NBA's think, know and prove (Bill Simmons)

[COLOMBIANO 118]

quote:

I can prove that the 2010 Orlando-Cleveland series will be different than the 2009 Orlando-Cleveland series

 

Wrote it before, I'll write it again: the 2009 Magic were kryptonite to the 2009 Cavs because of the Turkoglu/Lewis duo, which could only happen because of Dwight Howard's ability to handle the shotblocking/rebounding by himself. Teams had someone to cover Turkoglu or Lewis, but not both of them. It just worked. Swapping Turkoglu for Vince squandered that trump card. Throw in Jamison, Shaq and LeBron's vengeance factor and this feels like a totally different series than last year. Of course ...

 

quote:

I can prove that you can't win four straight playoff series by relying on Vince Carter

 

You know why? Because he's Vince Carter! Ask the Nets fans about him. Ask the Raptors fans about him. They know.

 

quote:

I think Larry Brown could absolutely outcoach his first and second round opponents this spring

 

Stan Van Gundy in Round 1, Mike Woodson in Round 2 ... and Mike Brown looming in Round 3. I'm just sayin'.

 

quote:

I think that Cleveland will win the 2010 title

 

Best team, best player, best season. Of course, we could have said that last year. But Jamison and Shaq give them a flexibility that last year's team just didn't have. They can go small, big, medium ... doesn't matter. The only concern if you're picking nits: LeBron still gets a little over-eager during big moments, like how his bizarre pull-up three-pointer derailed what would have been an incredible comeback in Boston on Easter Sunday. Kobe battled with the Hero Complex for years and years, finally settling into an icy assassin these last two seasons. But it took forever. LeBron isn't there yet. I still think he can be had in a tight game by the right team -- like how Boston exposed Kobe in the 2008 Finals -- but he gets credit for being a vicious closer with a lead (nobody's better up five with two minutes to go).

 

You know how we will know when LeBron is ready? When, after big shots, he doesn't run over to his bench and hop into teammates like an overgrown spaz any more. Maybe Dan Gilbert needs to buy MJ's game-worn "I knew it was going in" fist pump off eBay.)

[COLOMBIANO 118]

quote:

I can prove that the 2010 Orlando-Cleveland series will be different than the 2009 Orlando-Cleveland series

 

Wrote it before, I'll write it again: the 2009 Magic were kryptonite to the 2009 Cavs because of the Turkoglu/Lewis duo, which could only happen because of Dwight Howard's ability to handle the shotblocking/rebounding by himself. Teams had someone to cover Turkoglu or Lewis, but not both of them. It just worked. Swapping Turkoglu for Vince squandered that trump card. Throw in Jamison, Shaq and LeBron's vengeance factor and this feels like a totally different series than last year. Of course ...

 

quote:

I can prove that you can't win four straight playoff series by relying on Vince Carter

 

You know why? Because he's Vince Carter! Ask the Nets fans about him. Ask the Raptors fans about him. They know.

 

quote:

I think Larry Brown could absolutely outcoach his first and second round opponents this spring

 

Stan Van Gundy in Round 1, Mike Woodson in Round 2 ... and Mike Brown looming in Round 3. I'm just sayin'.

 

quote:

I think that Cleveland will win the 2010 title

 

Best team, best player, best season. Of course, we could have said that last year. But Jamison and Shaq give them a flexibility that last year's team just didn't have. They can go small, big, medium ... doesn't matter. The only concern if you're picking nits: LeBron still gets a little over-eager during big moments, like how his bizarre pull-up three-pointer derailed what would have been an incredible comeback in Boston on Easter Sunday. Kobe battled with the Hero Complex for years and years, finally settling into an icy assassin these last two seasons. But it took forever. LeBron isn't there yet. I still think he can be had in a tight game by the right team -- like how Boston exposed Kobe in the 2008 Finals -- but he gets credit for being a vicious closer with a lead (nobody's better up five with two minutes to go).

 

You know how we will know when LeBron is ready? When, after big shots, he doesn't run over to his bench and hop into teammates like an overgrown spaz any more. Maybe Dan Gilbert needs to buy MJ's game-worn "I knew it was going in" fist pump off eBay.)

[COLOMBIANO 118]

who else, but Bill Simmons.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn.../100416&sportCat=nba

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn.../100416&sportCat=nba

 

I'm just glad we are still the underdogs!

[KingBeaterD12 0]

he says in his picks that the cavs will beat the magic 4-1 in the ECF....! Surely thats madness. Even cavs fans would probably admit that the magic can take at least 2 games if not more off them.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Silly me, I was expecting his "I can prove" portion to be littered with facts, "proving" his position.

[SmackDaddy 30]

quote:

Originally posted by echo4papa:

Silly me, I was expecting his "I can prove" portion to be littered with facts, "proving" his position.

 

I was wondering if the "I can prove" portion of his article followed by zero support was some indication of textual saracasm. ???

[richnba 3]

Alot of people seem to forget that Hedo was probally the main reason the Magic almost got bounced in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But now he is some larger then life above average NBA player? I mean are we suppose to believe that Delonte West can check Carter? Or Barnes if that is the matchup?

 

And are we suppose to believe that Larry Brown, a guy who has been run out of his last 3 NBA jobs, is now a coaching guru? At least Stans players like him, and want to play for him, most of Larry Browns teams just seem to give up.

[Chief Osceola 0]

If he's going to rely on the opinion of Raptors fans on Vince Carter to support his opinion he should ask them their opinion on "Hero" Turkoglu

[Sir Raven 12]

quote:

Originally posted by richnba:

Alot of people seem to forget that Hedo was probally the main reason the Magic almost got bounced in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But now he is some larger then life above average NBA player? I mean are we suppose to believe that Delonte West can check Carter? Or Barnes if that is the matchup?

 

And are we suppose to believe that Larry Brown, a guy who has been run out of his last 3 NBA jobs, is now a coaching guru? At least Stans players like him, and want to play for him, most of Larry Browns teams just seem to give up.

Lmao Delonte West guarding carter...

[Sir Raven 12]

I can prove that chemistry matters.

 

Group 1 (has it): Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Atlanta, Portland, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Phoenix.

 

Group 2 (doesn't have it): Boston, Los Angeles.

 

Group 3 (unclear): Orlando, Utah, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver.

 

 

 

I bet everybody at espn gets a death threat once a week?

[Jareth Cutestory 678]

Anybody else get really sick of reading "Just Sayin'" after somebody writes something that has no validity or facts to prove it?

 

Just sayin'.

[Darthmagic 0]

I just don't get this to be honest. We can't win without Hedo, but Hedo can't make the Raptors better. We won the same amount of games as last year. We are again the best defensive team in basketball, we are the second best offensive team in the game.

 

What is up with these morons that keep bringing up these things as evidence as to why we can't win? It boggles the mind. Last year i remember a media member saying we can't beat the Cavs for the very reasons that they claim we need to beat them this year. It's a ridiculous argument. While i do believe the Cavs have the upper hand, it's not as a result of what we have done but what they have done. We are better than last year, but the Cavs are better than they were last year as well.

 

They have an advantage at 2 positions (PF,SF) and they have a guy who can limit the effectiveness of our best player. I give them the advantage in a series against us no doubt. But as i said it's not about the moves we made, it's about the moves they made. this years Magic would kick last year's Magic's arse.