Who's Gonna Be Right?

Starting right now, we here at Knickerbocker Nation will be starting a series of posts. My co-writer Bach and I (Matt) will be arguing a different point for every post. Then it is up to the universe to decide who will ultimately be right. The first question we will be debating is:

Who will be the most underwhelming team this season?

The Milwaukee Bucks (Matt)– The Bucks were the big surprise of the year last year. They were a revelation after the John Salmons trade, and almost upset the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. Everyone from ESPN to SI to the guys on the Free Darko podcast seem to have the Bucks finishing 4th or 5th in the East. The Bucks were a pretty good tem last year, and I think they will be a pretty good team this year, but I just don’t see them making the leap that everyone else does, and if anything I see them getting worse. Remember when the Bulls traded for Salmons? He kicked it up a notch, and the Bulls had one of the best playoff series ever against the Celtics. The very next year Salmons slumped. The same thing could very well happen to him in Milwaukee. He has a fat new contract and does tend to get upset when he is not the focus of the offense, which he will be even less with the development of Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut. Bogut’s injury could also be a problem. His arm got hit in a preseason game and immediately started to swell up. It’s the kind of injury that can nag a player all season, and without Bogut the Bucks would be lucky to make the playoffs. The other big difference from last year is their acquisition of Cory Maggette. Maggette doesn’t play defense, and doesn’t know the meaning of the word pass. I can see him driving Scott Skiles out of his mind. The Eastern Conference got a lot stronger in the off-season, and a team like the Bucks needs to win with hard work and chemistry. I can see the Salmons-Maggette duo ruining the great chemistry they had last season. The Buck may very well be the team that a lot of people think they are, but they would need a lot to go right. Jennings and Bogut would need to make the jump to the star potential they’ve only flashed, and Salmons and Maggette would need to buy into Skiles system. I just don’t see all those things happening.

The Charlotte Bobcats (Bach)-The Bobcats played to expectations last year. They made the admittedly big leap of making the franchise’s first playoff appearance, and were quickly dispatched by the Orlando Magic in four games. It would stand to reason that this performance would serve as a building block for greater things (such as winning a playoff game). Instead, the Bobcats will be lucky if they get to the postseason. They boasted an offense that ranked 28th in scoring and 2nd in turnovers, and that was before they lost their facilitator and biggest post presence in Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler, respectively. DJ Augustin will be asked to fill in where Felton left off, which means he’s going to have to get back in Larry Brown’s good graces. Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson are going to have to do the bulk of the scoring, which will keep Jackson happy for a little while. Then he’ll realize no one cares about what’s happening in Charlotte, and he’ll return to his petulant ways until he gets shipped out of town. Really, the only interesting storylines for this team heading into this season will be playing the “When Will Larry Brown Bail?” game and seeing how MJ does in his first season as majority owner. One of his first moves was bringing back the prodigal son, Kwame Brown. Oh boy, this team is going to be boring.