[<<<D>>>]

Which teams from last year will improve the most (teams below or just around .500) OR Which successful teams will drop down.
Your Opinions???

Here's my opinion...
Teams that will improve or continue their climb..
West - I think the Clipps will make some serious noise and With additon of Dre, they now have a solid floor leader
If this all works out, they can be seeded as high as #6 in the Western Conference playoffs.

East - I think the Inidana Pacers will make huge strides, J.Oneal's offense will continue to rise & Ron Artest's agression on D will contain many of the Guards.
I'm sure they're looking forward to playing the Nets again.

Teams that might drop down....
West - T' Wolves might Timber down a bit, Is Wally gone??, Chauncey was important to the backcourt

East - Hornets, without a healthy MASH, they might be Buzzing the Blues.

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

Thank you for showing Indiana some love.

 

[w-h-i-t-e-b-o-y]

I think Utah is on their way down with Stock and Malone another year older and a ever improving Clipper team the jazz miss the playoffs for the first time in ??? years. Also the Clipps on their way up with Dre running the show and the Phoenix will be on the cusp of the playoffs with a healthy Penny(never thought I'd put those two words next to each other) an upcoming Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudamire. The grizz will improve by about 10 games and finish around 35 wins. In the East expect Detroit to struggle with the team they have they were lucky to win as much as they did last year and I think they'll be around the 6-8 seed this year. I also think the Raps will be strong this year with Vince being healthy and Milwaukee will be back strong. I think Indiana will barely miss the playoffs and win approx 35-38 games.

Surprise teams---Phoenix, Lakers(their record no where near last years but still the 3 or 4 seed) Raps 3 or 4 seed.

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

Why would they miss the playoffs? They have a complete roster, except a veteran backup point which is being adressed this offseason(names like Jackson, Hardaway, Strickland, and McInnis have been thrown around) Take a look.

PG:Jamaal Tinsley/ Fred Jones
SG:Reggie Miller/ Ron Mercer
SF:Ron Artest/ Jonathan Bender
PF:Jermaine O'Neal/ Al Harrington
C:Brad Miller/ Jeff Foster

They will improve imensley this offseason with more time to develop chemistry after the mid season trade threw it off a bit. They are my pick to win the East. They proved they can beat the Nets, so I believe the sky is the limit.

 

[Hawkeye Pierce]

heres my projected standings for next year...

west-
1. lakers
2. kings
3. spurs
4. mavs
5. wolves
6. portland
7. clipps
8. jazz (as much as i wanna put marbury and the suns here, i cannot discount a team with stockton to malone as the main option, they will get it done and win the games to make the playoffs, especially considering there supposrting cast will have developed more from last season)

so in the west not much changes til the clipps at 7, and frankly i wanted to put houston on there but the top 6 teams are too good(ok portland is not too good but they will get it done, sheed and bonzi are great players) the clippers will make it this year, and the jazz are know how to get it done late in the season when it matters. god damn the west has a whole lot of good teams


east
1. boston
2. new jersey
3. new orleans
4. orlando
5. detroit (yeah i know booo hiss lynch him up)
6. toronto
7. washington (assuming mike is playing and healthy so dont hold me to this one)
8. indiana (yeah i know booo hissss lynch him up!)


ok boston climbs to the top behind an MVP year from pierce, jersey wouldve fallen out of the top 2 ubt chris childsd is a great backup for jkidd(especially come playoff time, greatpickup for nj) and there is no other team worthy of the number 2 spot. new orleans jumps up to three cause of their good frontline and contnued improvement from baron davis, as well as alexander at the 2 now he could really help. i dont know how the hell orlando is better then detroit ubt ill just say it has somehting to do wiht tmac playing awesoem, remember they got the 5 seed this year(or was it 4) and they were like 20-22 at one point, they got off to a real slow start, and if grants back he can only help. detroit doesnt really fall off as much as youd think, i mean they playd fantastic last year, but even with the addition of billups i dont think it will come together for quite the awesome run they had last year, hopefully they can show something in the playoffs. toronto lost there backup pg, but with a healthy vince and antonio davis, they should get around the 3 seed and come playoff time they have experience so watch them there. now the tricky part, washington ahead of indiana?? what kind of crack is he on?? and ill tell you it all comes down to coaching, indiana is a whole lot more talented then washington, but Isiah couldnt coach his way out of a wet paper bag, even with an all star pf one of the leagues top defenders, a great 2nd year point, a top 4 center a developing sf and one of the greatest clutch shooters of all time, they still cant get past that goddamned 8 seed, and this year there wont be any 5 game series with boston with MVP pierce pklaying. although id definitely give them a shot against any other team despite what seed they were.


so yeah the west barely changes and the east is helluva ****ed