The Road to the Top of the East(09-10 version)pg. 41

[ball junkie 277]

In light of Coach Mike Moreau(Hoopsworld) making this statement...

 

quote:

The key for Orlando? Play every game with a sense of urgency to gain the #1 seed. Why? Because then Boston and Cleveland have to play each other to get to Orlando, and the Magic only have to play the winner. Finish as a 2-8 seed, and you have to beat both the Celtics and the Cavs in a seven-game series to get to the Finals.

 

I thought it would be great to have a thread to discuss it...especially since it looks as if the battle will be on-going all season long(the havs are already seperating from the have-nots)...since we are almost to the mid-point of the season I don't think it's to early to start discussing it.

 

I have already seen threads started about what seed we should try to get and on various other threads I've seen people posting about I hope this team beats this tonight and so forth.

 

As of today the top of the East looks like this:

 

1.) Boston - 29-5

2.) Cleveland - 27-5

3.) MAGIC - 26-7

4.) Atlanta - 21-11

5.) Detroit - 20-11

6.) Miami - 17-14

 

Some key games for tonight: Houston at Atlanta, Jersey at Miami

 

Tommorow all the big dogs get back into action: Magic at Toronto(12:30), Cleveland at Washington(1:00) and the Celtics at the Knicks(NBA TV, 6:00)

 

Now, depending on what the moderators think you could either sticky this thread or just bring it back to the top when there is something you want to discuss.

 

I hope others can help me keep it updated if I get busy with my 3 small children here at home or my job does the same.

 

Here is the link for the daily NBA schedule that members can refer back to when they want to see future opponents of a particular team...it even has time and TV coverage listed.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/schedule

 

p.s. Osprey, I hope you don't mind me using this title...I stole it from your Presidental thread(The Road to the WhiteHouse)

[ball junkie 277]

In light of Coach Mike Moreau(Hoopsworld) making this statement...

 

quote:

The key for Orlando? Play every game with a sense of urgency to gain the #1 seed. Why? Because then Boston and Cleveland have to play each other to get to Orlando, and the Magic only have to play the winner. Finish as a 2-8 seed, and you have to beat both the Celtics and the Cavs in a seven-game series to get to the Finals.

 

I thought it would be great to have a thread to discuss it...especially since it looks as if the battle will be on-going all season long(the havs are already seperating from the have-nots)...since we are almost to the mid-point of the season I don't think it's to early to start discussing it.

 

I have already seen threads started about what seed we should try to get and on various other threads I've seen people posting about I hope this team beats this tonight and so forth.

 

As of today the top of the East looks like this:

 

1.) Boston - 29-5

2.) Cleveland - 27-5

3.) MAGIC - 26-7

4.) Atlanta - 21-11

5.) Detroit - 20-11

6.) Miami - 17-14

 

Some key games for tonight: Houston at Atlanta, Jersey at Miami

 

Tommorow all the big dogs get back into action: Magic at Toronto(12:30), Cleveland at Washington(1:00) and the Celtics at the Knicks(NBA TV, 6:00)

 

Now, depending on what the moderators think you could either sticky this thread or just bring it back to the top when there is something you want to discuss.

 

I hope others can help me keep it updated if I get busy with my 3 small children here at home or my job does the same.

 

Here is the link for the daily NBA schedule that members can refer back to when they want to see future opponents of a particular team...it even has time and TV coverage listed.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/schedule

 

p.s. Osprey, I hope you don't mind me using this title...I stole it from your Presidental thread(The Road to the WhiteHouse)

[Osprey 199]

No problem from me, I didn't even create that Road to the White House title, I had a different one then a mod changed the title.

 

I think Adam_Magic threw his internet power around and changed it to that because he liked it better, haha.

 

 

 

Back on topic......

 

I actually like this idea, but do think its a little early still in the season to be scoreboard watching, but as fans we are allowed to right?

 

I don't see us overtaking the one seed this year, Celtics play too focused to go on any type of slide, they already treat every game like a playoff game.

 

Cleveland I can see us passing, I think those role players will come back to earth and Lebron always has a month in the season where his stats drop slightly.

 

In order for us to get the one seed we would have to win EVERY head to head with CLE and BOS for the rest of the season in my opinion, and I don't see us doing that.

[Svanxx 30]

Cleveland just lost big Z for a month, so that really hurts them. They'll still beat a lot of the inferior teams, but they'll probably drop a few more games that they could have won without him. Plus, it leaves them more vulnerable to Dwight Howard when we play them.

[Berto 338]

quote:

Originally posted by Osprey23:

 

I don't see us overtaking the one seed this year, Celtics play too focused to go on any type of slide, they already treat every game like a playoff game.

 

Cleveland I can see us passing, I think those role players will come back to earth and Lebron always has a month in the season where his stats drop slightly.

 

In order for us to get the one seed we would have to win EVERY head to head with CLE and BOS for the rest of the season in my opinion, and I don't see us doing that

 

Agreed.

 

I think unless Boston suffers some key injuries the #1 seed is theirs. We have a habit of losing focus in games, so I don't see us winning the 60+ games it would take to surpass the C's.

[Natmayo 0]

I believe that some on this board are underrating the Cavs this year. This team has the best differential in the league and are really crushing most teams that they face.

 

I believe they are a harder test than some in here think.

 

I do agree that the #1 seed is the goal and we have plenty of time and fight to get that done.

 

And as the Celtics and the Cavs will face some lows, so will we. And without Pietrus for the next 3 wks to a month, and some tough games this month, we will be fortunate not to have a lull in January

[gporter 5]

Yes.

 

And that brings me to my point I was making last night about the Cavs. Now that Z (not that he could contain Dwight) isn't going to play, Dwight will be able to do exactly what he just did to Wade, to Lebron.

 

Keep him out of the paint. And last time I checked, Wade is a better shooter than Lebron.

 

Plus you can kill out all their role players chances of hitting any threes on us.

 

So the Cavs don't match up well against us. They are like a rich mans Miami Heat. But w/o Big Z, they are just that. The Miami Heat.

 

Oh and Jameer will put Mo Williams in his place.

 

I can't wait for that game!!!

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

Originally posted by Kberto:

quote:

Originally posted by Osprey23:

 

I don't see us overtaking the one seed this year, Celtics play too focused to go on any type of slide, they already treat every game like a playoff game.

 

Cleveland I can see us passing, I think those role players will come back to earth and Lebron always has a month in the season where his stats drop slightly.

 

In order for us to get the one seed we would have to win EVERY head to head with CLE and BOS for the rest of the season in my opinion, and I don't see us doing that

 

Agreed.

 

I think unless Boston suffers some key injuries the #1 seed is theirs. We have a habit of losing focus in games, so I don't see us winning the 60+ games it would take to surpass the C's.

 

From Dwight Howard via John Denton's blog:

 

Still, Orlando has won nine of its last 10 games. The Magic have won 13 of 15 and 17 of 20 over the last six weeks. And they equaled the best 33-game start in franchise history, tying the 26-7 start by the 1995-96 team that won 60 games.

 

``We can do anything that we put our minds to,

[Eyriq 0]

This is a good idea Junkie. I don't know about Boston but I do think that Cleveland will have a let down, esp with Z out for a month.

 

Yes it will be tough to catch the Celtics but it's doable. Hopefully Rondo is playing over his head and KG and Peirce continue at their current pace. That slight drop coupled with the Magic getting things together on the defensive end could be the push we need to get past them. I see this going down to the wire.

[Obawan12 0]

quote:

Originally posted by gporter:

Yes.

 

And that brings me to my point I was making last night about the Cavs. Now that Z (not that he could contain Dwight) isn't going to play, Dwight will be able to do exactly what he just did to Wade, to Lebron.

 

Keep him out of the paint. And last time I checked, Wade is a better shooter than Lebron.

 

 

If you believe that then you have not seen Lebron play much.

 

The only person that can stop Lebron from getting in the Paint is... Lebron. I mean when he decides to get lazy and jack up jumpers. Nobody "stops" or "slows down" Lebron. (Ok, well the Celtics may on occasion, and I'm not sure why) Lebron is VERY different from Wade. Wade uses finesse and tries to go around players. Lebron just uses brute force to get to the rim. And I have yet to see anyone try and take a charge when he has a full head of steam.

 

One more thing: for those of you saying the cavs role players are going to come down to earth eventually. Wasn't Jameer looked at as a role player coming into this year? Well what if I said he has to come down to earth eventually?? And now that you mention that:

 

Mo Williams is not a role player, and neither is Z. So who are these role players that are going to slow down? Gibson? I hope not, he is already shooting in the 30's this year. Ben Wallace? Is it possible to average less than 2 points a game when starting? Varejao? He has actually always played this well throughout his career, he just gets no recognition for it. Wally? Go look at his averages and tell me he is having a good year for his standards.

 

So that leaves Delonte West, who is having a sort of breakout year. Well, saying he "has" to "come back down to earth" eventually is like me saying Jameer "has" to slow down eventually if we went by his career numbers. That is the thing: they are both enjoying career years. So please give me one reason why either one of them will come back down to earth eventually.

 

I also understand what one poster meant when he said Lebron usually has a bad month, but this year is a different cavs than past years and a different Lebron (just like your Magic). This team is focused on winning every game and so is Lebron. That is why they are the only team that has not lost to a team below .500.

 

Even with all that, I do not like the cavs chances if Z is out against the Magic. He is very good at drawing Howard out on the perimeter. Without that, it will make it tougher for Mo and Delonte to drive. Heck, this entire month is going to be extremely tough with Z out. I just hope they don't lose to much ground.

[ball junkie 277]

Okay, both the Hawks and Heat won tonight to keep up their respective conference standing.

 

The Heat beat the Nets at home in overtime...judging by the box score it looks as if Wade had an off night but stepped up late and in overtime...final, 101-96.

 

The Hawks beat Houston, 103-100...judging from the box score T-Mac(the quitter, have you seen the news lately?) and Ron Artest did not play...the Hawks were lead by the usual suspects, Josh Smith & Joe Johnson with Ronald Murray big off the bench.

 

The Hawks, whom the Magic have a big home-an-home with later this week(Wednesday in Atlanta and Friday in Orlando) are only 4 games back of Orlando in the loss column.

[Hank Moody 60]

Dude your Cavs (LeBrons) are over hyped garbage. They wont get 50 wins now that Z is out for prob the toughest month in your schedule, the Magic can and will beat the Cavs in any 7 game series any day any time home court or not