Ughhhh, I'm so tired of all the talk. Cavs are eliminated, ESPN, get over it! It's done with! LelBow = AI = T-Mac = Vince.
Alright on to the next series: Boston vs. Orlando. This is going to be good, the Celtics are hitting their stride at the right time and have tons of momentum. Rondo is having a nice emergence as a premier player in these playoffs as well. Dwight is going to be a problem though, Perkins was getting in foul trouble with Shaq for crying out loud. What do you guys think, Celts or Magic?
You are setting yourself up for serious disappointment. forget about Wade already. Chicago has no hope of landing him. it is either Lebron or Joe Johnson.
What Den54 said We didn't have Nelson for most of the playoffs, until the Finals, but I think it'll even out. We have the strongest COMPLETE team out there, on or off the bench. Anybody gets fouled, no worries, we've got somebody to pick it up. This is the year of the Orlando Magic, the team not expected to win, we're the underdogs. And that makes it even better! GO MAGIC!
anyone else sick of Phil Jackson crying over star players getting special treatment? first it was KD now Nash. Doesn't this prick know Kobe Bryant gets any call if you breathe on him? Cmon Suns beat the **** outta the Lakers.
The Celts and Magic matchup should be spectacular as the Celts do have answers for most of the matchup problems the Magic pose. They can run talented big men at Howard, Rondo v Nelson, Wallace v Lewis and Pierce v Carter. To me, the key for the Celts will come down to the Celts bench vs the Magic bench and how well Ray Allen shoots, if he gets hot imho it goes 7 games
Last year Rondo was a big problem and Davis was too. Both team's were without starters in the playoffs, so it'll be different this year. We've got Nelson, they've got Garnett. And we've got Carter, and don't have Turkoglu. Vince is hot right now, he's playing for his home team, and it's the playoffs. He's gonna be balls to the wall ready for this series. There's no better place to get the job done than at home, and that's where he is. I live 2 blocks from his high school, and every afternoon is Vince-sanity. This whole area is on fire for a Magic Championship. I've got no worries.
I've made some good money on the Magic in the last month. I still haven't made my pick for game 1. IMO 6.5 points is a lot against a Celtics team but the Magic have had a nice rest. I'm leaning towards Orlando.
Magic are better at every position, and have a superior bench. This series shouldn't even be close. Orlando is not the Cleveland Chokaliers. Magic havn't lost a game since April 2nd. That was 6 weeks ago. I'm pretty sure the Celtics won't win 4 out of 7. They will be lucky to win 2. Magic vs Celtics - 2009 Playoffs Magic 2-2 on the road Celtics 1-2 on the road Magic without allstar Jameer Nelson Celtics without allstar Kevin Garnett Magic win in 7 on the road Magic vs Celtics - 2010 Regular Season @Boston - Magic win 83-78, Vince Carter top scorer with 26 @Orlando - Celtics win 86-77, Vince carter top scorer with 27 @Orlando - Magic win 96-94, Reshard Lewis top scorer with 23 @Boston - Magic win 96-89, Vince Carter leading scorer with 20 Magic win series 3-1 Other Facts Magic 28-3 in their last 31 games. Celtics 8-3 in their last 11 games. Magic riding a 14 games winning streak. Magic only undefeated team in 2010 playoffs. Celtics are old and weak.
Kevin Garnett was hobbled for most of the season and Rondo was not the factor he is now, neither was Rasheed Wallace. In the NBA playoffs veteran teams find a way, the regular season doesn't mean a thing, the Cavs had the best overall record and they regressed this year...
I like the Magic, far from my favorite team but they are good team with good peoples on it that works hard. And I love how ESPN tries every way imaginable not to call there home turf "Amway Arena", that just kills me, they say "the Magic's Home Floor", or they show an outdoor shot of the arena and say "the home of the Magic" they try their best not to say "AmWay Arena, Home of the Orlando Magic".. ESPN just does not like to give Amway a plug..
The magic are not better at every position, rajon rondo is significantly better than Nelson, Pierce is waaay better than Barnes, not even a contest, KG if he continues to play at the level hes been is much better than Lewis, if he goes back down to regular form offensively its a push, defensively KG is better. Vince is better than Ray, although on any given night Ray can light it up so I wouldnt call it a huge advantage. Dwight versus Perkins is a big advantage, and he is also probably the best player in this series. i don't know enough about either team to comment about the bench, but to say the magic have the advantage at every position is ludicrous, cause if anything, the celtics have a 3-2 advantage.
All those stats look great on paper, but we'll see how the Celts & Magic match up on Sunday afternoon @ 3:30 on ABC. I think the Magic will prove their worth of a dominate team, yet again.
Rest is not such a good thing in this instance. BTW...did somebody say that Orlando is better than the Celtics at every position? Actually...Orlando is better than the Celtics at ONE position. Center. Rondo>Nelson Allen>Barnes Pierce>Carter Garnett>Lewis Perkins<Howard BTW, I am taking Boston at +230 to win the series. I am also taking the "exact" matchup bet with Lakers vs. Celtics for +350. I am taking the Celtics in game 1 +6.5
Also last year the Magic didnt have carter. Carter and Nelson are probably better then Garnett and the addition of Sheed. Two all star caliber players are better then one usually. Also the Barnes/Pietrus combo could give Pierce some trouble as both those guys play hard and hack like crazy. Should be a very good series, Magic in 5 or 6 in my opinion In other news to keep an eye on....per rotoworld. Isola tends to be dead on, on most thinks Knicks. Curry and Chandler match up cap wise: Alan Hahn of Newsday reported Saturday that multiple sources have told them Tony Parker's friends are saying he'd like a trade to the Knicks. He also credits Frank Isola of the New York Daily News for breaking the story first, and though the New York media as a whole has drawn criticism for unsubstantiated rumor-mongering, there sure is a lot of smoke here. From a fantasy perspective, it's hard to imagine a better landing spot for him, so stay tuned. Source: Alan Hahn on Twitter
That Parker story was shot down by Parker himself Boik. I would also not go near the MAX contract Parker is pushing for. BTW, Amare Stoudemire is out as a option for the Knicks according to D'antoni. He made comments regarding how Alvin Gentry got Amare to buy in (play defense) and that he "D'antoni" never could.
You know and I know what a player says publicly doesnt always mean anything. The other part of it is that even if Parker doesnt want to be dealt, he alone brings more in a trade for the Spurs than Manu or Duncan do at this point. Jefferson did not work out for the Spurs this year but getting Chandler to replace him and or to challenge him for his spot and letting Hill take over could make the Spurs a better team and more importantly ease their cap burden. They have over 100M invested in Parker, Manu and Duncan. By the time they reach their last years of their contracts they will be about 110 years old combined between the 3. Age is a problem for the Spurs. The financial state of the franchise is also a problem. Sometimes when a player says "he doesnt want to be dealt" it comes with the caveat that "if i were to be dealt team x wouldnt be a bad destination". In this case team x happens to be the Knicks. I wouldnt be thrilled with giving Parker a max deal but if they do it after they get whatever 2 max players they get this offseason or next offseason its not the worst thing. Hes 28 so he should have 5-6 very good seasons left. I figured Amare was always out as an option. He and D'Antoni never really saw eye to eye in Phoenix. But Donnie is a good GM and I know he has a plan for this team. He's as experienced as anyone so you and I both know the Knicks are going to come out of this offseason a better team.
Barnes is our Small Forward, and Carter is our SG. So we have a 2 player advantage. I also feel we have the better bench.
I don't see how you can say Dwayne Wade isn't leaving, but then go ahead and say you'll try and steal Dwight Howard from us in a few years. It makes no sense.
They will matchup in the reverse this series...that is why I put them like that. Vince will guard Pierce and vice versa. Barnes will guard Allen and vice versa. so they were fine like I put them.
HOW does that not make sense? . Wade is NOT leaving. . Howard is a good player and when he is a free agent...I am sure Riley (having the penchant for big men that he does) will try to pull something. he has done it twice in his career. (ZO and Shaq)
Because Howard is NOT leaving either. He doesn't want to leave, we don't want him to leave, and I'm sure we have what it takes to keep him.
I think Orlando is going to come out and hit Boston in the mouth. I'm going with Orlando -6, -3.5 for the first half and under 189 for the game.
Yeah a little nervous right now. Winning game one is very important. I like the twin tower look with Gortat and Howard.
I'm not too surprised with the first half. Magic look rusty and Boston came out and punched them in the mouth. The good news is the Magic seem to be heating up.