May on the Best Teams in The East

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Strangely enough, the Celtics don't seem to make the list.....
Good point by May on McGrady. He is the best player in the conference.
But will he be usurped by James in the coming years?

And I'm sure this article will offend the usual cheerleaderish types....

The cream of East's not-so-vintage crop

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By Peter May
Special to ESPN.com


Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to identify the top
five teams in the Eastern Conference. Good luck. You'll need it.

Sure, we can always make a list of the top five teams in the Eastern
Conference. Just try getting to No. 3. I'm already at the Carolina
Bobcats -- and they don't even play next season. Identifying the top
five teams in the East is akin to identifying the top five wines by
Boone's Farm.


The Nets will be better only if Alonzo Mourning is feeling better.
The widening gap between East and West is even greater now, given what
has transpired in the last few weeks. The East's only saving grace --
Jason Kidd decided to stay in New Jersey. Sure, he brought Alonzo
Mourning with him. But Zo was already in the conference. And Jermaine
O'Neal remained in Indiana. That's about it.

Otherwise, Latrell Sprewell, Brad Miller and Gary Payton went west. Karl
Malone, Rasho Nesterovic and Michael Olowokandi stayed out west, as did
Andre Miller. Elton Brand and Corey Maggette stayed out west, as did
Eric Piatkowski and, of course, Mark Madsen.

So what does that leave the East looking like? How does Mogadishu sound?

We all can identify the top five teams in the Western Conference. In
some order, they are the Spurs, Lakers, Mavericks, Kings and
Timberwolves. They also happen to be one though five in the league right
now, no matter what they might say in East Rutherford.

But the Nets have this going for them: They are, as we speak, the
indisputable kingpins, the Boone's Farm Strawberry, of the Eastern
Conference.


1
New Jersey Nets: Say this for Rod Thorn; he did what he had to do. How
Kidd decided to stay in New Jersey, where he's never going to win a
title, and diss San Antonio, where he could have won a title, remains
the big mystery. But he did it. And he got Zo to come along in a $22
million sidecar. The Nets are stronger, but only, really, if Mourning
gives them anything. And we all know that the last time Zo played, he
wasn't the menacing Zo of yore. But he is an upgrade, and you have to
think Thorn might have one more move up his sleeve, dealing one of his
surplus bigs. The Nets have ruled the conference the last two years --
remember, they won 10 straight playoff games heading into the NBA
Finals. Kidd is the difference maker, and they have him. There are two
potential sore spots, however, both involving contracts. Kenyon Martin's
agent went to Thorn on Aug. 1 and asked for a maximum extension. The
response: not so quick. Let's see K-Mart make an All-Star team in the
power forward-bereft East first and then, well, maybe. The other is
Byron Scott. Not many organizations that want their coach to stick
around allow him to go into the final year of a contract. But that's
where Scott is right now. Maybe there are shaky relationships and sour
grapes, but how do you let this happen? Especially with
power-behind-the-throne Eddie Jordan off to Washington.

2. Detroit Pistons: We'll give the Pistons their due, even though the
status of Darko Milicic is anything but clear. But, really, is there any
way you don't expect to see him in a Detroit uniform next fall? The
Pistons have insurance up the middle with the addition of Elden Campbell
to back up Cliff Robinson and Ben Wallace. That's plenty in the East.
Detroit basically has the same crew back from last year, but with Larry
Brown at the helm instead of Rick Carlisle and with valuable reserve Jon
Barry still out there. All we know is that Carlisle's Pistons took care
of Brown's 76ers in the playoffs last spring. And the Pistons aren't the
type of team Brown traditionally chooses. Usually, he gets a team on the
bottom and then takes it upwards. These guys were regular-season
conference champs last year. How much more can they grow? Well, they
have Milicic, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton, all youngsters with a
lot to learn. Brown will have an impact on them. (If you're Darko, is
there a better situation for you than to have Larry Brown as your first
head coach?) Is this team ready to take the proverbial next step? That's
why Brown is there.


Tim Floyd finally has some talent to work with, something he didn't have
in Chicago.
3. New Orleans Hornets: Now, it gets dicey. The only reason the Hornets
aren't higher -- on paper, they may have the best lineup -- is because
we're still not sure why, with all the possibilities out there, they
hired Tim Floyd. There is still a sizeable contingent of reputable
basketball people who think Floyd is a top-notch coach who never had
anything close to a full deck in Chicago. There are others who will tell
you he was simply over his head in Chicago no matter who he coached,
evidenced by the rebellion of some veterans as well as the fact that the
team got better once he left. Floyd inherits a pretty good team whose
main trouble the last two years has been injuries to its two best
players. If Jamal Mashburn and Baron Davis can somehow stay healthy,
these guys have most of the bases covered. They re-signed P.J. Brown and
then got a veteran presence in the backcourt in Darrell Armstrong. They
just re-upped good guy George Lynch. There's really no reason why Floyd
can't get a lot of Ws out of this group. But until it happens, there is
always going to be that question. No one has lost like he has lost in
the annals of the NBA. In fact, he might win more games in one year here
than he did in three-plus years in Chicago. Really, only he can mess
this thing up.

4. Indiana Pacers: The Pacers were the No. 3 team in the East at the end
of last season (after being No. 1 for much of the first half) and then
flamed out big-time in the playoffs. Isiah Thomas' coaching was brutal,
no one made shots except for O'Neal, and Indy was lucky to win two games
against the Celtics. But the Pacers' only real loss since then has been
Brad Miller, although Scot Pollard seems to be a more than adequate
replacement. As new hoops chief Larry Bird noted, "He's won everywhere
he's been. He plays hard and he doesn't complain." Reggie Miller remains
unsigned, but that shouldn't be seen as a crisis. Where else is he going
to go? And despite Miller's reputation as a big-game performer, he was
awful in the Boston series. The big unknown for Indy is the status of
Thomas who, like Scott, is on the last year of his deal. The arrival of
Bird cannot be construed as good news for Thomas; Bird recommended that
Indy hire Carlisle to succeed him three years ago. Thomas has taken Indy
into the playoffs the last three years. Each time, they've been bounced
in the first round. The first two years could be written off to youth,
or so the Pacers said. Last year was flat-out inexcusable. The big
personnel questions remain the same as before: Who is going to be the
point guard and when will some of the kids ever start to develop into
consistent, solid NBA players? Al Harrington disappeared against the
Celtics. Jonathan Bender barely played. O'Neal will take them a long
way, and Ron Artest is coming off a breakout year of sorts. On paper,
anyway, the Pacers still look reasonably solid. But isn't it time for
them to go a little further?

5. Orlando Magic: The Magic have the best player in the conference. At
long last, they also have some talent around him. That should help Tracy
McGrady and maybe get Orlando into the second round of the playoffs.
McGrady is the Kevin Garnett of the East. But the Magic finally got some
help for him, starting with the acquisitions of Drew Gooden and Gordan
Giricek last season and continuing over the summer with the drafting of
Reece Gaines and the free-agent signings of Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue.
They still could use a big body -- is Steven Hunter going to be ready to
play every day? -- but, then again, who couldn't in the East? Orlando
also is going into this season without the distraction of Grant Hill,
who is not going to play. As much as coach Doc Rivers might have said
otherwise, it had to be tough with Hill being an unknown most of the
time. Now, it's a known -- he's going to be like Bob Dylan at Woodstock.
(He ain't here and he ain't coming.) Gooden and Giricek will have a full
camp behind them when the bell rings, and Lue should help offset the
loss of the popular Armstrong. Howard gives them an inside option they
haven't had for a while, although it remains to be seen how he and
Gooden will mesh. Gaines can score and distribute, and Rick Pitino
generally has his guys ready for the NBA. But it still all hinges on
T-Mac. If he stays healthy, the Magic could be a fun team to watch --
and a not-so-fun team to play.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular
contributor to ESPN.com.