After the Magic Flame Out

I'm not happy about it at all. As an NBA fan I wanted to see the two best players on the planet go at it. I don't really think its all about the NBA's marketing and officiating, I think the majority of NBA fans wanted it as well. Hell, the world wanted it. Just a handfull of babies on this forum were the ones against it. Just because they cried the loudest doesn't make this handfull the majority.

 

I still would've rather seen Orlando in it. They had two games right there for the taking but their inexperience just showed in the series. Van Gundy baffled me a few times too with his lineup changes. I dont think that was something you could've seen coming.

Cleveland on the other hand could've been downright embarrassing after Lebron. Trevor Ariza on Delonte West??? Lamar Odom on Varejao??? They would've gotten swept in that series if Lebron doesnt play all world with triple doubles and buzzer beaters.

 

Cleveland got exposed, period. The cast around LeBron played above themselves all year, but there's not a legit All-Star next to him (Mo Williams is good but not an All Star) and most of the starters would be back ups on other teams.

Their frontcourt would have been a joke against LA.

Yes, LeBron vs Kobe would be fun to watch, but it would have been less competitive than LA-Orl.

 

I would rather have seen a Celtics vs Lakers matchup because I think they are two the best teams in the league when healthy.

 

I think Cleveland would have given LA at least as much competition as Orlando. I think at least one of the Cleveland role players was due for a break out series. Also, Lebron would have had Ariza in foul trouble in about 3 minutes so Kobe would have had to check him for large portions of the game. Kobe is flat out too old to play consistently good defense and score the ball efficiently.

On a personal note, I find Orlando painfully boring to watch. Dwight Howard (although improving) looks like a robot offensively. Meanwhile, the rest of the guys have the combined toughness of Ron Artest's pinky nail and display that by being allergic to shots closer than 22 feet. It's just a flawed system when it faces a team with athletes or even competent, intelligent defenders.

That's actually funny. The two best teams in the East have serious deficiencies that would have had them losing in the Finals to 3-4 of the team's from the West. If KG gets healthy they could easily go back the the Finals next year.

 

Way too much is made of Lebron having a poor supporting cast. Does that even make sense? They played above their heads for 82 games but the last 6 is who they really are?

They played poorly because Mike Brown is a terrible coach. He didn't make adjustments and he ran Lebron into exhaustion with his lack of an offensive scheme.

I think Orlando matched up better with the Cavs as they had all year but it's silly to act as if the Cavs' 66-16 record is just some fluke.

 

I believe so, as well. The Celtics might've beaten the Lakers or at least made it a 7 game series (even without Garnett). Boston may have been able to contain Kobe (with Pierce and Tony Allen). Perkins could guard Gasol or Bynum, while Big Baby could hurt or kill the Celtics.


It would've been a more interesting series.

 

Orlando didn't exactly flame out. Game 1 and Game 5 were bad. They won Game 3 convincingly. The other two games were close and exciting. They just made some costly mistakes in crunch time. I think Cleveland wouldn't have done any better than Orlando.

If Lee made that layup at the buzzer, the series would have been a very different one. It was that close.

 

So, the Rockets taking the Lakers to 7 games.

Was it fool's gold or were the Rockets really that good?

 

I truly believe they were that good. There is very little doubt in my mind that with a healthy Yao this team would have buzzed through Denver and Orlando (or Cleveland for that matter). I also think the team minus Yao still had a 50/50 shot to win it all. They had more talent that ever and finally peaked at the right time as opposed to in the middle of the season.

 

Cav's regular season was them taking care of lesser teams (like they are supposed to) and Lebron was (and still is) close to unguardable.

Playoffs is about matchups, and Orlando exposed their one weakness in the interior. Cavs' record against other elite teams (Boston, Orlando, and LA) was pretty bad, and it shows that their reg. season record was because they didn't have too many letdowns against teams like Memphis like the Rockets did.

I will agree that Mike Brown was horrible in that series.

 

I have to agree with you for the simple fact based purely on defensive talent and performance. The Rockets are probably the best in the league, tied with Boston.


Orlando didn't have anyone who could seriously guard Kobe, while the Rockets have two players (Artest/Battier). Also, Orlando didn't have any true threats in post on offense, while Houston has Yao and Scola (and on occasion Artest and Brooks). As much as many posters, like the claim Dwight is alone as the best center in the league. Although, he may be the best, he is not that far ahead of Yao, especially when one adds in the offensive threat factor. I think Dwight overwhelmed the Lakers on offense, while Yao did it more on defense.

I think the X-Factor for the Rockets is Tracy McGrady or who comes in return for him.

 

I disagree....the rockets are either number one or two if your talking about health...we just never are

 

i agree. i didnt realize until this year's CLE and ORL in the playoff how good a healthy boston is. i mean rondo is basically an all star now - they have 4 all star caliber players.

 

I don't know about very different. LA probably would have followed with a win in game 3, just like they did after every other loss they had in this year's playoffs.

In Game 3 Orlando shot 63 percent and still only won by 4 points. I wouldn't say there was anything convincing about that. The best game they could ever hope to play, at home, was barely good enough to scrape out their one win of the series.

I bet Mo Williams would have had more success against the Lakers than any player on the Magic did.

 

Cleveland for sure.

They held homecourt advantage and would have matched up better than the Magic did. The Magic were too small.

 

Cleveland did the same thing against Orlando.....so why would it have been any different?

 

LMAO @ the ppl talking about how they would rather see kobe and lebron..sure thats nice, but the lakers actually have a team where the players contribute...lebron does not have that

it would of been a 4-0 sweep at that