Darthmagic

quote: Originally posted by Miller4Prez64:Anderson/Bass the most deadly PF combo in the league? lol... Chances are, one of those two aren't even here on opening night. Probably Bass since Anderson is younger and fits SVG's system more. LOL! "deadliest" might be a stretch, but they can be great. And yes, i think Bass has the talent to be a starter in this leauge. If Antoine Wright, Matt Barnes, Mikeal Pietrus, Deshwan Stevenson, and Dahntay Jones can start for teams, then why can't Bass?

quote: Originally posted by Catman:Magic fan overrating 2 good bench players on a magic message board. If anything I think the board is devaluing them. Will they be all stars? Probably not, but they are really good players on good contracts who can help this team. I think Ryan is a starting caliber power forward. He just needs to work on his strength and shot selection. He's very good on the offensive glass and can attack the hoop off the dribble. My point is the area we need to focus on is the wing position. That's what cost us a championship this year.

quote: Originally posted by UBBALLER8:I somewhat agree but it seems like getting a wing of that caliber is going to be more daunting than getting Boozer (I don't think Bosh is a possibility). Also as of right now Ryan isn't ready for the limelight, period. This team is ready to win now. We gotta make a final tweak and get up over the hump already. I can't beleive the day would come when a talented big would be easier to get than a talented wing man. But i do beleive in Ryan and Bass though. Ryan is just 21 and he will get better. This was his first year with the Magic and performed well Rashards absence.

The system can work and is a very potent weapon, but our version has some serious flaws that will prevent it from taking us to the promise land IMO. Floor spacing is critical in the NBA we have seen that over the years, but so is rebounding and interior defense. Having a 3 posing as a 4 will simply not get it done. Dwight needs help inside and on the boards, and Rashard provides none of that. Players like Okur and Troy Murphy would have been a much better investment and fit because they would allow Dwight to operate in the post on the offensive end and still handle their own on the glass defensively. Even if one argues that Rashard can use his speed to beat bigger forwards off the dribble then it still wouldn't matter for two reasons: Rashard hardly ever takes ANYONE off the dribble, and can hardly finish when he gets there. He excels at two things; posting up and shooting threes. One of which is basically negated by moving him to power forward and the other isn't enough to cover the other holes in his game (Lack of rebounding, defense ETC). The Second element necessary for the system to work is a guy who can get to the rim at will and also draw fouls in crunch time. Dwight can't be our go to guy because he's not that adept offensively and he is also a poor free throw shooter. Therefore this has to come from the wing or point guard position. Vince was brought in to be that guy, but for whatever reason (age, injury ETC), he didn't do that with consistency this year. Hence we lost. Balance is key, if you look at the lakers they can play our stlye or they can play traditional. They have no weakness than maybe at point guard. Three years ago a line up of: Dwight, Okur or Murphy, Pietrus, Vince, Jameer and Hedo off the bench would have had a better chance of winning a championship than the line up we have now.

quote: Originally posted by bigpimpatl: quote: Originally posted by Darthmagic:I'd love to see Rashard Lewis leave this team; simply because he has no true position. no matter where you put him he's a liability. Plus he is getting in the way of the development of two young bigs in Ryan and Bass. disagree i think he had the season he had because of Vince ie not enough shots for everyone to go around. With Vince gone or another capable playmaker, shard will be fine. Three years into his contract i feel the same way about Rashard...he was a mistake. He was never what we needed. He's a good player, but all this talk of mismatches he creates is overblown IMO. We should have gotten a younger Vince. Even Ray Allen would have been a better investment IMO. Unfortunalty that mistake is one we will have to live with for another 2-3 years because he is pratically untradeable.

I'd love to see Rashard Lewis leave this team; simply because he has no true position. no matter where you put him he's a liability. Plus he is getting in the way of the development of two young bigs in Ryan and Bass.

One name i don't see coming up is Corey Maggette. Is the trade exception large enough to get him? I think we could use him at the 2 or three, move Vince to the bench and insert Pietrus into the starting line up. Resign Barnes, Trade Bass for a back up point guard (Dooling, Steve Blake)and we are set for another title run. PG- Jameer/Dooling or Blake SG- Vince/Pietrus SF- Maggette/Barnes PF- Rashard/Anderson C-Dwight/Gortat Or PG Jameer/Dooling or Blake SG Pietrus/Vince SF Maggette/Barnes PF Rashard/Anderson C Dwight/ Gortat or even PG Jameer/ Dooling or Blake SG Maggette/ Vince SF Rashard/Pietrus PF Anderson/ Barnes C Dwight/ Gortat

People can avoid talking about how the game is being reffed all they want. I have no problem calling them out for how the allow the Boston centers to man handle Dwight down low. I was watching replays of what they call "defense" and it was nothing more than Perkins and Wallace mugging Dwight on pretty much every shot he took.Secondly, i bet Jameer, Vince and JJ had to pick splinters out their asses after the game because of how many times the Boston thu...i mean "defenders" put them on the floor with no call from the officials. Even Mark Jackson was saying the refs needed to blow the whistle and not let fouls go cause guys can get hurt. I'm not saying calls weren't missed either way, but it seems like every time we play one of these teams the way the game is called favors our opponent. It really pisses me off about Basketball in general. I was watching a bit of the Lakers-Suns game and the Lakers fouled non-stop with no calls and if the Suns touched a Laker it was a whistle. It can't be coincidence that we see it year after year. Anyway, as for tonights strategy i think the Magic need to take what the defense gives them. Feeding Howard consistently in the post won't win them this series. He needs to dominate the defensive end and run pick and rolls on the offensive end. Let the media ***** all they want about Dwight's post game. The Magic have always done what it takes to win, and that may mean limiting touches for Dwight in the post and let him be a beast defensively. Rashard, Jameer, JJ and Vince can win this series for us on the offensive end. Dwight can get his from put backs, Alley Hoops and the occasional post up. I believe in this team. I believe we will win.

Magic by 14 p.s. FIRST...on this page

quote: Originally posted by NickAnderson:- Let Dwight play defense, rebound and be a role player on offense. - Let Vince, Jameer, and Shard dominate the ball on offense. This

quote: Originally posted by Ramsde68: quote: Originally posted by CaliMagicFan:Remember when Dwight would just laugh everything off and people said he needed to be more intense and show emotion? Yeah everyone said he wasnt serious enough. Now people are saying our two time defensive player of the year and MVP candidate is soft, is more worried about his movie career, doesn't want to try hard enough to be a great player in this league, and is costing our team (which just lost for only the fourth time in 31 games) wins with his bad play. You guys are pathetic. The team played bad. They will come back on tuesday and look 10 times better and everyone on this bi polar board will forget about this game. This

Boston had a perfect record when leading a series 3-2. Yeah, that made all the difference in last year's 7 game series Like Stan Van Gundy says "It's never been done till somebody does it"

quote: Originally posted by TreyTime:Here's the thing nobody is talking about because intelligence is not allowed in order to be an analyst. The Magic could not have played any worse than they did yesterday (41% shooting, 18 turnovers), AND WERE STILL IN POSITION TO WIN. The Celtics played well for the most part, they played normal Celtics basketball. Everyone with a brain knows we played like ****, and also know that we won't play like that again. All of that said and they barely beat us. How can you be confident as a Celtics fan? If we had been in their position yesterday we would've had panic threads to go along with our win. Excellent post

A team comes out after a week layoff and gets jumped on early by a team that's on a roll, puts together 1 quarter of B- basketball and still had a chance to win it at the end and we are done? I hope they all jump off the band wagon. It would make our victory that much sweeter. If there is a game the Celtics had any chance of winning it was game 1 and they did. I would not be surprised if we won the next 4. And no, i am not a homer. i believe we are THAT good. I honestly believe we are 10 points better that the Boston Celtics.

Magic in 5

I have never liked/understood the concept of having a specialized defender in your starting line up. IMO it was a waste as the position could be used for a talented guy who can put the ball in the basket. However, after watching the Cavs and Celts go at it i have changed my opinion. Much of Paul Pierces problems during the series came about as a result of having to check Lebron for much of the game. It's difficult for an offensive player to try and defend Lebron and carry his team on the other end. If the Celts had a specialized defender it could have really helped Pierce by taking Lebron on the defensive end and stretching the floor for him on the offensive end. I think we are in a really good position by having a two guys who can provide that level of defense and still be very relevant offensively.

quote: Originally posted by Nyce_1: quote: Originally posted by Bucktown:Svg is going to start Barnes on Ray Allen, and VC on Pierce. Barnes said he's been chasing JJ around off of screens in practice to get ready for Allen. That's as good a practice as you can get. The length should bother Ray Ray some. Barnes & JJ (some pietrus) on Ray. Vince & Pietrus (some Barnes) on Pierce Looks good to me. This

quote: Originally posted by TreyTime:I'm amazed at how many of you think we're going to run right through them. As i analyze both teams, i don't see why we wouldn't.

I have never liked/understood the concept of having a specialized defender in your starting line up. IMO it was a waste as the position could be used for a talented guy who can put the ball in the basket. However, after watching the Cavs and Celts go at it i have changed my opinion. Much of Paul Pierces problems during the series came about as a result of having to check Lebron for much of the game. It's difficult for an offensive player to try and defend Lebron and carry his team on the other end. If the Celts had a specialized defender it could have really helped Pierce by taking Lebron on the defensive end and stretching the floor for him on the offensive end. I think we are in a really good position by having a two guys who can provide that level of defense and still be very relevant offensively.

People are making a serious mistake after the Celtics victory over the Cavs. As i watched i realized that though the Celtics were winning, they weren't impressive by any means. They are the same old team that was struggling throughout the year. The reason they won isn't because they are world beaters and a championship caliber team, it's because the Cavs squad was put together with such short sightedness that they couldn't match up with an aging Celtic team. But the Magic is a different animal, and much better than the team the Celtics faced in the regular season. I have no doubt that we will put them away pretty handily. As i said, Magic in 5, probably less. By game three the media will again be saying that we aren't being tested, Boston is old and we are going to lose when we face a "real" challenge. You heard it here first.

Magic in 5

quote: Originally posted by Mat

Give it up for the guy who called this months ago. ALL HAIL DARTH MAGIC!

quote: Originally posted by AQUARIUM61:I think the Celtics would be better. If we play the Cavs, Lebron is going to get all the bogus calls and Shaq will ge hacking on Dwight most of the game. Dwight will become frustrated and it will not be pretty. I am sure that Nelson can handle Rondo. The only way we see a fair and balanced ECF is if we face Boston. With that said i don't see Paul Pierce getting some calls against the Cavs that he'd normally get. I expect him to get those against us.