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Projected seedings at the end of the regular season:

Eastern Conference

Miami Heat (1)
Chicago Bulls (2)
Boston Celtics (3)
New York Knicks (4)
Philadelphia 76ers (5)
Milwaukee Bucks (6)
Indiana Pacers (7)
Atlanta Hawks (8)


Western Conference

Oklahoma City Thunder (1)
Dallas Mavericks (2)
Memphis Grizzlies (3)
Los Angeles Lakers (4)
Los Angeles Clippers (5)
San Antonio Spurs (6)
Portland Trailblazers (7)
Denver Nuggets (8)

I'm gonna bookmark this thread and come back to it at the end of April...I bet I'm spot on

Projected seedings at the end of the regular season:

Eastern Conference

Miami Heat (1)
Chicago Bulls (2)
Boston Celtics (3)
New York Knicks (4)
Philadelphia 76ers (5)
Milwaukee Bucks (6)
Indiana Pacers (7)
Atlanta Hawks (8)


Western Conference

Oklahoma City Thunder (1)
Dallas Mavericks (2)
Memphis Grizzlies (3)
Los Angeles Lakers (4)
Los Angeles Clippers (5)
San Antonio Spurs (6)
Portland Trailblazers (7)
Denver Nuggets (8)

I'm gonna bookmark this thread and come back to it at the end of April...I bet I'm spot on

Dwight Howard didnt get traded yet. Until he does the Magic are a playoff team. If he ends up in NJ they become a playoff team too.

Celtics third and above the Knicks I'll give you leeway with the Bulls even( I think the Knicks will finish second)

The West looks about right though well done on that end.

New York just might edge out Boston in the regular season and sneak into the 3rd seed if Doc Rivers rests the Big 3 towards the end of the season, as he usually does. I swear I'm gonna laugh at u and Murax when the Knicks finish 4th...or lower

Dwight Howard is a huge variable right now which is why I just removed him from the equation altogether til he finds a new team...no doubt it'll change the landscape of either conference when he changes jerseys.

Staying in Orlando makes them a 3rd seed and pushes everyone else down 1 spot, moving him to NJ (as currently constructed next to Derron Williams) makes them a 5th seed and pushes everyone else down 1 spot, and him getting traded to the Lakers (God forbid) for Bynum + Gasol will likely make them a 2nd seed overall and pushes everyone else down one (or a 1st seed if Mitch Kupchak can somehow get Dwight without trading Pau).

Jaidi,

I feel You man. Back from the Latrell/Camby days to the howard eisley/weatherspoon days to the marbury, to the zack randolph/crawford days I've been through all that, but finally we've turned the corner! About our bench I think the Knicks management should have done more to bring back Shawn Williams! He was absolutely great for us last year and we really needed Him. He brought rebounding, shooting and even occassional finishing on the interior off the bench. While I liked Crawford this punk was just using us to jack up his salary for Portland or anybody else. Shanwn Williams would've re signed but he felt insulted and slighted. Novak we'll see what He's got but he's no shawn williams thats for sure.







Yung I agree like any new team the Knicks will need time to get their chemistry issues sorted out especially in the lockout year. Where they will get it sorted out is in the playoffs. So for that reason We might end up getting the 3rd/4th seed but so what? This team was built for the playoffs. Like I said before the only team in the East that scares me right now is Miami simply due to the fact that they have the best player in the world in James and a top three closer in Wade. Other then that I love our chances.

GO WIZ

Murax, I'll say this: if Tyson Chandler can help the Knicks play defense like Miami, Chicago and Boston...they're in the mix to come out of the East. If not, they'll be an entertaining team that never makes it out of the 2nd round of the playoffs and will even get tested by defense-minded lower seeds like Milwaukee, Philly and Indiana in the 1st round.

FAH, stop trolling, Wizards kulaha

Murax, I'll say this: if Tyson Chandler can help the Knicks play defense like Miami, Chicago and Boston...they're in the mix to come out of the East. If not, they'll be an entertaining team that never makes it out of the 2nd round of the playoffs and will even get tested by defense-minded lower seeds like Milwaukee, Philly and Indiana in the 1st round.

FAH, stop trolling, Wizards kulaha

Dude the Knicks will play defense this year for the simple fact that they have no choice. Carmelo is 27 now, and Amare is 29. The pressure on these Guys to Win is IMMENSE and they will either be heros or will be remembered as Stephon Marbury was in NY. The one thing Iove about NY is You will be chewed up and spit out in a sec if You don't perform. Carmelo/Amare know that to win they will have to play D no matter what. That being said I think the only thing that is keeping them from playing great D is commitment. For one with Amare not playing much D last year I give Him a pass. The dude was playing Center, Had a severely undersized PF in Wilson Chandler next to Him on the front line, and guys like Gallinari who didn't play much D either. Amare was expected to guard bigger centers, run back and block shots, and still come up with the rebound and on top of that score points like crazy. This year though He will have legitimate help in Tyson, and He'll only have to worry about guarding His man. With Amare's strength, freakish athleticism, long arms, I see no reason Why he CAN'T play D if He wants to.


With Carmelo, I see no reason Why He cannot be decent defender. He's strong, moves his feet decently and aside from Durant/Bron, there isn't a lot of spectacular 3's out there. However Fields, Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert, Jeffries all play great D so them along with Tyson, along with renewed commitment from Amare/Carmelo I think will make the Knicks a solid defenseive team this year. All they've been preaching in training camp has been D.

The thing is, Melo is actually a pretty good 1-on-1 defender and so is Amare...the problem is their positional and help D, which take more effort, are garbage. If they can shore those up, they're gonna be a problem for the rest of the league and will be able to hang with any given team on any given night.

The thing is, Melo is actually a pretty good 1-on-1 defender and so is Amare...the problem is their positional and help D, which take more effort, are garbage. If they can shore those up, they're gonna be a problem for the rest of the league and will be able to hang with any given team on any given night.

The problem is this Dantoni guy, he simply doesn't teach D. They had to hire Mike Woodson as a defensive coach just for that so he can come up with schemes. Melo, Amare were both tired last year towards the end of carrying their respective teams. I think now having both together for a whole season will allow them to be rested enough to have energy for D.



Also this team offensively isn't a Dantoni team. Carmelo is not a freakish athlete who is gonna run the court like a dear, and the Knicks guards cannot run great fastbreaks. The Knicks need to be a slow it down, pound it inside to amare/carmelo team, that will crash the boards and play smashmouth D. Thats the only way they can go far. I always thought the Knicks would be better off with Tom Thibedou or Avery Johnson.

Defense is about team D. Individual defense, Melo and Amare can bring it, they needed the pieces and coaching to bring it together. Tyson Chandler goes a long way in this direction as does Mike Woodson's addition. They won't be giving up 100 a game this year.

The Wizards are going to sweep the Knicks in the season series

GO JWALL, BLATCHE, MCGEE, NICK YOUNG

FAH,

You're just trolling bro. John Wall is severely overrated and magee/blatche suck.



Jaidi,

Exactly. I mean how good of a defender was dirk or the mavs before chandler?

Encouraging sign, NY held NJ to 82 points last night in a preseason game, which teams usually use to tune up their offense and set the rotations for the regular season...the most encouraging sign tho was Melo's postgame interview where he kept coming back to the importance of playing D and involving teammates in the offense (which were two of his biggest knocks...defense and trying to go 1 on 5 on every possession).

I'm anxious to see how they play defense as a team on Sunday against the Celtics in a game that actually means something...they were 0-8 last year against the Celtics, and they're gonna need to make a statement that the Atlantic division isn't colored Celtics green like it's been the last 3 years.

GET READY

1-0 Melo showing why he is the NBA's best closer. We need Bibby and Davis to get healthy fast, TD is not a PG. Chandler had a good first game.