Magic vs. Cavs

[hermanfontenot]

Tonight just showed you how much better of a team we are overall. We have more depth and better players than any year that Lebron has been here. Yet, no one in the media seems to notice (or give Danny Ferry credit for it).

Until we win a title, the perception of the Cavaliers will always be LeBron and the 11 Dwarfs. The Bulls didn't get credit for having a great cast around MJ until they started winning titles either.

[e0y2e3]

So Hedo having a career year in his 30's means his skill set is why the Magic where good, right?

EVERYONE on that team, from Meer to Alston in the playoffs (some games) to Hedo had career years. Chauncy is a proven NBA stud that has done it on two teams now. Hedo has done it for 1 season and shown flashes before.

Until we win the title you need to chill, it was the same shit last year.

Nothing matters yet. If Vince goes silly in the playoffs they can be sick. That isn't likely to happen but it could.

Would they probably be better w/ Hedo, sure, but by how much?

Career years at 32 don't a specific skill set define. Not to mention the Courtney Lee factor. A bunch of guys last year played out their minds (didn't they shoot almost 60% from 3 against us?).

Biggest reasons we are rolling them right now are Dewey choking and Roker finally getting smart, btw. No Hedo necessary on those solutions.

Just fucking chill until we win the title and stop acting like this is all over and all because of the Carter career year. Crediting him w/ that entire team playing out of their minds last year and regressing to the mean (still a very good team that could beat us in seven games) this year is ridiculous.

[e0y2e3]

And Parker looked like shit. His +/- was HUGELY boosted by the small ball lineup. He was 1 for his first 6, terrible on O and average on D.

[dmiles]

And Parker looked like shit. His +/- was HUGELY boosted by the small ball lineup. He was 1 for his first 6, terrible on O and average on D.

+1 here. I am scratching my head at this point trying to see how with a bunch of 2's and 3's on the team not including Lebron (West, Boobie, Moon, Parker, Jawad) that Parker would get more minutes than any of the above. (assuming no trades)

Slightly rough game tonight but Jawad has shown he really has some use. Moon seems to be able to to space himself a bit better and doesn't have to take as many shots with a hand in face as Parker does. Roker has thinking to do when Mo gets back.

My question, is Parker is our best guy to throw at the Kobe/Wince type scoring wing? Moon is a bit long (and slightly less lateral quickness) to be covering the smaller guards, but does he sometimes match up on the prolific wing types?

[Ea$t $ide]

i was surprised at how heavily the magic double teamed shaq. they even had a 3rd guy floating towards him at times. to orlandos credit, it seemed to throw the cavaliers off. the cavs benefit greatly from NOT having to double dwight compared to last years ecf when he was destroying poor z.

love svg saying 'we're not worried about jay-jay hick-son' during the timeout. hey coach. jay-jay is going to tear the rim off if you don't start worrying about him.

overall a good performance by the cavs. wish we had mo. at times you could really see the cavs missing that scoring presence. wipe your memories of this because come playoff time, it means nothing.

[OldDawg]

Slightly rough game tonight but Jawad has shown he really has some use.

I gained a new level of respect for Jawad when he faked the jumper, blew by his guy and went right at Howard to put his 5th foul on him. Huge play.

[Shadow Scars]

What a game! Damn this team is impressive! Is there a cap as to how good this Lebron character is gonna get?? He just keeps getting better and better! That spin move followed by the jumper at the end was disguisting!! I spit up milk through my nose! Oh and welcome back Delonte!!!

It's gonna be a long week.

[Hi Oktane]

Ok, can I jump on the bandwagon and say I hope this isn't Hickson's last game as a Cavalier?

If you weren't paying close attention, last night's offensive production from the 4 may have masked the Cavs need for a stretch 4. Despite Andy and JJ going all Xbox in the 1H, it was evident that Orlando's gameplan (ultimately poorly executed by Disinterested Dewey and the gang) was to sag and let JJ/Andy try to beat them with jumpers + have to defend Rashard and Anderson away from the rack. I'm afraid that strtegy is going to work more times than it doesn't.

Edit to add: I'd love to keep JJ also, but, despite last night's performance, I'm not opposed to dealing him if it means getting immediately/markedly (to paraphrase Peeker) better.

[Cease]

Tonight just showed you how much better of a team we are overall. We have more depth and better players than any year that Lebron has been here. Yet, no one in the media seems to notice (or give Danny Ferry credit for it).

Until we win a title, the perception of the Cavaliers will always be LeBron and the 11 Dwarfs. The Bulls didn't get credit for having a great cast around MJ until they started winning titles either.

Point Herm. You earn "great team" run with titles. And if it's still "LeBron and 11 clowns" after a title- screw 'em, we got the trophy.

[peeker643]

I just love how +/- is suddenly the Cavs board's version of OPS.

Watch the games. You can see who's playing effectively and who's not without the need for +/- to explain it.


+1 OldDawg on Williams ball faking and taking itto Howard's chest. He may have done it because his shot wasn't falling and he did miss the two freebies but he went at him knowing that 5th foul was as big a contribution as a bucket. The guy has a really solid basketball IQ if not the chops to play 15 minutes a night just yet. He seemed a bit overcome by the scope of that game but he hasn't felt that intensity before.

The last 6 minutes was excellent. This team is just going to play in fits and starts when they feel challenged and threatened. It's what they've done all year.

You can hope, wish and dream about resolving all the matchup problems you may have with that team, but you're 2-0 against them right now with Shaq fucking with Dewey's head and if you think THEY aren't wondering what THEY have to do to bridge the gap, you're effin' crazy.

[rebelwithoutaclue]

You can hope, wish and dream about resolving all the matchup problems you may have with that team, but you're 2-0 against them right now with Shaq fucking with Dewey's head and if you think THEY aren't wondering what THEY have to do to bridge the gap, you're effin' crazy.

Don't know if this has already been discussed as I don't want to read all 4 pages but to add on to this point, I remember in the first quarter when Shaq was going down the lane and was raped by Dewey and another Magic player and Shaq bodied Dewey for position (leading to a 3-second call on Shaq) and it looked like Dewey took a swing at him. This got zero mention from any analyst when (to me) it clearly looked like a thrown punch. Shaq's definitely in his brain. And now all this talk from Shaq about who The Real Superman is; love it.

[Gradysmanldy]

I just love how +/- is suddenly the Cavs board's version of OPS.

Watch the games. You can see who's playing effectively and who's not without the need for +/- to explain it.


+1 OldDawg on Williams ball faking and taking itto Howard's chest. He may have done it because his shot wasn't falling and he did miss the two freebies but he went at him knowing that 5th foul was as big a contribution as a bucket. The guy has a really solid basketball IQ if not the chops to play 15 minutes a night just yet. He seemed a bit overcome by the scope of that game but he hasn't felt that intensity before.

The last 6 minutes was excellent. This team is just going to play in fits and starts when they feel challenged and threatened. It's what they've done all year.

You can hope, wish and dream about resolving all the matchup problems you may have with that team, but you're 2-0 against them right now with Shaq fucking with Dewey's head and if you think THEY aren't wondering what THEY have to do to bridge the gap, you're effin' crazy.

Great examples: Parker +20(!) when he was a basket case offensively, and Z +9 when his putback was the only bright spot on the night.

+/- is an incredibly flawed statistic. It's comically bad. Totally agree that you have to watch the game to get a glimpse of value.

[mattvan1]

+/- is an incredibly flawed statistic. It's comically bad. Totally agree that you have to watch the game to get a glimpse of value.

That's because it originated as a hockey stat.

[OldDawg]

This stat may only take on meaning as you extend it over the duration of the season, I suppose. Over the course of the season, all extenuating circumstances should theoretically cancel out.

[Frank Duffy]

Interesting that they went with Shaq at Hackashaq time when people doubted it would work. It seems like it should, though. Say they foul Shaq three straight possessions in the crunch, and he makes his normal 50%. That's an average of a point per possession, and isn't that ok? Add the other plusses in having him on the floor - defense, putting us in the bonus, adding up fouls to their guys, and the chance to start our offense through him and get easy baskets - and it seems to be a good strategy. No?

Although they didn't start the O through him. Rather, our 2 best point guards started the O, those being Delonte and LB. If Delonte can hit those clutch 3s, which would be the holy grail, we really don't need Mo. Rip 2 years ago would still be the perfect fit, I just havn't seen him play much lately.

[e0y2e3]

Dewey is officially Shaq's bitch:

Howard: Shaq can be Superman
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ESPN.com news services
There's room on the planet for two Men of Steel, Dwight Howard says.

The Orlando Magic center, who has recently been verbally sparring with Shaquille O'Neal, said Sunday before the All-Star Game that there's no battle with Shaq over who is more deserving of the "Superman" nickname.

Last week, after O'Neal held Howard scoreless in the Cleveland Cavaliers' win over the Magic, Shaq said he was "offended" to be compared to Howard. "You tell me who the real Superman is," he said.

Howard was surprised by the comments and didn't take kindly to them at the time.

"It didn't sit well with me personally," he said. "I'm a young player trying to get to where he's at. I felt it would be better if he tried to help me instead of trying to put me down."

But on Sunday, in an interview with TNT, Howard said he had no issues with O'Neal.

"I don't have any problems against him," Howard said when asked if he would still reach out to O'Neal as a potential mentor. "The whole Superman thing, there's no battle of nicknames. I mean, if he wants to be Superman, he can be Superman. But I never tried to steal that title from him or take away anything that he's done for the game of basketball.

"I would like, instead of people fighting over a nickname, for us to be able to talk about what it's like to win a championship. Just little things that him being who he is can help me," Howard said on TNT. "But I never tried to do anything to be like him. I'm my own person. I just love to have fun, and I have a lot of respect for him and what he's brought to the game of basketball, and I would just ask that somebody like Shaquille O'Neal to help me become a better basketball player and a better person."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar20 ... id=4914961

[aoxo1]

Why, exactly, does Dwight think Shaq should be helping him become a better basketball player?

And I know how Dwight can become a better person: don't stalk a porn actress and then pull your pants down when finally get her alone in her boyfriend's bathroom, as she is telling you to leave.

[e0y2e3]

This whole thing wreaks of "Please Be Nice To Me Sir!!!!"

[jb]

Tonight just showed you how much better of a team we are overall. We have more depth and better players than any year that Lebron has been here. Yet, no one in the media seems to notice (or give Danny Ferry credit for it).

Until we win a title, the perception of the Cavaliers will always be LeBron and the 11 Dwarfs. The Bulls didn't get credit for having a great cast around MJ until they started winning titles either.

They still don't.

Scottie Pippin = Joe Johnson. All star , but HOFer ?



Rest were a bunch of role players.

[noles1]

Why, exactly, does Dwight think Shaq should be helping him become a better basketball player?

And I know how Dwight can become a better person: don't stalk a porn actress and then pull your pants down when finally get her alone in her boyfriend's bathroom, as she is telling you to leave.

+1 to this.

On top of the fact, that all Dwight does is act like Shaq. He tries to take the high road but the fact is that Dwight has consistently stolen his act from Shaq.

The 3 in the all star game and then the looking down at his hand. How about the logo on his shoes (Windy pointed this out). Better yet the over-laughing and silly persona he tries to portray throughout the All Star festivities.

He can't have it one way and say all those things and then go out and act EXACTLY like Shaq. That's not even touching the hypocricy of his no swearing and Christian values then to turn around and whine like hell on the court or chase Mary Carey's busted ass all over the place.

[Hi Oktane]

I understand Dewey is currently working on a movie about a genie, who lives in a magic boombox.