S84 Town Hall 10

[Mike Lowry]

Who is the 6 seed in the East?
Why?

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers, which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5, 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Due by the deadline for sim 10

[WigNosy]

This is fundamentally a question of, "whose trades do I trust?" The Pacers picked up Dennis Johnson on 12/15 and have gone 29-15 since that acquisition. The Pistons picked up Cliff Levingston on 12/15 followed by Vinnie Johnson and Alvin Roberston on 1/1 and went 20-14 in that span. The Nets picked up Clark Kellogg on 2/14 so we have a much smaller sample size to work with; they're 12-3 since the trade.

Given those trajectories, it doesn't seem likely the Pistons are able to catch the teams ahead of them and are likely to finish just outside the playoff picture. The Nets will have to make up 3 games in the loss column on the Pacers, and of their remaining 17 games, just 5 are against top-4 teams in either conference; the Pacers have 18 games left and 6 are against top-4 teams. More interestingly, the Pacers and Pistons play each other twice in the final 2 weeks of the season, and I suspect the Pistons will be incented to go hard in those games, so the Pacers can't coast.

This may sound like a cop-out answer, but give me the winner of the St. Patrick's day game between the Pacers and Nets. That game represents not only a virtual two-game swing in the standings but more importantly, the head-to-head between these teams sits tied at 2-2, so it should be the tiebreaker if these teams end up tied in the standings. Either the Pacers win and go up 4 games in the loss column with the tiebreaker in hand so the Nets have to get 5 more wins over the course of a dozen-ish games) or the Nets win and are 2 games back in the loss column with the tiebreaker in hand and know the Pacers have a much harder final schedule.

[Mike Lowry]

I think Wig lost me a little because he is addressing the 5 instead of the 6, but I can appreciate how that logic gets you to the 6 as well.
And I mostly agree.
I think the Nets are going to be the 5.
The trade for Kellogg boosted their starting lineup and put them on a rocket.
The Pistons on the other hand might have a hard time closing the gap on the Pacers.
4 games in the loss column is already a task with roughly 20 to play, and I think they don't have enough home games for their young talent to catch up.
Looks like they'll have to try again next year, but I do like some of the pieces they're building with.

[K-100]

I'll take the Pistons at 6 - the Nets made an interesting trade offloading the Cliff max contract for a cheaper Clark Kellogg but I think they will go through some growing pains to adjust to the new dynamic that will cost them the playoffs. I think the move will pay off in the future but right now it wont be enough to stave off the Pistons.

[logpmess]

I am going to say the Pacers. As Wig outlined, the trades and success afterwards are apparent for all of the three main players. Now that we are back healthy, I hope the Bulls make up some more ground and are not even a possible contender for the 6th spot. So here I decided to break down things a little further. All of these teams are strong at home. The Pistons have the most home games remaining by 3. I think the Pacers will drop down to the 6th seed after losing a couple of those games in Detroit.

[IamQuailman]

The Pistons had a really rough stretch this past sim and a half... but is that because they are a bad team or that they are a young team that hit a long stretch of road games just as the Nets got hot post-Cliff Robinson departure? This is going to be a really thrilling race to monitor over the last month of the season. The Pistons remaining schedule has ALOT of tough matchups on it coming up, including one matchup vs the Nets... and i think the winner of that game will be the one to take the 6th seed. The Nets on the otherhand have once again UNLOCKED Daryl Dawkins. The skies have opened up and its raining CHOCOLATE THUNDER BUCKETS. Clark "Mr. CBS" Kellogg slid into his role perfectly, allowing not as much competition for scoring for Daryl while doing all the little (and big things off ball). Just a great complimentary player that can get buckets when needed.

It's really going to be a toss up between two young teams looking to re-enter contender status... but as of right now, I trust the championship pedigree of Daryl Dawkins to give the Nets the edge needed to make the playoffs.

[greepleairport]

Who is the 6 seed in the East?
Why?

It seems like there are really only two options here, and I'm going with the Pistons. I don't think they'll catch up with the Pacers, who just went on a crazy win streak, and they have fewer road games ahead than the Nets. Not a super in depth analysis or anything, but I do so the Pistons edging out the Nets.

...ahh, but then again, the Nets are on a crazy win streak, too! Hmm... scratch that, I'm going with the Nets.

...ehh, scratch that. I'm back on the Pistons. They definitely have an easier schedule ahead.

[Eazy P]

Who is the 6 seed in the East?
Think the 6th seed will be the Nets

Why?
They will be because since the trade of Cliff Robinson they have been on nice run. They even beat the West favorites in the lakers during this run. Maybe trading Cliff Robinson is what the Nets needed to open up things for others on the team. I can see them catching the Pacers and even give the Bulls a little scare for the 5th seed. The Nets are starting to peak at the right time.

[TheSyndicate]

Who is the 6 seed in the East?
Why?

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers, which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5, 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Due by the deadline for sim 10

The NEts are gonna do it. They made an exceptional trade for Kellogg, he rounds out that lineup nicely, and they've been 11-3 since the trade. Only risk to that prediction is they might get the 4 or 5 seed...

[Mike Lowry]

@WigNosy
@Mike Lowry
@logpmess
@IamQuailman
@greepleairport
@Eazy P

+1 point