and I like it. Reminds me of the 2005 Sox and 2006 Bears.

ESPN has a poll on their NBA page:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/index
Who Will win the East?

Celtics 51%
Heat 9%
Cavs 12%
Pistons 15%
Other 13%

Votes 17,740


Surely the bulls HAVE to be one of the top 4 favorites, no?

Seriously though, if I were a betting man and I HAD to lay my house on 1 team to win the east, I would go with the Bulls.

The Heat? Seriously? Please.

lol I was thinking the same thing. Since when do the heat deserve a spot over chicago? WE SWEPT THEM LAST YEAR! Even if D-Wade is 100% no way in hell they win that series.

EARN IT.

like the celtics

The Celtics haven't earned squat. I'll respect KG as a player, but I'll respect the team if they come out and show it.

The Bulls want respect? Go out and beat the damn Pistons.

The only thing I disagree with is the bulls not having a place in the poll. If it were a three team poll with say; the pistons,cavs and other, then yes I would not play the no respect card.

The way I look at the East

Pistons- Deserve any praise they get for being consistent the last 5 seasons
Cavs-They are the top dog in the east until someone knocks them off. ( Though ESPN will hype them up even more than they deserve because of LeBron)
Heat- Living off what they did in 2005 (weird, because I didn't see the espn hype machine give credit to the sox in the preseason predictions. Not that they deserved it. Miami doesn't either)
Celtics- Like you said balta, they have individual respect from me, not team, yet.


Boston will be Espns New darlings.
Why?
1 East coast team
2 They LOVE Superstars like how HAWK LUVVVVS Cotten Candy
3 east coast team that happens to be located in boston. In espn HYPE language that = east coast team x 3

This is why I continue to ignore ESPN. Putting Miami on there and not the Bulls is a flat-out joke.

as a hardcore sports fan, I read (online and off) Espn, watch Espn, listen to Espn. I am tired of it. They are turning sports into E!SPN I hate E! and I am starting to hate Espn just the same.

What is your alternatives steve?

at least the fans got it right
http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnatio...stranker?id=728

1 det
2 chi
3 cle
4 mia
5 celts

( I would put Tor at 3 )


edit:



How does Boston get 51% of the 1st Poll and rank 5th in sports nation team rankings?

web
Sports Illustrated.com
Sporting News.com
SLAM.ca (for hockey)
foxsports.com (pretty good unbiased stuff)
prosportsdaily.com
usatoday
yahoo sports

tv
comcast sportsnight (for my bears, bulls, sox news)

radio
670 the Score when Murph isnt on.

I do all that too. Im just going to start listening to sporting news radio again when I want to listen to something that isn't to local(too much cub talk right now) and no east coast hype.

this is pretty crappy. i saw this on outside the lines yesterday around 2, and i was going to post this, but i totally forgot

another sign of no respect is KG at the news conference. he said something about "orlando got alot better, same with new york, detroits always there, and the cavs." HEY KG, WHAT ABOUT US, RETARD?!!

From the ESPN Writer roundup after that deal:

Uh, oh. ESPN writers are picking us? We're done.

We match up so well with the celtics. Thabo and kirk are good on allen, considering he's small kirk isnt at that much of a disadvantage. Pierce is great but he's undersized agst deng, which could prove to be a good offensive mismatch for us come playoff time. Also, we have wallace, smith, TT, and Noah to throw at KG. We are better prepared than anyone to handle the celtics.

gppd [pomt

i hate this spiff more than anything, the bulls never get any respesct anymore from anyone. cavs had the easiest road to the finals, the only reason they won is cuz they had a washed down detroit team who was dead tired after playin us. bull are the number 2 team if not the number 1 team in the east

Here's a quick link for you guys.... And yes, the get some respect.



http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?p...undup-EastPower

What's new with Chicago teams getting no respect? I really could care less as long as we're in the Finals.

Guess who ever made the poll was a moron



I loved this

9. Has the balance of power in the NBA shifted East?

Abbott: No. The teams that are a threat to win the title are still concentrated in the West. If Miami figures out a post-Shaq plan that could change things, and Chicago likely will win a title at some point

wow
espn?

Marc Stein is such an idiot. My god.

WAWAWEEWA! we were picked by almost everyone to be a finals team, and i think that we are.

While I don't think they'll finish ahead of the Bulls or Pistons, I don't think it's a major stretch to put the Celtics #3. Sure, they don't have much outside of their big 3, but look at the teams they're competing with:

Cleveland- Basically Lebron and a lot of less than stellar options. Lebron basically had to be a one-man show for them to win in the playoffs. I definitely think they end up as the 5 or 6 seed (maybe lower), fighting out for those spots with Boston if they can't get by Toronto. I've never liked Hughes, Ilguaskas isn't getting any younger, and Gooden is too flaky. They're putting their hopes on Daniel Gibson to step up, that's rarely a good sign (decent talent, but not a #2 option).

Toronto- I like them, and they could very well beat Boston out for the title in that division (in fact, I'd guess they will). But they're also still a young team that only had 47 wins in a much weaker conference. Bargnani needs to take the next step for them to REALLY solidfy that spot, because I'm not so sure you can count on Parker, Dixon, and Calderon to play like that again. They're basically where the Bulls were last year (though not as good), in that they still need to prove they can succeed in the playoffs.

Miami- Basically depending on Wade and a decreasingly effective Shaq. Haslem is a nice role player, but Williams isn't that great, and letting Kapono go will hurt.

Washington- Basically the same 3-star setup without much support. The one plus over Boston is that their guys are younger, though the total lack of defense will hurt (at least Boston has KG and Rondo).

Orlando- Again, Howard and Lewis are impressive, but who else really scares you? Nelson is the only other guy I'd REALLY count on to produce. Turkoglu will likely either be dealt or will be less effective with Lewis basically filling his role, and I guess Ariza MIGHT break out.

New Jersey- They at least have 4 solid players instead of 3, and I guess Nachbar isn't all bad either. They're in a similar state as Boston though, not much bench help unless Boone and Williams step up. Okay, if they stay healthy and are 100%, I like them more than Boston, but Kidd is 34 and not as dangerous a scorer, Kristic is coming off a serious injury, Carter could very easily start to coast now that he got payed, and Jefferson has had some injury problems.


I personally just see to much clutter there to definitively say Boston is a 6-seed and out. Sure, they'll probably end up in the 5-6 range (maybe 3 if they can get past Toronto, or maybe 7 if some of these other teams hold up), but with those 3 you never know what will happen, especially since the stars tend to be a major factor in the playoffs.