S85 Town Hall 4

[Mike Lowry]

Climbing and Falling:
Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?
Which teams will fall farthest?
What will contribute?

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: Deadline for sim 4

[AngryBanana]

Climbing and Falling:
Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?
Which teams will fall farthest?
What will contribute?

The team that will climb the most may just be the lakers. I really like the moves he has done to win now and trying to build a complete roster. The only problem he is running into is that he is like a LeBron James team. They are heavy on the star talent, light on the depth. I also think the Nets have room to improve as the roster gels together. They are too good to be only a few games over .500

The team that will fall the farthest will be the Kings or Rockets I think, for different reasons. The kings are clearly trying to rebuild and will attempt to sell off more pieces as a result. The Rockets will fall off because other teams will catch up to them. I think they had a good cohesion to start the year, and will wain off as teams gameplan better and get better cohesions themselves.


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[Mike Lowry]

I see the Suns falling the farthest.
I think Utah, Dallas, and San Diego all have too much talent to continue to struggle the way they are.
I also don't think Seattle is done selling, so depending on how well they liquidate, they will likely drop even further and cause at least one team to rise a bit.
As far as climbing in the West, I think we might see a repeat of last season where the Clippers go on a tear to close the season.
They can possibly climb into the 3 seed, and I expect the Spurs to get the 2.
I have a hard time seeing much change in the East.
All the teams looked to be leveraged except of course the Bucks who are already on top of the standings.
Maybe the Celtics get some cohesion and start winning.
Don't think they are looking for that though.

[K-100]

Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?
I think the Pistons will figure it out soon and make their climb to the 4 spot. It is a deep rotation so the cohesion is not quite there yet but after a couple more sims, their talent will show up.

Which teams will fall farthest?
The Utah Jazz seem to be coming back down to earth after a hot start and I think that slide will continue. The rebuild post-Kiki should be commended but it takes time to recover from such a blow and the growing pains will start to rear their ugly head soon.

What will contribute?
I think folks will continue to sell pieces allowing teams to make adjustments to their lineups so if people are willing to buy talent there is plenty of it to go around.

[Eazy P]

Climbing and Falling:

Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?

I think the Nets, Pistons and Clippers will eventually climb the most. They are teams that got off to slow starts. I think these teams will figure things out and take a leap into the playoff picture. I think the clippers will finish as the 6th seed in the west and scare some teams.


Which teams will fall farthest?

I think the Suns will fall not because they are a bad team but because they are building through the draft. Wining too many games will hurt them. I can see them dialing back some to keep them in the running for a high lottery pick.

What will contribute?

Things that can contribute are possible trades, timing of injuries to key player(s). Key players who may be currently injured returning, and a little luck. It going to be fun to see how things pan out for theses teams.

[logpmess]

Climbing and Falling:
Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?
It may not seem like a lot, but I think the Nets will climb the most to take their division this year. They will be getting Johnson back from an injury to round out their rotation. All they had to do was stay afloat during that time and they could manage to still be competitive.

Which teams will fall farthest?
A little insider trading, but I think the Bulls will fall the most. I know the coach is planning to constantly change lineups and gameplanning throughout the season, so I anticipate that causing additional losses and the Bulls won't be this high in the standings at the end of the season.

What will contribute?
Injuries both happening and healing from them is always the top contributor to a slide or rise in standings.

[Xist2Inspire]

Climbing and Falling:
Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?

Nobody in the East is going to climb without trades or injuries. The playoffs are already set - Bucks, Bulls, Bullets, Nets, Knicks, Pistons - and all that remains for the rest of the season is jockeying for position. In the West, I'm picking the Trailblazers, if only because the renaissance has already begun. The Blazers are currently on an 8-game win streak with back-to-back beatings of the Spurs, so I think it's safe to say that Wig is figuring out his freshly-modified roster after a glacially slow start.

Which teams will fall farthest?

In the East - though I hate to say it - I think it's going to be the Bullets. They have more depth now, but Dantley and Pressey's combined 32 PPG is a lot to lose, especially when neither Cooper nor Henderson are used to contributing on more than a role player level (neither one has averaged more than 14 PPG in their careers). There's no way they'll fall out of the playoffs, but I can see them eventually battling it out with the Pistons for the 5th seed.

In the West, I'm going with the Suns. Their current winning streak is a bit of a mirage, as their 2 biggest wins over this stretch - the Nuggets and Clippers - are against currently borderline teams. Don't get me wrong, they do have some other good wins, but they've also been followed up by devastating losses that clearly establish them as a lower tier. Originally I put myself, but given that the Suns currently have a lot further to fall, I had to go with them, even if I do think that they'll eventually settle as "mid". "Mid" is just "bad" in the West right now.

What will contribute?

Mainly just the natural progression of a season. You have to remember, we're still in the early stages of the season. There are still some matchups that are yet to happen, some division series that haven't really gotten going yet. The West will continue to cannibalize itself as more teams play each other, and the Eastern playoff picture will largely be shaped by how well they match up against the Western teams they face, as there seems to be a strict pecking order in terms of in-conference matchups.

[NY_Magic_Garrett]

Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?

• I am going to say the Nets and my Knicks. I think this Atlantic division has the most parity and could see the most movement down the stretch. Would love to see the Pistons settle in and make a run at the Bulls and Bucks, but the mountain has become steep quick

Which teams will fall farthest?

• I am going to go with the Nuggets here. Had a great offseason and think the program is heading in the right direction, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a losing record down the stretch and take a tumble. Roster just isn't quite ready. I will also so the Bullets, solely out of spite. I think the Knicks make a run at the Atlantic title again, but this time I hope I return Mike the favor of stealing it late.

What will contribute?

• Contribute to teams rising and falling? If I am answering this correctly then I think things will eventually even out. Some young rosters got out to a hot start and could potentially fall, while I think so really good teams have had competitive, but rocky starts. I think those teams will settle into their gameplans and make a run up the standings before the playoffs

[IamQuailman]

Which teams will climb the most in the standings before the playoffs?
I think the Pistons can really climb up a bit, they had a rough patch to start the season, but they will bounce back. That is a very good and very deep team right there! The Nets are another that I feel are really underperforming.

Which teams will fall farthest?
The Bullets? I think they are selling off or something? I'm really not sure what they are doing to be honest, but the latest trade looks like they are bowing out of conference play... or at least taking a step back.

What will contribute?
Youth is always a contributing factor in this game. Heavy youth teams tend to struggle, but may start to show some signs of competitiveness by mid-year/end of year. I think this is what is getting the Pistons off to their slower start.

[Mike Lowry]

@AngryBanana
@Mike Lowry
@Keepit100
@Eazy P
@logpmess
@Xist2Inspire
@NY_Magic_Garrett
+1 point