A scant two weeks till training camp opens and only 6 weeks till the season kicks off. Of the eastern conference teams who is the most overrated ? I will pick a few of my personal favourites but the floor is open to all views. Rebuttals and all commentary welcome.
I put a poll similar to this last year. Vote early and vote often.
The Leprechauns:
The plucky warriors from Boston to me lead the pack on most overrated. Picked to finish second in the conference and to be a threat to the Lebrons is a pretty high bar and the boys from boston don’t have the chops for it. Isaiah Thomas snuck up on folks last year. Not this year. Teams will be ready for him and put a bigger set of bodies on him. All game and all year long. Llisted at very generous 5’9” and 185 he is going to wear down over the 82 game schedule. Al Horford is a really good player. Just not the kind of player that puts a team on his back and can carry them on his own volition. He has never done this before. Not in Atlanta and not in the NCAA at Florida. So why this year with a change of uniform colour does this change ? It won’t.
In a 3 point shooting league the Celts shooting from beyond the arc ranked an abysmal 28th out of 30 league wide. It didn’t improve. Ainge got no one to help. Jaylen Brown isn't going to light it up from beyond the arc. Neither is Smart or Bradley.
They let go their leading rebounder in Sullinger and while Horford does a lot of things very well rebounding isn't one of his best attributes. this year the only thing cleaning the glass in Boston will be windex. Folks smirk at the size of the deal that Evan Turner got in Portland but Turner was one of the few guys on the Celts besides IT who could get his own shot. Jaylen Brown may be good but he is not going to give the Celts this year what Turner gave them last year. There are lots n lots of young and unproven guys on the roster. Rozier, Young, Jerebco , Hunter, Jackson are not going to strike fear into a lot of hearts around the league.
The Bulls:
The Bulls are being picked to make the playoffs. Really ? The Bulls have potentially the worst shooting backcourt in the entire NBA in an aging Dwyane Wade and the mercurial Rajon Rondo. Jimmy Butler is an all star but he is not a 3 point threat on the wing. Think I am kidding ? Read the Bulls forums. The other projected starters areTaj Gibson and the wrong Lopez at the 5 and unless its from 5 feet or less they aren’t going to fill it up. They have McBuckets and Mirotic to make the 3 but Mirotic is streaky and spacing for both of them is going to be hard to come by to shake free for their shots. Mix in that Freddy Hoiberg doesn’t have the chops for the job of being an NBA head coach which requires him to manage some pretty big egos and with Wade / Butler / Rondo there are some pretty big egos. Chicago could implode by Christmas if there isn't enough balls to go around to keep Wade and Butler happy. Watch for Rondo to act as an accelerant in the demise of Freddy Hoiberg.
The SuperTeam:
Ah the Knicks. It wouldn’t be the NBA off season without the boys from Gotham being picked to make the playoffs. Not only make them but finish around 6th.
They have 3 guys on surgically repaired knees, two of whom, Carmelo and Noah are over 30. Rose is under 30 but has torn both ACL’s. They have no bench to speak of. None. They are on their 4th coach in 3 years. The current tethered goat walking the sidelines Jeff Horacek is likely being mandated to run an offense he doesn’t believe in by the embodiment of the Peter Principle in Phil Jackson. Mix in a meddling owner who thinks he should be GM and a press corps that make jackals look like Miss Manners and … Hey .. what could possibly go wrong on the Knicks march to the post season ?
I put a poll similar to this last year. Vote early and vote often.
The Leprechauns:
The plucky warriors from Boston to me lead the pack on most overrated. Picked to finish second in the conference and to be a threat to the Lebrons is a pretty high bar and the boys from boston don’t have the chops for it. Isaiah Thomas snuck up on folks last year. Not this year. Teams will be ready for him and put a bigger set of bodies on him. All game and all year long. Llisted at very generous 5’9” and 185 he is going to wear down over the 82 game schedule. Al Horford is a really good player. Just not the kind of player that puts a team on his back and can carry them on his own volition. He has never done this before. Not in Atlanta and not in the NCAA at Florida. So why this year with a change of uniform colour does this change ? It won’t.
In a 3 point shooting league the Celts shooting from beyond the arc ranked an abysmal 28th out of 30 league wide. It didn’t improve. Ainge got no one to help. Jaylen Brown isn't going to light it up from beyond the arc. Neither is Smart or Bradley.
They let go their leading rebounder in Sullinger and while Horford does a lot of things very well rebounding isn't one of his best attributes. this year the only thing cleaning the glass in Boston will be windex. Folks smirk at the size of the deal that Evan Turner got in Portland but Turner was one of the few guys on the Celts besides IT who could get his own shot. Jaylen Brown may be good but he is not going to give the Celts this year what Turner gave them last year. There are lots n lots of young and unproven guys on the roster. Rozier, Young, Jerebco , Hunter, Jackson are not going to strike fear into a lot of hearts around the league.
The Bulls:
The Bulls are being picked to make the playoffs. Really ? The Bulls have potentially the worst shooting backcourt in the entire NBA in an aging Dwyane Wade and the mercurial Rajon Rondo. Jimmy Butler is an all star but he is not a 3 point threat on the wing. Think I am kidding ? Read the Bulls forums. The other projected starters areTaj Gibson and the wrong Lopez at the 5 and unless its from 5 feet or less they aren’t going to fill it up. They have McBuckets and Mirotic to make the 3 but Mirotic is streaky and spacing for both of them is going to be hard to come by to shake free for their shots. Mix in that Freddy Hoiberg doesn’t have the chops for the job of being an NBA head coach which requires him to manage some pretty big egos and with Wade / Butler / Rondo there are some pretty big egos. Chicago could implode by Christmas if there isn't enough balls to go around to keep Wade and Butler happy. Watch for Rondo to act as an accelerant in the demise of Freddy Hoiberg.
The SuperTeam:
Ah the Knicks. It wouldn’t be the NBA off season without the boys from Gotham being picked to make the playoffs. Not only make them but finish around 6th.
They have 3 guys on surgically repaired knees, two of whom, Carmelo and Noah are over 30. Rose is under 30 but has torn both ACL’s. They have no bench to speak of. None. They are on their 4th coach in 3 years. The current tethered goat walking the sidelines Jeff Horacek is likely being mandated to run an offense he doesn’t believe in by the embodiment of the Peter Principle in Phil Jackson. Mix in a meddling owner who thinks he should be GM and a press corps that make jackals look like Miss Manners and … Hey .. what could possibly go wrong on the Knicks march to the post season ?
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