My favorite part of season previews

His Own Bad Self · 10-04-2007, 01:50 AM

So John Hollinger ran previews and predictions for every team in the NBA, and ESPN put them up today. My favorite part of such predictions is that there's one person for nearly every team who calls him an idiot and says that their team is going to be 10 games better than what Hollinger predicted.

There's always someone who thinks their team is way better than whatever some expert says it will be, and they give a half-baked reason why, and plus, the expert (whoever he is) is an idiot, and he couldn't be more wrong, and he knows nothing about whatever sport it is that he's covering. Frankly, I enjoy such shenanigans.

Big Hugg · 10-04-2007, 01:52 AM

Yeah, but he picked the Raptors to win 39 games so clearly he is an idiot, couldn't be more wrong and knows nothing about basketball.

His Own Bad Self · 10-04-2007, 03:39 AM

LOL. Naturally. He certainly won't be safe north of the border.

He's underrating Ford and Calderon, I think. Toronto has to be at least .500, even if Boston beats them in the division (which I think will happen).

Big Hugg · 10-04-2007, 04:04 AM

His logic, as far as I could tell, is they got a bunch of career years from guys last year.

That would make much more sense to me if it wasn't a team pretty much jam-packed full of guys who are still improving. I don't understand his assertion that Calderon/Ford were flukes when they're both young. If they were 32 years old and suddenly improved, yeah, but it was Calderon's 2nd year and TJ was finally healthy, what's so surprising about their performance jumping up? Their only loss is Morris Peterson, who barely played down the stretch anyway, and they added Jason Kapono (overrated, but will at least stretch the D a little) and Carlos Delfino (underrated sleeper...classic Bryan Colangelo move). You have to expect a leap from Andrea Bargnani too.

If one of the 2 playoff teams in the Atlantic is going to drop off, it's more likely to be the aging Nets I would say. I agree with you that Boston can beat them in the division, but I'll be stunned if Toronto doesn't return to the playoffs. I expect a small step back before the huge leap forward kind of year from them, but if this exact roster played in a major market, they'd be the hot young team in the league. Instead their not even on National US TV again this year.

And I guess there's my attempt to at least support my argument.

marc · 10-04-2007, 05:25 AM

I haven't even looked, but I'm predicting my Sixers to be 10 games WORSE than whatever he said they are going to be.

jaxmagicman · 10-04-2007, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc

I haven't even looked, but I'm predicting my Sixers to be 10 games WORSE than whatever he said they are going to be.

He said they would win 10 games.

MorseMoose · 10-04-2007, 09:04 AM

Timberwolves are ranked #30 in the Power Rankings...SWEEET!

lewis31lewis52 · 10-04-2007, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaxmagicman

He said they would win 10 games.

Then zero wins sounds about right.

marc · 10-04-2007, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lewis31lewis52

Then zero wins sounds about right.

"

Seriously, I think most people are predicting them to win about 30 games. I'd be amazed.

His Own Bad Self · 10-05-2007, 02:50 AM

Well, they do have Iggy still. So they got that going for them, which is nice.

marc · 10-05-2007, 06:10 AM

Love Iggy, but if that's your #1 scoring option, you're in deep trouble.

Then when you take a look at the bigs in the division such as Garnett, Bosh, and Randolph and compare that to the garbage the Sixers are going to be trotting out there at the 4 and I don't think 60 losses is out of the question at all.

10-04-2007, 04:04 AM	#4
Big Hugg All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 933	His logic, as far as I could tell, is they got a bunch of career years from guys last year. That would make much more sense to me if it wasn't a team pretty much jam-packed full of guys who are still improving. I don't understand his assertion that Calderon/Ford were flukes when they're both young. If they were 32 years old and suddenly improved, yeah, but it was Calderon's 2nd year and TJ was finally healthy, what's so surprising about their performance jumping up? Their only loss is Morris Peterson, who barely played down the stretch anyway, and they added Jason Kapono (overrated, but will at least stretch the D a little) and Carlos Delfino (underrated sleeper...classic Bryan Colangelo move). You have to expect a leap from Andrea Bargnani too. If one of the 2 playoff teams in the Atlantic is going to drop off, it's more likely to be the aging Nets I would say. I agree with you that Boston can beat them in the division, but I'll be stunned if Toronto doesn't return to the playoffs. I expect a small step back before the huge leap forward kind of year from them, but if this exact roster played in a major market, they'd be the hot young team in the league. Instead their not even on National US TV again this year. And I guess there's my attempt to at least support my argument. Last edited by Big Hugg; 10-04-2007 at 04:08 AM.

10-04-2007, 05:25 AM	#5
marc Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,505	I haven't even looked, but I'm predicting my Sixers to be 10 games WORSE than whatever he said they are going to be. __________________

10-05-2007, 06:10 AM	#11
marc Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,505	Love Iggy, but if that's your #1 scoring option, you're in deep trouble. Then when you take a look at the bigs in the division such as Garnett, Bosh, and Randolph and compare that to the garbage the Sixers are going to be trotting out there at the 4 and I don't think 60 losses is out of the question at all. __________________

10-04-2007, 01:50 AM	#1
His Own Bad Self All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,221	My favorite part of season previews So John Hollinger ran previews and predictions for every team in the NBA, and ESPN put them up today. My favorite part of such predictions is that there's one person for nearly every team who calls him an idiot and says that their team is going to be 10 games better than what Hollinger predicted. There's always someone who thinks their team is way better than whatever some expert says it will be, and they give a half-baked reason why, and plus, the expert (whoever he is) is an idiot, and he couldn't be more wrong, and he knows nothing about whatever sport it is that he's covering. Frankly, I enjoy such shenanigans.

10-04-2007, 01:52 AM	#2
Big Hugg All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2004 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 933	Yeah, but he picked the Raptors to win 39 games so clearly he is an idiot, couldn't be more wrong and knows nothing about basketball.

10-04-2007, 03:39 AM	#3
His Own Bad Self All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,221	LOL. Naturally. He certainly won't be safe north of the border. He's underrating Ford and Calderon, I think. Toronto has to be at least .500, even if Boston beats them in the division (which I think will happen).

10-04-2007, 09:04 AM	#7
MorseMoose Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 6,023 Infractions: 1/1 (1)	Timberwolves are ranked #30 in the Power Rankings...SWEEET!

10-05-2007, 02:50 AM	#10
His Own Bad Self All Star Starter Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,221	Well, they do have Iggy still. So they got that going for them, which is nice.