Post by insane on May 17, 2020 11:55:31 GMT -8
Welcome to the 2002 Preseason Top 16. All content is opinion, not facts.
1.
Utah Jazz - The King stay the King until they're dethroned. They brought back the same team to run it back, and they look good as ever. Robinson decided to stick around and is aging like fine wine and H20 is in the prime of his career. Not only did all of his players stay the same, but Houston even managed to increase his A shooting to A+. They proved last year that their success is not just due to the Western conference and they look poised to go on another deep run.
2.
New Jersey Nets - This team was so close last season, and they are also running it back with the same roster. The Nets bring a really heavy frontcourt that will beat you up, rebound at a high rate, and make it very tough to score. All their main players pretty much stayed the same, so look for this team to be top of the east until proven otherwise. Same old Greeme formula with good rebounding, tough defense and outside shooting and it's proven to pay dividends.
3.
Miami Heat - Kobe has done an incredible job with the Heat so far and it continues with his acquisitions of Bodiroga and a brand new frontcourt this offseason. I wouldn't be mad if you flip flopped the 3/4/5 teams in any order, they're pretty close in my opinion. They look to have scoring in spades with McGrady and Davis, very solid PG play from Atkins, and a tough blue collar frontcourt. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this team ended up at the top of the East at the end of this season.
4.
New York Knicks - They had an up and down offseason for sure, but for a team that was oh so close to the finals, they bring back pretty much that same core. Incredibly, the GOAT got better in the offseason, but what can you do? GOAT shit. Mashburn will give you that same 20 a game, and then I think the ceiling of the team depends on how good Crawford can be. I'm part of the group that's really high on him - his C- defense hurts but it will be interesting to see whether he keeps up that efficiency he had on the Kings.
5.
Cleveland Cavaliers - Last season, the Cavaliers had some trouble getting into a rhythm, but once they did, they won at a pretty high rate. However, the achilles heel throughout was their defense, which hovered around the bottom 10 of the league. This year, KG looks incredible, Hill is improved and in his prime, and KVH at SG will continue to be a nightmare matchup for most teams. The one question mark you could have about this team is what they have in the post beside KG and their depth.
6.
Los Angeles Clippers - Well, they've got the best player in the league in Duncan, so that's a good start. Then he has Grandmama and Jones who will each give you 18-20 a night. After that, they've got a bunch of solid depth in Lenard, Williamson, Weatherspoon. Their PG play and post depth is a question mark for sure but you can nitpick most of the top teams, and this one in particular has Tim Duncan, so I will give them a pass and assume they will make the necessary moves to shore all that up.
7.
Denver Nuggets - One word: Shaq. Despite his flaws, we saw the type of destruction he was able to wreak in last season's playoffs. This is another team that's looking to run it back, as they bring back the same supporting cast around Shaq. McDyess is a solid contributor, but could probably stand to get an upgrade to his handling. Pippen, Reggie, and Stockton are all solid contributors despite their age, and they didn't die in TC. They should be a very tough out once again.
8.
Charlotte Hornets - They were one of the top teams statistically last season, boasting both a top 5 offense and defense for parts of the season. Their ending in the playoffs was disappointing and they took a heavy loss when the Mailman decided to retire and they lost that rebounding edge. BUT. They still have the most important thing, an incredible dominant center to anchor them on both sides of the floor. Zo with 3.8 BPG is just ridiculous, and he looks to continue his dominance this season. Bryon Russell should step into that starting SF role and Stackhouse will be called upon to score more.
9.
Detroit Pistons - Galo has a very solid team of vets here. Webber had a great TC for them and looks like one of the best PF's in the league, should average something stupid like 25/11 this year. Last season, they won 45 games, but they didn't have Webber for the full season and they suffered some unfortunate injuries as well. The vets in Divac, Penny, Kukoc and Cassell should provide enough depth behind Webber to do some damage in a very deep Eastern conference. With a healthy squad, this team should be up near 50 wins and putting up dogfights in the playoffs.
10.
Memphis Grizzlies - Last season, they had the stingiest defense in the league, but met a disappointing fate in the playoffs. The same achilles heel as my own team plagues this team - lack of true star power. Like most of the good teams from last year, Erbes has chosen to not make any huge moves and to run it back, and for good reason. Their post play is very nice, defense should once against be suffocating, and they just need Jalen Rose to make the next step as a scorer to really unlock the potential of this team.
11.
Chicago Bulls - Many questioned our miraculous win total of 58 last season, citing FBB luck and culminating in that embarrassing loss to Detroit in the 1st round. To answer your questions, yes we fucking knew we were frauds all along. This year, the team as a whole had a nice TC and we added some depth to shore up that pitiful rebounding margin we had. Finley improved, Alexander looks ready to step in as a big scorer for us to offset the loss of Massenburg, and we will probably be very solid offensively and defensively with low turnovers. Weakness as always is the lack of a true star that can take over.
12.
Dallas Mavericks - Forgot about this team, sorry habes. They are still so young with a very high upside in JO, Parker, and Kmart, but it's also strange because they have Jason Kidd leading their team and a solid vet in Steve Smith. However, they have each starting spot filled out at least, good outside shooting, and a very good point guard. I would go ahead and guess that habes will make a move or two with some of his young stars to bring in more proven help, but anything is possible in the Western conference!
13.
Sacramento Kings - This team has star power in fucking spades, the best backcourt in BBS period in Kobe and Nash. However, the rest of their roster leaves a lot to be desired. The Nash trade was amazing for them, but ashes has a lot of work to do to flesh out his team. In particular, their post rotation is a big question mark, and I am not sure if a rookie Okur can be depended on her. Ashes will probably make some good moves this season to help his team compete. As they are, it will be interesting to see how many games Nash and Kobe can win by themselves.
14.
Boston Celtics - They have the Answer, but the question is can the rest of this roster compete? They've got some pieces in Joe Smith and Mike Bibby had a great TC, but like a lot of teams in this range, there's questions of depth and if the rest of the starters can produce enough to make this team competitive. Can't really gloss over Iverson as he was 32 PPG on 50% FG last season, and he almost dragged them into the playoffs in the very tough East, but I think Brian should make some moves here to really get into that race.
15.
Golden State Warriors - Dirk and Billups, should be a great duo. Dirk had a wonderful TC and will be one of the best young SF's in the game, giving manas a dominant scoring threat. Billups plays well above his ratings, and I'm still fucking salty we missed him by one pick. Low TO's and should only improve from here, very under-rated PG. The question with this roster again is the stuff he has around his duo, which he will need to address to make that leap.
16.
Indiana Pacers - Rashard looks amazing! Great pick by them. Should make for a great forward duo with Brand, a 20/10 night in and night out. Maggette also looks very nice for them, he had a very big TC improving to C+ rebounding, will be a very heavy load for SG's to deal with. They've got some work to do fleshing out their roster, but right now, they look like they have some nice pieces to make some noise.
The rest of the league is a mash-up of tanking teams and incomplete teams that I can't rank one over the other at the moment. Things should become clearer as the season progresses.
1.
Utah Jazz - The King stay the King until they're dethroned. They brought back the same team to run it back, and they look good as ever. Robinson decided to stick around and is aging like fine wine and H20 is in the prime of his career. Not only did all of his players stay the same, but Houston even managed to increase his A shooting to A+. They proved last year that their success is not just due to the Western conference and they look poised to go on another deep run.
2.
New Jersey Nets - This team was so close last season, and they are also running it back with the same roster. The Nets bring a really heavy frontcourt that will beat you up, rebound at a high rate, and make it very tough to score. All their main players pretty much stayed the same, so look for this team to be top of the east until proven otherwise. Same old Greeme formula with good rebounding, tough defense and outside shooting and it's proven to pay dividends.
3.
Miami Heat - Kobe has done an incredible job with the Heat so far and it continues with his acquisitions of Bodiroga and a brand new frontcourt this offseason. I wouldn't be mad if you flip flopped the 3/4/5 teams in any order, they're pretty close in my opinion. They look to have scoring in spades with McGrady and Davis, very solid PG play from Atkins, and a tough blue collar frontcourt. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this team ended up at the top of the East at the end of this season.
4.
New York Knicks - They had an up and down offseason for sure, but for a team that was oh so close to the finals, they bring back pretty much that same core. Incredibly, the GOAT got better in the offseason, but what can you do? GOAT shit. Mashburn will give you that same 20 a game, and then I think the ceiling of the team depends on how good Crawford can be. I'm part of the group that's really high on him - his C- defense hurts but it will be interesting to see whether he keeps up that efficiency he had on the Kings.
5.
Cleveland Cavaliers - Last season, the Cavaliers had some trouble getting into a rhythm, but once they did, they won at a pretty high rate. However, the achilles heel throughout was their defense, which hovered around the bottom 10 of the league. This year, KG looks incredible, Hill is improved and in his prime, and KVH at SG will continue to be a nightmare matchup for most teams. The one question mark you could have about this team is what they have in the post beside KG and their depth.
6.
Los Angeles Clippers - Well, they've got the best player in the league in Duncan, so that's a good start. Then he has Grandmama and Jones who will each give you 18-20 a night. After that, they've got a bunch of solid depth in Lenard, Williamson, Weatherspoon. Their PG play and post depth is a question mark for sure but you can nitpick most of the top teams, and this one in particular has Tim Duncan, so I will give them a pass and assume they will make the necessary moves to shore all that up.
7.
Denver Nuggets - One word: Shaq. Despite his flaws, we saw the type of destruction he was able to wreak in last season's playoffs. This is another team that's looking to run it back, as they bring back the same supporting cast around Shaq. McDyess is a solid contributor, but could probably stand to get an upgrade to his handling. Pippen, Reggie, and Stockton are all solid contributors despite their age, and they didn't die in TC. They should be a very tough out once again.
8.
Charlotte Hornets - They were one of the top teams statistically last season, boasting both a top 5 offense and defense for parts of the season. Their ending in the playoffs was disappointing and they took a heavy loss when the Mailman decided to retire and they lost that rebounding edge. BUT. They still have the most important thing, an incredible dominant center to anchor them on both sides of the floor. Zo with 3.8 BPG is just ridiculous, and he looks to continue his dominance this season. Bryon Russell should step into that starting SF role and Stackhouse will be called upon to score more.
9.
Detroit Pistons - Galo has a very solid team of vets here. Webber had a great TC for them and looks like one of the best PF's in the league, should average something stupid like 25/11 this year. Last season, they won 45 games, but they didn't have Webber for the full season and they suffered some unfortunate injuries as well. The vets in Divac, Penny, Kukoc and Cassell should provide enough depth behind Webber to do some damage in a very deep Eastern conference. With a healthy squad, this team should be up near 50 wins and putting up dogfights in the playoffs.
10.
Memphis Grizzlies - Last season, they had the stingiest defense in the league, but met a disappointing fate in the playoffs. The same achilles heel as my own team plagues this team - lack of true star power. Like most of the good teams from last year, Erbes has chosen to not make any huge moves and to run it back, and for good reason. Their post play is very nice, defense should once against be suffocating, and they just need Jalen Rose to make the next step as a scorer to really unlock the potential of this team.
11.
Chicago Bulls - Many questioned our miraculous win total of 58 last season, citing FBB luck and culminating in that embarrassing loss to Detroit in the 1st round. To answer your questions, yes we fucking knew we were frauds all along. This year, the team as a whole had a nice TC and we added some depth to shore up that pitiful rebounding margin we had. Finley improved, Alexander looks ready to step in as a big scorer for us to offset the loss of Massenburg, and we will probably be very solid offensively and defensively with low turnovers. Weakness as always is the lack of a true star that can take over.
12.
Dallas Mavericks - Forgot about this team, sorry habes. They are still so young with a very high upside in JO, Parker, and Kmart, but it's also strange because they have Jason Kidd leading their team and a solid vet in Steve Smith. However, they have each starting spot filled out at least, good outside shooting, and a very good point guard. I would go ahead and guess that habes will make a move or two with some of his young stars to bring in more proven help, but anything is possible in the Western conference!
13.
Sacramento Kings - This team has star power in fucking spades, the best backcourt in BBS period in Kobe and Nash. However, the rest of their roster leaves a lot to be desired. The Nash trade was amazing for them, but ashes has a lot of work to do to flesh out his team. In particular, their post rotation is a big question mark, and I am not sure if a rookie Okur can be depended on her. Ashes will probably make some good moves this season to help his team compete. As they are, it will be interesting to see how many games Nash and Kobe can win by themselves.
14.
Boston Celtics - They have the Answer, but the question is can the rest of this roster compete? They've got some pieces in Joe Smith and Mike Bibby had a great TC, but like a lot of teams in this range, there's questions of depth and if the rest of the starters can produce enough to make this team competitive. Can't really gloss over Iverson as he was 32 PPG on 50% FG last season, and he almost dragged them into the playoffs in the very tough East, but I think Brian should make some moves here to really get into that race.
15.
Golden State Warriors - Dirk and Billups, should be a great duo. Dirk had a wonderful TC and will be one of the best young SF's in the game, giving manas a dominant scoring threat. Billups plays well above his ratings, and I'm still fucking salty we missed him by one pick. Low TO's and should only improve from here, very under-rated PG. The question with this roster again is the stuff he has around his duo, which he will need to address to make that leap.
16.
Indiana Pacers - Rashard looks amazing! Great pick by them. Should make for a great forward duo with Brand, a 20/10 night in and night out. Maggette also looks very nice for them, he had a very big TC improving to C+ rebounding, will be a very heavy load for SG's to deal with. They've got some work to do fleshing out their roster, but right now, they look like they have some nice pieces to make some noise.
The rest of the league is a mash-up of tanking teams and incomplete teams that I can't rank one over the other at the moment. Things should become clearer as the season progresses.
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