NBA Power Poll: The contenders

[GhostAnime 50]

 

Paul Pierce.

[Sabian Jackson 0]

 

Ron Artest and Bruce Bowen respectively.

[Chase 209]

 

Paul Pierce.

 

 

Don't tell me you can't see his face here

 

[IronMaiden 43]

Is it annoying anyone else that all these writers call our team trash on a nightly basis?

 

Yeah it ticks me off (I can't use the language I would like to use here). I am hoping like hell our team shows up in the playoffs. I truly believe they will. It's just not really fair how teams like Boston can be sooooo physical but we can't. I don't care what anyone says, we get screwed by the officiating. I really don't know why that is, but it is true.

[AddiFB 429]

I'm also hoping the guys show up in the playoffs, but I fear they won't. I told my co-worker on Friday, who's a Celtics fan, that I won't be surprised if we get knocked out in the first or second round. He then, said we won't. We'll get to the ECF against either Boston or Miami, but won't get to the Finals. He said the Finals will be Lakers-Heat. Annoyingly, he's very good with predictions.

[Lethargic Optimist 2]

I actually think that most of our players will be fine come playoff time, and probably will beat both Atlanta/Bulls in an more or less effective way..

 

My concerns start in the EFC, not because they sudddenly can't score, or the defense will be exposed (more than the O can cover), but the whistles will be all going to our opponent. Miami or Boston, it doesn't matter who of them will come through will have hca against us and I see no way how the refs not will carry them on their backs, like they did in so many games this year.

 

Nevertheless, if it will end this way I'd call this a good season ending and hope, that this offseason will bring some nice additions (even if we have to think about parting with J-Rich for example), so that we will be really strong next year. Don't forget Boston isn't exactly becoming younger and the Lakeshow isn't really performing as it used to. Miami will be better, no doubt about that, but hopefully we can acquire someone who can defend the perimeter and a defensive backup C/PF.

 

I am for sure looking forward to this Po's and this w/o the pressure that we HAVE to win it all, call me crazy all you want xD

[manman28 0]

Dwight Howard's massive improvement on the offensive side of the ball could propel us to the finals. He's basically become unguardable. There's really not a center that can stop him, but its his mental approach to the game that is key. A lot of calls do seem to go against him, but he can't let it affect his game. He tends to get frustrated a lot and rather easily when the calls are going against him; refs are going to be refs and he can't change that. If he keeps his head in the game, we will be tough for anyone to beat.

 

However, the success of the Magic and how far they will go in the playoffs is really going to come down to the supporting cast. Either J-Rich or Jameer Nelson is going to have to step up as that second guy to D12. Turk is too wishy-washy of a scorer to be a consistent second option so he will have to continue to serve as our primary playmaker and clutch shooter. Gilbert Arenas....anything we get from Gil is bonus. He hasn't done anything for us all season (except look abysmal on both sides of the ball) so it would be ludicrious to expect some sort of resurgence from him in the playoffs. If he plays well, great, but if anyone is riding our playoff hopes on Gil becoming a consistent contributor, we are in serious trouble. Jameer Nelson dominated in the first round of last year's playoffs and will need to do the same this year. J-Rich's play has been consistently inconsistent, but he is a proven scorer, and also in the prime of his career, so he makes for a viable candidate to step up. He played extremely well in the playoffs last year and I'm expecting the same from him this year.

 

Down low, Howard is going to need some help. If he picks up fouls early, Bass and Anderson are going to have to carry over their stellar play from the regular season over to the playoffs. Van Gundy needs to find a way to give Ryan Anderson more minutes; he should be on the floor a lot more. Not only is he a stretch four who is lethal from long range, but he also averages more rebounds-per-minute than Bass. Anderson is a much more physical player than Rashard ever was for us, and he can bang with the big boys.

 

Q-rich is the one guy I'm a little worried about. He is probably the best on-the-ball perimeter defender we have, and he also has the bullyish attitude our team sorely needs (which Matt Barnes provided for us last year), so likely he will receive some critical minutes in the playoffs. Now, here lies the problem; we brought him here to shoot, but his accuracy has been horrendous to say the least. He has to make open shots, because teams may decide to lay off of him. He's not bashful, so don't expect him to stop shooting even if he's not connecting. It's going to be hard to justify keeping him on the floor if he's throwing up a ton of bricks.

 

Before we begin talking about Chicago, we have to get past Atlanta first. I don't care if we were injured or not, Atlanta still beat us three times this year. That cannot be ignored. They were humiliated by us last year, so they are going to come out hungry. One of our biggest problems this year is that we have started games with a lack of energy. There is no place for that in the playoffs. Therefore, we should not be looking ahead; All eyes need to be on Atlanta. That's the main priority.

[Miller4Prez66 545]

 

Paul Pierce.

 

Yes.

[Trey Time 186]

That's pretty amazing when you consider MIAMI leads the league in "Guys Even Spectators Feel Like They Could Take Off The Dribble Or Post Up" (seven by my count).

 

Fixed

[30Assists 342]

Hack a Shaq didn't exist and started to exist in his Miami days..and that carried on to Dwight/ Hell, Shaq was even allowed by the refs to freaking step over the free throw line during his free throw routines. Dwight gets called for a ten second call. This guy just doesn't see the art.

 

Agree with a lot of what you said, but have to disagree with you here. Hack-a-Shaq has always been around, as soon as it was realized the guy could score 20+ a night, but couldn't hit a pressure free-throw.

 

Remember when Shaq had a broken thumb and Penny had to take over during the playoff run (right before Shaq headed to LA)? Thumb was broken when someone hacked him.

 

I think the article does have a point. Yes, officiating is a lot different now than in the "tower days," when Hakeem, Ewing, Shaq, and Minute Bol were running around. ...scratch that last one.

 

But anyways, I think Dwight will, at his peak, be a 25-15-5 guy - he's just not that old. Hakeem's season mentioned in the article happened when he was 31, best rebounding and blocking when he was 27. Dwight's 26 and has always focused on the defensive end and rebounding as opposed to scoring, which was the rage during Hakeem, prime-Shaq, and Ewing's time.

 

The rules have changed, the times have changed, but I still think Dwight's got more to put on the table. Of course, that doesn't mean he's able to. Yet.