I didn't expect the Hawks to be sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference. Nor did I expect Toronto and the Wizards to be in the top 5. I know it's still super early though. I like the theme I'm seeing amongst P.G. orchestrated teams. Honestly I won't mind it especially seeing Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, John Wall and Stephen Curry all go against one another.
Hawks have one of the most underrated players / one of the best deals in the game. Paul Millsap is somehow on a 2-year, $19 million contract, which is such a bargain.
pretty much all of the current top teams play an "ensemble cast" type game on offense, as opposed to relying solely on one or two players to carry the load offensively. I think we'd all enjoy that brand of ball becoming more successful, but in the playoffs, the pound-the-superstar teams have historically had more success. thus, fear Cleveland and Houston (ugh and ugh) instead of Portland, Toronto, GS, Washington, chicago, dallas, etc.
These PG-led teams are always top regular season performers and almost always go down in the playoffs to a team built for the playoffs a la San Antonio/etc.
Superstars do tend to win championships more, but championship teams also are good / great on both ends of the court. Cleveland sucks on defense, and I don't really see them becoming good at it. Maybe they could become average at it though and since they're in the East, I could see them going to the Finals. Houston is a more well-rounded, but they also lost to the Blazers in the first round last year. They've also been playing .500 ball since the Josh Smith signing. They're 3-1 since moving him to the bench though.
oh, houston's really about the 4th or 5th best team in the west on a good day. but harden's going to shoot a lot of fts. cleveland just has lebron, and the other east teams don't.
I think the East is Chicago's to lose even with the rise of Altanta. Any team past those two doesn't impress me a whole lot over there. Toronto maybe if Derozan comes back with no major problems. Cleveland, even with a healthy LeBron, has a complete disregard for defense. They just don't play any of it. Mozgov might help protect the rim better but he's also pretty foul prone. I don't see him being a savior for them defensively and I don't see him being worth two 1st rounders.
we're only halfway through the season. I'm guessing about half the teams that look great now (atlanta, toronto, portland, washington, gs) will not be considered contenders come april, and a couple that people are doubting now will emerge (maybe SAS, OKC, CLE).
