By Mr. Shamir

Another year, another year my Hawks don't make the playoffs. Anyway, the 2001-2002 regular season has completed, and with that, comes the 20/20 vision that hindsight brings. So without further ado, a breakdown of the year whose results few could have predicted at the start of the season.

The snow in Hades has been terrible. These pigs flying all over the place are certainly cause for concern as well. Yes, the New Jersey Nets have won the Eastern Conference. The theme of the East this year has been disappointment and injury. While some teams managed to stay afloat or even thrive with their injuries, others dropped to the lower levels of the lottery. This is a young conference, with the classic playoff teams becoming the prey of the younger, hungrier teams in the conference. The future of this conference looks bright, with plenty of young talent on teams like Indiana, Toronto, Boston, NJ, as well as several others. There should be a significant improvement in this conference's performance next year should the players (Hill, Iverson, all of Atlanta, Mashburn, to name a few) who would make significant contributions become and stay healthy. This is the conference of the future, pessimists would say however, that it always will be.

Biggest Surprise: All you need to do is look at the top of the standings. New Jersey, Detroit and Boston, all in the top three standings. If there was anyone who could have foreseen that, I've got a palm I'd like them to read.

Biggest Disappointment: With all due respect to New York, Milwaukee has this one in the bag. Yes, they've been injured, but so has everyone else in the conference. It's one thing to drop a few seeds, it's another entirely to drop out of the playoffs. There was no reason for this team not to be the two seed. Runner-ups: NY, INDY, MIA.

The Playoff Race: I'd really like to skip this part. The most intriguing matchup by far is the Boston Philadelphia series. Can the Eastern Defending champs come back from 0-2? This is a team that has never made things easy for itself, and clearly has decided to push the limit perhaps too far this time around. New Jersey has rebounded from that poor first half of game 1 and the Pacers, being the youngest team in the league, might be in over their heads even with their talent. Orlando's fate will depend on Mashburn. If Mashburn is healthy, Orlando will not be able to compete. However, the Magic might be able to get themselves in position to win the series before Mashburn returns. Detroit should toy with Toronto whose game plan without Carter seems to play right into the strength of the Pistons D. Prediction time. Gonna go with my preseason pick of the last two years now, the Charlotte Hornets. Even if they go down 2-1 without Mashburn, they should be able to pull the series out. With their size and experience, they have the strengths necessary for the playoffs that every other team is lacking in some form or another. The most complete team in the conference. Mashburn must get healthy though or this team is worse then anyone in the Eastern race outside of Indiana.

Breakout Player: This all starts in Detroit. Ben Wallace, who showed glimmers of his game every now and then in Washington when he broke into the league, has absolutely exploded onto the scene. Runner-ups: Jermaine O'neal, Kerry Kittles, Andre Miller, and Michael Redd.

Underrated Players: I'm not going to put Ben Wallace here. By now everyone has heard of him. However, there are several others that deserve mention. The person I tag here is Lamond Murray. This guy has had his best season, and is showing signs of a more complete all around game. Next year he might very well end up in the breakout player category. Runner-ups: Paul Pierce is another player in this category. A star who's name should be mentioned along with Kobe, Tmac, Iverson, Allen, and Carter as great young shot guards (although he plays the three as well). Runner-ups: Kurt Thomas, Ricky Davis, Eddie House.

Overrated Players: Can we please have a round of applause for Anthony Mason? Yes the player that appeared to be the perfect fit on one of the top teams in the East has proven he is anything but that. Runner-ups: There are no runner-ups, this is Masons and Masons alone. I'm not blaming Mason for Milwaukee's drop. Clearly when something like this happens everyone from management to the water boy deserve blame. Mason however certainly didn't help the situation and on the floor as said in the beginning proved to be anything but the missing piece.

Players to look out for in the next year or two: Jonathan Bender. This guy has really shown flashes this year, the question is, what position does he play? A seven footer with extremely quick hops similar to Antonio Mcdyess but is much smoother when he faces the basket (and much worse with his back against it), and has better range. May become a three, or dare I say a two? Might have to wait another year before given a full opportunity. Runner-ups: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jason Terry, Jamal Mashburn, Paul Pierce.

Teams on the Rise: Lots of teams fall into this category. I'm gonna exclude NJ, Boston, and Detroit cause they've risen. The first team that comes to mind is Indiana. The youngest team in the league and loaded with talent, it's only a matter of time till this team becomes one of the top teams in the league, even with Thomas as coach. Runner-ups: Orlando, Atlanta, Chicago

Teams on the Fall: Miami and NY are excluded because they've hit rock bottom. The teams on the fall are Milwaukee, and in my opinion Philadelphia. Milwaukee will have an interesting future (more on that later), Philadelphia's window could very well be closing. Mutombo is already old, and won't be getting any better any time soon. Iverson still doesn't have a second offensive option, and Derrick Coleman has a history of being a bigger pain on his team the longer he is on the team (think back, his first year in charlotte was a pleasant one as well). Even if they get healthy, this team could struggle next year. Runner-ups: Cleveland.

Teams to watch in the Offseason: Milwaukee. This team could very well be blown up during the offseason. With lots of trade value, and a coach who is the highest paid in the league and isn't getting fired any time soon, a lot of players in uniform could be shipped off to a different location. Runner-ups: Cleveland, Toronto, Detroit.

East Coach of the year: Rick Carlisle without question. He is the coach of the year. Detroit has been a well oiled machine despite the player who carried them last year hobbled by year long injuries, but played through them admirably. Could have folded when they went on the losing streak out west, but instead became an even better team. Runner-ups: Byron Scott, Doc Rivers, Jim O'Brien.

MVP of the east: My pick for MVP of the league as well. Jason Kidd. First off let me say that Kidd's impact has been greatly exaggerated. Between Todd MacCulloch, Kidd, Kerry Kittles all new (or returning from injury) from last year, Keith Van Horn not missing nearly 40 games, and Kenyon Martin being a second year player now, this starting lineup is basically entirely different from a year ago. However with no real backup (switching between Derrick Dial sparingly till he was let go, Kittles, Luscious Harris, and more recently Anthony Johnson) and the change in mentality on this traditionally terrible franchise, Kidd's impact has still been huge. Big enough to still warrant MVP honors even if he wasn't the sole savior as many seem to believe he was. Runner-ups: Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce, Jerry Stackhouse.