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Making the Top 8 Will Be Tough

by Chris Alvino on October 25th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

With TKB season previews coming later in the week, I just figured that I would give a quick look on the rest of the Eastern Conference.

While the Knicks should improve this season, the reality of this season is that cracking the top 8 in the East will still be a tall task.  As of right now, barring complete collapses, I feel as though the top 6 teams in the East are set.  Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando will rule the conference yet again.  Those three teams will be among the NBA’s elite this season.  The next tier in the East includes Atlanta, Washington, and Toronto.  Atlanta figures to build on their recent strong seasons, while the additions to both Toronto and Washington (including the return of Gil Arenas) should help place them somewhere in the top 6.  Clearly, anything can happen.  A team like Toronto might not be able to gel its new pieces together as smoothly as they like.  But right now, I have a tough time taking one of those three teams out of the second tier.

That then leaves two open spaces in the playoffs.  I expect the Sixers to take a step backwards this season.  Losing Andre Miller will have a major impact on that team, whether they realize it or not.  The Pistons, with the additions of Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon, have to prove that they can be a strong Eastern Conference team.  That team will be able to score, but the lack of a true point guard will be evident in Detroit this season.  Also, with a new coach at the helm, it is tough to tell how well the Pistons’ players will react.  Miami will likely ride D Wade all the way to the back end of the playoffs, so long as Wade stays healthy of course.  I am not a huge fan of that roster, but Wade might just be good enough to push his team into the top 8.  The Bulls are an improving team and I expect them to take a step forward this season.  With strong play from their rookies, as well as improvement from Derrick Rose, to go along with the veteran guys like Brad Miller, John Salmons, Jannero Pargo, Hinrich,Luol Deng, etc., that Bulls team will be dangerous in the East.  Lastly, the Charlotte Bobcats will be a darkhorse team again in the conference.  That team fits their coach, Larry Brown.  They play defense and they are athletic.  The addition of Tyson Chandler gives them a bit more length and versatility than Emeka Okafor did in recent seasons.

As of right now, I think the Bulls will make the playoffs again.  That leaves open the 8th spot.  Again, I think the Knicks have a shot, but it will be tough. Even an improvement from last season might not be enough to make the cut.  Unlike in recent seasons, the Eastern Conference has some strong teams that fill up the 5-8 spots in the playoffs.  The Knicks have a tough road ahead.

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About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • Mucha

    Top :

    01. Boston Celtics
    02. Cleveland Cavaliers
    03. Orlando Magic
    04. Atlanta Hawks
    05. Toronto Raptors

    Fighting for a playoff spot :

    06. Miami Heat
    07. Chicago Bulls
    08. NEW YORK KNICKS
    09. Washington Wizards (overrated IMO)
    10. Philadelphia 76′ers
    11. Indiana Pacers

    Bottom :

    12. Detroit Pistons
    13. Charlotte Bobcats
    14. New Jersey Nets
    15. Milwaukee Bucks

    Al Harrington, Nate Robinson and David Lee will have to be healthy and Gallinari will have to play well if the Knicks want to make the playoffs. They are talented enough to clinch a playoff berth but it won’t be easy obviously.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    it will be tough especially if there is 8 teams with good records
    the east isn’t that weak anymore an u never know how teams will play this season
    just gotta wait an see by the break we will know…

  • itzyung1

    I really think Toronto is being overrated everywhere.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    pistons an wiz will be in the top 8

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    3 teams i think is overrated on that list for top 8
    raps
    heat-yea i know they got wade unless beasz have a good year or cham i doubt they have a record like they had last year.
    hawks

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    some side notes
    bosh isn’t worth more than 10mill a year 12 tops
    same with joe johnson
    so donnie might over pay or som1 else will
    thats how it goes the
    NBA IS FULL WITH OVERPAID PLAYERS..

  • Mucha

    Which players deserve max contracts in your opinion?

    Obviously Bryant, James, Wade, Anthony, Nowitzki, Howard, Garnett, Paul, Duncan… the list is really short. I’d include Deron Williams, Brandon Roy and Chris Bosh – they are not on the same level but they are still young so I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. I don’t like Bosh’s personality though, but he’s a really good player.

  • Mucha

    Raptors overrated? Why?

    Bargani
    Bosh
    Turkoglu

    One of the most talented frontcourts in the NBA. And they have two quality point guards (Calderon, Jack) plus two promising shooting guards (DeRozan, Bellineli). They are really nice on paper in my opinion.

    Miami will be in the lottery if Wade gets injuried – but if he’s healthy they’ll be pretty good with Beasley’s development.

    But the Wizards… they are overrated in my opinion, maybe time’ll prove me wrong. Jamison will miss at least 2 months of action, Arenas hasn’t played in 2 years and Foye/Miller have never led the T’Wolves anywhere.

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    they do have a nice core-the raps..
    but we will findout
    how good they are.

    jamison is out but andreyB gets to shine a little more now until jamison is out.

    miller only played a half season with the T wolves
    miller is a good player
    foye is a good back up guard
    plus the wiz got some nice young player

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    bryant james howard an wade cuz of last season

    all the others don’t deserve top dollar

    garnett got his when he was young
    dirk had some fine years
    duncan did his thing.

    don’t like melo at all

    i like d will but he isn’t top dollar 10 mill tops
    paul samething.

    bosh is a good player but for 15-20 mill no hell no..

    roy is a good player also but not more than 10

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    it’s a competition so players will always get overpaid..

    aske zeke he knows what i’m talking about better then what i am saying..

  • BiggieSmalls

    we need some injuries on the teams ahead of us to break into the top eight.. that and greater than expected play from our key players and rooks.

  • Mucha

    “don’t like melo at all”???

    He’s a throwback player, he could have played in the 90′s. And his midrange game is absolutely crazy. Underrated.

  • Mucha

    If our key players (Al Harrington, Nate Robinson, David Lee, Danilo Gallinari) play particularly well… we won’t need injuries IMO

  • BiggieSmalls

    Nate, Lee and Harrington all played “particularly well” last year and we only won 32 games.

    Gallo certainly needs to perform at a level of 17 pts, 5 boards and 5 assists (with highly efficient shooting) but can we REALLY see Lee, Nate and Al Buckets picking up their numbers?

    IF Lee blocks another shot a game and nate picks up another steal off their numbers last year is that going to get us 8 wins better? doubt it

    thats been my point all off season.. DW had the perfect storm of players performing above expectations in the 7SOL. He did nothing of substance to improve the team personnel wise other than add two rookies and an enigma. To expect that to lead to 8 more wins is wishful at best.

  • Bob

    Let me play devils advocate Biggie. What about the fact that ALHarrington is starting from the beggining of the season,same as Chandler ,also a healthy GALLO and the stability of not having the upheaval of all those mid-season trades,and the rest of the team getting used to Mike D;Antonis system?plus a little xtra DEFENSE.(i think if we had upgraded the point guard position we coulda made the play-offs)MAYBE

  • Mucha

    You are right, but they are trying to play a little bit of defense and now the players know each other. Al Harrington is our best player and he has to be the leader, but – considering that he was a newcomer last year – he couldn’t legitimately be in that position. We finally have a “legitimate” leader, we’re not talking Q-Brick anymore.

    David Lee has reached his ceiling in my opinion – I agree with that – but Nate Robinson and Al Harrington are talented enough to play better. Gallinari’s finally healthy enough to contribute (hopefully) – and we finally have a defensive center.

    The Knicks can make the playoffs – it’ll be reaally difficult though.

  • BiggieSmalls

    I dont buy it.

    The “upheaval” of the Crawford/Randolph was not mid season last year (both trades were in the first 15 games).

    Al Buckets was around for near 70 games last year and statistically had his best scoring average per game during his time with the knicks.

    Hughes came on late but never contributed and will be on the bench at the start of this season.

    Chandler made huge strides last year. Will he continue to build on that or level off? Will he get 33 minutes per game again with Gallo contributing as well?

    Like Tommy said.. out improvement is all on Darko and Toney Douglas adding significantly over what we got last year. And every other team improved significantly.. So we need some injury bugs to creep into the Eastern Rosters. Jamison is a start.

  • BiggieSmalls

    looking at the Numbers.. Al Buckets had his best period of his ten year career during the 68 games he played in NYC last year.

    I agree that the season hinges on improved Defensive effort.

    Im not a Q fan but Q brick was a legit leader.. he just led in all the wrong ways. But his team mates love him and he was a unifying forces during and post Marbury fiasco I dig his tweets about taking D Wade out on the town in Miami.. That could be good for us.

    we can make the playoffs.. its not impossible. we just need some divine intervention.

  • SilentJay

    I’m going with you on this one. It’ll boil down to a bunch of things.
    1. Will the intensity on D be the same or better than what we say during the preseason (it’s a must, this no D crap…I’m just tired of it, so this is where Toney D, Darko and Nate with his steals and speed come in).
    2. Will Chandler be able to produce more than last year? WIll he be more agressive? (instead of settling for the jumper or 3 pointer); and, is his handle going to improve?
    3. Gallo. If healthy, will he be able to live up (in a small way) to all the hype? Is he gonna get stronger and quicker?
    4. How will Toney D respond to the minutes he receives. Will his development be like what he’s already shown or better? It seems he’s starting to find his rythm and range, so that’s good. Along with that, just like an bonus: what in the hell’s gonna happen to Hill this season? Will it be just garbage minutes (most likely IMO) or will he get a decent chance?
    5. And of course, we musn’t forget these names: Jeffries and Curry. There’s a shot at trading JJ if he doesn’t injure himself. As for the big man, I just wanna see if he ever plays and how will he respond to the system (as far as a trade goes, I say there’s no chance).

  • Bob

    Agree with most of your opinion except that lee has reached his ceiling.Lee has only been in the league for 4 years(came in with NATE)and he is still working on his game.He obviously is working on his medium jump shot which im sure he will improve on.His rebound stats will prolly remain about the same but i think his ppg will increase.Plus with a healthy Gallo blossoming a couple of months into the season and the stability of having the same team intact for a full season,makes it pretty close to having 8 more wins than last year.and i still say,if they had imroved the point guard position during the summer(I truly think that Duhon is a liability)that would have made their chances of playoffs even better

  • choggs

    I’ll have to agree with you on the Crawford/ Randolph trades, Al and Wil.

    But the notion that every other eastern team has improved is false. The teams that improved are 1-through-6

    Boston (sheed, healthy KG)
    Orlando (VC, bass)
    Cavs (shaq)
    Atlanta (crawford)
    Toronto (hedo)
    Wash (healthy gilbert, miller/foye)

    The rest have really declined or have stayed the same

    Philly (lost miller)
    Chicago (lost ben gordon)
    Detroit (lost dyce and sheed, got gordon and charlie)
    Miami (added q-rich… yawn)
    Charlotte (added chandler, lost okafor)

    I really feel that NYK is not that far off from that group. Each have their own issues to deal with. Injuries might help, but we really don’t need them.

  • Aussie Gary

    I believe that the playoffs are getable for us this year. Last year we lost 14 games by 5 points or less (counting a 10 point overtime loss). So you are looking at a 2 to 3 possession improvement over the course of a 48 minute game. As a coach you would have to consider that that’s getable. Will it happen? No one can say at this point. Will the team be more focussed than last year? I’d have to say yes to that one. Greater focus leads to less turnovers and presumably better shots. The 2 to 3 possession improvement required can come on either end of the floor as well. A deflection here, a forced 24 second violation there, a block or steal, patience in shot selection all can be contributors to the 2 or 3 possessions. I can visualize that improvement, especially if there are no disruptions to the current group in terms of trades and we have limited unprolonged injuries. I’m certainly not ready to write off this season.

  • gbaked

    i very much think Melo will be a knick in 2011 if we cant get rid of EC this year.

  • Sergio

    Only way we can make the Playoffs …

    1 – East teams must suffer key injuries while we stay healthy

    2 – Need to be Top 15 in D

    3 – One player needs to be an All-Star and make clutch shots in the 4th

  • traps9

    Just curious who you’re thinking we’ll get in ’10 if we’re nabbing ‘Melo in ’11? I was thinking the odds were better for us landing West in ’11 to go with LeBron, unless he and CP win a ring (can’t see it happening). I can see us more likely trading for Nash and getting LBJ and West in ’11 than have some form of LBJ/Bosh/’Melo in the next two.

    (And thanks to Tommy & the rest of TKB for helpin me get registered on here)

  • illsun

    i like your list..

    i would leave roy and deron and bosh off of the MAX list.

    I think the league should shorten the length of deals, so teams wont be inclined to pay for potential.
    and they should make resigning with teh current team even more lucrative, so we dont have a league full of nomads

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    AL best season was in atl his first year there or second go check
    but he did have an alrite season for the knicks..

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge

    agreed LEE will be better in 2 3 more years u can say LEE REACHED his cieling

  • DaGawD_KnowLedge
  • HaS

    Chicago is getting Deng back.

    Philly getting Brand back.