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Fans of every franchise in any league of any sport would have certain expectations from their team when it comes to their performance in the coming season and predictions on the position of their team at the end of the season.
Injuries, inconsistency, team chemistry are major factors contributing to a team falling short of their expectations.
However, no matter what hardships the team faces, fans expect the management to be prepared for such situations with efficient back up on the bench on injuries to key players.
If a list was to be made on which teams had disappointing seasons as compared to their previous years have to include the following:
Minnesota Timberwolves:
This was the season they were expected to make a breakthrough into the Playoffs with their roster back to full health.
Everything dint really turn out that way for the team with the signing of offseason free agent Brandon Roy playing just 5 games and reinjuring his knee.
Monster rebounder Kevin Love fell victim to a fracture on his shooting hand and played just 18 games all through the season.
Adding to the injury woes, young Spanish national point guard Ricky Rubio couldn’t improve his game, matching his previous year’s numbers in spite of playing additional 16 games.
Their win-loss ratio reduced even lower than it was the previous season from .394 to .398.
In spite of hiring experienced head coach Rick Adelman, the Timberwolves could only manage 31 games in the season.
Key acquisitions along with recovery from injury of few players would be a big moral boost within the team and to the fans as well.
Brooklyn Nets:
Nets players in discussion with their coach in game 7 of their first round bout with the Bulls.
They assembled a talented roster to throw out their title contention intentions to the rest of the teams in the East. Their busy offseason bought Deron Williams on a 5-year contract along with Joe Johnson on the same day. They extended the contracts of center Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace by 4 years.
Despite going through many ups and downs in the season, they made it to the playoffs seeded 4th and thus gaining home court for the first round. However, they lost to undermanned Chicago Bulls in 7 games even after they blown them out of Barclays Center in game 1.
This result though satisfactory, brought nothing but disappointment to the Nets fans as they had expected a even longer postseason than they had.
Can their trade with the Celtics give them the result they have been looking for?
Boston Celtics:
Celtics players in a huddle
Since 2007, they have once again been a constant force to reckon with in the East. They signed Jason Terry to fill the void left by Ray Allen and acquired Courtney Lee in a sign and trade with the Houston Rockets.
Contract extensions to Kevin Garnett, Jeff Green and Brandon Bass cemented intention of the Celtics to not just maintain but strengthen the roster.
This season however it looked as if the Celtics had run out of gas by starting the season 18-20 before Rondo tore an ACL and was declared unfit for the season. Everyone speculated that the Celtics stood no chance with Rondo out.
They stuck together through the adversity and qualified in the playoffs seeded 7th after finishing the season with the worst record in 5 years of 41-40.
Their playoff journey lasted just till the first round but no matter what the situations, injuries or not, nobody would have expected them at finish 7th.
Los Angeles Lakers:
In terms of roster strength, talent, skill and depth everybody ranked them second, behind the Miami Heat. However they would soon discover it would take more than the above to win games.
Love it or hate it they earned their spot at the top as the most disappointing team in the NBA this season.
Their record at first half of the season was 17-25!
Though they went on a charge post All-Star break, their chances of making the Playoffs went right down to the wire with Utah Jazz right on their heels to grab the last spot at their expense.
Injuries and Struggles at team bonding saw giving the Lakers fans more to read in the opera section of the paper rather than the sports section.
At one stage they had 5 players of their main rotation injured at the same time. They finished with their worst record in 6 years only to lose to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the Playoffs while registering themselves as the 7th seed.
The change in expectations from making it to the Finals to slim chances of making the Playoffs is how most analysts and writers switched.
With Dwight Howard’s departure the Lakers would be rebuilding mode and it would be modest on their fans part to expect a decent season from the purple and gold brigade.
