| The Most Overrated |
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| Written by Joe Buckley | |
| Monday, 25 August 2008 | |
 The Overrated: Most of the teams that I have thought of for this category are teams that have actually been incredibly good over the past few years, and generally have a reputation for winning, but didn’t deliver this past year. Some of these teams didn’t actually do that bad, they just didn’t do what people thought they would... Dallas Mavericks Ever since Wade and the Heat ate the Mavs for breakfast in 2006, the franchise has been falling. Even a 67-win season in 2007 didn’t change much as Golden State threw them out of the first round. Despite this, many pegged that as just a down season and were confident the Mavs would still be able to make a lot of noise in the loaded Western Conference, with Dirk Nowitzki as the reigning MVP and Josh Howard becoming a threat, as well as Brandon Bass proving his worth. Halfway through the season, it became apparent how tough the Western Conference was, and how difficult it would be for the Mavs to get out of the West. In a move that screamed desperation, they mortgaged their future for Jason Kidd. It’s been looking like a mistake ever since, and the upstart Hornets handled the Mavs in the first round with ease. In general, people now seem to be realizing that the championship window for the Mavs has closed. They fired a brilliant coach in Avery Johnson and are having major personnel issues in Josh Howard. The Mavs most likely have one more year as they currently are before they started ripping the roster apart. PG: Jason Kidd SG: Josh Howard SF: Jerry Stackhouse PF: Dirk Nowitzki C: Erick Dampier Bench: Jason Terry/Brandon Bass. Denver Nuggets A team with two of the best scorers of this decade on the team plus the reigning defensive player of the year? Added with an extremely experienced coach and a great (if mislead) scoring talent coming off the bench? Should be contenders right? Apparently not. The Nuggets were overrated and were one of those oh so annoying teams that simply don’t take advantage of the squad that they have. Other teams would kill for an AI/Melo combo, but the Nuggets wound up scraping just to get in the playoffs, where they were swept immediately anyway. The Nuggets, aside from Marcus Camby, have never heard of defense. They have now descended into trying to clear the payroll, and gave away Camby, a cornerstone of their franchise for basically nothing. PG: Chucky Atkins SG: Allen Iverson SF: Carmelo Anthony PF: Kenyon Martin C: Camby Bench: JR Smith Detroit Pistons Bear with me. I am aware the Pistons did have a successful season and were only stopped by the eventual champions. But it was believed by many that Detroit could win the championship again, and i simply disagree. I’m not saying the Pistons are a bad team, of course not the evidence is against me here, but again they are not living up to their potential and i don’t think are capable of winning another championship as currently configured. They are considered the bad boys of the league, unshakeable and rock solid. Again I disagree, Philly almost had them in the first round, and they simply don’t work as efficiently in crunch time as they once did. When the game gets tight Rasheed Wallace is no where to be seen and Chauncey Billups does nothing to keep his former nickname, Mr Clutch. As with the Mavs, this is likely to be the last season we will see this roster all together. The Pistons will always be a team to be reckoned with, but apparently only up until the conference finals. PG: Chauncey Billups SG: Rip Hamilton SF: Tayshaun Prince PF: Antonio McDyess C: Rasheed Wallace Bench: Jason Maxiell/Rodney Stuckey The rest of the contenders: Phoenix Suns: Just like the Mavs, usually they are slotted into the top of west, but not this year, time and age is beginning to take revenge in the desert. Cleveland Cavaliers: Supposedly one of the top teams in the East, and to be fair they did finish third, but the run to the finals was merely fluke in my opinion. Toronto Raptors: After such a successful previous year, the raptors should have been a threat again, but injuries and a nasty point guard situation took its toll. However, out of the teams I’ve listed here, Toronto are probably the least deserving to be here, and also have the brightest future for next season.         Comments
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written by Smokey , September 03, 2008
Avery Johnson is not a brilliant coach. He's still jobless isn't he?
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written by Jbuckley , September 06, 2008
Lol Smokey, being jobless does not instantly make you a bad coach. By that logic, being employed would make you a good coach? Such as Mike Woodson? Or even like Isiah Thomas was for two years?
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And Thanks Eddie report abuse
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I agreed with you on everything. Im a mad Raps fan and I was very dissapointed in the off-season. I am hopeful for next season but wairily so
Keep up the good work,
Hoops4life!