The Torono Raptors have a new head coach and a new attitude on defence. That doesnt mean theyre back in contention for the Atlantic Division crown. At least not yet any way. Until someone steps up and proves otherwise, the Atlantic is still the Boston Celtics division to lose. From the time Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined Paul Pierce in Boston back in 2007, the Celtics have owned the division winning four straight Atlantic titles. Each of their titles was won by at least 10 games. Pure dominance. The core of Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and Allen are is as good of a four-man unit as there is in the NBA. When they are on the court together theyre capable of dominating at both ends of the floor. Three of the Celtics four All-Stars are 34 years or older though and a compressed schedule may not be kind to old bodies. The team also traded away Kendrick Perkins last season and has yet to find a solid replacement at centre. Meanwhile, their Atlantic foes have gotten a lot better in the last year. The Knicks, Nets and 76ers all improved by more than 10 wins from 2009-10 to 2010-11. And three Western All-Stars swelled the divisions talent pool last season as Carmelo Anthony and Amare Soudemire joined the Knicks while Deron Williams made his way to New Jersey.So can the aging Celtics maintain their grip on the Atlantic or will father time catch up with the Beantown ballers? The Knicks likely pose the biggest threat to the Celtics reign with Anthony and Stoudemire providing an impressive one-two punch on offence. Both stars are liabilities on the defensive end though and the Knicks dont have much wiggle room under the cap to fill out their roster with more suitable complementary pieces. They also lost out on the chance at Chris Paul (for now at least) when he was traded to the Clippers and exercised his option for next year. The Philadelphia 76ers are a young, gritty team with a ton of athleticism. Theyll need some of their young players like Jrue Holliday and Evan Turner to show a fair bit of improvement though if they want to elevate themselves from a bottom-tier playoff team to a legitimate contender in the East. The Nets wouldnt have made the playoffs last year even if you combined their win total from the last two seasons. The Nets actually improved by 12-games last season and still only won 24 games. So what is there to look forward to? Lots. On the court they have an elite point guard in Deron Williams. Off of it theres the move to Brooklyn which should make the team for enticing for luring free agents and the Prokhorov factor. The Nets Russian billionaire owner is entertaining enough to make the team interesting all by himself but hes also shown that he is willing to spend for talent. And then theres the Raptors. The team is very young but does have money to burn. While luring free agents to Toronto is never easy the team can afford to be a player in the trade market or take a chance on someone who has been waived via the new amnesty clause. The Raptors are essentially trotting out the same team that won 22 games last season. And while that number is sure to go up under new coach Dwane Casey the team likely isnt going to make much noise this season. The team has some solid young pieces in DeMar DeRozan, Ed Davis and Amir Johnson. The teams top pick in the draft Jonas Valanciunas wont join the Raptors until 2012 but he along with Davis, may actually mean the team has a front-line it can build around. The teams biggest star Andrea Bargnani has definite gifts on the offensive end but is unfortunately about as effective as a pylon on the defensive end. Although their new coach seems to think the big man is improving on that end. Still, another seat at the NBA lottery is likely for the Raptors. So is the Atlantic division still Bostons to lose er will one of the other Atlantic teams end their reign And how will the Raptors fare under their new head coach? Chime in with your thoughts at the bottom of the page in our Your Call section. Also dont forget to check out our team-by team outlooks for each of the teams in the Atlantic.. wholesale jerseys from china . The 32-year-old Malisse, from Belgium, will face two-time tournament champion Sam Querrey on Friday "Ill try to put as many returns (as possible) in play, thats the first thing," Malisse said. cheap nfl jerseys .Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have released nine players, including receiver David Clowney and linebacker Danny Batten, the teams 2010 sixth-round draft pick. http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnf... . Franz, who flew back to Austria on Tuesday, tells national radio station Oe3 hes "looking forward to getting some rest at home. These were some mad days. The headaches have lessened. [url=http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/]jerseys from china . PETERSBURG, Fla. cheap jerseys from china . -- Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees was pepper-sprayed and arrested early Thursday after he allegedly ran from away from an off-campus party and knocked the wind out of a police officer who caught up to him.GREENBURGH, N.Y. - The anchor of the Dallas Mavericks defence now centres one of the leagues best frontcourts. Tyson Chandler joined the New York Knicks on Saturday, in the belief that joining, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire means hes not done competing for championships. The Knicks have long needed a defensive presence, and Chandler plans to provide it. "I know what my job is coming here," he said. "I know I came here to defend. Im going to defend the rim, Im going to rebound, Im going to get extra shots. And I think if we play on both ends and play as a team, the sky is definitely the limit for this squad." Chandler gets a four-year contract worth about US$56 million after coming to the Knicks via sign-and-trade as part of a three-team deal. The Knicks sent Ronny Turiaf and cash to the Washington Wizards and reserve guard Andy Rautins to the Mavericks, and there were other picks involved. The Knicks also waived point guard Chauncey Billups and designated him as their amnesty player so they could afford Chandler. The seven-foot-one Chandler helped the Mavericks win the NBA championship last season, averaging 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds, and at first hoped he would return to Dallas. But the Mavericks wanted to keep other options open, and when the Knicks emerged as a surprising option, they quickly become Chandlers preferred one. "The Knicks were never on my radar. Id never seen them as being a possibility and once I got word that it could potentially happen, they became my No. 1 priority was to get here," Chandler said. It took some work, notably using the amnesty clause to waive Billups so his $14.2 million salary wouldnt count for salary cap or luxury tax purposes. Billups was their starting point guard last season after coming with Anthony in a trade from Denver and was expected to return, with the Knicks picking up his option for this season in April when they would have oweed him just $3.dddddddddddd.7 million had they waived him within five days after the season ended. "We didnt want to get rid of Chauncey and when I talked to him today I told him, Chauncey, its not like were waiving you because we dont want you. Look at it as what it is. We traded you basically for the starting centre on the NBA championship team," interim general manager Glen Grunwald said. Billups could be replaced by veteran Mike Bibby, who finished last season and will sign with the Knicks, a person with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press. Long undersized -- Dwight Howard blocked more shots than they did as a team two seasons ago -- the Knicks eagerly welcomed the 225-pound Chandler. His No. 6 jersey -- guard Landry Fields switched to No. 2 so Chandler could have it -- covered most of Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolans body when he held it up for a photo. Chandler later posed alongside Anthony and Stoudemire, two of leagues elite scorers. Now the Knicks have a stopper, too. "Last year was an amazing run and I think after you win a championship its hard to go backwards," Chandler said, "and the only thing I wanted in free agency was an opportunity to continue to chase that dream and continue to win championships." Though it was often believed the Knicks wouldnt be spenders this off-season while saving their money for free agency in 2012, Grunwald felt adding a player such as Chandler was a better strategy for building a contender. "When we looked at things this past summer and over the fall, we said itd be great to get someone like Tyson Chandler. Well, we got Tyson Chandler, so thats even better," he said. "Our plans havent changed. Tyson was the top of our list in terms of free agents this year. We took a look at everything, we felt this was the best move for us to build a team both in the short term and in the long term." ' ' '