Despite losing Andre Iguodala this week, Philadelphia appears to have improved its basketball team by adding the league's second best center, Andrew Bynum. In an offseason filled with player movement, the Atlantic Division most represents an arms race, with nearly all five teams making a push to win it all. Which team has positioned itself best to win the Atlantic?
Whoever chose Philly is on meth.
your right because the whole division improved so much. Pierce and garnett didnt get older and have to play 82 games this year. Nets cant/wont stay healthy and just added an overrated 2 in joe johnson. I mean the division is weak but Philly was 1 game from the eastern conference finals and just got alot better with one move.
You are delusional. The only reason Philly made it past the first round is because they tanked the last few games to avoid Miami and get an injured D-Rose. I am not hating on the strategy, but dont fool yourself into thinking they were actually good enough to win a series on their own. Philly lost their top scorer, only defender, and only rebounder and now all of the sudden Bynum makes them the division leader? The only feasible answers to this question are either Boston or NY, period. Boston was a Ray Allen injury away from the finals last year and replaced him with a younger Jason Terry, they drafted well and just picked up Courtney Lee, not to mention a healthy Avery Bradley, all with Rondo being completely unstoppable. On to the Knicks: Melo is unstoppable, STAT and TC are both working with Hakeem this summer, traded for Ray Felton, re-signed JR Smith, re-signed Novak, added veteran leadership in Kidd, added another defensive presence behind TC in Camby, defensive stopper in Brewer, and a healthy Iman Shumpert. Philly will be lucky to get to .500 with the bums they are sending out on their starting 5. Dont make the ‘old team’ argument because it will expose you for a blind sixers fan boy. Accept that you are wrong and move on.
lou williams scored yeah but couldnt play defense at all. Iggys a good perimeter defender but couldn’t do anything offensively but run the break. He pretty much hindered the development of evan turner and jrue holiday. So now we’ll see what they got becuase they will be the only two handling the ball. Nobody in the east can bang with Bynum down low. He’s going to be a mismatch for every team in the east. As for Brand being our best rebounder you clearly do not watch basketball. Ray Allen>Jason Terry. Avery Bradley is not proven and Courtney Lee is too inconsisten to improve your team. Not to mention Garnett is a year older and has to withstand a full season. Theyre thin at the center spot as it is. AS for the Knicks Melo is a great offensive player that can’t play defense. Knicks have the same guys as last year except shumpert is out til january, Brewer can only play defense. I Get Chandler is a very good interior presence and Camby a backup. I just don’t see Kidd or Felton doing anything. Amares a jump shooter at this point who doesnt play any defense at all. Just so many whole consisting of 4 starters that barely play any defense. I just dont see it. Like I get that the Sixers beat a battered bulls team last year. Celtics and Sixers I think would battle for it. Knicks havent done anything since Melo got there and he’s cancer to any basketball team. He needs to be surrounded with people that can play good defense and he doesnt have that. Your throwing Brewer and a hurt Shumpert at me but the Knicks did not get better at any position. Doug Collins is the x factor regardless. He takes a “sad 5” as your talking about and makes them a legit team
ok and the bulls woulda beat the celts in the 2nd round but they didnt and theyre not this year cuz rose is out. so enough with the shoulda coulda woulda
point taken
so basically any moves the sixers make it improves them but when boston or new york makes a move you automatically throw it out and claim they get worse. bynum is good but hasnt proven he can stay healthy consistently.
hibbbert, monroe, horford, noah can all handle bynum just fine
ok well 3 out of the 4 of those people are on bad teams. Hibbert is good I’ll agree but they didn’t get better at all. SO you know how they can contend. I’m just saying we get better by getting Iguodala just as much as getting bynum. Iggy took touches away from Jrue and Evan and we pretty much didn’t know what we had for 2 years with those guys because iggy needed the ball in his hands to be effective. Now with him gone they have their opportunity and with Bynum on the floor its gonna give those guys space to do their own thing. He changes the teams mentality. Having a 7’1″ PF doesnt hurt when he can shoot the way he does. We cause mismatch problems for other teams. I agree the Celts are a good team. I would not nor ever put the Knicks ahead of us. They have a bad coach and bad defense all over the place on that team
“ok well 3 out of the 4 of those people are on bad teams”
Pacers, Bulls and Hawks all will make the playoffs. but i guess making the playoffs makes them bad teams lmao
hawks good or something? we destroy tem ever year without bynum. Bulls ehhh at best an 8 seed. ROse wont be normal til next year. Pacers will be a top 4 seed again. I was talking about the pistons who i actually like more than the bulls or hawks
ok whatever. its obvious you only see 1 side. i cant wait for bynum to hurt his knee and the sixers struggle
Its odd that Bynum creates a mismatch against the DPOY. To call Melo a cancer is exactly what ESPN and other NY-hating media wants everyone to believe. By the way, neither Bynum or Nick Young are clubhouse types either, both inconceivably stupid/ignorant/immature(I know, JR Smith comment pending). I understand the skepticism about Felton and Kidd having an impact, but it would serve you well to remember the MVP-caliber performance of Stoudemire in the first half of the season before the Melo trade, that was in large part Ray Felton’s doing, he hasnt been the same since, but it is reasonable to expect his play to elevate from his abismal Blazers tour. Furthermore, Melo can and has played defense, you are regurgitating a common misconception. He is no LeBron on D, but he is a capable defender. Amare is working with Hakeem this summer for both offense and defense, so he should upgrade from ghost-like on defense to at least less of a liability. The Knicks, for the record, are my team and I hate the Celtics, but I am realistic and understand that the only true x-factor from a coaching perspective is Doc Rivers, not Doug Collins. Ray Allen is better than Terry, but also more injured at this moment, it’s practically a wash. Courtney Lee is an upgrade over Pietrus, and Avery Bradley was nothing short of a nightmare for opposing PGs prior to injury. This season will be a test for Holiday and Turner both, but I dont think you are being realistic. What are the scoring options after Bynum? Meeks will be gone and who is on your bench? Bynum is a good piece for you guys but I am thinking 5th seed in east come playoff time at best. Miami, NY, Boston, and Indiana are all better than you.
Sixers would of lost in the 1st rd except drose tore his acl and noah sprained his ankle.
Wow They actually picked philly? Some kids are on serious mind controlling drugs.