NBA Power Rankings, EAST.

[Billy Bibbit]

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Morrison is a joke. Him going down has probably means nothing since he wouldn't have played anyway.

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[tuq]

I hope Joe Johnson rots in obscurity in Atlanta, and I love that most of you guys aren't putting the Hawks higher than 2nd or 3rd worst team. Not the least of which reason being that the Suns pick from them is unprotected next year. But JJ...man so much skill but he decided he wanted to be a star in obscurity rather than a key piece on a championship team (the contract was going to be matched but he asked the Suns not to). I probably shouldn't consider that a character flaw but I do...for years I've been accused of stacking my pickup teams because I'd rather be the worst player than the best one, because more than anything I want to win.

[morello]

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Charlotte was a playoff team until Morrison went down.

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Morrison had one of the worst seasons in NBA history last year. Shooting 37% on that many attempts is atrocious. If all of his minutes are transferred to Richardson, they'll probably gain 8-10 wins.

[BobboFitos]

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Charlotte was a playoff team until Morrison went down. I hope they can contend without him because they were going to be a lot of fun to watch.

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this is a level, right? Morrison goes down actually UPS the 'cats playoff chances, mainly because they wont feel compelled to give him minutes. He's a -ev waste of mins on a team that is surprisingly deep. (Deep meaning not as many -ev options)

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I don't think there is an easy place to draw a line between tier 1 and tier 2. This is tough to say for a Pistons fan living in Chicago, but the Bulls are clearly the class of the Central; they're deep, balanced, adding a year makes every one of their key guys better, and they have the experience of stretching the Pistons last year in the playoffs. The Pistons need the young guys, especially Maxiell and Prince, take make a big leap in order to offset the old guys getting older.

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it's very possible the east doesnt have a single top tier team. but it also seems wrong to list nearly 6 teams in a 2nd tier.

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The Celtics and Wizards are very talented at the top but they're top heavy; Bulls and Pistons have better starting units and are better 1 to 12. But even though those are my top 4, I can see the Cavs, Nets, Raptors, or Heat winning their respective divisions. 6 of those 8 will win 45+, best record in the East will be ~ 55-57 wins, and every playoff spot will be contested.

None of them are in the same league as the top 3 in the West but I'd take at least the top 4 East teams over whoever the #4 in the West is.

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really? the top 4 east (say chi, det, bos, wash) > either the Jazz or Rockets or Nuggets? I'd prop bet you on this, dont know how we could prove it since raw wins doesnt quite do justice but if any of those teams were in the west they'd be the 7th seed. (Aside from the Celtics, they'd be 4th!)

[LearnedfromTV]

Morrison's minutes ----> Richardson makes no sense. Richardson is playing 35+ regardless. The point is they have no depth at all. Losing May obviously hurt at least as much, but losing both for the entire season is brutal. I also think Morrison would have been a lot better than he was last year, but even if you don't you can't tell me they have anything close to a better sixth man. Matt Carroll, Derek Anderson are now 6 and 7.

[LearnedfromTV]

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really? the top 4 east (say chi, det, bos, wash) > either the Jazz or Rockets or Nuggets? I'd prop bet you on this, dont know how we could prove it since raw wins doesnt quite do justice but if any of those teams were in the west they'd be the 7th seed. (Aside from the Celtics, they'd be 4th!)

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I don't know how to do it either, since strength of schedule is skewed and sample size is too small if you just look at the head to head matchups. But yes, I'd definitely take the Bulls, Pistons, or Celtics in a seven game series versus the Rockets, Jazz, or Nuggets. I guess that's my Tier 1 then.

It's kind of hard for me to believe that people are underestimating the Bulls, but it appears they are.

Last thing on the Bobcats, because this is like 5000th on the list of arguments I care about winning, but where (Bobbo) is this depth you are talking about? It's looks to me like after the top 4 and then Herrman who is a legit starter assuming he plays like he played the second half of last year, they have a bunch of guys who should be options 8-10.

[Billy Bibbit]

LfTV: Matt Carroll is an above average 6th man but that's about it.

As fas as the East-West thing goes, if you moved a team from one conference to the other, they would win about the same number of games.

Take the top 3 teams in the East last year (Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago). Their total record was 152-94, or an average of 50 2/3 - 31 1/3.

Average record vs. the East of those three teams was 34 1/3 - 17 2/3.
Average record vs. the West was 16 1/3 - 13 2/3.

Using those records, if one of those teams had instead played 30 games vs. the East and 52 games vs. the West then their expected record would be just above 48-34, a whopping 2.5 game difference from their actual record. That's about what I would have expected based on what I watched last year: the best East teams were a little better than Denver but not quite as good as Houston and Utah.

[T_Mac]

Raptors fans I know this is a deep wound but I just realized once again that we could have had Andre Iguodala or Josh Smith instead of Raphael Araujo that year. How good would they look in a Raptors jersey right now? God damn you Rob Babcock! (You too Vince Carter, just cuz)

[Pudge714]

T-Mac,
I remember watching the draft and being devastated when Deng got picked the pick right before. That devastation became suicide watch with Hoffa.

[kidcolin]

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MEB,

11.5

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colin,

$132 bet? I take that they finish better than 11.5, you take worse. If they somehow end up tied at 11th with another team (so the two teams are 11th and 12th) is the only way we push. Deal?

Anybody willing to offer 12.5?

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considering I picked them to finish 10th, I'll have to think about it. I was just trying to pick a good line, and I think I did that.