Predictions... meet Hindsight! Post your own predictions regarding the Nets!

[rondofan1255]

I only posted once about it, and was off.

I (conservatively) put 7-9 assuming the Nets don't suffer any major injuries to their top players. I feel a lot better about this pick's prospects than I did about the 2014 Nets or 2015 Clippers picks.

[mef730]

Just found one of my own predictions, had them at 5th worst team, beating out Philly, Detroit, Denver and Portland.

Well, I got Philly right.

Mike

[slamtheking]

Don't know where my old posts are but said they'd be a bottom 5 team last summer and happy to say that I was spot on.  one thing I was incorrect about was that I expected Lopez to miss some games but he's been pretty healthy this season -- still didn't help them from sucking more than a black hole

I can vouch for that. You replied to my prediction saying you thought they'd be one of those teams that underperforms. You have been proven to be spot on!

TP for the eyewitness testimony

[PhoSita]

All quotes are me.  I did the work digging these up so you don't have to.  Enjoy.

May 02, 2015

The only way the Nets really go into the crapper is if they re-sign Lopez to a big deal and then he suffers a foot injury that ends his career.

The fact is, in the horrible East, it's just not very difficult to put together a 30-40 win team if you are willing to spend the maximum possible money to do it.

June 01, 2015:

As you say, the Nets have seemed ripe for a major fall for a while now.  D-Will, JJ, and Lopez have always been enough to keep them right in the mediocrity zone, but maybe this year will be when something finally gives.

June 26, 2015:

I'm not in favor of relying on the Nets to have a really bad year in order to get this rebuild on track.  It's much easier to find your way into the middle of the pack than it is to bottom out, and the Nets have no incentive to bottom out.

June 29, 2015:

Because we now have multiple years of evidence of this Nets team finding a way to finish close to the middle despite being utterly mediocre (and even dealing with significant injuries).  We also have multiple years of the East being really shallow and pathetic despite raised pre-season expectations.

June 29, 2015:

The Nets will likely re-sign Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, and they will still have Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.  Plus, they had a decent draft night getting Steve Blake and RHJ to add to Jack and Bogdanovic on the bench.  They've also got Teletovic and a couple other OK bench pieces.

History tells us that with that mix of players, the Nets will likely end up in the 30-40 win range.

July 25, 2015:

Playoff Roadkill / Late Lottery Purgatory
- Raptors
- Pistons
- Hornets
- Celtics
- Nets
- Kings
- Pacers
- Mavericks
- Magic
- Knicks

July 14, 2015:

Yes, they lack depth, and no, they're probably not going to be very good.  Things could go off the rails if Brook suffers another ankle injury.

July 14, 2015:

Still, the biggest thing for me aside from the Brook Lopez thing is that the Nets just have no incentive to be bad.  There are too many teams with an incentive to be bad for me to pin my hopes on a team that doesn't

July 27, 2015:

Nets could be as bad as 26[th], but I think they could also be better than people expect.  All depends on how many quality minutes they can get out of Joe, Thad & Brook

August 5, 2015:

If we apply the same optimism to [the Nets] that we regularly apply to our own group, it's not so hard to imagine them reaching 35+ wins.
But, it's also easy to see how they could suffer some bad luck and end up in the mid 20s.

August 5, 2015:

Yes, the Nets are lacking in depth, which makes them more susceptible to things going wrong.
Still, 30 wins or so sounds right to me, barring a catastrophic injury or Joe Johnson falling off a cliff.  I don't know about the former, but I doubt that the latter is going to happen.

The Nets may not get much higher than 30 wins due to their lack of depth, but this is the Eastern Conference, and a well coached team that gets some unexpected contributions from some scrappy bench guys and rides their core guys hard (as the Nets did at the end of this past season) can win 5-8 more games than expected.   

August 5, 2015:

I agree with C18 -- if the Nets win only 32 games, that would be a fine outcome.  Might even be top 10.

Still, if we want to get a really exciting pick from them, I think we'll be hoping on Lopez to miss significant time, or for Jack and Joe to experience a precipitous decline.

November 10, 2015:

I'd be lying if I said that part of my motivation in pumping the brakes a bit on the whole "THE NETS ARE GIVING US A TOP 5 PICK THIS YEAR!" train all summer wasn't a desire to manage expectations and not set myself up for disappointment, plus a dash of disappointment over how the off-season went.

November 10, 2015:

At the same time, the Nets are a boring, grind-it-out half-court team, as befits their most talented player and their coach.  That lends itself to close wins.  It also lends itself to beating up on younger teams that tend to fall apart when the going gets tough late in a close game.
I still think the Nets will ultimately benefit from that.

November 22, 2015:

[T]he Nets still have the nucleus in place from a team that's made the playoffs  -- and won playoff series -- multiple times over the last few years.  The Nets have guys who know how to win games.

Now again, before somebody gets on me for saying the Nets are going to make the playoffs, that is not what I'm saying.  Just that there has always been an argument to be made that the Nets will challenge for 25-35 wins, and that argument is still valid, despite the 2-11 start.  Historically, the 25-35 range tends to yield a pick in the 5-12 range, not top 5.

November 22, 2015:

Bad start and all, though, I still think we're hoping for a Lopez injury to happen in order to end up with a top 5 pick (unless the lottery finally goes our way).

Cut to April 12, 2016:



"Wrong wrong wrong wrong, wrong wrong wrong wrong.  YOU'RE WRONG!"

[Evantime34]

All quotes are me.  I did the work digging these up so you don't have to.  Enjoy.

May 02, 2015

The only way the Nets really go into the crapper is if they re-sign Lopez to a big deal and then he suffers a foot injury that ends his career.

The fact is, in the horrible East, it's just not very difficult to put together a 30-40 win team if you are willing to spend the maximum possible money to do it.

June 01, 2015:

As you say, the Nets have seemed ripe for a major fall for a while now.  D-Will, JJ, and Lopez have always been enough to keep them right in the mediocrity zone, but maybe this year will be when something finally gives.

June 26, 2015:

I'm not in favor of relying on the Nets to have a really bad year in order to get this rebuild on track.  It's much easier to find your way into the middle of the pack than it is to bottom out, and the Nets have no incentive to bottom out.

June 29, 2015:

Because we now have multiple years of evidence of this Nets team finding a way to finish close to the middle despite being utterly mediocre (and even dealing with significant injuries).  We also have multiple years of the East being really shallow and pathetic despite raised pre-season expectations.

June 29, 2015:

The Nets will likely re-sign Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, and they will still have Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.  Plus, they had a decent draft night getting Steve Blake and RHJ to add to Jack and Bogdanovic on the bench.  They've also got Teletovic and a couple other OK bench pieces.

History tells us that with that mix of players, the Nets will likely end up in the 30-40 win range.

July 25, 2015:

Playoff Roadkill / Late Lottery Purgatory
- Raptors
- Pistons
- Hornets
- Celtics
- Nets
- Kings
- Pacers
- Mavericks
- Magic
- Knicks

July 14, 2015:

Yes, they lack depth, and no, they're probably not going to be very good.  Things could go off the rails if Brook suffers another ankle injury.

July 14, 2015:

Still, the biggest thing for me aside from the Brook Lopez thing is that the Nets just have no incentive to be bad.  There are too many teams with an incentive to be bad for me to pin my hopes on a team that doesn't

July 27, 2015:

Nets could be as bad as 26[th], but I think they could also be better than people expect.  All depends on how many quality minutes they can get out of Joe, Thad & Brook

August 5, 2015:

If we apply the same optimism to [the Nets] that we regularly apply to our own group, it's not so hard to imagine them reaching 35+ wins.
But, it's also easy to see how they could suffer some bad luck and end up in the mid 20s.

August 5, 2015:

Yes, the Nets are lacking in depth, which makes them more susceptible to things going wrong.
Still, 30 wins or so sounds right to me, barring a catastrophic injury or Joe Johnson falling off a cliff.  I don't know about the former, but I doubt that the latter is going to happen.

The Nets may not get much higher than 30 wins due to their lack of depth, but this is the Eastern Conference, and a well coached team that gets some unexpected contributions from some scrappy bench guys and rides their core guys hard (as the Nets did at the end of this past season) can win 5-8 more games than expected.   

August 5, 2015:

I agree with C18 -- if the Nets win only 32 games, that would be a fine outcome.  Might even be top 10.

Still, if we want to get a really exciting pick from them, I think we'll be hoping on Lopez to miss significant time, or for Jack and Joe to experience a precipitous decline.

November 10, 2015:

I'd be lying if I said that part of my motivation in pumping the brakes a bit on the whole "THE NETS ARE GIVING US A TOP 5 PICK THIS YEAR!" train all summer wasn't a desire to manage expectations and not set myself up for disappointment, plus a dash of disappointment over how the off-season went.

November 10, 2015:

At the same time, the Nets are a boring, grind-it-out half-court team, as befits their most talented player and their coach.  That lends itself to close wins.  It also lends itself to beating up on younger teams that tend to fall apart when the going gets tough late in a close game.
I still think the Nets will ultimately benefit from that.

November 22, 2015:

[T]he Nets still have the nucleus in place from a team that's made the playoffs  -- and won playoff series -- multiple times over the last few years.  The Nets have guys who know how to win games.

Now again, before somebody gets on me for saying the Nets are going to make the playoffs, that is not what I'm saying.  Just that there has always been an argument to be made that the Nets will challenge for 25-35 wins, and that argument is still valid, despite the 2-11 start.  Historically, the 25-35 range tends to yield a pick in the 5-12 range, not top 5.

November 22, 2015:

Bad start and all, though, I still think we're hoping for a Lopez injury to happen in order to end up with a top 5 pick (unless the lottery finally goes our way).

Cut to April 12, 2016:



"Wrong wrong wrong wrong, wrong wrong wrong wrong.  YOU'RE WRONG!"

TP for owning it. I am really curious how this year will effect the predictions in the Nets 2017 thread.

[celticsclay]

All quotes are me.  I did the work digging these up so you don't have to.  Enjoy.

May 02, 2015

The only way the Nets really go into the crapper is if they re-sign Lopez to a big deal and then he suffers a foot injury that ends his career.

The fact is, in the horrible East, it's just not very difficult to put together a 30-40 win team if you are willing to spend the maximum possible money to do it.

June 01, 2015:

As you say, the Nets have seemed ripe for a major fall for a while now.  D-Will, JJ, and Lopez have always been enough to keep them right in the mediocrity zone, but maybe this year will be when something finally gives.

June 26, 2015:

I'm not in favor of relying on the Nets to have a really bad year in order to get this rebuild on track.  It's much easier to find your way into the middle of the pack than it is to bottom out, and the Nets have no incentive to bottom out.

June 29, 2015:

Because we now have multiple years of evidence of this Nets team finding a way to finish close to the middle despite being utterly mediocre (and even dealing with significant injuries).  We also have multiple years of the East being really shallow and pathetic despite raised pre-season expectations.

June 29, 2015:

The Nets will likely re-sign Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez, and they will still have Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.  Plus, they had a decent draft night getting Steve Blake and RHJ to add to Jack and Bogdanovic on the bench.  They've also got Teletovic and a couple other OK bench pieces.

History tells us that with that mix of players, the Nets will likely end up in the 30-40 win range.

July 25, 2015:

Playoff Roadkill / Late Lottery Purgatory
- Raptors
- Pistons
- Hornets
- Celtics
- Nets
- Kings
- Pacers
- Mavericks
- Magic
- Knicks

July 14, 2015:

Yes, they lack depth, and no, they're probably not going to be very good.  Things could go off the rails if Brook suffers another ankle injury.

July 14, 2015:

Still, the biggest thing for me aside from the Brook Lopez thing is that the Nets just have no incentive to be bad.  There are too many teams with an incentive to be bad for me to pin my hopes on a team that doesn't

July 27, 2015:

Nets could be as bad as 26[th], but I think they could also be better than people expect.  All depends on how many quality minutes they can get out of Joe, Thad & Brook

August 5, 2015:

If we apply the same optimism to [the Nets] that we regularly apply to our own group, it's not so hard to imagine them reaching 35+ wins.
But, it's also easy to see how they could suffer some bad luck and end up in the mid 20s.

August 5, 2015:

Yes, the Nets are lacking in depth, which makes them more susceptible to things going wrong.
Still, 30 wins or so sounds right to me, barring a catastrophic injury or Joe Johnson falling off a cliff.  I don't know about the former, but I doubt that the latter is going to happen.

The Nets may not get much higher than 30 wins due to their lack of depth, but this is the Eastern Conference, and a well coached team that gets some unexpected contributions from some scrappy bench guys and rides their core guys hard (as the Nets did at the end of this past season) can win 5-8 more games than expected.   

August 5, 2015:

I agree with C18 -- if the Nets win only 32 games, that would be a fine outcome.  Might even be top 10.

Still, if we want to get a really exciting pick from them, I think we'll be hoping on Lopez to miss significant time, or for Jack and Joe to experience a precipitous decline.

November 10, 2015:

I'd be lying if I said that part of my motivation in pumping the brakes a bit on the whole "THE NETS ARE GIVING US A TOP 5 PICK THIS YEAR!" train all summer wasn't a desire to manage expectations and not set myself up for disappointment, plus a dash of disappointment over how the off-season went.

November 10, 2015:

At the same time, the Nets are a boring, grind-it-out half-court team, as befits their most talented player and their coach.  That lends itself to close wins.  It also lends itself to beating up on younger teams that tend to fall apart when the going gets tough late in a close game.
I still think the Nets will ultimately benefit from that.

November 22, 2015:

[T]he Nets still have the nucleus in place from a team that's made the playoffs  -- and won playoff series -- multiple times over the last few years.  The Nets have guys who know how to win games.

Now again, before somebody gets on me for saying the Nets are going to make the playoffs, that is not what I'm saying.  Just that there has always been an argument to be made that the Nets will challenge for 25-35 wins, and that argument is still valid, despite the 2-11 start.  Historically, the 25-35 range tends to yield a pick in the 5-12 range, not top 5.

November 22, 2015:

Bad start and all, though, I still think we're hoping for a Lopez injury to happen in order to end up with a top 5 pick (unless the lottery finally goes our way).

Cut to April 12, 2016:



"Wrong wrong wrong wrong, wrong wrong wrong wrong.  YOU'RE WRONG!"

TP for owning it. I am really curious how this year will effect the predictions in the Nets 2017 thread.

TP from me too (I think at least some of those quotes were in responses to me)

[danglertx]

At best Brooklyn has 1 star and that is only if you add a healthy (unlikely) Lopez to what used to be Joe Johnson.  The Nets are an absolute train wreck.  Any team that has an adequately mobile center is just going to high pick n roll Lopez at the three point line and roll to the basket for easy looks/dunks.

When we played them last year with Lopez, the Nets had to take him off the court because we were killing him so badly making him cover high picks.

And calling Thad Young a star is pretty laughable.  Thad is a good solid NBA player.  The rest of that team is pathetic.  They can't even bring in a lot of help because they are over the cap so salaries have to match. 

I had a bunch like those, calling the Nets a train wreck and the like.  I was pretty much spot on.  It seems like I said somewhere that the Nets would be lucky to win 20 games and that Lopez staying healthy was pretty unlikely.  Well I missed on the Lopez health thing but was spot on on the 20 wins part.

[konkmv]

Lets see the offseason first.. they cannot attract any super player not even a good one... i hope they sell lopez and young finally and ask for high picks... i have a small hope that we will have a top 5 pick all 3 years

[Quetzalcoatl]

Here is an impressive part of a post from November 20th, 2015 by me:

The other thing to keep in mind is that the NBA as a whole is much better than it was last year.  The 3-5 Bucks are the 3rd worst team in the East right now, after the Nets and 6ers.  The Lakers and Pelicans are most likely going to stay bad too, but do you see the Kings or Blazers having worse records than the Nets?  It's unlikely.  I think a very realistic finish for the Nets is 4th or 5th worst, which will worst case scenario give us the 7th or 8th pick.

The 4th worst team has a 11.9% chance at 1st pick, 12.6% for 2nd, 13.3% for 3rd, 9.9% for 4th and 35.1% chance for 5th - totaling 82.8% for a top 5 pick.

Here is a less impressive part of that same post:

The top 5 picks are Skal Labissiere, Simmons, Ingram, Brown and Dragan Bender.  I would be really happy with any of these guys and someone else could emerge out of the college ranks this year.  This draft was being pooped on a couple years ago, but it's actually rounding out nicely.

So I predicted the Nets to be 4th or 5th worst, basically guessed the exact order that the teams would be seeded, predicted that the Pelicans would be awful......and then listed Skal Labissiere first in my top 5 draft pick column.  I guess technically the "someone else could emerge" part qualifies for Buddy Hield and Brown might go 5th, so I sort of predicted the top of the lottery.  Ugh no excuses though, I'm usually better than that.

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=80741.msg1976061#msg1976061

[positivitize]

Pho, that was spectacular. If I could give multiple TPs, I would give you more than the number of games the Nets won.

Thank you for sharing that with us. You rock.

[celticsclay]

Pho, that was spectacular. If I could give multiple TPs, I would give you more than the number of games the Nets won.

Thank you for sharing that with us. You rock.

Yea I am circling back with another one. I think this board would be a much more enjoyable place if people could be more friendly and laugh at themselves on this kind of stuff because we are not exactly doing rocket science or solving world peace on this board (although we do try in the off topic section). TP to all those that can laugh at what they predicted.

[Ilikesports17]

As for myself, I like to think I called it pretty well, so I'll be putting on my "I-Told-You-So" pants.

The nets will not be as bad as people think for one simple reason.  To be bottom 5 bad, you almost have to try to be bad.  The nets have no motivation to try to be bad.

I don't know where this sentiment comes from. Owners of teams might try to put out a bad product or sabotage their teams by trading away talent for picks and expiring contracts, but no one playing the game, not the coaches, players, or supporting staff actually ever tries to be bad.

Players don't get paid if they play poorly. For the player, it makes 0 financial sense to play poorly on purpose. Sure their performances can suffer if there are problems in the locker room or if they're buried on the depth chart, but those situations happen all the time on teams that are not trying to tank. These guys are uber competitive and have worked their entire lives for the chance to win games in the nba. Players do not tank.

Coaches are also payed by performance and are always trying to win in order to secure their position/ make a play for a better one. The coach's position is admittedly more complicated than the players' position because the coach is in direct contact with management, but no coach is ever trying to lose the game. These people are uber competitive and payed for their ability to win basketball games. Sure, the GM can hire a bad coach or a coach who isn't ready to coach in the nba (as Ainge attempted to do with Stevens), but even bad or unready coaches try to win their games-their livelyhood depends on it.

All this is not to say that "tanking" isn't real or isn't a concern. It is. The GM can control a lot of variables to help his/her team lose games. However, every one of those variables can also occur naturally. And a lot of those variables have naturally manifested on the current Nets team. Lack of depth? Check. A roster of players that lack the required quickness to play defense combined with a defense first minded coach? Check. Demotivated players due to consistent losing and everyone out for themselves to re-establish their value? Probably. Locker room problems? None yet after trading Williams, but who knows? They haven't played a game together yet. Injury prone big men? Check Check.

Whether it is intentional or not, the Brooklynn Nets are tanking this year. Thanks Billy King!

... But I also have to eat some humble pie for only expecting the pick to land 4-8. I was too afraid to hope. I also was totally wrong about Lopez--he was an animal most nights and was nothing comparable to Greg Monroe:

Brooke Lopez is Greg Monroe with more injury problems and worse defense.
Thad Young is an older Tobias Harris without the star potential.
Andrea Bargnani is a older, slower Kelley Olynyk without the playmaking.
Joe Johnson is a rapidly aging former All-Star who hasn't been good for a few seasons.
Jarrett Jack is a solid backup point guard / poor man's Isaiah Thomas.

Replace their bench with our summer league team(minus Smart) and there wouldn't be much of a negative impact.

These are the guys that are going to make the playoffs in a east that's improved from last year?
I don't buy it.

Let's go ahead and say that Lionel Hollins works magic on the offensive end and all these offence first, ball dominant players magically mesh perfectly. The Nets score 110-115 a night with a back up point guard running the show. Who on their team is going to lift their hands or move their feet and stop every other team from scoring 120? In a best case scenario, the Nets have a proficient team on one half of the ball. Even in the lEastern conference, that will not get you into the playoffs.

Personally, I doubt the ability of a group of aging ball dominant has-beens to gel cohesively, even in an environment as historically stellar as the Nets', and even under the coaching mastermind Hollins.

I predict our pick falling into the 4-8 range. Even better if injuries happen to older players.

I could be wrong, but I think that might be my initial quote. Either way, it was how I felt so it may well be mine.

Very glad to be wrong.

I felt like this Nets team had so very many things that could go wrong, and to clarify, I meant ownership moves.

I felt that the Nets would keep guys like Lopez Williams Johnson and Young simply because sucking didnt help them, whereas a usually team would probably move them off for picks and start anew with a top 3 pick.

Also, i was a little disturbed last year by how effectively teams tanked at the end of the year. I remember a few teams just losing with reckless abandon down the stretch last year as they benched key guys for game after game. Luckily we didnt see too much of that ourside the Suns shutting bledsoe down when it seemed his injury realistically did not merit it. Then there was NOP shutting AD down early and Sacrementos latest forray into the benching this past week.

Luckily for us I was wrong! Never thought theyd be this bad without a Lopez or Young injury and I was shocked to see Johnson bought out. I think that was a big one just because of how miniscule their depth was.

I kept my predictions in the 7-12 range all offseason (I think)

Initially I think I thought they were most likely to be 10-12 then after moving Williams and looking at their depth, I adjusted my positions to 7-10. Very happy to be wrong.

Next year I am predicting 7-12 range again, but lets wait and see about the offseason. I could definitely see another disastrous season.

Kudos to all who saw this coming (it was a large portion of the blog).

[celticsclay]

As for myself, I like to think I called it pretty well, so I'll be putting on my "I-Told-You-So" pants.

The nets will not be as bad as people think for one simple reason.  To be bottom 5 bad, you almost have to try to be bad.  The nets have no motivation to try to be bad.

I don't know where this sentiment comes from. Owners of teams might try to put out a bad product or sabotage their teams by trading away talent for picks and expiring contracts, but no one playing the game, not the coaches, players, or supporting staff actually ever tries to be bad.

Players don't get paid if they play poorly. For the player, it makes 0 financial sense to play poorly on purpose. Sure their performances can suffer if there are problems in the locker room or if they're buried on the depth chart, but those situations happen all the time on teams that are not trying to tank. These guys are uber competitive and have worked their entire lives for the chance to win games in the nba. Players do not tank.

Coaches are also payed by performance and are always trying to win in order to secure their position/ make a play for a better one. The coach's position is admittedly more complicated than the players' position because the coach is in direct contact with management, but no coach is ever trying to lose the game. These people are uber competitive and payed for their ability to win basketball games. Sure, the GM can hire a bad coach or a coach who isn't ready to coach in the nba (as Ainge attempted to do with Stevens), but even bad or unready coaches try to win their games-their livelyhood depends on it.

All this is not to say that "tanking" isn't real or isn't a concern. It is. The GM can control a lot of variables to help his/her team lose games. However, every one of those variables can also occur naturally. And a lot of those variables have naturally manifested on the current Nets team. Lack of depth? Check. A roster of players that lack the required quickness to play defense combined with a defense first minded coach? Check. Demotivated players due to consistent losing and everyone out for themselves to re-establish their value? Probably. Locker room problems? None yet after trading Williams, but who knows? They haven't played a game together yet. Injury prone big men? Check Check.

Whether it is intentional or not, the Brooklynn Nets are tanking this year. Thanks Billy King!

... But I also have to eat some humble pie for only expecting the pick to land 4-8. I was too afraid to hope. I also was totally wrong about Lopez--he was an animal most nights and was nothing comparable to Greg Monroe:

Brooke Lopez is Greg Monroe with more injury problems and worse defense.
Thad Young is an older Tobias Harris without the star potential.
Andrea Bargnani is a older, slower Kelley Olynyk without the playmaking.
Joe Johnson is a rapidly aging former All-Star who hasn't been good for a few seasons.
Jarrett Jack is a solid backup point guard / poor man's Isaiah Thomas.

Replace their bench with our summer league team(minus Smart) and there wouldn't be much of a negative impact.

These are the guys that are going to make the playoffs in a east that's improved from last year?
I don't buy it.

Let's go ahead and say that Lionel Hollins works magic on the offensive end and all these offence first, ball dominant players magically mesh perfectly. The Nets score 110-115 a night with a back up point guard running the show. Who on their team is going to lift their hands or move their feet and stop every other team from scoring 120? In a best case scenario, the Nets have a proficient team on one half of the ball. Even in the lEastern conference, that will not get you into the playoffs.

Personally, I doubt the ability of a group of aging ball dominant has-beens to gel cohesively, even in an environment as historically stellar as the Nets', and even under the coaching mastermind Hollins.

I predict our pick falling into the 4-8 range. Even better if injuries happen to older players.

I could be wrong, but I think that might be my initial quote. Either way, it was how I felt so it may well be mine.

Very glad to be wrong.

I felt like this Nets team had so very many things that could go wrong, and to clarify, I meant ownership moves.

I felt that the Nets would keep guys like Lopez Williams Johnson and Young simply because sucking didnt help them, whereas a usually team would probably move them off for picks and start anew with a top 3 pick.

Also, i was a little disturbed last year by how effectively teams tanked at the end of the year. I remember a few teams just losing with reckless abandon down the stretch last year as they benched key guys for game after game. Luckily we didnt see too much of that ourside the Suns shutting bledsoe down when it seemed his injury realistically did not merit it. Then there was NOP shutting AD down early and Sacrementos latest forray into the benching this past week.

Luckily for us I was wrong! Never thought theyd be this bad without a Lopez or Young injury and I was shocked to see Johnson bought out. I think that was a big one just because of how miniscule their depth was.

I kept my predictions in the 7-12 range all offseason (I think)

Initially I think I thought they were most likely to be 10-12 then after moving Williams and looking at their depth, I adjusted my positions to 7-10. Very happy to be wrong.

Next year I am predicting 7-12 range again, but lets wait and see about the offseason. I could definitely see another disastrous season.

Kudos to all who saw this coming (it was a large portion of the blog).

I was kind of torn up about deciding how big teams tanking really is like it is being discussed here. I think it happens a lot less than people think for two reasons. One, some of these games are just really ugly basketball so they stick in our minds(like it has been the last week and a half for Sacramento and NOP as mentioned). However, I think we remember these games and weird lineups more cause they are so bad and so ugly and it makes us think it happens for longer than it actually does (the last handful of games). The other thing, is that in these last few weeks these teams are not only playing each other they end up playing teams with a playoff spot or division locked up that are resting their players also. So the last few weeks of the season are just kind of a big mess for everyone except the few teams that are really jockeying for playoff spots.

Also, I think it is also pretty easy to overemphasize a team wanting to spite another team that owns it's draft pick. Yes the Nets have professional players that played hard for the majority of the season, but I really don't think the players or the ownership was thinking at points this season about trying to win at all possible costs to give us the 7th pick instead of the 4th pick. They are tired, banged up just like everyone else after an 82 game season. They probably have a lot less motivation than a team that is about to enter the playoffs to boot.

[SHAQATTACK]

5 th

[LarBrd33]

I thought they'd be better. I argued it pretty passionately. If anyone deserves a 'Toader So', it's me.

Yeah man, I don't know what you were thinking.   You were way wrong.  You should feel bad about your wrong prediction.   If it makes you feel any better - at least we now have a guaranteed top 7 pick to wipe your tears with.