At the start of the NBA season, this writer decided it would be a great idea to go through the league team-by-team and make predictions as to where they would finish. As far as great ideas go, this was right up there with the boomerang hand grenade and the cell phone that doubles as a steam iron.

However, predictions have been made and, with around half of the scheduled 82 games already in the books, it seems an opportune time to check them for any traces of accuracy.  So without further ado, here is the NBA mid-season report:

Atlanta Hawks
Projected finish: Seventh in the Central
Current position: Seventh (16-33)
Prediction:  If the Hawks stink it up this season (and they will), expect Mount Mutumbo to ask to be traded.

Mutumbo has indeed already made some rumblings about wanting a trade but the reality is that Hawks management are smart enough to want to get something decent back for their All-Star rather than pulling the trigger on the first offer to come along.  There has been talk of Mutumbo going to New York but with the trade deadline looming it appears unlikely he will change zip codes before Summer.  Atlanta fans must have enjoyed watching the development of second year guard Jason Terry, who is a scoring machine.  Lord knows they have little else to smile over.  The play of Terry and Mutumbo has provided the only bright spots in an otherwise gloomy season.  The once-proud Hawks franchise is mired deep in the rebuilding process, a fate which Mutumbo doesn't deserve after years of faithful service to what was a perennial Playoff team.  The Hawks brass have no doubt already booked their tickets to NY for the June draft.  You can bet Mutumbo is wishing he could go with them.

Charlotte Hornets
Projected finish: Fourth in the Central
Current position: Third (26-25)
Prediction:  The Hive won't be buzzing this season, but Charlotte won't be as bad as people think.

Hate to day I told ya so, but? Charlotte surprised a number of opponents early with their strong performances (mainly when Derrick Coleman was out of the line-up) but have now come back to the pack after a truly horrible January when they went 5-9. Coach Paul Silas appears to be involved in an internal struggle with management over his use of the under-achieving Coleman. Silas wants to keep the forward out of the line-up as he seems to disrupt the team's chemistry whilst the brass wants Coleman on the floor, probably to showcase him in the hope of sparking trade interest.  The only problem being that every time Coleman hits the floor he shows just how unmotivated and out of shape he really is. The Hornets are still in Playoff contention and should make the post-season barring injuries but as predicted it looks unlikely that they will go beyond the first round.

Chicago Bulls
Projected finish: Sixth in the Central
Current position: Eighth (6-42)
Prediction:  Expect the Bulls to dump the old Triangle offense mid-season and coach Floyd shortly afterwards if the Bulls don't start to battle out of the Central Division's cellar by mid-season.

We all knew the Bulls were going to be bad, but this bad?  They're making the Clippers look pretty darn good.  The Bulls' rookies Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Crawford have failed to make any significant impact (as seems to be the case with most of this year's rookie crop).  The failure of Bulls' management to lure any of the big name free agents has effectively left power forward Elton Brand the lone hand on the sinking Bulls' ship.  Brand continues to put up great numbers every night and is again averaging 20 and 10.  The rumblings haven't yet begun about coach Tim Floyd's job but given the bulls are currently on a 16-game losing streak, don't expect him or the triangle offense to last too much longer.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Projected finish: Last in the Central
Current Position: Fifth (20-27)
Prediction: After this season is over, Cleveland fans will be watching tape of Michael Jordan's game-winning shot over Craig Ehlo just so they can remember the gold ol' days.

After November, it appeared that this prediction was going into the Hall of Shame along with some of Nostradamus' lesser know prophecies, such as the one about mid-Eastern peace.  The Cavs started the season on a roll with coach Randy Whitman doing a remarkable job driving his team to briefly hold the top spot in the Central Division.  Injuries have taken their toll however, with 14 Cavs players missing at least one game due to injury for a total of 183 player games missed so far.  Most devastating of all was the loss of center Zydrunas Ilg-ow!-skas, who will miss the rest of the season with more chronic foot problems.  The Lithuanian center had just started to show signs of the All-Star form which has tantalized Cavs fans and management for so long.  Cleveland are now on a six game losing streak and struggling to regroup.  This is one prediction which won't come true, thanks largely to the fact that the Bulls have a mortgage on bottom spot in the Central, but expect the Cavs to finish the season out of playoff contention.

Detroit Pistons
Projected finish: Fifth in the Central
Prediction: Missing
Jerry Stackhouse will take center stage but the Pistons exit stage right.  Stack had a breakout season last year, benefiting from the new defensive rules more than almost any player in the league.  However, this season defenses will be keying purely on Stackhouse, rather than having to worry about departed star Grant Hill as well. In Detroit's first season PG (post Grant) Stackhouse will finally have the opportunity to be "da man".   One suspects he might find out in a hurry that the glare of the spotlight can blinding.  Back-up scoring duties should fall to newly-acquired Cedric Ceballos.  This is fortunate, because if they asked Ceballos any form of defense, he would no doubt give coach George Irvine a confused look.  Unless rookie Mateen Cleaves is even better than billed, expect Detroit  to battle it out (unsuccessfully) for the final Playoff spot in the East.

Indiana Pacers
Projected finish: First in the Central
Current position:  Fourth (21-27)
Prediction:  The Indiana Pacers will return to the Eastern Conference Finals.

There was definite logic behind this prediction at the time but it eludes me now as to exactly what logic that was. Certainly, I expected Austin Croshere to continue the development he showed during the Pacers' barn-storming run to the 2000 NBA Finals rather than taking a backward step. Jalen Rose has put up good individual statistics now that his court-time has increased with the departure of point guard Mark Jackson but the Pacers are finding exactly what the Nuggets discovered, and that is that the swingman doesn't fit a standard point guard role. Isiah Thomas has ad to try 12 different starting line-ups as he searches for chemistry on a team which has suddenly become a lot younger.  However, the team should settle down as the year goes on and Thomas gets a handle on people's roles.  You can still expect the Pacers to make the Playoffs and they could well get through the first round.  After that, a lot will depend on how the kids on the squad such as Jermaine O'Neal, Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington perform.
 

Milwaukee Bucks
Projected finish: Second in the Central
Current position:  First (29-18)
Prediction:  The Bucks will go deep into the Conference Semi-finals behind the play of Ray Allen.

This one seems pretty safe as the Bucks have shown that they are one of the class teams of the East.  After a slow start, the Bucks have started to exert themselves on the defensive end rather than playing exclusively offense as they had in the past. Coach George Karl has admitted having to "re-learn" some aspects of the game in order to handle the Bucks, as this team seems to respond better on the defensive end when he focuses on their offense.  They should give him some sort of PHD in psychology for coaching this team. Allen has shown that he has suffered no post-Olympics hang-over and is combining with other key players Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson to provide a three-pronged scoring attack which few teams have been able to handle. Their lack of consistent production in the middle remains a concern but this team is headed towards playoff-success for the first time in many years.

Toronto Raptors
Projected finish: Third in the Central
Current Position: Second (26-23)
Prediction: Expect the Raps to make the Playoffs for the second-time in franchise history behind Vince Carter's play and then an early summer holiday without a second scoring option.

Toronto are on track to once again make the post-season but as predicted have struggled against better opponents without a consistent second scoring option behind Vince Carter.  Carter has been magnificent, averaging 27.6 points per game but the next best scorer is Antonio Davis with 13.3. Whilst this is a career-high for Davis, it isn't enough to stop defenses collapsing on Carter a la the Pistons on Michael Jordan in the late-eighties and early-nineties.  Keon Clark was a nice mid-season pick-up via trade for the Raps and rookie Morris Peterson has been productive in limited minutes. Unless coach Lenny Wilkens can find consistent 17-20 point production from someone other than Air Canada, however, the Raptors appear
destined to get to the dance but leave early.
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