Celtics vs Magic

[wilt the stilt]

If the Celtics win and beat Cleveland I think they pose a more difficult challenge for the Magic than Cleveland.

Rajon Rondo vs. Jameer Nelson- I think Rondo is taller and faster- a deadly combination. If Rondo can get by Nelson Howard has too slide over and that leaves Perkins to go to the basket.

Garnett vs Lewis or Howard. Garnett is too strong inside for Lewis who actually plays like a small forward. If Howard covers Garnett then Garnett has a good enough outside shot to take Howard away from the goal.

Allen vs. Carter- great matchup. Carter has too respect Allen's shot and can't cheat. Carter has really stepped it up in the playoffs.

Barnes vs.Pierce- Pierce is really tough and a very good scorer. Barnes actually plays like a power forward. He's there for rebounds.

Perkins vs. Howard- Howard is a stud defensively but Perkins is strong enough to keep him 8 feet from the basket on offense

wildcard- Rasheed wallace- like Stackhouse on the downside of his career so you never know what you are going to get. Wallace can be great and he can also suck- that is age.

[taterguy]

1. Wallace and Stackhouse have been capable of sucking their entire careers

How the fuck do you explain UNC losing to Boston College in the 1994 NCAA Tourney?

I'm pretty sure they were both on that UNC team but I don't feel like looking it up to be sure.

[madinmaryland]

2. Why are you so fucking lazy, Francis! If you are going make assertions,

then back it up!

[taterguy]

3. I'm not lazy, I just didn't feel like it at the time.

Now I do.

Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse, both on UNC's 1994 team:

http://www.tarheeltimes.com/rosterbasketball-1993.aspx

Lost to Boston Fucking College:

http://www.marchmadnessmix.com/2009/03/north-carolina-ncaa-torunament-history.html

First time UNC didn't make the Sweet Sixteen since 1980.

[joeybee12]

4. I'm not even going to think about that...

...I still think the series is going 7 and the Celtics are far from a lock getting through to play Orlando.

[wilt the stilt]

5. Joeybee - what is your call for the series?

[joeybee12]

6. You know...I wasn't sure the Celtics would get by Miami!

Orlando looks really good, but the Celtics have played excellent the last three games...and there's the revenge factor from last season...tough pick.

[wilt the stilt]

13. Joeybee what do you think?

so far my analysis has been correct. Rondo is killing Nelson. Having played tons of basketball against good competition there is nothing worse than being smaller and slower.
Howard guarded Garnett a lot last night. Garnett was shooting from 18 ft. Howard has to respect that and thus was drawn from the basket so even though Howard had a very good offensive game, he only had 8 rebounds and no blocks. The Celtics had tons of layups. This is how people like Reed, Issel, Lucas and Lanier neutralized people like Chamberlain and Jabbar.

Lewis has been a no show. He plays like a small forward and he really can't drive. No double teams no scoring.

Celtics are playing the Magic the smart way- Man up.

Even though Howard had a really good offensive game, I have never liked the jump hook and that goes back to people like Kevin Willis and that is because it is a shot that doesn't have rhythm. what I mean by that is that you usually just shoot. If you look at people like Jabbar(sky hook) and Olajuwan(spin) these shots had great rhythm and shooting is a rhythm.

[joeybee12]

14. I am going to bow to your superior intelligence on this...

...was Lewis the one who missed the free throws at the end?

You're right about the lay-ups, saw the highlights and again and again, they scored that way inside. Their transition game is really good. And I gotta say, Howard is lucky they let him play for the whole game after that disgraceful foul.

What I really think is helping the Celtics know is that the older guys have realized this is probably their last chance...their motivation is there...even when they got behind late after leading by 8-9, they found a way to score again and never lost composure.

[wilt the stilt]

15. it was Carter

I used to listen to Bill Russell comment during the games in the seventies. He used to say two things. When a team is making a run and if they come back to early then they ran out of gas because it takes so much out of you to come back. In other words come back with only a minute lefta nd not 3 minutes left.
The other thing he always said that what looks like good shots are not really good shots because the tempo of the game is wrong for that team. Shooting is rhythm.

By the way, Pierce is a very good scorer and not necessarily a great shooter. two different things.

[joeybee12]

16. Russell is right about coming back too early...the Magic just fell

apart at the end...well, not really fell apart, but they were making dumb mistakes that they shouldn't have, like wasting 4 seconds in trying to get off the final shot and then taking that final shot off-balance.

As for scorers and shooter...an exmaple, the UCONN women...Maya Moore is the greatest shooter in the women's game, Tina Charles is a great scorer, all inside...both ended up scoring about equal in most games.

[wilt the stilt]

17. Maya Moore played High school basketball

10 miles from my house at a rival school. She dated Gani lawal who was at GT and just declared for the NBA draft. We used to watch her all the time. Her old high school coach is now at my son's high school(Norcross). The team she coaches now had Brian Jordan's(baseball player) daughter, Delino Deshield's(baseball player) on it and Dale davis's(Indiana pacers) daughter on the team talk about pedigrees. They did win state.

Norcross boys had Jodie Meeks(Kentucky, Alfariq Aminou(Wake) and Gani(GT). This is a high scholl that has players.

[joeybee12]

18. Yikes! Gotta be something in the water!

:D

[wilt the stilt]

19. Delino Deshiels was a great basketbal player

and was to be Villanova's starting point guard until he was dreafted number 12 in the baseball draft.

[Captain Hilts]

10. I agree. nt

[Captain Hilts]

7. James is great. But he has no Kareem, Pippen, McHale, Ed Norton or Ethel Mertz to help him. nt

[joeybee12]

8. Ethel May Potter, we never forgot her! n/t

[Captain Hilts]

9. Yep! In the Pantheon of sidekicks, she's royalty. nt

[joeybee12]

11. The world's best "second banana" n/t

[Captain Hilts]

12. Yep. nt

[wilt the stilt]

20. Decent analysis

pretty close to what happened. Kudos to Dwight Howard. He played well. Nelson had 2 good games and 4 bad ones. Lewis was a no show. Celtic defense handled him. All in all the single coverage of Howard was the winning strategy.

Moving on to the Suns-Lakers. Suns can beat and I think win game six and can win game 7. They now know they can win game 7 in LA.

[madinmaryland]

21. Vince Carter was a no-show, also.

[pscot]

22. Dwight Howard is a thug

If the refs called the flagrant fouls, he would have Teed out before the half.

[bluescribbler]

23. If Dwight Howard is Superman...

Perk, Sheed and Big Baby are Kryptonite.

[pscot]

24. And Rondo and Pierce.

Anyone who got near him ended up on the floor. Garnett was ready to fight him in the first quarter.