Overall things look pretty much unchanged in this division from last season. The New Jersey Nets are the cream of this less than stellar crop and appear the only sure bet to make the postseason. The other four teams will more than likely spend the season just skimming along, hoping to put things together enough to squeak into one of the low seed playoff berths.
New Jersey Nets – The key for the Nets is how healthy their troika of Carter-Jefferson-Kidd can remain as last season they only missed nine games and finished 49-33 nabbing the third seed. In 2004-05 the trio missed 70 games and ended up with the eighth seed. Overall New Jersey is not the deepest of units and the backups were outscored by 7.8 points per game last season and it looks like that trend will continue this season. The Nets are one of the NBA’s top defensive teams however, which for the most part has them in every game. The only question here will be regarding age, as in are they at the top of their game or beginning the trip downhill, but they should have enough to take the Atlantic once again. Playoff wise there could be some concern as the division winner no longer gets the automatic No. 3 seed, which could have New Jersey taking on the top seed earlier than they would like.
Boston Celtics – It would seem that Celtics GM Danny Ainge must have studied the theories of baseball GM Frank “Trader” Lane.
The latter almost never saw a trade he didn’t like, including one where he traded managers. Ainge has again jumbled the Boston roster during the off-season and one wonders if there is a plan in place or if he just likes meeting with the media to announce them. The Celtics get the nod over Toronto here because of Paul Pierce, who was the only player in the NBA to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game last season. This is a young Celtics team as other than Pierce (29), Szczerbiak (29) and backup Ratliff (33) the rest of the rotation averages 21.5 yrs old, and they will need to grow up together if Boston is going to make a playoff run. The Celtics are an average team defensively and hope the addition of Ratliff will improve them there and also on the boards. See the Celtics being one of four teams that will be fighting for the eighth seed at the end of the season.
Toronto Raptors – The Raptors remind me of the St. Louis Rams of the greatest show on turf days except they have a worse defense as Toronto set a franchise record averaging 101.1 ppg last year BUT allowed 104.0 a key to their 27-55 record. New GM Bryan Colangelo doesn’t think that is completely a bad thing (at least offensively), as he would like to have the Raptors be like the team he left in the Phoenix Suns and has been reshaping the roster in that mode. Toronto’s continuing philosophy is to run, run, run and attack and Chris Bosh is a proper player to lead the charge. Bosh's supporting cast has taken on an international flavor, as it looks like five players from Europe will be on the final roster. The key to Toronto’s success this year will be to pick up the defense by a ton as opponents shot 49.1% against them which was last in the NBA. If they can make the necessary improvements in slowing down the opposition they can be one of four fighting for the No. 8 seed. If not, it will be a learning/growing year, with all eyes toward the 2007-08 season.
New York Knicks – Isaiah Thomas gets to put his whistle to work here and not just the telephone, as now he will be coaching the talent he has put together as the Knicks GM. A good first step would be consistency and continuity, as last season in Larry Brown’s one and only season they set an NBA record with 42 different starting lineups. Overall with a roster with names like Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Steve Francis, Jalen Rose, etc, one would expect big things but instead it has been the proverbial “too many cooks spoil the broth” as there is too much individual play where everyone is concerned with putting up points without much passing and that lack of ball movement makes it easier on opposing defenses. Expect improvement this season, but in reality no where to go other than up after last year's dismal numbers, but the Knickerbockers will once again be sitting at home watching the post season on TV.
Philadelphia 76ers – General Manager Billy King in May talked about changing the team's culture and naturally everyone thought that meant trading Allen Iverson. Nothing materialized on the trade front and overall Philly did little or nothing during the off-season so one must wonder about the total psyche of this team. Iverson has carried this team throughout his career and as a matter of fact has increased his scoring average in each of his last three years and last year finished at 33.0 ppg. The Sixers, however, have not made the playoffs in two of the last three years. Iverson is saying all the right things noting he wants to be in Philly but the question now becomes what will things be like on the court. Like A.I. or not, cannot ignore the fact he has given his all to the team and basically was backhanded in the off-season, which does not give the feeling there will be success here this season. Since Larry Brown left, this team is decidedly average on defense. While Iverson has all the defensive tools he is not as aggressive as could be, as he needs to stay out of foul trouble since he has so little help on offense. The 76ers are nowhere near as talented as the Knicks and that will keep them in the basement and out of the playoffs this season.
