So ESPN Predicts YOUR Atlanta Hawks To Finish 2nd In The Eastern Conference :whew:

[Reggie]

Know way anyone with an ounce of basketball sense will believe that the Hawks are the second best team in the all of a sudden deep Eastern Conference.

 

[Dirty_Jerz]

gotta be

 

[mvp_status]

Those rankings fukking suck. Somebody actually got paid for that?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

3. Minnesota Timberwolves | Northwest: 3rd

Conventional Wisdom: Minnesota is on the upswing, but let's not get ahead of ourselves -- at least until Ricky Rubio is out of street clothes.

Actual wisdom: Remember the Thunder! Is it heresy to think this team can be the next OKC, suddenly emerging from the NBA's netherworld to wreak havoc? Granted, Minny hasn't made the playoffs since 2004 and hasn't broken 30 wins since '06-07. But even without Rubio, the Wolves are deeper than ever. As long as Love, the league's second-best Kevin, continues to pack his own kind of MVP stat line, they will be fine. And if out-of-mothballs Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko have something to bolster the 25th-ranked D, Minnesota will be way better than that. -- B.D.

Basketball Prospectus predictions
Projected record: 57.9-24.1
If Rubio plays 60 games: 58-24 (2-seed)
If Rubio plays 20 games: 56-26 (5-seed)

4. Los Angeles Lakers | Pacific: 1st

Conventional Wisdom: Dwight Howard! Steve Nash! Kobe Bryant! Pau Gasol! How can the Lakers not be on their way to another title?

Actual wisdom: The roster is definitely stacked at the top, but then what? The bench remains a cobbled-together afterthought. Certain teams can get away with no reinforcements, but not this one: Bryant, Gasol, Nash, Metta World Peace & they're all on the wrong side of their career bell curves. Worse, Kobe is not gliding gently into his golden years. Last season, he posted the lowest true shooting percentage and second-highest usage rate of his career. What good is an A-list core if one of its members refuses to blend into the crowd? -- B.M.

Basketball Prospectus predictions
Projected record: 57.5-24.5
If Howard plays 60 games: 56-26 (5-seed)
If Howard plays 20 games: 49-33 (6-seed)

 

[TheNig]

This was a bad list when they had the Bulls over the Pacers. I kind hope the Bulls tank the season.

 

[Constellations]

 

[StatUS]

Great, more ATL frontrunning.

 

[cornercommission2k12]

Did the coaching change cause that was always the issue

Anyway obviously bpsn is putting out list to get people talking


Mission accomplished

 

[Brady-Carter]

Horse shyt. The Raps are making the playoffs this year(Let me live a little)...

And the Nets are going to be a higher seed then the Knicks..

 

[The_Third_Man]

the bulls

 

[Steezy]

ill trust these paid professional analysts over some random coli nikkas

#ammoniaGang

 

[Ritzy Sharon]

shytty list, even though it has my squad as #1 in the West.

leave the stat geek forecasts to Hollinger.

 

[FreshFromATL]

shytty list, even though it has my squad as #1 in the West.

leave the stat geek forecasts to Hollinger.

It's Hollinger's quote regarding the Hawks

 

[OTC]

The T'Wolves 3rd in the West tho?

 

[TYBG]

List probably used some "formula"