2011/2012 NBA Regular Season

[GreenFaith1819]

Go ahead NY - give this one away.

CHA - give the ball to Boris and get out of the way!

[Celtics18]

If we're not going to win the Atlantic this year, I'd like to at least see Philly take it over NY.  Speaking of the Atlantic, how about our friends from up north of the border, eh?  One game under .500, and getting it done with . . . what . . . defense?!! 

[PosImpos]

Philly looks legit.  I think they could win the Atlantic this season, and I wouldn't be shocked they earn the 4th or 5th seed.

[Who]

Philly looks legit.  I think they could win the Atlantic this season, and I wouldn't be shocked they earn the 4th or 5th seed.

Yeah, I have been impressed with Phily. Good quality players with strong balance and depth.

I like what they are getting out of Hawes and Vucevic. Finally getting some good service out of that five position. They already had good guard (Holiday, Lou Will, Turner) and forward play (Iggy, Thaddeus and Brand) so that has rounded out their team nicely.

Along with Chicago, I think Phily has one of the top two benches in the league.

[PosImpos]

Current Eastern Conference standings:

1   Miami          8-1   
2   Chicago          8-2   
3   Philadelphia   6-2   
4   Atlanta          7-3   
5   Indiana          6-3   
6   Orlando          6-3   
7   New York       5-4   
8   Boston          4-4   


Switch Philly with Atlanta and New York with Boston and I think you've got something very close to the standings for the end of the regular season.


I still think the C's would have the edge in a playoff series against any of those teams except for the Bulls and Heat, but it won't matter if they're the 7th or 8th seed -- they'll be a 1st round out against one of the top 2 seeds.

[nickagneta]

Current Eastern Conference standings:

1   Miami          8-1   
2   Chicago          8-2   
3   Philadelphia   6-2   
4   Atlanta          7-3   
5   Indiana          6-3   
6   Orlando          6-3   
7   New York       5-4   
8   Boston          4-4   


Switch Philly with Atlanta and New York with Boston and I think you've got something very close to the standings for the end of the regular season.


I still think the C's would have the edge in a playoff series against any of those teams except for the Bulls and Heat, but it won't matter if they're the 7th or 8th seed -- they'll be a 1st round out against one of the top 2 seeds.

My top 8 in the EC.

1. Miami - best team in the league.
2. Chicago - second best TEAM in the league. They just so happen to play in the same conference as the best team
3. Boston - the contributions of Pietrus, Bass, Dooling, Daniels and O'Neal mean everything. Solid healthy seasons and they are a title contender. Less means drop offs. Injuries means 5-7 seed.
4. Atlamta - solid team but after they dispatch Orlando again they will get destroyed by Miami
5. Orlando- They will be a third seed until they trade Howard to Dallas or LA then fall off and suck in the playoffs.
6. Indiana - great young team just missing that transcendent superstar that makes a team like this a title contender. Its possible Paul George could be that star in a couple years
7. Philadelphia - surprising start and the young players are developing nicely. Hawes is an aberration and will come back to reality and Brand won't last the season causing the fall off
8. New York - Chandler is making almost no difference on this team because no one else ever plays defense and the bench sucks

[Celtics18]

Current Eastern Conference standings:

1   Miami          8-1   
2   Chicago          8-2   
3   Philadelphia   6-2   
4   Atlanta          7-3   
5   Indiana          6-3   
6   Orlando          6-3   
7   New York       5-4   
8   Boston          4-4   


Switch Philly with Atlanta and New York with Boston and I think you've got something very close to the standings for the end of the regular season.


I still think the C's would have the edge in a playoff series against any of those teams except for the Bulls and Heat, but it won't matter if they're the 7th or 8th seed -- they'll be a 1st round out against one of the top 2 seeds.

I think we can claw ourselves into at least a sixth seed.

[Kiorrik]

Current Eastern Conference standings:

1   Miami          8-1   
2   Chicago          8-2   
3   Philadelphia   6-2   
4   Atlanta          7-3   
5   Indiana          6-3   
6   Orlando          6-3   
7   New York       5-4   
8   Boston          4-4   


Switch Philly with Atlanta and New York with Boston and I think you've got something very close to the standings for the end of the regular season.


I still think the C's would have the edge in a playoff series against any of those teams except for the Bulls and Heat, but it won't matter if they're the 7th or 8th seed -- they'll be a 1st round out against one of the top 2 seeds.

I wouldn't have pegged you this optimistic. (no sarcasm, I really thought you'd think us a 6th, 7th seed, with a fast first or second round out.

[PosImpos]

Current Eastern Conference standings:

1   Miami          8-1   
2   Chicago          8-2   
3   Philadelphia   6-2   
4   Atlanta          7-3   
5   Indiana          6-3   
6   Orlando          6-3   
7   New York       5-4   
8   Boston          4-4   


Switch Philly with Atlanta and New York with Boston and I think you've got something very close to the standings for the end of the regular season.


I still think the C's would have the edge in a playoff series against any of those teams except for the Bulls and Heat, but it won't matter if they're the 7th or 8th seed -- they'll be a 1st round out against one of the top 2 seeds.

I wouldn't have pegged you this optimistic. (no sarcasm, I really thought you'd think us a 6th, 7th seed, with a fast first or second round out.

Going into the season, I thought the C's were a 2nd round exit for sure, but after seeing the way some of the younger teams have started, I really think it's going to be hard for the C's to win more than 36 games, and that's not gonna get them much better than 7th or 8th seed, I think.

[PosImpos]

Justin (Philadelphia): Mike, what are your thoughts on the 76ers this season? Yes it is early but come on you have to give credit to a team thas has brought the "team" aspect back to the game.

Mike Wilbon: I picked the Sixers to finish fifth or sixth in the Eastern Conference and I think I under-bid. I didn't have the guts to pick them to win the Atlantic Division, even though that's what I thought when I looked at the teams on paper. Sixers coach Doug Collins has them really playing well and in this, his second season, is when Doug really reaches young players.

They've got a star-less roster by today's NBA standards, yet they play as a team, with emphasis on defense and sharing the ball. ... Hooray for Philly.

I love Collins, I think he has one of the best minds in the history of basketball. I'm very lucky in that I've had access to Doug (and his mind) for my entire career and he's been patient to a fault with my phone calls and in-person brain-picking over the years. So I root for Collins. I think he's on to something this season. That team WILL win the Atlantic Division.

[CelticG1]

Not even going to bother worrying about the pacers or sixers till at least half way into the season. Neither seem to me as a team that can maintain this success. Too young, not enough start power.

We go through this every year and mediocre teams will have people jumping on their bandwagon. I predict similar seedlings to last year for pacers and sixers with neither getting higher than 6 seed

[vinnie]

I initially thought 3rd-5th seed before Green went down. Changed to 4th-6th seed after Green went down and am sticking with that, although leaning more toward 6th than 4th.

[PosImpos]

Not even going to bother worrying about the pacers or sixers till at least half way into the season. Neither seem to me as a team that can maintain this success. Too young, not enough start power.

We go through this every year and mediocre teams will have people jumping on their bandwagon. I predict similar seedlings to last year for pacers and sixers with neither getting higher than 6 seed

This isn't a normal season, though.  The condensed schedule heavily favors teams like the Nuggets, Blazers, Sixers, and Pacers to win more games than usual, at least relative to the more top-heavy teams.

[PosImpos]

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings


Celtics are currently 21st.

Yikes!

[Who]

http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerrankings


Celtics are currently 21st.

Yikes!

Celtics have had the third easiest schedule so far according to Hollinger's SOS.

Makes Portland's record (6 wins 2 losses) look all the more impressive (third toughest SOS).