Biggest Surprise of the Season

[Slizz]

I voted for the success of Utah wich really surprised me...
but later it cam to my mind that the thing that really surprised me the most was how good Miami played without Wade... I wouldn't have expected that they weren't really great all season with D-Wade...he got injured and they played like Champions I guess it was cuz these veterans weren't really motivated... and after the injury they wanted to prove the people that they can still do it

[hova-]

I think everybody is suprised by the way Utah played this season.

But

for me personally there are some teams I thought they would have a different season.

The Grizzlies, currently the weakest team, usually for me a playoff contender.

The Bucks. They were in the pLayoffs last season and actually I thought they could repeat that with Redd and with a better Bogut. Actually they did pretty weak.

And the Raptors. Biggest suprise, also because they were not that good at the beginning of the season. We all knew Colangelo can make something happen, but this one was really suprising.

[beau_boy04]

To me it is the Toronto Raptors.

The combination of Bosh and Bargani will be great for many years to come.

[benji]

I think everybody is suprised by the way Utah played this season.

Not really, a few of us were discussing their 50-win potential once they added Boozer and Okur. They were just far more injury free this year, Williams jumped, and were finally able to do it. The most surprising thing about the Jazz is how terrible Kirilenko has been on the offensive end.

The Grizzlies, currently the weakest team, usually for me a playoff contender.

They were without Gasol to start the season, and had lost four of their five starters from the year before. It wasn't too surprising to see them drop.

but later it cam to my mind that the thing that really surprised me the most was how good Miami played without Wade

Well, Miami was a really good team last year ignoring Wade. Almost the entire team was above average on offense AND defense.

[maes]

To me it is the Toronto Raptors.

The combination of Bosh and Bargani will be great for many years to come.

Good call.

I think a lot of people were expecting Utah to do well, they've been a talented team for years and people expected Deron to eventually break out, he is a #3 pick. The only big surprised for me re: Utah was AK's poor play. He's healthy, he's got a great PG, he's still young...???

But the Raps blew me away...and they just beat Detroit being massively shorthanded. They had two contenders for ROY, Bargs & Garbajosa.

Edit: sorry benjii i just reiterated everything you said about Utah, =P

[cyanide]

Yeah, I was expecting to see Utah to do well with Boozer healthy.

And the Raps, yeah. Everything has been said

[Fitzy]

im surprised the nets arent dominating the atlanitc division

[mvpshaq32]

The Knicks making the stupidest decision of extending Isiah Thomas' contract.......

[Laxation]

Raptors being good, and Milwaukee being shit.

[BigKaboom2]

The Celtics finally beating the Spurs for the first time in my entire life (not really), and doing it when it would have been better to lose the game.

[Andrew]

The Knicks making the stupidest decision of extending Isiah Thomas' contract.......

Personally that one didn't come as a huge surprise. Dolan wanted to see improvement and the Knicks bested last year's record, which it would seem is a passing grade.

[Lamrock]

The Raptors success did not surprise me. I didn't know I was the only one to see it coming. Looking over that roster, they just seemed so complete, and with a good period of last season at .500 (between the 1-15 start, and the tanking) and playoffs at least seemed certain.

Also, the Jazz had a great finish last year, and their roster is pretty solid.

Biggest surprise for me: Grizzlies being worst team in league. They won 50 games last year!

[Axel]

The Raptors did not surprise me either, nor did the Jazz. The Jazz played really well down the stretch last season when healthy, and I always considered Okur one of the most underrated players in the NBA.

Biggest surprise was Allen Iverson being traded. It just seemed like one of those things that had become set in stone. No matter how badly the Sixers played, AI would always be there. I remember analysts in previous years saying that nobody would take on AI's contract, his personality, and his inability to be a team player. He's debunked all of those ideas though.

[Matt]

I was pleasantly surprised by the Bobcats play. A healthy Bobcats team could make the playoffs.

[Axel]

I was pleasantly surprised by the Bobcats play. A healthy Bobcats team could make the playoffs.

Unfortunately, that will never happen with the likes of overweight oafs like Sean May. Okafor seems to find a way to get injured each year too (and to think people thought he would be a safer pick than Howard).

[Slizz]

About the Grizzlies being bad.. They had a bad start without Pau Gasol and after that it seemed like they wanted too lose so they can get a high pick in the 07 Draft. Wich I personally can't stand... I mean eddie jones hit a sensational game winner and few days later they buy him out of his contract. They Waited quite long for playing Pau again... to me I'd say they were like fuck that Season let's get Oden or Durant....

[CMJ3]

Memphis was a surpirse, also Philly actually trading Iverson was quite shocking. I think the amount of injuries in general this year, there has been a lot.

[deihatein]

The biggest surprise for me is Iverson trading as well as Webber going in Detriot. Philly has been a good team this recent years and they put away their great players to great teams

[Ty-Land]

The Bucks. They were in the pLayoffs last season and actually I thought they could repeat that with Redd and with a better Bogut. Actually they did pretty weak.

How is it surprising? They've had a terrible run with injury. All the projected starters have been out for significant periods of time, not to mention bench players like Earl Boykins and Dan Gadzuric. Plus they had a shit coach, as any Bucks fan would tell you, who they didn't sack until after the All Star break, when it should of happened in January. Sure they are tanking now, but until the Bogut injury and the failure of CV's recuperation they were still trying to make a playoffs push. Any team that has to rely heavily on Skinner, Reiner, Patterson, Boykins and Ilyasova for long periods will struggle. Without the injuries this would have been a playoff team by far, and they will be next year.

So how are you surprised?

[hova-]

The Bucks. They were in the pLayoffs last season and actually I thought they could repeat that with Redd and with a better Bogut. Actually they did pretty weak.

How is it surprising? They've had a terrible run with injury. All the projected starters have been out for significant periods of time, not to mention bench players like Earl Boykins and Dan Gadzuric. Plus they had a shit coach, as any Bucks fan would tell you, who they didn't sack until after the All Star break, when it should of happened in January. Sure they are tanking now, but until the Bogut injury and the failure of CV's recuperation they were still trying to make a playoffs push. Any team that has to rely heavily on Skinner, Reiner, Patterson, Boykins and Ilyasova for long periods will struggle. Without the injuries this would have been a playoff team by far, and they will be next year.

So how are you surprised?

Well, for me this topic was about suprises compared to the main goals. After 20 games this season or whenever the injuries started, the Bucks were struggling and it wasnt suprising at the end. But I talk about the expectations I had from the beginning of the season. Otherwise this would not make sense imo ....

[Matt]

Unfortunately, that will never happen with the likes of overweight oafs like Sean May. Okafor seems to find a way to get injured each year too

May is irrelevant if Hermann plays at half the level he's at now. As for Okafor, they've gotten 66 games out of him this season. If they can squeeze 70 out of him & Wallace (who is making significant strides) they'll do good.

[Isaiah]

all the injuries that are depleting teams is what surprised me this year..

[Cornerthree]

Yeah I agree the injuries are most suprisiing thing this year... Probably you could call it the Year Of Injuries

[Drex]

Philly has been a good team this recent years and they put away their great players to great teams

What? Good team? They were at most average

[Indy]

Top 5 surprises to me this season.

5.) Deron Williams. I knew he was good, and he had a very good rookie season. But I never expected him to be this good at any point of his career, especially this quickly. You can make the argument that he is actually better then Chris Paul, and who would have expected that last season.

4.) Detroit Pistons. I know the East has been very, very weak this season, but who really expected the Pistons to win as many games as they have and be as good as they have? They lost a key part to their championship team in Ben Wallace, and only added Nazr Mohammed to replace him. I didn't expect them to be back to being a championship contender so soon.

3.) Injuries. So many superstars getting injured for long periods of time. It's like it was almost every star player for every team.

2.) The play of the Sixers after the Iverson trade. It was like a breath of fresh air for them after Iverson was gone. Andre Miller fit right in and Iguodala turned into an all-star caliber player. They almost played themselves in to the 8th spot in the Eastern playoffs, and they were terrible before they traded Iverson. They also played themselves right out of contention for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant though, unfortunately for them. AI getting traded was a surprise by itself too. I know we've all been expecting Iverson or KG to get moved for awhile now, but it was surprising to actually see the whole thing go into motion, just like it will be when it happens for Kevin.

1.) Dikembe Mutombo. How impressive was he was Yao went down? Unbelievable. I could not believe the way he was playing. All you younger fans or people who weren't into the NBA in the mid 90s got to watch a nice treat and blast from the past by seeing that happen. He has been on a constant offensive decline since his rookie season, but it was great to see him rebound and defend as well as he did.