Atlantic Division

(Note - to see the official InsideHoops predictions, check the site.)

Let's Play (Crystal) Ball!

When the following three things happen, you know for sure that Fall is upon us:

1. Leaves begin to fall from the trees (hence the name "Fall" for those that are slow learners)

2. NBA training camps open with each of the 29 teams promising their fans either victory (if they are playoff contenders) or "an exciting, uptempo game" (if they're not).

3. So-called NBA "experts" come out of the woodwork and start to make their predictions on who's hot and who will be tussling with the Clippers for the right to bulk-order ping pong balls in June.

Who am I to fight nature?

So as Shawn Kemp hastily stuffs down one more Twinkie bar before heading off to his first practice in a Blazers' uniform, I present for your amusement my fearless team-by-team predictions for the 2000-2001 NBA season.  Any resemblance to what
actually happens during the season is purely coincidental, but I reserve the right to say "I told ya so".

NBA Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics
This will be Rick Pitino's final year as coach of Team Green.  I'd say you heard it here first if it wasn't for the fact that everyone (including Rick) knows it to be true.  His early promises of a playoff berth will remain unfulfilled.  It's not that he's a bad coach, but let's face it, as GM he's no ... ML Carr(?!).  If you believe his big off-season acquisition of Randy Brown was a masterstroke then I have a pro basketball franchise in Vancouver you might be interested in.  This is very much a donut team (put that down and get to training Shawn!) with no true starting center. The Celtics do have talent in the shape of Kenny Anderson, Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce(d) but both Anderson and Walker appear to have lost interest and there is no telling how Pierce will recover from a recent knife attack.  All of which augurs ill for Pitino in Beantown.

Projected finish:  Sixth in the Atlantic
 

Miami Heat
The Heat will win the East.  Again, this may come as no big suprise after an offseason when they acquired Eddie Jones,Anthony Mason and Brian Grant, but at least I'm on record as saying it.  Pat Riley didn't just get an upgrade at shooting guard, he
got himself the presedential suite.  Jones not only provides the consistent second scorer that Jamal Mashburn almost was, he also fits in perfectly with Riley's balls-to-the-wall defensive philosophy.  Center Alonzo Mourning will again anchor the
middle assuming a pre-season kidney problem clears up.  Now if Tim Hardaway and Grant can just survive those Riley two-a-days injury-free...

Projected finish:   First in the Atlantic Division
 

New Jersey Nets
Unless Stephon Marbury shows he is willing to pass the ball, the Nets will again be the most talented team to miss the Playoffs. With the likes of Keith Van Horn, Kendall Gill and Kenyon Martin all capable of scoring, Marbury has plenty of options to pass to.  However Marbury too often tries to do it himself (here' a hint Steph, the word "point" in "point guard" does not refer to scoring) as evidenced by the fact that the Nets lost 10 out of the 13 games when he scored over 30 points. The Nets do need his playmaking ability however because they went 0-8 at the start of the season when he was injured.  So come one Steph, play nice with others or Rod Thorn may have to levy some fines!

Projected finish:  Fifth in the Atlantic
 

New York Knicks
The Knicks will wish that they had stood Pat.  Sure, Ewing was getting older.  However there are plenty of younger centers out there who don't average 15.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game that have been much sought after (come on down, Brad
Miller).  So now the Knicks have a glut at the 2-3 positions and Luc Longley at center.  You've got to hope that Scott Layden has something else up his sleeve, otherwise Longley had better hire a bodyguard to keep the MSG crowd at bay pronto.  Barring
a further trade for a center, the Knicks will go backwards.

Projected finish:  Third in the Atlantic
 

Orlando Magic
Grant Hill will get that sense of deja vu as the Magic are bundled out in the first round.  Whilst Doc Rivers did a masterfuljob with a team of young role players last season, the Magic still don't look to be anything more than first-round fodder.  Tracy McGrady joins Hill in Florida and the two should form a formidable one-two punch.  However  the Magic look remarkably like the Pistons team that Hill just left.  They have no starting center (John Amaechi?  Puhlease!) and a lot of inexperienced bit-players, which should spell an early exit for the Magic come April.   And Tracy, just a hint; you shouldn't talk about yourself in the third person until after you've ranked in the top ten in something other than ripping former teammates.

Projected finish: Fourth in the Atlantic
 

Philadelphia 76ers
Allen Iverson is going nowhere and neither are the Sixers.  Pat Croce prides himself on being an everyman - someone who is in touch with the 76ers fans.  That being the case, why would he trade Philie's most popular sports person?  So expect to see
Iverson once again fearlessly driving the lanes in a Sixers uni.  Also expect Toni Kukoc to once again not quite live up to expectation and Larry Brown to clash with Iverson over tardiness, dress codes and pretty much everything else.  More importantly, expect Iverson to carry the Sixers on his back into the Playoffs but then fade out in the second round as "The Answer" proves once again that nobody can carry a team all by themselves.  Until Iverson gets some serious scoring help, the 76ers will be mired in the early round of the post-season.  Feet getting kinda itchy, Larry?

Projected finish: Second in the Atlantic
 

Washington Wizards
Unless MJ decides to lace them up once more, the Wiz are going to wish they could pull a vanishing act.  The Wizards were bad last season - 29-53, bottom of the Atlantic bad.  Apart from freeing up some cap-room further down the track by moving Isaac Austin and Tracy Murray in the off-season, Washington are pretty much the same this year.  They still have talented starters Juwan Howard, Mitch Richmond and Rod Strickland, but without a major overhaul, this team is going nowhere.  Second year guard Richard "Rip" Hamilton should benefit from Murray's departure but even if he does develop as many pundits are suggesting there are no guarantees that that is going to be the answer to the Wizard's problem.  New head coach Leonard Hamilton is in
for a rough rookie NBA season.

Projected finish: Last in the Atlantic

____________

October 12, 2000
InsideHoops.com

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