Argueably two of the most prolific coaches in the league are probably headed towards one of they're most difficult challenges in their proffesional career. Both coaches have to improve BIG market teams with inferior rosters. I'm suprised that comparisons have not already been made on ESPN, Fox Sports and CBS Sportsline.

Who will be the most successful this year and why?

Realistically, I don't see either team making the playoffs. But, if I had to pick one......

It would probably be the New York Knickerbockers.

The way I see it, the first 7 spots should go to the following teams in the East:

Indiana
Detroit
Miami
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Cleveland
Chicago

This leaves competion for the eightth and final spot to:

Washington
Orlando
New York

I think that Washington will really miss the presence of Larry Hughes and the success of Orlando lies really in the improvement of Dwight Howard/health of Grant Hill.

Larry Brown's presence will be felt in New York even if there will have to be trades during the course of the regular season. Isiah's passion for winning along with Larry Brown's basketball genius has to be good enough for at least an 8th seed in the East. Right?

Now on the other side of the country you have the LA Lakers. The return of Phil Jackson is an exciting thing, but what is he returning to? Kobe simply has no help...and the tandem of Kobe and Odom I'm afraid is not the answer. Outside of the lack of a supporting cast for Kobe, I think you have to look at the current situation in the West. It is extremely competitive. Here is the playoff picture as I see it:

San Antonio
Sacramento
Dallas
Houston
Phoenix
Denver
Seattle

I would be highly suprised if one of these teams did not return to the playoffs. That being said, here are the teams that are knocking on the door:

Utah
LA Lakers
Memphis
Golden State
Minnesota

Utah will have Krilenko healthy for the new year. Word has it he is in excellent shape and added a tremendous amount of muscle. If you haven't had the opportunity to see this guy play...you are missing something special. He is an amazing all-around player that does not get merely enough credit because he plays for the team located in the Mormons state. When you figure in the additional development of Memo, a rebound season from Boozer, the acquistion of Devon Brown from San Antonio and their impressive draft....this team is poised to make a comeback this season.

Memphis is still a very talented team. In fact the infusion of Bobby Jackson, Damon Stoudamire and Eddie Jones to this lineup could do them some good. The days of the 10-man lineup are most likely over so I see alot more continuity coming from this team.

Golden State fans are very excited this year and they have just cause. Golden State was easily one of the best teams the last third of the season. Although I have bench concerns, the starting 5 is solid. It still puzzles me why they didnt dump Derek Fisher's contract? A wild card on this team is old Detroit Piston, Rodney White. He showed glimmers of hope with the Nuggets but eventually fell out of their long-term plans.

And then we have Minnesota. Sadly, I think the loss of Cassell and Sprewell immediatley makes this the one man Kevin Garnett show we have seen for most of Kev's career. I still think that Garnett is the best player in the league. Because of that, it is very difficult to envision him out of the playoffs for consecutive years although the likely hood of making any noise if his team happens to make it is highly improbable.

So what does all this mean?

This spells trouble for the LA Lakers. On a Kobe Bryant team devoid of any real complimentary talent, there really isn't much reason to be optimisic about LA's chances. Kobe will need to give a Michael Jordan-esque performance this year under the Zen's guidance for this to even be a possibility.

Advantage Brown and the Knicks

Good post. It will be very interesting to see what happens.

Oh, and one more thing. I'm going to love this because I can't stand the Knicks and the Lakers, and I also dislike Brown and Jackson. I am going to have so much fun hating on them whether they do well or do poorly. But I hope they both fail miserably. muah hah hah :evil:

muah hah hah :evil:

Wassup with the Dr. Evil laugh? LMAO!

Does anyone on this forum actually see the Lakers making the playoffs? Do you feel Kobe's stock has dropped based on last years dismal season? If so, how much? What moves could you see the Lakers making this season that would make them a stronger threat to make the playoffs?

Does anyone on this forum actually see the Lakers making the playoffs? Do you feel Kobe's stock has dropped based on last years dismal season? If so, how much? What moves could you see the Lakers making this season that would make them a stronger threat to make the playoffs?

I don't because Kobe isn't as efficient without Shaq, and same goes with D. Wade. I remember in a regular season game against the Heat where Shaq was injured, and Wade only put up 5, or 7 points against us.

I don't because Kobe isn't as efficient without Shaq, and same goes with D. Wade. I remember in a regular season game against the Heat where Shaq was injured, and Wade only put up 5, or 7 points against us.

Lets not forget that Wade was in major foul trouble the whole game though (and actually fouled out in the beginning of the fourth quarter I think).

I don't because Kobe isn't as efficient without Shaq, and same goes with D. Wade. I remember in a regular season game against the Heat where Shaq was injured, and Wade only put up 5, or 7 points against us.

On the Wade issue, I think Wade is more than capable of carrying the load as he did so without any problems pre-Shaq.

On the issue of Kobe, I think I would also have to disagree with you. During the season where Shaq was injured, he was brilliant offensively/defensively. (Remember that stretch of 40/50 point games? the consecutive 3 pointer record?) His problem was that he did not do a good job making the players around him better. Their winning pct was directly affected by how well he shot that particular night. I can say confidently, that I believe the Lakers WILL be a vastly improved team this year under Jackson. I just don't think it will be enough to make the playoffs. Players under Jackson play outside of themselves...(Kerr, Longley, Perdue, Cartwright, Fisher..and on and on and on...) Kobe's supporting cast will play alot better and Kobe under Jackson will do a better job getting them involved. Look for Kwame Brown to have his best season ever as a proffesional and Lamar Odom to resemble more of the player we saw surge in Miami.

With the addition of Curry I would have to say that Brown has a distinct advantage now.

The Lakers have a better chance of making the playoffs. The Knicks have a better chance of falling apart during the season. The addition of Kwame Brown will make the team better. Smush Parker at Point instead of Chucky is going to hurt. The Lakers would have made the playoffs, at least, if kobe was not hurt. Kobe's stock has gone down. Larry will try his best to get Eric snow for PG so marbury can play SG. It may make a good difference. Allan Houston may have a healthy season an unfortunately they have a lot riding on him, but he was favored financially. With the addition of Eddy Curry to mix things up in the middle, things do look good for them. I am afraid we might see him take a fall for the worse, but I wish him and his heart the best.

Looks like New York's "best player" this year may not be Houston after all. So sorry Larry. NOT!!!!

Maybe it's a very good thing the way things worked out this summer with free agency after all. :nod:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=fanball-knickshoustonscomeba&prov=fanball&type=lgns

Looks like New York's "best player" this year may not be Houston after all. So sorry Larry. NOT!!!!

Maybe it's a very good thing the way things worked out this summer with free agency after all. :nod:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=fanball-knickshoustonscomeba&prov=fanball&type=lgns

That's unfortunate. Maybe he should have spoken to G-Hill's new doctors. In the big scale of things, this is actually good news for the Knicks as they were expecting to get a salary cap break anyway based on Houston's retirement as opposed to using the "mulligan" rule this summer.

... In the big scale of things, this is actually good news for the Knicks as... "
Hey don't ruin this for me! lol.

I'm hoping the Knicks (never liked them plus Larry) and Lakers (Phil & Kobe and never liked the team either) both are terrible. I don't wish any ill on Houston, but I really don't care either way with him since he left the Pistons high and dry a few years ago. :evil: