5 Things I Think I know About the Southeast Division
With the vision of the 2009/2010 NBA season becoming more and more clear each day, we’ll take a look at each division and explain what we think we know about each. Sure, there are a lot of things that could change before opening day, but we have a pretty good idea of how each team will look and where we think they’re headed in the upcoming year.
For my third column, here are 5 things I think I know about the Southeast Division…
5. I think I know that the Wizards will win more than 19 games.
Okay, I’m being facetious. There really is no doubt in my mind they’ll win more than 19 games; I’d put them closer to 45 actually. Having a healthy Gilbert Arenas with a clear motive is dangerous for opposing teams. Like Tracy McGrady, Arenas has something to prove – that he could be close to the player he once was. Though, it certainly helps that this season will feature the deepest Wizards team he’s ever had in Washington. Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Nick Young all stepped up in Arenas’ absence and the additions of Mike Miller and Randy Foye should provide the Wizards with a solid core of players for Flip to work with.
4. I think I know that the Magic did all the right things in the off-season.
If I’m a Magic fan, I’d be more than pleased with the additions they made after losing to the Lakers in the Finals. That’s all you could ask for as a fan, right? Clearly, the Lakers were a better team than the Magic last year. Instead of Orlando being content with their roster, they went out and made it better. Losing Hedo to the Raptors shouldn’t be frowned upon; let’s not forget he averaged about 17 points during the regular season and only about 15 in the playoffs. The addition of Vince Carter as a consistent scoring threat will open up Dwight Howard down low, even more so than before. Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes make the Magic one of the deepest (if not the deepest) teams in the Eastern Conference. With a healthy Jameer Nelson at the helm, I’d expect the Magic to be better in all facets of their game in 2009-’10.
3. I think I know that the Southeast Division is the most boring to watch in the NBA.
I covered the Heat and Hawks first-round series for TalkHoops last year and I wanted to punch myself square in the mouth for all 48 minutes of every game. It was brutal. Each team had a few players that I enjoyed watching, but the games were nowhere near exciting. With both the Hawks and Heat failing to score more than 60 points in at least one of their games, it was just painful to watch. It’s funny how similar each team plays in this division – that methodical, grind-it-out style of basketball. And while it may be fun to watch at times, it certainly doesn’t pack the punch that the Central, Pacific, or Southwest divisions do. I’m not trying to knock the division, but there are just so many more teams that I’d rather watch play. Of all the teams, the Magic are the team I’d follow most simply because of how good they could be next year. If I’m honest, other than Orlando, I’d rather watch the Spurs play than any of the other teams in the Southeast; as anyone that knows me will tell you, that’s saying a lot.
2. I think I know that the Bobcats will, once again, disappoint.
I liken Charlotte to the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL. Each season, they come in with high expectations and each time they end up being far from met. Charlotte has just enough talent and ability to be a pretty good team, but not enough to make any amount of noise in their conference, much less their division. Tyson Chandler might make them a bit more flashy than Emeka Okafor did, but they’ll need an MVP-type season from Boris Diaw to be considered anywhere near relevant. Since that has about as good a chance of happening as Steve Nash winning the dunk contest, the Bobcats will once again play hard…but ultimately go nowhere.
1. I think I know that Dwyane Wade will have an even better year.
Topping 30 ppg, 7apg, and 5rpg will be no easy task, but I really think he’ll do it. Does Wade want to remain in Miami? Who knows. The one thing I do know is that Dwyane is poised for (statistically) the best year of his career, and I can’t believe I’m saying that after the season he had in 2008-’09. We all know he’s due for a major payday in 2010 and he’ll work to make sure that happens, but I still think he is going to play with a chip on his shoulder which will make him an even better player. I think what will ultimately help him the most is a much more consistent year from his teammates; Beasley, Cook, and Chalmers should all be able to improve drastically, thus, taking *some* of the pressure off Wade to score.
What’s your take on the Southeast Division?
5 Things I Think I Know About the Atlantic Division
5 Things I Think I Know About the Central Division
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Follow Ben York on Twitter @bjyork.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:23 am
JOB33 says:
Thanks for that Captain Obvious.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Diego says:
I can’t argue with that Hawks/Heat playoff analysis. That series was hideous–but at least you didn’t pay good $ for tickets to it!
BUT, the Hawks just played terribly in the playoffs last year (vs. Miami and Cleveland). Now that the Hawks have a few regular season games scheduled for national tv this year, check them out, and you may find out why they were seeded 4th last year and why last year’s playoffs were not that representative of the season.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:36 am
MSkittle says:
Will be hard for Wade to improve on the 2008-2009 season
August 10th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Kobeef says:
5 things I know about the Southeast:
5. Michael Beasley will actually get to play more than 20min per game this year…possibly for another team.
4. The heat are going to be absolutely horrible and will tank (again) to try to get John Wall.
3. Jamal Crawford is the most important player in this division. If Crawford returns to his Knicks-era 50 point scoring days, the Hawks are going to be a big problem for the Magic and the Celtics with a starting line of Crawford, Bibby, JJ, Smoove and Horford.
2. Randy Foye and Mike Miller will not help the Wizards. At all.
1. There is no way the Magic make it to the finals again if KG is healthy – so savor that moment Magic fans.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Ben York says:
@Diego – Good point, both teams (Hawks, Heat) absolutely didn’t play indicative to anywhere close to their potential in that series. I do have a few Hawks games marked on my calendar that I’m going to watch. If they can get to a point of consistency this season, they’ll be tough.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:07 am
nerditry says:
1 Thing I Know About Commenter Kobeef:
1. He smokes the finest grade every morning.
Jamal Crawford put up buckets and is startlingly inefficient. He’s a chucker in the purest sense of the word and does not bring a skill which will help to solidify ATL as a contender in the East.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=165
August 10th, 2009 at 11:19 am
jdote says:
Love the last one prediction about Wade. I think he’s going to fall into that Iverson category, where everyone is thinking his reckless style of play is eventually going to catch up to him, but year after year he’ll be dominant.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:21 am
The Real Deal says:
Things I know about Kobeef:
He smokes more of the white crystalline stuff more than herb.
1. The hawks frontcourt is thinner than kate moss
2. The hawks backcourt has more gunners than the marines with Bibby, crawford and flip murray.
3. No one, i mean absolutely no one from the hawks frontcourt will get buckets
4. Don’t sleep on the wizards with a lineup of
pg: arenas/ javaris critteton
sg: foye/nick young
sf: caron/ mike miller
pf: antwan/ Blatche
C: the self claime 3rd best center in the league in Brendan Haywood/ Optimus Prime “I crowned Blake Griffin” Jevale McGee
5. kobeef is a tard
August 10th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Big V says:
@4:
ATL can’t stop Boston or Orlando inside.
August 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
capnkimo says:
As impressive orlando’s roster seems to be, I still pick Boston to win it all next year if they’re healthy (and I’m not a Celtics fan)
August 10th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
karizmatic says:
It would have been better if you would have weighed in on whether you think Gilbert Arenas will actually be healthy. Personally I don’t, which has a huge effect on whether they will be a contender or not. Obviously they’ll win more than 19 games if only because of will power. But the real question is whether Gilbert Arenas is going to be close to the same guy he used to be, and if not does he have a high enough basketball IQ to make the changes necessary to be effective. I think not.
The Magic did well this off season. I still wish they could have held on to Turkoglu I think he is just a much better fit for that team than VC. VC is underrated as a clutch shooter so it should be interesting to see if he chokes on the same shots the Turkoglu hit last year to make the Magic dangerous. 17ppg, 15ppg, or 23 as VC is prone to score, it doesn’t matter how many points you score it’s when you score them.
The Bobcats don’t now and never had enough talent to truly compete, c’mon. The real question is will DJ Augustin be better this year than he was last year or is he just a fluke?
Flash could potentially have a much better season than he did last year but I doubt it. I think the growth of Beasley will cut into some of his points production although I’m not a big Beasley fan. Should Miami acquire AI that will put a damper on it, and I’m also thinking they will make some kind of move before All-star break potentially acquiring Boozer. Those moves will all cut into Wade’s numbers, plus the looming possibility of an injury considering the way he plays. But we all now Wade will be a dominant force in the league no matter what.
August 10th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
doc says:
Who knows if Wade plays more than a week next year.
August 10th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Ben York says:
@karizmatic – All good points. I really think that Gilbert will stay healthy next year; nothing really to base that on other than the length of time he took to come back and how much he wants to win (and look good).
As far as Wade goes, I think it depends on if he personally feels he still has something to prove to the league and/or doubters. If not, then numbers are still amazing but maybe not quite like they were last year. If so, then the league better watch out.
August 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
karizmatic says:
@ Ben
What could Wade possibly have to prove to the league as an individual after last year? Well maybe he feels snubbed that he didn’t get the MVP.
August 10th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Ben York says:
@karizmatic – Maybe the MVP, but also that health-wise, he’s fine. There’s no doubt in my mind he’ll get paid, but there might be a slight hesitation by teams if his health proves to be a continual liability.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Chaos says:
DWade will be better than he was last year, not really points wise but teh team should be better as actually finishers so u can expect more of the intangibles from DWade: assists, steals, defense. Beasley really needs to step up on the scoring and defensive end. hope him and Chalmers have matured in the offseason and that o’neal has gone to arizona and talked to the people that grant hill talked to to get his knees in better shape.
August 10th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Ian says:
after reading this crapfest from mr. york there a thing i think i know for sure
dude doesnt know shit about good basketball.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:43 am
T.J. says:
@The Real Deal. I can tell you know absolutely nothing about the Hawks.
You really can’t complain about the Hawks-Heat series because we played with so many injuries. Honestly you can’t critize a team when their not playing at full strength. I think your mistaken when saying that the southeast division is boring. I can’t speak for every team in the division but I know that the Magic and Hawks are entertaining. The Hawks are are great team to watch depending on the game. The Hawks vs Celtics games are usually the best to watch. This season we’ll finally get some national games so people can stop talkin stupid off what they hear and see from the media.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Nukky G. says:
Orlando 57-25
Atlanta 45-37
Washington 42-40
Miami 40-42
Charlotte 31-51
August 11th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
DeAndre says:
My ‘Early Season’ Predictions (for the East):
1. Cavaliers- Shaq addition + defensive components.
2. Celtics- Loaded roster. Return of KG to the lineup.
3. Wizards- Healthy team with loaded talent. (Insert Flip Saunders)
4. Magic- Howard + Vince and Co.= alot of wins.
5. Heat- AI+Wade backcourt will prove DEVASTATING.
6. Hawks- The addition of Jamal Crawford will help Hawks stay ‘in the air’ in terms of playoff position.
7. Great talent around Chris Bosh + healthy Calderon? Nuff said.
8. Bulls- I was going to put Detroit. But i had them doing well with an UNPROVEN coach last year in Michael Curry. Bulls take the last spot due to an decent roster and ‘a steady’ Derrick Rose.
9. Pistons- “Read last paragraph”
10. Pacers- Team is good. But inconsistency will spell this season for them as last season did.
Basically, as “boring” as the Southeast division is (*respected opinion*) I predict they’ll have FOUR out of FIVE teams in the playoffs this upcoming season UNLESS the Heat don’t sign A.I. Then it’ll only be the Magic, Hawks (barring no injuries) & Wizards. That’s whay i say.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
heavy d says:
I would love to see the Heat sign AI because I’m a Hawks fan. His ball dominance will do nothing but hurt Wade.
August 27th, 2009 at 5:03 am
Ryan says:
Orlando will win the championship yeah I said it