CAVS vs. Magic
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That means the Cavs will win. That dude goes out on a limb more then a woodpecker. What a pecker.
I have always liked Barkley, but didn't he pick himself to win that race with the Ref?...What HAPPENED Charles?
I'll stick with our Cavs!
Mike
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@shepwrite said:
Barkley's on crack. I'm not saying it couldn't happen -- anything can happen -- but you have to be a little whack to PREDICT it. The Cavs are just the much better team, especially now, and they're very well rested.We absolutely kill them at the 1, 2, and 3. Mo and Delonte have become an absolutely fantastic guard competition and Lebron is the best player in the NBA, period. Alson, Redick, and Lewis? Uh... okay. Or do they consider Turkoglu the 3 and Lewis the 4? Tough to say.
Howard's a tough guy but he's an infant on offense. He just has a very limited repertoire, almost all from 0" in.
I don't think Howard's the big concern. The concern is their 3-point shooting, which can get a little scary.
Honestly, I think Cavs in 5 or 6 as well.
I'd say the key is the Cavs perimeter defense- they constantly can't let Orlando hit wide open threes. If the Magic shoot the lights out like they did last night against Boston, there's no team in the NBA they can't beat.
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@shepwrite said:
Barkley's on crack. I'm not saying it couldn't happen -- anything can happen -- but you have to be a little whack to PREDICT it. The Cavs are just the much better team, especially now, and they're very well rested.We absolutely kill them at the 1, 2, and 3. Mo and Delonte have become an absolutely fantastic guard competition and Lebron is the best player in the NBA, period. Alson, Redick, and Lewis? Uh... okay. Or do they consider Turkoglu the 3 and Lewis the 4? Tough to say.
Howard's a tough guy but he's an infant on offense. He just has a very limited repertoire, almost all from 0" in.
I don't think Howard's the big concern. The concern is their 3-point shooting, which can get a little scary.
Honestly, I think Cavs in 5 or 6 as well.
I'd say the key is the Cavs perimeter defense- they constantly can't let Orlando hit wide open threes. If the Magic shoot the lights out like they did last night against Boston, there's no team in the NBA they can't beat.
I'd say the key is the Cavs perimeter defense- they constantly can't let Orlando hit wide open threes. If the Magic shoot the lights out like they did last night against Boston, there's no team in the NBA they can't beat.
Agreed. I think Delonte is a great perimeter defender, but when Orlando's best perimeter players are 6'9 or 6'10 in Turkoglu and Lewis...it's a tricky matchup. LeBron can handle one of them, so who gets the other? Joe? Varejao?
I think AV has the ability to handle one on the perimeter since he has some decent feet and they're not exactly slashers. That would leave us with Z, Ben or Joe guarding Howard. If nothing else (and I've been a pretty big fan since we got him), Ben can give us 6 fouls and 12 Dwight free throws while being the big, strong body that could really frustrate him (and Dwight can obviously be taken out of a game emotionally). Joe and Z can't answer him when he has the ball, but it works both ways, forcing him out of the paint on defense.
If Orlando starts draining threes anything can happen, but I think the key is going to be Varejao and Wallace. Keep Dwight pouting and throwing elbows and bricking free throws, and hopefully Varejao can help with Turkoglu.
And obviously LeBron can make this another sweep. If he's on top of his game the Magic have no answer.
Cavs in 5.
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This is the matchup, at the start of the playoffs, I really didn't want to see. For awhile, the Cavs have had matchup problems with Orlando. But, as the playoffs progressed, this looks like just another small speedbump in the road to the NBA championship for the King and his Court. Am I saying that Orlando can't win? No. But I am saying that the Cavs should have little problems wrapping this season up in 5. And a sweep is not out of the question either. But I think the Cavs...AND THE FANS...would be happy seeing them clinch the East Finals at home in the Q!
Orlando, as we all know, has only one real force...Dwight Howard. The rest of the team shoots the 3 well...wait...VERY well. But the Cavs were #1 against the 3 this season. The big thing is going to be to take away Howard's inside game. That means...go right at him and get him in foul trouble. THAT MEANS YOU Lebron!!! Lebron can, and needs to, get D-Howard in foul trouble early. I know that he has the knack of making blocks and avoiding the fouls, but he can't do that continuously. It will catch up to him. If Lebron, Mo, D-West, Z are all going right at him constantly, he is going to foul. Also, Z is also a key. He has to get his mid-range game going early too. That will force Howard out of the paint and cause him to have to come across when someone is driving to the hole. A lot harder to avoid fouling when you are moving laterally as opposed to only having to go straight up.
Wednesday night is the key game. If Orlando, is going to pick off the Cavs at home, it will be in game 1. If the Cavs win game 1, then the best Orlando can hope for is to stretch their season out to 7 games. I say Cavs in 5 but wouldn't be surprised with a sweep.
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Cavs in 5, LeBron is going to be unstoppable.
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Not to sound too confident, but I'm looking more at who we face in the finals. I'm actually more afraid of the Nuggets atm than the Fakers.
LA(me) has a major weakness, themselves...they get to lazy and careless...but Denver just seems more motivated, and Billups is gettin the most from his team mates.
I agree that its all based on James and our D, but I'd rather see the Fakers than the Nuggets.
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@shepwrite said:
They don't have anyone who can cover Lebron, period.Unless LeBron turns into a jump shooter, I disagree. When he does all the damage getting to the rim, his matchup is really Dwight, the Defensive POY. Obviously I don't think it will be too much of a problem since I'm picking them to win in 5, but that's mostly because of LeBron's ability to pass and be creative driving to the basket, I definitely wouldn't call this an easy matchup for him.
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@shepwrite said:
They don't have anyone who can cover Lebron, period.Unless LeBron turns into a jump shooter, I disagree. When he does all the damage getting to the rim, his matchup is really Dwight, the Defensive POY. Obviously I don't think it will be too much of a problem since I'm picking them to win in 5, but that's mostly because of LeBron's ability to pass and be creative driving to the basket, I definitely wouldn't call this an easy matchup for him.
Unless LeBron turns into a jump shooter, I disagree. When he does all the damage getting to the rim, his matchup is really Dwight, the Defensive POY. Obviously I don't think it will be too much of a problem since I'm picking them to win in 5, but that's mostly because of LeBron's ability to pass and be creative driving to the basket, I definitely wouldn't call this an easy matchup for him.
I'd agree with you that the match up if James is going to the rim (which of course teams want to prevent him from doing) will be Howard. But I'd keep in mind that Z's ability to shoot from 15~20 feet out is going to pull Howard out of the paint.
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Yeah i gotta to agree with a few of you guys. Howard isnt going to be able to hang low and wait for Lebron. He is going to have to guard Z 15-20 feet from the basket. Well we will see what howard is going to be able to do tonight its showtime in an hour.
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I just read a post on espn that they are not putting howard on Z. They are gonna match Varajo and Wallace up against Howard. I say we put Z and Joe Smith out there. They both are excelent shooters and will cause Howard to vacate the low post.
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Fair enough, but Van Gundy's not a bad defensive coach, and Dwight doesn't exactly have tree trunks for legs. He can be a little more than arm's length away from Z and keep his eye on the paint. Again like I said, LeBron is a crafty enough player to get his stats anyway, but it won't be easy. It will take more than Z standing far away from the basket.
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I eat every word i ever said about Howard only being a defensive player. Howards offense still might not help playing a team like the cavs.
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@shepwrite said:
They don't have anyone who can cover Lebron, period.Assuming Lebron covers Lewis, you're right: Turkoglu is the tough cover. He isn't very good going to the hoop, although he's willing. Pavlovic might get a lot of minutes when we play small ball. He could cover Turkoglu.
I think you've always been Sasha's biggest fan on here, it definitely looks justified tonight. He's been great so far.
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Holy Sh*t, what a shot to win it by LeBron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Cavs are looking flat and can't hit any shots again tonight. Can anyone besides LeBron score consistently in this series for the Cavs?
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We are the most rested team in the playoffs, and we have no legs, our "D" sucks ass. Straight up, these CAV'S have no heart, they thought they would sweep there way to the finals. They have looked like shit every game. No one will step up, Z is shooting the 3 ball more than Mo Williams. We will not take this series if we play like this. MVP or not, Lebron has to rally the boys, and the team needs to step up.
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Cavs are looking flat and can't hit any shots again tonight. Can anyone besides LeBron score consistently in this series for the Cavs?
Cavs are looking flat and can't hit any shots again tonight. Can anyone besides LeBron score consistently in this series for the Cavs?
It's not a coincidence that the Cavs look flat and can't shoot well. The Magic's length especially on the perimeter frustrates our small starting guards, and their ability to hit threes on the other end exhausts the defenders because they have to close out so often. Z is shooting like shit, which means he's currently a total liability in all facets of the game. Might be a result of having to guard Howard, but regardless he's killing us right now. The Magic are just going RIGHT at him almost every time down the floor.
Some of us claimed that we had a mismatch in the backcourt before this series, but that seems to be proving false. Both Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus might be better than any shooting guard we have, and Mo Williams is barely even outplaying Rafer Alston. The only position we have a clear cut advantage at right now is small forward.
They have a deep, lengthy, good shooting and athletic group of players down there in Orlando.
Like I said two months ago, they're a bad match-up.
If the Cavs pull off game 4, I think they'll win the series. If the Magic win game 4, well... I think you know.
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