Lakers in 3.
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Lakers in 3.
Check back in 3 weeks for the correct answer to this poll question.
I say Lakers in 7.
Lots of matchup issues (like last round) for ORL on offense. If Bynum was healthy I might say Lakers in 6, but he won't be able to guard Howard much. Gasol will have trouble with him. I doubt he rebounds like he did against Denver. Ariza should get posted up a lot by Turk. I expect to see Walton a lot (as much as he can play before fouling out) with Odom as well to guard Lewis/Turk.
LA on offense doesn't provide a lot of matchup issues. Kobe should be easier to contain than Lebron was. gasol is a better offensive player than any big men on the Cavs, but Howard should be up to the task (as long as he doesn't get in foul trouble helping on Kobe or Ariza cutting to the basket).
I think Orlando has a legit shot at this because of the matchups, but I expect Kobe's closing ability and their depth to win out eventually.
Not worried. The Lakers aren't that good.
If Bynum was to get healthy, I'd say the Lakers win in 4. Since he's not lakers in 5. Bynum, healthy or not will probably get guarded by D12, leaving Lewis on Gasol? I mean they could try playing a zone, but kobe fisher and ariza all got a decent 3point shot. It'll be interesting
Should be an interesting series and I think Orlando give them all they can handle.
It might even go the distance but in the end I think Kobe will do whatever it takes to win the thing and show the world he can do it without Shaq (but not without Fisher lol)
There'll be a game where Howard is a force of nature and a game where Orlando's gunners hit every shot... and four more where the better team wins. Lakers in six.
Anyone else still snickering that the Orlando Magic are in the Finals? Just think, if the Pistons could have miraculously made it to the 6th seed, the Magic wouldn't even have made it out of the first round.
pretty weird how we can easily beat the magic in a 7game series, but they can beat the cavs and we cant. cant wait for next year
I had been thinking along those lines myself. It was probably less awful to get executed by cleveland than embarassed by the team that used to be our bitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by MoTown
I'd rather lose in the first round if it means sweeping changes for the better. Although, I think Joe would still make big changes even if we had made the finals (already started that with Billups).
What I'm getting at is that having the benefit of hindsight seeing how teams showed up in the playoffs, orlando would've crushed :us: in the first round just as surely as cleveland did.
So who's ahead in the series? Lakers? j/k
It's 1-0, right?
Starts Thursday.
I wanted us to play our young bucks serious minutes the last 20 games (otherwise known as tanking) and likely miss the fucking playoffs altogether.
It's just not about a Lottery pick - it was about finding out what pieces we do have and what we really need. The pick is a nice bonus (although people seem sure that a pick @ #10 is the same as a pick @ #15. How is that possible? More guys are available at #10!)
Then, after the Draft we would still have our cap space and I don't buy the excuse that players wouldn't wanna play on a Lotto loser. Um, hello - we aren't a Lotto loser even if we finished out of the playoffs.
Agents and players aren't stupid - they know what we're about.
But, Fuck No! - we man'd the fuck up and made the Top 8, only to get bitch slapped by the King and his Court (jesters).
It really wasn't worth it.
Some people here disagreed at the time and then went away until the smoke cleared.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pharaoh
I liked that we made the playoffs if for no other reason than the fact that it probably left a bad taste in Stuckey's mouth. He should come out with a lot to prove next season. All y'all Stuckey haters will disagree though, I'm sure.
Disney wins.
4 to 4 in the poll, interesting...
yup. Disney World vs Disney Land on a Disney owned channel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Mxy
The youngsters got substantial playing time this season to show what they can do. I'm curious as to which ones you feel are still major question marks?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pharoah
I disagreed at the time and still prefer getting the clear verdict that the playoffs provided over a ping pong ball.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gl'enn
Amir, Maxiell and AA could have been given more minutes, to see what we had and/or what they needed to work on.
I wonder if Billy Donovan regrets not staying with the Magic?
RE: playoffs: I really wanna know what the benefit was (other than financial)?
We all knew Sheed and Iverson were not coming back next season.
We already knew Kwame had stunned the entire planet by not sucking.
We already knew what Tay and Rip could and couldn't do every night.
We already knew Dice didn't deserve such a shitty season.
What we didn't know:
Did Amir learn anything from the season?
Did Maxiell find a heart?
Could AA play significant minutes, and how would he cope at SF?
Could Bynum and Stuckey play together for 20 minutes per game and not get brutalised when the other team had the ball?
I could go on, but none of it matters.
We wanted the playoffs. Joe wanted Orlando!
Maybe we should be thankful we got Cleveland and not the Magic after all.
I guess we just saw the season differently. In my eyes, all three of those players got a lot of run and solidified the case for/against them. Amir disappointed, Max plateaued, AA met/exceeeded expectations with some upside still remaining.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pharaoh
Dwight Howard is going to beast all over the Magic big men. Can't guard Turk or Lewis. The Lakers only advantage is at SG, and I don't think that'll be enough.
Doesn't look good for LA.
^Vegas disagrees
"13th year" for Kobe seems almost impossible
You were right all along.Quote:
Originally Posted by Darth Thanatos
One game.
Well, that was all very tidy now, wasn't it?
Fool's not worried, though.
Not worried.
Thanks Gl'ennQuote:
Originally Posted by Gl'enn
I was disappointed with the season.Quote:
Originally Posted by geerussell
We didn't get to see Stuckey and Bynum on the floor for 20 minutes per game for 10 or 15 games and that might be something we'll try next season. Could have seen if it worked or not instead of pushing for the playoffs.
We didn't get to see Maxiell or Amir play 20 minutes per night for 10 or 15 games to see if they could re-discover/recover their form. We might need them next season (and Amir could have possibly increased his trade value)
We didn't get to see AA play SF for 20 minutes per game for 10 or 15 games to see how he'd handle the work load. That is something we might do next season and it would have been nice to know ahead of time if it was a good idea or not.
Could have also had Stuckey play extensively with all the young guys at the same time to help him be more of a vocal leader/captain on the floor. I doubt he dictates much on the floor when he's in with Rip, Tay, Sheed and Dice.
A lot of things could have been done to help us for next season and we didn't do them. Instead we made the playoffs, got bounced regardless and now we'll have to find out who our young guys really are next season.
We wasted a GOLDEN opportunity simply to pad a meaningless playoff streak and to pad the coffers of the organisation.
Still?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fool
I just read this on Hoopshype, uncensored, and kind of did a double take.
http://twitter.com/marcel_mutoniQuote:
Rashard Lewis to Courtney Lee in the Orlando locker room after Game 2: "Don't let tonight fuck your head up for the rest of the series."
Zero worries.
Is Courtney Lee the new Nick Anderson?
Rumor has it that Pat Riley is attempting a hostile takeover of the Magic and will be replacing SVG on the bench for game 3.
Is Riley bringing Scott Hall and Kevin Nash?