Give me a break

So ESPN.com writer John Hollinger has predictated the final standings of all 30 teams and what he thinks the end result will be in the East is interesting to say the least. At first glance, the insult is towards the Raptors. He still has them coming in at 8th which means at least he thinks the Raps are a playoff team. But then he goes ahead and makes his comment that the only two Raptors that are expected to stay at the same level or improve on last years performance is Bosh and Bargnani. Right off the bat that is just crazy! Is he forgetting the fact that the first month and a half produced lower stats for all players as they adjusted to each other? Forgetting that it was not until New Years that all the players started to click on a consistent basis? The fact that the Raps won't be needed that adjustment period at the start is one of the main reasons why most of the Raptors will produce higher stats overall for this upcoming season. Jose didn't start the season off great last year. Parker didn't shoot the ball great for 2 months. Ford was wild and inconsistent for 2 months until he settled down, plus it looks like he has developed a more consistent jump shot for this year. Garbo took a long time getting use to the NBA game. I really think it is crazy to say that only Bosh and Bargnani are expected to stand pat or grow. REALLY crazy.

As for putting the Raps at 8th, whatever. I mean, I think the Raps are getting short changed once again, but as I mentioned before, a lot of that has to do with the perceived bad performance they had in the playoffs last season. I mean, at least he still put the Raps ahead of the Nets who he thinks won't make the playoffs. But if you really want to see how crazy this guy is, listen to this...He puts the Washington Wizards in at 13th overall in the East!!! That's right, one of the top Eastern teams last year until injuries killed them, is below Charlotte/Milwaukee/New York/Miami/Orlando and get this...ATLANTA! Now don't get me wrong, Atlanta has the pieces coming together to be a potential playoff team SOON. But 7th overall? Is this guy CRAZY? Atlanta with such a young team will be ahead of Washington/Toronto/New Jersey and even New York and Milwaukee?

He also has Orlando in at number 4. Give me a break. Orlando will be lucky to make the playoffs this year! But to move them ahead of Detroit??? And at number 6 is Miami. If any playoff team from last year that is not going to make it this year, it's Miami.

And the crazyness is not just held to Eastern teams, as he puts Houston as the number one team in the West over Spurs/Suns/Mavs. Hey, I agree that Houston will have a great season, great enough to join the 3 elite teams. I even stretched enough to put them in second. BUT i didn't put them ahead of ALL three teams.

Seriously, what is this dude smoking??