year and Jackson is a year older. They will not make the playoffs.

As for the Cavaliers, I do think they end up a playoff team when all said and done after some surprising years from a few guys we don't truly expect. I don't necessarily agree that gunning for the 7th seed is the best option moving forward, but I don't think my opinion matters to Byron Scott or Chris Grant or Dan Gilbert.

I also think Chicago will be really really good. Rose will make a leap and when Boozer gets healthy they will start to pile up wins. Solid team, solid bench, good make-up. Only concern is that Thibedeau is out of his league, but it will hurt them more in playoffs than in regular season(similar to Mike Brown).

 

[Silky Smooth]

1.) Miami- 66-16
2.) Orlando-62-20
3.) Boston-54-28
4.) Chicago- 52-30
5.) Cleveland - 50-32
6.) New York- 47-35
7.) Atlanta- 47-35
8.) Milwaukee- 45-37

If we are going to fight for a playoff spot we might as well go all in and get a high enough seed to have a very good shot at making the second round. We make a mid season trade were we get some much needed talent at the SG and SF positions. Scott will get us to playing tough and fast and we will cause some problems for teams. We beat Chicago in 6 and face the Heat were we lose in 5 but game a lot of respect in the league and by fans.

 

[czvo]

1.) Miami- 66-16
2.) Orlando-62-20
3.) Boston-54-28
4.) Chicago- 52-30
5.) Cleveland - 50-32
6.) New York- 47-35
7.) Atlanta- 47-35
8.) Milwaukee- 45-37

If we are going to fight for a playoff spot we might as well go all in and get a high enough seed to have a very good shot at making the second round. We make a mid season trade were we get some much needed talent at the SG and SF positions. Scott will get us to playing tough and fast and we will cause some problems for teams. We beat Chicago in 6 and face the Heat were we lose in 5 but game a lot of respect in the league and by fans.

Damn, if these records happen, the difference between the playoff teams and the non-playoff teams is going to be huge.