02/03 Season Preview cont.
@BenitoSTARR -
New York Knicks (53-29, NBA Champions)
Incremental improvement seems to be BenitoSTARR's thing. The rest of the team was a little bit up, a little bit down, but if Benito finds his form he can at least dream of becoming a three-time NBA Champion. The Knicks are tripped to finish 2nd in the East, behind a greatly improved Chicago Bulls.
@Dan -
Philadelphia 76ers (34-48)
Dan is quietly becoming quite a good player. The 76ers have a very solid team, with no clear weak-spots. The issue is that the league improved in general this year, so being solid might not be good enough. They are tipped to finish 7th in the East, which would take Dan back to the playoffs for the first time since 1998.
@sebsheep -
Portland Trailblazers (42-40, 1st Round)
sebsheep has seemed surprised to find himself in the playoffs the last couple of seasons, and if he's not careful he just might find himself there again this season. He took a decent leap in improvement, as did many of his teammates in Portland. They are predicted to to finish 4th in a very strong Western Conference.
@hobbers -
San Antonio Spurs (49-33, Conference Finals)
We all know it couldn't last forever, so it's no surprise that hobbers found himself declining back to more normal levels. Wait, what's that? He didn't? He improved even more? I don't believe you. Anyway, the Spurs are tipped to finish 2nd in the West.
@altodevil -
Sacramento Kings (49-33, Conference Semis)
After years of complaining about his situation, altodevil finally found himself in the playoffs last season with the Kings, even making the Conference Semis. It seems to have motivated our defensive giant, who improved even further. His team was more mixed, but broadly improved as well, so their 3rd prediction might not be too unrealistic.
@Solius,
@The Cat &
@weetee -
Seattle Supersonics (46-36, 1st Round)
It's the not-so-super-last-time super team! In their defense they were missing their best player all season, and both weetee and The Cat were injured during their short playoff run. While The Cat saw a slight decline, it's more than matched in improvements to Solius and weetee. Seattle are at the top of the pre-season Power Rankings.
@reelworld -
Washington Wizards (41-41, 1st Round)
Hey guys, reelworld is here too. You might have missed it, but he actually made the playoffs last year with Washington. He improved quite a lot over the summer, though his team was a bit up and a bit down. The bottom of the East is quite weak this year compared to the West, so even though Washington aren't very strong on a league basis, they're still predicted to finish 8th in the East.