The Weak East

["Gene Kirkpatrick" <gkir@tjc.tyler.cc.tx.us>]

I'm not convinced the East is all that strong right now and that buoys
my hopes for our boys.  After all, the Knicks made the playoffs in the
last week (barely beat our boys to do that) and then won the
conference.  Don't you think there are four or five teams in the West
that could beat us all?   Let's look at the competition:

New York:  could well be as good or better, but Ewing hurts as much
as he helps nowadays and they need to decide who they are.  I can't
see them being as consistent as they need to be to win 60 games.

Miami:  good front court, guards in decline, bench weak; they could
still win 50

Indiana:  could still be a top four team in the East, but it's hard
to figure how they're on the upswing

Atlanta:  who knows?  this team lacks fire in the belly

Orlando:  give them a few years, and then a few more

New Jersey:  some real fine talent; maybe they'll be a contender, but
would you make them your darkhorse?

Toronto:  last year's flash makes some good off-season moves; should
make the playoffs

Charlotte:  same as New Jersey but more blue-collar oriented; still,
they will challenge for the seventh or eighth slot, not the top

Detroit:  an enigma; if they're a contender, it's with a lower case
"c";  most likely candidate to pull an "Orlando" next offseason

Philadelphia:  able to leap medium size buildings; I can't see them
beating the better rehearsed troups with consistency

Cleveland:  as Ilgauskas goes, so go the Cavs.  What a slogan!  I 
like this team but they're no threat for the top tier, either

Milwaukee:  forgotten, but not gone; they'll be good, like Indiana,
but on the way up

Oh, yeah, Washington:  puhleeze, while I wish them well, I agree with
the conventional wisdom that they will resign from the league by
Christmas

and, ta ta ta:  Boston:  why not?

My picks (and I know you don't really care, but I'm bored this
morning):

l.  Miami
2.  New York
3.  Philly
4.  Indiana
5.  Milwaukee
6.  Boston
7.  Charlotte
8.  Cleveland/Toronto tie

I feel better now.  

Gene