Toronto stared off the season with the best regular season record in the first 25 games IIRC. They've added Demare and still have some room to make a trade. Terence Ross is an interesting prospect for most teams. Plus they have an All Star back court in DeRozan and Lowry. Pacers with a healthy Paul George are making the playoffs. Why would the Bucks have a down year? They were one of the better coached teams last year and they've added talent and are getting the best last year rookie back. If there's one team I can see falling off it's definitely Atlanta. While I agree there might be some surprises, I really doubt it comes from the disfuntional Knicks.
Toronto also had one of the easier schedules to start the season last year. There is a growing frustration with Dwayne Casey and I believe they tune him out more and more over the course of the season. He's also the only coach to not employ Tom Thibodeau's defense in the league which hurts them. Milwaukee are a grimy, defensive team without star power and those teams can always fall off that one year. As you see in my projections I don't think either miss the playoffs but I think Toronto does suffer a fallout.
Agreed. They've quietly made some solid moves, and Stanley Johnson already looks ready to be a legitimate contributor to an NBA team.
I could see Detroit sneaking into that 8 seed but I believe a Scott Skiles coached Magic team will get in ahead of them.
I'm obviously a homer, but man I like watching Kawhi play. Westbrook is insanely good - but how can he stay healthy the way he plays? I'm suddenly a lot less high on OKC stock.
We got the win, but we have plenty to clean up. The bench laid an egg and we got bossed on the boards.
Pacers?? Play-offs??? even if Paul George is healthy he's going to carry that team to the play-offs??? L-O-L
Why not? George is a legitimate star, something almost no other team in the Eastern Conference besides the Bulls, Cavs, and Wizards can boast.
Carmelo isn't a star?? Pacers are George and thats it... They were talking about playing FOUR WINGS at once.. f-o-h. George is fresh from what could've been a career ending injury.. and so you expect him to really fight for a play-off spot by himself? I'm confused It's literally just him and a cast of deadweight players. Their 2nd round pick from this past draft is one of their best players entering the season which says A LOT. They'll most likely be a top 10 pick in the draft.
I take it you just looked at the Pacers roster lol.. Jordan Hill, Monta Ellis, and Paul George. Zohee fam, Explain how this team will make the play-offs. lol
Simple. They have a much better coach and better defenders. Oh and correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Anthony have a bum knee that ''forced'' him to sit out half the season after the All Star break? I'd bet on the younger, more athletic George to make more of an impact than Anthony at this point. In terms of talent these teams are quite even IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if Fisher was one of the first coaches to be cut in this season, considering all that was happening off the court during the offseason.
"better defenders"... Uhhhh Knicks brought in Afflalo, Lopez, O'Quinn aka a bunch of hustle defensive guys.. Pacers have,,, Rodney Stuckey playing D? lol.. Does Ellis know what D is anymore?? Mahinmi must be a real shot stopper in the paint and so is Jordan Hill. Zohee the Pacers aren't going to the play-offs, frame this post. I'll be down to eat that crow.
Paul George is twice the defender than anyone on the Knicks, plus you have George Hill to put on the opposing guard. The Kincks have.. Jose Calderon? Let's be realistic here. They're making the playoffs before the Knicks and that's for sure. Frame that!
How about u wait for at least 20 or so games to judge a team? Knicks sounded impressive in their win but I need to watch the game today
George Hill isn't THAT good. I agree with catrhacho. Pacers are a team in transition. They're talking about playing PG, at the 4 ffs. Jose Calderon would start on the pacers. Who is the Pacers point guard? George Hill isn't a real PG. He's an undersized shooter.
Calderon would not start on the Pacers. Defensively he's a liability. Hill isn't. I don't like PG at the four and I'm sure eventually he'll be back to playing SF. That being said, they could get away with Paul at PF in the East. The Knicks are more injury prone and have a worse coaching staff. How is this even a debate?