Hollinger's East Rankings

[ohara831]

Wish I could give the link, but it is from ESPN Insider. But Hollinger listed the teams in the East as he sees them right now. In this order from Best to Worst:

1.Orlando
2.Cleveland
3.Boston
4.Atlanta
5.Chicago
6.Miami
7.Toronto
8.Washington
9.Detroit
10.Philly
11.Charlotte
12.Indiana
13.NJ
14.NY

He really did not have very much good to say. We downgraded at Center from a scoring perspective, and we already were not too good at scoring. And we added no one but from the Draft, and we still have not got Ray resigned. Pretty much it.

[teej]

I disagree with a lot of that. Most notably the top spot, number 5, and number 11.

[BRNC]

I'm trying not to over/under (rate) us ohara...but something has to be said for a camp and full season together...I think (from the start of last year vs. this year) we have a stronger bench and our starters did a solid job...this will be (I think) a pretty good team but...I have no idea if they can go anywhere...and Ray not signed still bothers me...

The other thing I would have liked to happen was bringing in a younger offensive oriented asst. coach but LB is loyal to the old guard that has always been with him...IMO our "O" is very stale and predictable but oh well...Hollinger might be correct and we are one of the worst teams in the East...but then again everyone "thought" the Raptors would be good last year so you never know...

[Ampsportsduo]

The fact ESPN thinks Hollinger's content is worthy of paying for is laughable. If he would step out from behind the computer to actually watch a game every now and again maybe I'd respect his opinion more.

The fact that QCH used Hollinger's own stat to illustrate why the TC trade makes sense (not a hijack attempt) yet Hollinger railed against it, makes me wonder how much he values his own stat (without which he probably wouldn't be on ESPN).

[Walt Cronkite]

It's a ranking of offseason moves, not necessarily how he sees the teams at this point.

[SWedd523]

It's a ranking of offseason moves, not necessarily how he sees the teams at this point.
Can't be the case. Miami hasn't done anything either but they're ranked 6th. Chicago lost their best player and is 5th and all Atlanta did was resign their FA's (though, admittedly something we can't seem to accomplish).

[Walt Cronkite]

Maybe you're right.

[dav7z]

Talent wize i would rank us about 13th or 14th . Losing Mek and adding no decent free agents . All we really have is L Browns coaching ability.
Not even signing Felts for 6.5 shows how much Johnson cares about winning. When the MLE IS 5.8.
A senior rep wanted to up grade our seats last week . I ask him if it was any JJ Redick , for Felton talk . He told me he had heard rumor of discusions . But a lot of fan out cry kinda put it under the table.
You guys don't be spprized to see the team blown up this season .
Bonnell said it's better than a 50 percent chance the team is sold befor season starts.
We might be fighting for the first pick in the draft with Johnson in control.




Any one heard from MJ i hope hes getting money toghter. So he could make Charlotte and the bobcats what they really could be with Brown coaching.

[teej]

Not even signing Felts for 6.5 shows how much Johnson cares about winning.

Where did you see this?

[dav7z]

Where did you see this?

Felts rep said his asking price was just 6.5. It was his rep on Twitter

[teej]

Felts rep said his asking price was just 6.5. It was his rep on Twitter

K, thanks. Well, I'm disappointed, but not surprised. But we also don't know the % increase, incentives, options, and Bobcat's counter. That's just one of many pieces to the puzzle.

[BRNC]

If the 6.5 is true this is real BS...that is not a bad price IMO...I hope the silliness ends soon...like with a new owner...

David Aldridge has teams off season rated if anyone is interested...he ranks us 26...

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/08/07/folders/index.html

[Demon DeaCat]

If it's about the best teams, the Bulls are definitely way too high on that list. No way they get better w/o Gordon, even with Deng healthy. I'm not convinced they're better than us. I also think we're better than Philly. Other than that, not too much to argue with though.

[spectre]

I read the 6.5 too, but I didn't see whether it was 6.5 on average or 6.5 starting out.

Helluva difference.

Be interesting to see if LB starts exerting influence to get a deal done.

[Marvel]

Bullsh*t Hollinger loves his computer too much Orlando imo is 3rd,Boston 1st, Cavs 2nd.No way in hell is Detroit better than us Wilcox- laugh,Kwame-rubbish,Rip and Ben Gordon not going to work it worked in Chicago(Ben coming off the bench) because there was no other legitimate starting 2 back then.Washington also going to start off slow but really pick it up mid season when Arenas wears off his rust although in saying that Foye and Miller could help pick up the slack during that time.They'll be the dark horse next season finishing 4th ahead of Atlanta and Miami.How does he figure Philly are better than us no more Dre and Lou-Will isn't half the pg Dre is,seriously i see dark times ahead in Philly if i'm wrong i'm wrong but i'm willing to bet we'll be better than them next season also.
Hollinger = FAIL.

[dav7z]

I read the 6.5 too, but I didn't see whether it was 6.5 on average or 6.5 starting out.

Helluva difference.

Be interesting to see if LB starts exerting influence to get a deal done.

One would have to guess it's starting out at 6.5 . We talking a starting quility point hear . If the full MLE starts out at 5.8 Felton and his agent are doing all they can . All i can say is it's just stupid not to sign him for 7 hundred Thousand.
Can no one else see how Johnson trying to tare this team apart . He don't care about draft picks or nothing. I wish he would hurry up and sell.

Hes so cheap we havn't even had a Chandler press conferance.
You can bet any thing you want but MJ and Brown are no longer in control.
Its Higgins and Johnson.

[spectre]

IMO if it's 6.5 starting out then that'd be paying retail. I wouldn't exactly bitch if we did end up giving him that much, but even if it was 6.5 average his last year or two would be pushing 8 million per year.

I still think that:

1) Bobcats are right in trying to get him at the best contract they can.

2) Larry Brown pushed to get Mek re-signed and he will for Felton.

3) They'll blink if they have to...but I also think Felton will too.

Bonnell's blog said that the Bobcats are leary of making another move before they re-sign Felton...this insinuates that the FO does NOT have a line drawn in the sand; they are willing to move upward. IMO this is very good news as it indicates eventually something long term will be reached.

[Beekizzle]

we are def better than the Bulls; and we are at least equal with the Sixers who LOST their starting PG.

[Walt Cronkite]

I'm pretty optimistic about our chances, but I'm just not feeling it right now. Anyway, Hollinger doesn't say anywhere that we'll finish 11th, op did a disservice to his article by presenting it that way. Here is a summarized breakdown:

-Championship contenders: Boston, Cleveland, Orlando
-*Good teams that lack a piece: Atlanta, Chicago, Miami
-Teams that have made a lot of changes and no one knows: Washington, Toronto
-Teams that didn't do anything to help themselves: Detroit, Charlotte, Philly, Milwaukee, Indiana
-Teams that were bad and didn't improve or got worse: NJ,NY

He mentions:

-Boston won more games than Orlando despite not having KG for the final two months.
-Cleveland will get more out of Shaq than they did from Wallace and Pavlovic and Parker/Moon increase their wing depth.
-Orlando made the finals and they upgraded from Hedo to Carter and improved their depth, plus have Jameer Nelson back.

-Atlanta is good and retained Bibby, Pachulia and Williams. Crawford was basically added for nothing and he ought to be able to do what Flip Murray did.
-Chicago has to see improvement from Rose, Thomas and Noah or they get worse.
-Miami is a lock for the playoffs as long as Wade doesn't miss too many games with injuries, but won't take the next step unless Beasley improves a lot. They're content to keep their cap space and try to really improve next offseason.

-Toronto spent a lot of money this offseason on Turkoglu and Jack while extending Bargnani. "It might be awesome, it might be terrible" is a direct quote from T-dot and Washington's grouping.
-Washington made big news and is counting on Gilbo coming back. He likes the upgrade to Flip Saunders, but there's too many unknowns.

-Detroit has "4 guards who can score and none who can pass". Also, "Are we sure Joe Dumars is still the one calling the shots here?"
-Philly's ceiling is the playoffs. They have a lot of young talent and Brand, but they could be really bad.
-Charlotte downgraded at center and hasn't resigned Felton yet. Rips MJ.
-Indiana signed no one of consequence and he kind of makes fun of them, but if Dunleavy is okay to play they should improve.
-Milwaukee was a playoff team until injuries to Bogut and Redd. They could be in the last group.

-NJ gave away Carter.
-NY hasn't done anything.


So he has 3 teams as locks. Not sure what's worth blasting there, but I see why you guys did since you didn't get to read the article. Hollinger is our friend, dude predicted us to make the playoffs the past two seasons prior to that and wrote about how we were likely to at the end of last season when no one else was giving us a second thought.

[BRNC]

Thanks Walt...it clarifies his position when you can read the entire article...what he says is basically true and I, for one, have no real problem with his analysis...our starters were fine last year and we'll know (and I think we have) if the second unit is better after we get to see IF...Nazr is really in shape, Hendo and UPS can contribute off the bat, and TC is actually healthy enough to play and contribute...

I think the deciding factor for our play off chances this year hinge on those things and how badly (or not) we're hit with injuries...unlike others I do not see great improvement in any Eastern teams I did not already think would be in the play offs...

+1 for the nice post...