Nyce_1

back to 8th place with our loss and a Nets win. NY also won, which sours the night more.

ec23456, welcome to the boards. As far as your topic: 1) we're making the playoffs. 2) whether or not we make he playoffs, we aren't blowing up the roster. that'something you DON'T do to a young team with this much potential. Maybe blow up the coach, but not the team ;-)

Important games to watch tonight: Of course: Orl vs. Bos - we need this win to keep our playoff chase alive Ind vs. NJN - IMO, cheer for Nets to keep back any playoff contenders CLE vs. NYK - i'm torn on this game. I want Cle to win to keep NY out, but I don't want Cle catching Det for the #1 seed (unless we slide down to #8)or Chi catching them for the #2 seed(which I really don't mind).

quote: Originally posted by bhnole: quote: Originally posted by Nyce_1: As you can see, anything can happen if we make the playoffs. If the brackets lineup how I project, we have a good chance of meeting teams we're confident about matching up against. And, of course, we only beat Miami because Wade does not return. I am not worried about that game unless the Heat need the game to lock in a higher seeding. They rested Shaq their last game of the year, if Wade comes back. He most likely will play like it is an exhibition and stay away from his usual attacks on the rim. Im reading the palm beach post from today 3/28 and dwade says he has started to practice and plans on being back b4 the last game of the regular season. So much for playing a wadeless miami heat. I made my comment in reference to playing the heat in the second round of the playoffs. I also posted my "bracket" for how I hope/wish/dream the eastern conference playoffs will play out. As far as the last game of the season, I still think we beat the Heat regardless of who's playing.

quote: Originally posted by richnba:I wonder what are the Celtics playing for, thy have no reason to win.. Here's an article I found and Doc Rivers answers your question... quote: "We have to play the spoilers," Rivers said after the Celtics' practice Tuesday. "That's been our mantra for a while. What else do we have?" http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/...story?coll=orl-magic

Here's another thought. What if we make the playoffs and Jameers steps the kcuf up! He just plays like an all-star. With the bad season, but good playoffs, would you extend him this summer for Ridinour $$$?

My turn. Iverson carried the scoring load for Philly for many years and people said he was selfish. Once he got traded to Denver, his scoring went down and his assists went up; he began playing like a real point gaurd. Now, I am, IN NO WAY, comparing Jameer to Iverson. All I'm saying is that maybe Jameer plays the way he does because he has to for this team to win. Who else will make the clutch shots? Dwight- lol. Turk - lol. Grant - sure. I think if we get a CONSISTENT SG (*cough*Vince*cough*) on this team, Jameer will play more like a PG. And another reason why his assists aren't as high is because our players aren't consistent enough to make an open shot. One game, O-Dub and I counted how many times Nelson passed the ball to an open teammate and thhe missed the easy shot. That number was unbelieveably high. All I'm saying is if we get the right piece and more consistentcy from other players, maybe Jameer will play like a better POINT GAURD and distribute the ball to the right players. He won't be as good as Travis Diener (for you HUTCH), but he'll be better than what he is now. And, extending him this summer wouldn't be a bad move after all. Now I really wish we were able to get Vince at the deadline to see what we'd have in our team.

quote: Originally posted by Marc Acres 3:16:Here is my problem with Lewis, he's 28 and here is the breakdown of games played for his career. 82, 78, 71, 77, 80, 71, 78, 48 to date this year. For 02-01 one of the years he played 71 he missed time with a strained left shoulder and a sprained left ankle. I tried finding more info about the other years but as I remember it, it's usually been similar injuries (this year was more serious). It's not Grant Hill territory on missed games by any stretch but you don't get less injury prone as you get older, and to me he doesn't have a track record for fighting through injuries. It's going to take a max deal to get this guy, do we want to commit that much to a guy that is injury prone? He is a fantastic scorer but I'm sick of injuries causing inconsistancy. I want Vince here more than anyone but here's me playing devil's advocate to your post. Vince's games played yearly since the millennium: 00-01 75 01-02 60 02-03 43 03-04 73 04-05 77 05-06 79 06-07 70 to date IMO, seems like he has gotten less injury prone as he got older. I didn't research why he missed those games so I have no opinion on if he's tougher or not. Just an FYI.

Jefferson had a good game vs. Bosh when they beat Toronto. He shut down Bosh to help the C's get the W.

hahahahaha Great article. Haven't laughed that hard in a while. Good find.

Don't worry JD, I got you on this one ;-) quote: Tonight's Game: Magic at Celtics, 7:30 Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted March 28, 2007 WHERE: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston. RECORDS: Magic 33-38, Celtics 21-49. TV: Sun Sports; Radio: 580 AM (WDBO); Spanish language: 1030 AM (WONQ). MAGIC UPDATE: Orlando, coming off a critical victory against the New York Knicks on Monday night, are No. 7 in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The No. 8 New Jersey Nets were idle Tuesday night and face the Indiana Pacers tonight. That's a win-win for Orlando, regardless of the outcome. Both teams are chasing the Magic. . . . The Magic canceled their practice scheduled for today at Harvard. . . . Orlando returns home to face the Pacers on Friday at Amway Arena. CELTICS UPDATE: Boston has the worst record in the Eastern Conference. The Memphis Grizzlies have won fewer games than any team in the NBA. . . . The Celtics have lost the first two games of the four-game series, but have won nine of the past 11 games against the Magic in Boston. . . . The Celtics, led by former Magic Coach Doc Rivers, have been ravaged by injuries. F Wally Szczerbiak and G Tony Allen underwent season-ending surgeries while G-F Paul Pierce and F Al Jefferson missed considerable time. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Magic have been in this scenario before, facing a team they are favored to beat . . . and finding ways to lose. They need to take control early and get their starters some rest, if possible. Holding Pierce to respectable numbers will be key, as will reducing turnovers against the young, aggressive Celtics.

Regardless of who we play, the IR list will consist of Diener (unfortunately), Augustine (obviously), and Garrity (no need for him). Hutch, you finally get your "white out". Get it, WHITE.....OUT, LOL ;-)

i agree with emory, i'm going for Pacers

quote: Originally posted by T-Cat:I was just playing, you thought I was serious?lol! I was joking also. I forget a joking tone or sarcasm don't come across well on the board to those who don't know you, lol.

quote: Originally posted by T-Cat:It would be nice if the Magic were looking for a bigger point guard in the draft: http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/javariscrittenton.html But will a 1st round pick on the roster affect our chances of landing VC? T-Cat, you are BANNED!!! As soon as I saw who his NBA Comparison was, I closed the page. Shame on You!!!

quote: Originally posted by 30Assists: quote: 'll use Vince as an example, the other night against NJ they needed a bucket... And last night we gave the ball to Jameer. Next time it might be JJ. For the next few years it might be JJ, for that matter. Both of them are legit scorers. They're just young. VC's on the downside of his career. His numbers next year will be good, no doubt, but what happens when his hops begin to fade? He's 30. He's not getting any younger. Make a run at Rashard, and I'm game for it. But anyone else? Meh. And next time, it'll be Wade, Kobe, Rip, Chauncey, GWallace, JRich, Barron, Bibby, Joe Johnson, Kidd, or any other big gaurd we have to shoot over. We got lucky last night cause NY had NATE ROBINSON in the game. Any good team with sense would play a bigger gaurd on our small gaurds. This is another reason why we want Vince; HE'S BIG. We lack size at the 1 and 2 and Vince can help balance that out.

Court, big ups to the amount of thought and effort you put into this thread. However, I disagree with you in some things. It seems you are making a lot of your suggestions based on the fact that Darko doesn't live up to expectations. That's a fair assessment, but that's only one side of things. WHAT IF Darko becomes everything we expect him to be? A good PF, who can handle the ball (showed signs in Chicago), shoot well (known to have a 3 pt shot), make good, SMART passes, rebound, and BLOCK. Not to mention, he has a good attitude and great chemistry with our existing team. We would be trading all of that for a bunch of guards who are, still great players, but also on the down side of their careers. I wan to win more than anything, not at the expense of our future. And, WHAT IF we get a new coach who knows how to get Darko to maximize his potential? Then everything changes. Let me ask you this, would you rather win now like Miami? or Win for the next decade like San Antonio has been doing; which just last night won its 50th game of the season for the 9th str8 year. Otis has said he's following the blueprint of building a team like San Antonio and Detroit and I think we are headed in the right path. All we need is some consistentcy, big 2 gaurd, and LEADER (coach) to lead our young guys.

quote: Originally posted by Hutchence:DID YOU JUST COMPARE TRAVIS DIENER TO GILBERT ARENAS????? You may as well say he is the next Steve Nash!!! Nyce, it sucks all the potential this organization gives up on. You can't blame the coach for everything. Too many players were not utilized here, traded away for nothing, and then prove how good they truly are. Oh well c'est la vie! LOL, Gilbert and Nash have NOTHING on Diener. As far as evaluating talent, you're right, it's not only the coaches fault. However, the coach is responsible for dictating the amount of playing time each player receives. "That Coach", and the past Magic coaches, have all done horrible jobs at evaluating what have before trading it away. Maybe Magic's version of "fools' gold" is real gold?

As long as we avoid playing Detroit and Washington, I'm happy. Here is some wishful thinking about how I HOPE the playoffs might play out for us; 1. Detroit vs.-------------1.Detroit 8. New Jersey ----------------vs.--------1.Detroit 4. Toronto vs.-------------5.Chicago 5. Chicago ---------------------------vs.---------1.Detroit 3. Miami vs.-------------3.Miami 6. Washington ----------------vs.--------7.Orlando 2. Cleveland vs.-------------7.Orlando 7. Orlando As you can see, anything can happen if we make the playoffs. If the brackets lineup how I project, we have a good chance of meeting teams we're confident about matching up against. And, of course, we only beat Miami because Wade does not return.

quote: Originally posted by Hutchence:I get pretty frustrated hearing that we need a big man. Hello?? James Augustine?? At least see what you have before basically discarding him. And please don't pull a Travis Diener on him! Sorry to say this Hutch, but you know that's exactly what's gonna happen. Unless we get a new coach, 2nd rounders mean nothing to us. Diener and Augustine can be the next Arenas or Redd sitting in our own backyard. I know that's pretty extreme, but you get my point.

Here is some wishful thinking about how the playoffs might play out; sorry, but I have a lot of time of my hands. 1. Detroit vs.-------------1.Detroit 8. New Jersey ----------------vs.--------1.Detroit 4. Toronto vs.-------------5.Chicago 5. Chicago ---------------------------vs.---------1.Detroit 3. Miami vs.-------------3.Miami 6. Washington ----------------vs.--------7.Orlando 2. Cleveland vs.-------------7.Orlando 7. Orlando As you can see, anything can happen if we make the playoffs. If the brackets lineup how I project, we have a good chance of meeting teams we're confident about matching up against. And, of course, we only beat Miami because Wade does not return.

This is great news for me. Since I don't live in Fla, I now have more time to get my career in order and move back just in time to buy season tickets for the new arena.

HAHAHAHAHAHA. It's funny reading "devilish" and "Dwight" in the same sentence. NY fans and media are just a bunch of HATERS!!!!!

quote: Originally posted by spenny:I hope dwight throws down a thunderous dunk on green Ha, that would priceless. First blocking Nate, then dunking on Green. If we could play vs. Jordan, Nique, and Dr. J, all revenge would be accomplished. As far as the game, the Celtics are playing good ball. Our team will underestimate them and lose the game. Al Jefferson will also own Dwight.

quote: Originally posted by Hutchence:Sorry, that was my weak attempt at sarcasm! Don't worry, I caught it, lol.