Discussion
I reckon both the conference finals are going to be hard fought, as they should be!
I want the Magic to come out of the east, I've followed them since the Shaq and Penny days so to see them get back to that standard is great.
Dwight Howard isn't the all round dominant player that LeBron is, but I still reckon the Magic have the edge in the series because they have more talent in more positions on the floor, plus a deeper bench. Orlando's also won nine of the last twelve against the Cavs, including stealing home court in game one. Orlando in six.
Kobe over 'Melo any time. 'Melo's awesome, no doubt about it, and the battle they had in game one was probably a good indication of how this series is going to play out, but I'd be surprised to see the Nuggets in the finals. Lakers in six.
If it was a Lakers/Magic finals I'd expect the Lakers to win it. They have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to help keep Dwight under wraps and I don't think Courtney Lee (as well as he defends for a rookie) can do the same against Kobe. So, though it pains me to say it, Lakers in seven.
I reserve the right to crawl into a hole and pretend I never wrote the above when the Cavs sweep the Nuggets in the finals!
I want the Magic to come out of the east, I've followed them since the Shaq and Penny days so to see them get back to that standard is great.
Dwight Howard isn't the all round dominant player that LeBron is, but I still reckon the Magic have the edge in the series because they have more talent in more positions on the floor, plus a deeper bench. Orlando's also won nine of the last twelve against the Cavs, including stealing home court in game one. Orlando in six.
Kobe over 'Melo any time. 'Melo's awesome, no doubt about it, and the battle they had in game one was probably a good indication of how this series is going to play out, but I'd be surprised to see the Nuggets in the finals. Lakers in six.
If it was a Lakers/Magic finals I'd expect the Lakers to win it. They have Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to help keep Dwight under wraps and I don't think Courtney Lee (as well as he defends for a rookie) can do the same against Kobe. So, though it pains me to say it, Lakers in seven.
I reserve the right to crawl into a hole and pretend I never wrote the above when the Cavs sweep the Nuggets in the finals!
I hope the Magic do come through against the Cavs, like lewis I remember watching them when it was Shaq, Penny, Horace Grant, Dennis Scott, Nick Anderson etc.
They have a good chance against the Cavs, they don't have anyone who can guard Howard as they showed in game 1. If they double him they are leaving open a perimeter player and Orlando can rain 3s on them.
Rashard Lewis needs to step up, he is on a $120million+ contract and isn't playing like it, (leaving aside the three that won game 1).
Orlando need to contain Lebron, stop him getting drives to the basket and force him to score with a jumpshot, do this and theres no way he is scoring 40+ every night. He's too streaky a shooter to do that. That's how the lakers closed him out during the regular season. As good a player as Lebron is, I just don't think he's a huge threat as a jump shooter.
The worry for Orlando has to be
1) Their shooting can go cold, and when it does they really, really, struggle. A sub 90 point game against the Cavs is a loss!
2) Dwight and his free throws. Tight games and it will be Hack-A-Dwight.
Have to admit though, Mo Williams shot from behind half-court shot was fantastic, made even sweeter that the Magic came back and beat them. Up 16, the Cavs fans must have thought it was in the bag.
They will be wondering how they lost the game, Lebron had 49 points and the Cavs seemingly had the refs on the payroll and yet they still LOST.
A point about the refs, they have been ugly in the playoffs. So many bad / non calls. They cost the Magic a close game against Boston with two bad goal-tending calls.
A lot of people would like to see a Lebron / Kobe final, but I watched the Lakers v Cavs games this season. Lebron didn't show up to any of them. Kobe completely out-classed him. That's been the story for a lot of the Cavs game against elite teams. Look at their regular season record against the Lakers and the Magic.
@ Orl 88-99 Loss
v Orl 97-93 Win
@ Orl 87-116 Loss - Magic handing them their biggets defeat of the season!
@ LAL 88-105 Loss
v LAL 91-101 Loss
When the Cavs struggle Lebron tries to do too much, dribbles too much and the Cavs end up throwing up a shot as the shot clock is running out. Why does he even handle the ball so much when they have Mo Williams. The refs also need to start calling his travels!!! He might as well not even bother dribbling sometimes
I just hope there are more games like game 1 (assuming magic win). Great game!
It's the Lakers championship to lose though, I think they will come through against the Nuggets in 6. Bryant, Gasol and Bynum should be too much for the Nuggets. Carmello is awesome though! He had a fantastic game 1!
NBA.com is reporting that if the Magic make the finals Jameer Nelson could be back! That would be a big boost if he is match fit! I never expected them to get this far without him even after they acquired Rafaer Alston.
One of the most impressive players for me this playoffs was Perkins for the Celtics, he made Dwight Howard look average. Howard had no answers for him and Big Baby Davis $$$$ value must have rocketed.
They have a good chance against the Cavs, they don't have anyone who can guard Howard as they showed in game 1. If they double him they are leaving open a perimeter player and Orlando can rain 3s on them.
Rashard Lewis needs to step up, he is on a $120million+ contract and isn't playing like it, (leaving aside the three that won game 1).
Orlando need to contain Lebron, stop him getting drives to the basket and force him to score with a jumpshot, do this and theres no way he is scoring 40+ every night. He's too streaky a shooter to do that. That's how the lakers closed him out during the regular season. As good a player as Lebron is, I just don't think he's a huge threat as a jump shooter.
The worry for Orlando has to be
1) Their shooting can go cold, and when it does they really, really, struggle. A sub 90 point game against the Cavs is a loss!
2) Dwight and his free throws. Tight games and it will be Hack-A-Dwight.
Have to admit though, Mo Williams shot from behind half-court shot was fantastic, made even sweeter that the Magic came back and beat them. Up 16, the Cavs fans must have thought it was in the bag.
They will be wondering how they lost the game, Lebron had 49 points and the Cavs seemingly had the refs on the payroll and yet they still LOST.A point about the refs, they have been ugly in the playoffs. So many bad / non calls. They cost the Magic a close game against Boston with two bad goal-tending calls.
A lot of people would like to see a Lebron / Kobe final, but I watched the Lakers v Cavs games this season. Lebron didn't show up to any of them. Kobe completely out-classed him. That's been the story for a lot of the Cavs game against elite teams. Look at their regular season record against the Lakers and the Magic.
@ Orl 88-99 Loss
v Orl 97-93 Win
@ Orl 87-116 Loss - Magic handing them their biggets defeat of the season!
@ LAL 88-105 Loss
v LAL 91-101 Loss
When the Cavs struggle Lebron tries to do too much, dribbles too much and the Cavs end up throwing up a shot as the shot clock is running out. Why does he even handle the ball so much when they have Mo Williams. The refs also need to start calling his travels!!! He might as well not even bother dribbling sometimes
I just hope there are more games like game 1 (assuming magic win). Great game!
It's the Lakers championship to lose though, I think they will come through against the Nuggets in 6. Bryant, Gasol and Bynum should be too much for the Nuggets. Carmello is awesome though! He had a fantastic game 1!
NBA.com is reporting that if the Magic make the finals Jameer Nelson could be back! That would be a big boost if he is match fit! I never expected them to get this far without him even after they acquired Rafaer Alston.
One of the most impressive players for me this playoffs was Perkins for the Celtics, he made Dwight Howard look average. Howard had no answers for him and Big Baby Davis $$$$ value must have rocketed.
Unbelievably lucky shot by Lebron at the end of game 2.
1.0 seconds to go, inbound catch and shoot a 3. Complete fluke.
Magic should win both games at home, hopefully there will be some better refs. Again, Cleveland were getting all the calls. Why no technical foul on Mo Williams in the first quarter for throwing the ball at Howard ????
1.0 seconds to go, inbound catch and shoot a 3. Complete fluke.
Magic should win both games at home, hopefully there will be some better refs. Again, Cleveland were getting all the calls. Why no technical foul on Mo Williams in the first quarter for throwing the ball at Howard ????
Edited by sstein on Saturday 23 May 18:54
sstein said:
Unbelievably lucky shot by Lebron at the end of game 2.
1.0 seconds to go, inbound catch and shoot a 3. Complete fluke.
Unbelievable wasn't it!? Especially seeing as SVG called the intended play (a lob pass to Lebron for a two) and he managed to read the D and get open for three. Thought Turk did a good job of being up in his face without any danger of a foul, just unlucky. Still, that's what MVPs are supposed to do, so kudos to him.1.0 seconds to go, inbound catch and shoot a 3. Complete fluke.
sstein said:
Magic should win both games at home, hopefully there will be some better refs. Again, Cleveland were getting all the calls. Why no technical foul on Mo Williams in the first quarter for throwing the ball at Howard ????
The refs were a bit infuriating at times in that one, they took your advice and finally called Lebron for a travel though! I also couldn't believe the no call on that tech. If that had been Alston throwing it at Varejao we'd likely have another game without our starting PG! I'm hoping the league will review it and add a T to Mo's tally for the playoffs.Varejao is such an actor though, he's on the floor every few minutes.
Lakers-Nuggets game three tonight, hope it's as good as the first two!
pedantlewis said:
Lakers-Nuggets game three tonight, hope it's as good as the first two!
Big win for LA away from home. That's two games now the nuggets have thrown away trying to inbound a ball!Some terrible shot selection from the Nuggets during the game as well, throwing up threes that they just weren't hitting.
Edited by sstein on Sunday 24th May 23:09
What the hell is with the referees!!
Are they just looking for reasons to calls technicals on Howard ? Thankfully the league has rescinded it, but that was a terrible call.
The Lebron falling over his own feet, that was never a foul. Then they don't call a foul on Varajeo at the end!
Unbelievable. No wonder there is talk about the league wanting a Kobe - Lebrick final.
3 - 1 though, amazing that the magic can beat Cleveland even when they have the referees on their side!!!!
Are they just looking for reasons to calls technicals on Howard ? Thankfully the league has rescinded it, but that was a terrible call.
The Lebron falling over his own feet, that was never a foul. Then they don't call a foul on Varajeo at the end!
Unbelievable. No wonder there is talk about the league wanting a Kobe - Lebrick final.
3 - 1 though, amazing that the magic can beat Cleveland even when they have the referees on their side!!!!
sstein said:
What the hell is with the referees!!
I know, did you see the banner in the Amway crowd which read: "Magic sixth man = the fans, Cavs sixth man = the refs"? It's all a bit conspiratorial, but there's been no secret made of the league (and Nike's) desire for a 23 vs 24 finals. TBH though, the refs have been atrocious on both ends, the Magic are just unfortunate not to have the 'Lebron factor' on their side.sstein said:
Are they just looking for reasons to calls technicals on Howard ?
Yes. Ridiculous call, plainly just an emotional response to getting the bucket and the foul in a tight game where they needed everything they could get! Rescinded though, a rare moment of clarity from Stu Jackson.
sstein said:
The Lebron falling over his own feet, that was never a foul. Then they don't call a foul on Varajeo at the end!
I didn't think either deserved a call, but if they're calling Lebron's fall a foul they should at least be consistent. At least they called it a jump ball not a foul on Howard a few seconds earlier.sstein said:
3 - 1 though, amazing that the magic can beat Cleveland even when they have the referees on their side!!!!
Yep, the Cavs just don't seem to have the matchups to beat the Magic. Hedo being guarded by Delonte West is the big one I think, he's just throwing passes over the top of the double teams on the pick and roll! At one point it was West and Ben Wallace collapsing on Turk and leaving Dwight open under the hoop, Hedo was able to make the pass because he's taller than both those Cleveland players.Really hope the Magic can close it out in Cleveland tonight, the Cavs are bound to come out gunning with their backs to the wall like this.
Out of interest, how do you watch the games?
I get the games online via torrents. I use a site which has the games uploaded pretty quickly. So the Lakers game that was played last night / this morning, I will be able to download and watch when I go home tonight.
The files are pretty large but they are good quality and I have a decent connection. I can get a match downloaded in a couple of hours.
I can then either watch it on the my monitor or stream it to the PS3 and watch it on the TV.
Have you tried NBA League Pass? It seems reasonably priced, but I have no idea what the quality is like. I can watch the matches I download full screen on my large widescreen monitor and the picture quality is perfect. Some are ripped from HD sources.
I haven't found anyway to watch the games live (for free).
The files are pretty large but they are good quality and I have a decent connection. I can get a match downloaded in a couple of hours.
I can then either watch it on the my monitor or stream it to the PS3 and watch it on the TV.
Have you tried NBA League Pass? It seems reasonably priced, but I have no idea what the quality is like. I can watch the matches I download full screen on my large widescreen monitor and the picture quality is perfect. Some are ripped from HD sources.
I haven't found anyway to watch the games live (for free).
Same as me then! Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a trick. I'm also downloading game four of the WCF while i'm at work today.
Haven't tried league pass since they opened it up to UK subscribers, the quality of the short clips on NBA.com has improved noticeably over the last 12 months, but streaming a live game I would have thought would be a bit ropey. I may try it next season.
Apparently TNT have a live stream of one game every Thursday, but i've not watched it as yet.
Haven't tried league pass since they opened it up to UK subscribers, the quality of the short clips on NBA.com has improved noticeably over the last 12 months, but streaming a live game I would have thought would be a bit ropey. I may try it next season.
Apparently TNT have a live stream of one game every Thursday, but i've not watched it as yet.
YES!!!
Magic v Lakers finals.
The question now is will Lebron leave Cleveland. His supporting cast never really showed up for the Magic series and Lebron is going to be worth a stack for money. His current contract is ~ $15 million a year. You have to add $8-10m on that for a contract renewal to take him beside the leagues top earners. So who can Cleveland ditch to pay him that without making the team even weaker ?
I can't see Lebron being at Cleveland past next season and that WILL hurt them, big time. Where's he going to go though ?
Lebron after the game never spoke to any media at all..not MVP like behaviour at all
Magic v Lakers finals.
The question now is will Lebron leave Cleveland. His supporting cast never really showed up for the Magic series and Lebron is going to be worth a stack for money. His current contract is ~ $15 million a year. You have to add $8-10m on that for a contract renewal to take him beside the leagues top earners. So who can Cleveland ditch to pay him that without making the team even weaker ?
I can't see Lebron being at Cleveland past next season and that WILL hurt them, big time. Where's he going to go though ?
Lebron after the game never spoke to any media at all..not MVP like behaviour at all
cbs_blog said:
ORLANDO -- LeBron James, who has crafted an image as a good guy, wasn't such a stand up person -- or a good guy -- after Cleveland was beaten by Orlando.
James blew off the media, bolted out of the locker room, and headed directly for the team bus without speaking to the media.
After the game, I didn't see him congratulate many Magic players. I may have missed it but other reporters said they saw the same thing which was witness James behave like a spoiled baby.
It's understandable he's frustrated. But this isn't how leaders should act. James' teammates faced the media. Why shouldn't James? Is he too good to do so?
It was extremely immature and jerkish behavior.
That's how'd you expect some low level punk to behave, James.
There was an amazing stat shown during the game 6 Q1 after Petrius hit another corner 3, after that shot he had outscored the Cavaliers bench 72-61 himself.James blew off the media, bolted out of the locker room, and headed directly for the team bus without speaking to the media.
After the game, I didn't see him congratulate many Magic players. I may have missed it but other reporters said they saw the same thing which was witness James behave like a spoiled baby.
It's understandable he's frustrated. But this isn't how leaders should act. James' teammates faced the media. Why shouldn't James? Is he too good to do so?
It was extremely immature and jerkish behavior.
That's how'd you expect some low level punk to behave, James.
Edited by sstein on Sunday 31st May 18:09
Lakers play crap and still win game 2. Orlando had 20 turnovers, 7 of them by Howard. He isn't playing anywhere near an acceptable level. Every time he catches the ball he fumbles it or has it knocked away. Even when he does shoot he is 6 - 16 from the field in the finals so far. Hardly the dominant offensive player he claims to be.
Looks like it's going to be 8 finals game, 8 losses for the Magic.
SVG need to start Petrius over Lee because Lee can't guard Kobe, Kobe just faces up and shoots over him.
Looks like it's going to be 8 finals game, 8 losses for the Magic.
SVG need to start Petrius over Lee because Lee can't guard Kobe, Kobe just faces up and shoots over him.
Orlando have signed Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from New Jersey, sent Rafaer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie to NJ.
I'm not sure this is a good trade. It probably means they woln't be able to resign Hedo without being WAY over the luxury tax.
The Cavs have signed Shaq from Phoenix, sending Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavolovic to Phoenix. A healthy Shaq and Lebron could be a force.
I'm not sure this is a good trade. It probably means they woln't be able to resign Hedo without being WAY over the luxury tax.
The Cavs have signed Shaq from Phoenix, sending Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavolovic to Phoenix. A healthy Shaq and Lebron could be a force.
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