Second best team in the East. Controversial?

[zeebneebV.3]

Toronto Raptors. Ever since Wade went down, I have been pondering this question. Miami to me, was the second best team in the East, the second we landed Webber, and since Shaq is getting up there in age. Besides all that, Cleveland is a damn train-wreck, and to me its almost unreal that they didnt get anything done at the dead-line. Big Z doesnt fit there, and thier lack of anything resembling a PG is going to haunt them. AND I didnt even go into how poorly Hughes fits that team as well.

Washington, while they seem to give us problems as of late, play absolutly no defense, have a player who has an ego the size of Shaqs gut after a BK bender, and a coach who doesnt seem to understand the fine-art of calling a time-out.

NJ is a joke, thru and thru. There are so many things wrong with that team, it amazes me, just like the Cavs, that they couldnt get anything done at the dead-line as well. No hope there.

Indiana is in flux. Borg head-coach who cant adjust, and the team seems in massive disarray with all the new players trying to fit in.

Orlando. You look up the definition of crash and burn, and you'll see a picture of this teams logo. I really havnt been able to grasp exactly what the HELL happened to this team, wich in the begining seemed ready to compete for something other then giving us a nice draft pick. It almost seems like destiny that Howard wont re-sign there in a few short years. Sound familiar?

NY. ANOTHER team in the East with very little hope with its current roster. Mixed bag of dipshits with sneakers, buffet cruising bigmen, and a head-coach with one foot out the door. Pathetic.


The thing when looking at the East is that for what seems like the past 6 years, there has always been TWO title contending teams, with the rest bieng a flock of sheep looking for the man with the sheers. This year is a little different becuase we now have one team(Detroit thank you very much) that is heads and shoulders better then anyone else.

This leaves me with two teams, that could put up something more then a doormat fight with us trying to get back to the finals.

Chicago, and Toronto.

Both have a bevy of fine young players, with a seeming hunger to prove themselves.

When I look at Chicago, I see the obvious choice for the title of bieng roadkill in the ECF. The game today showed a dedication to defense thanks to Mr. Wallaces arrival, and a supporting cast that plays hard, the whole game. With that said, they have some GLARING weaknesses, and absolute nightmares when matching up against us.

1.)No post presense whatsoever. It's bad. Real bad. If thier gaurds aint hittin' shots, they lose, plain and simple. PJ Brown played out of his mind today, and it amounted to a loss, coupled with an ailing Rasheed, and a team that couldnt hit the broadside of a barn. They have almost zero ways of freeing up thier gaurds, like the way Detroit does any any givien time with a bevy of players(Rasheed, Webber, Prince, Dice) and almost at no time do they present a mis-match. In the playoffs, its about exploiting those mismatches.

2.)The dreaded offensive lull. We as Detroit fans know what this is like. For what seems like an eternity, you watch your team try in a futile effort to throw anything into the damn basketball ocean, only to come up dry each and everytime. You just cant have those types of offensive droughts against a team such as Detroit, who is as experienced as they come.

Toronto is a different animal now. They seem to have a nice mix of players who can do it all. Outsdie shooters, post men, and slashers. They are less experienced then Chicago, but they seem determined NOT to be the Raptors of old. Bosh still has some growing up to do, with his game, but I really like thier team, taken as a whole when compared to Chicago.


Maybe its just me, but I actually think that Toronto has better balance. Chicago seems like the little engine that wants to, but just cant seem to get it done.

They are my pick as the second best team in the East.

[BubblesTheLion]

Sheed > Bosh in a big way.

[Higherwarrior]

RIGHT NOW, i would agree with you. let's see come april though. miami will rise, wade or no wade.

and i fully expect the bulls to be right there. i like toronto's longterm outlook and they're playing really well now. but i think they're overachieving and will not have much staying power come playoff time.

[b-diddy]

toronto is hot right now, but i dont think their team is particularly well put together for the moment. they have some nice peices, but theyre not #2 yet.

i'd stick with the bulls.

they do have lulls, they give up leads more often than any team i can remmber, but theyre dangerous. gordon's foul trouble cost them. also, theyre not going to piss their pants at home at the sight of the pistons flexing their muscles.

theres alot of teams that could emerge. indiana has been intriguing since the trade. cleveland could turn things around at any minute. miami gets wade back and we're the #2 team, probably. and god does that make me mad.

[UxKa]

Good post zeebneeb. Chicago is dangerous simply because of Gordon, he had me scared earlier today except for the last shot I knew wasnt going down. They have Ben in the lockerroom though to demystify Detroit. Toronto is scary, but they will crack in the playoffs against our veteran team. Cleveland will live on Lebron love but eventually fall IMO. Miami will fall for two reasons. One, we can beat them. Two, I think even the refs are starting to feel the Wade foul love. Just before the injury to his vaginal shoulder, I heard the media talking about how he does flop a lot. After all the time we have bitched about it, it was getting some attention. Of course coming back from the injury will buy him some false credit, but I dont think it will be enough to win a playoff series.

Dallas and SA are the biggest issues, maybe even Utah because if they make it out of the West they have whupped us for two years now. Phoenix doesnt scare me as much becase that would be a matchup of obvious will of who can run whos game. Phoenix would be 7 games Im sure but Id like to think we can impose our will.... Dallas and SA have the ability to not only impose their will, but also beat us at our own game.

God I cant wait til a month down the road, I think Im more excited than last year.

[Zekyl]

It's kind of a wicked circle in the West. The only team Dallas should really worry about is San Antonio because of their ability to slow the game down and do everything right with the Big Fundamental punishing them down low. San Antonio really needs to worry about Phoenix running them right out of the building. I just can't see Bowen and Horry chasing all those Suns around the court affectively. Phoenix obviously should be worried about Dallas, who can slow it down to try to take the Suns out of their game and dictate the pace but can also run with the Suns when necessary by putting Josh Howard at PF and Dirk at C.

[Uncle Mxy]

The second-best NBA team in the East had been the Cincinnati Royals, until Jason Maxiell ate all their babies.

Seriously, we're still the second best team in the East until we make the NBA Finals. We should play like we're second-best fighting to be first-best, and not fall for our own hype or bullshit. Remember, we have the coach who thought that MoEvans was more of a PF than Dale Davis or Jason Maxiell. We have the PG playing too many minutes. We have Sheed shooting 41% and falling. We have a known choke artist in our starting 5. And certainly we're not the future of the NBA and won't get LeTravelling rights. Wade can go out there in a full body cast and score 30 points on FTs. We're only 5-4 in our own division, and the Bucks are one coach away from being a powerhouse. And did you see our March schedule?

Ok, so maybe I've exaggering a little bit, but only a little...

[WTFchris]

[Daviticus 2.39]

Sheed > Bosh in a big way.

Come on now, lets not get ahead of ourselves. Bosh puts up 23 and 10 and is the best player on his team, 2nd best team in the conference, and is the teams leader. Along with being an all-star.

Sheed will be a key role for us in getting back to the finals, but Bosh is better than Sheed by an exponential amount.

[Higherwarrior]

in head to head battles though, i'll take sheed right now. he plays with something to prove when he goes against the young guy.

bosh is a stud though...