National media are all on Detroit's jock

[crownsy]

I keep hearing that Detroit is better than Cleveland but I don't think that is true. I think if Detroit had played Cleveland this year they would have lost. We match up very well with Detroit. It will be the best match ups for us in these playoffs so far.

come on now, i hate detroit, and thier loss to clevland last year was an epic choke job that i enjoyed every minute of, but there a much better team than the lebrons.

they have 4 guys who can score, clevland had 2 and a half counting Z. they play much better defense, they've won championships together.

I mean, i'm as big a homer as the next guy, but to say clevland is a better team than detroit? come on now.

[35Reggie]

Detroit isn't as tough as Cleveland. They're virtually the same team with Rip instead of Lebron and more offense from the PF position in Rasheed. I think KG owns Rasheed in this series and maybe even gets him to commit a few techs. The biggest challenge they will have is containing Billups if Cassell continues to play like crap.

I don't even know what to do with this post but laugh.  Objectivity is certainly not your strong suit.

Have you forgotten last year already? Lebron with a Cavs team that was not nearly as tough as this year's squad destroyed you. Perhaps it was my comment about KG inducing a few techs from Rasheed that causes you to laugh? Remember, KG got much tamer people than the ultimate headcase to lose their cool in the first two rounds. If he continues to employ the same tactics there is no doubt in my mind that Rasheed will be ejected at least once.

[crownsy]

Detroit isn't as tough as Cleveland. They're virtually the same team with Rip instead of Lebron and more offense from the PF position in Rasheed. I think KG owns Rasheed in this series and maybe even gets him to commit a few techs. The biggest challenge they will have is containing Billups if Cassell continues to play like crap.

I don't even know what to do with this post but laugh.  Objectivity is certainly not your strong suit.

Have you forgotten last year already? Lebron with a Cavs team that was not nearly as tough as this year's squad destroyed you. Perhaps it was my comment about KG inducing a few techs from Rasheed that causes you to laugh? Remember, KG got much tamer people than the ultimate headcase to lose their cool in the first two rounds. If he continues to employ the same tactics there is no doubt in my mind that Rasheed will be ejected at least once.

man, im a die hard celtics fan and i can't even take that seriesly. yes, they chocked last year by not showing up in 4 straight games, and i hope they chocke this year too, but just look at it a tad objectivly

Better defense than clevland, better bench, better players at EVERY position outside of lebron than clevland, a ring, better coach than clevland (though marginaly better at best)....

also how was this years clevland squad "way better than last years" they had diffrent people, but at the end of the day, that trade stunk for them. They traded a marginal offensive scoring threat in gooden for a non-factor in ben wallace. They traded hughes for wally, who actually shot worse in the playoffs. The only person they got who even helped a bit was west. That was a bad, bad trade. ben wallace is terrable now, and frail.

don't kid yourself, this will be a tough series. i think we win it in 6, but i wouldn't be shocked to see it go seven.

[fairweatherfan]

Detroit is favored because

1. They've done this before
2. We haven't, collectively or individually (a couple bench players aside)

That's all there is to it - everything else the media is citing is just circumstantial.  The fact that we've struggled in the playoffs and they haven't just strengthens the viewpoint that the Pistons are more likely to get it done, but we've gotta realize that all along, we weren't going to be favored against established teams, because, well, they're established teams. 

Luckily, the media doesn't get to score, defend, or blow the whistle, so this is all water under the bridge, whether they're right or wrong.

[indeedproceed]

Read the BDL Blog series preview.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/BDL-Playoff-Predictions-No-1-Celtics-vs-No-2?urn=nba,83451

Hate hate hate hate.

[crownsy]

Detroit is favored because

1. They've done this before
2. We haven't, collectively or individually (a couple bench players aside)

That's all there is to it - everything else the media is citing is just circumstantial.  The fact that we've struggled in the playoffs and they haven't just strengthens the viewpoint that the Pistons are more likely to get it done, but we've gotta realize that all along, we weren't going to be favored against established teams, because, well, they're established teams. 

Luckily, the media doesn't get to score, defend, or blow the whistle, so this is all water under the bridge, whether they're right or wrong.

TP for summing up what i was trying to say and my feeling about the media in one post. i couldn't do it in 5 

[Section 87]

The media might be one thing but the Vegas line is boston in this Series,

Hehe. The Vegas line.

The Vegas line is not a prediction of the result of the game; it's a prediction of how gamblers will bet. The oddmakers don't care who wins. It's their job to ensure that the casino makes the maximum possible profit on the gambling.

[Babyeater]

Detroit isn't as tough as Cleveland. They're virtually the same team with Rip instead of Lebron and more offense from the PF position in Rasheed. I think KG owns Rasheed in this series and maybe even gets him to commit a few techs. The biggest challenge they will have is containing Billups if Cassell continues to play like crap.

I don't even know what to do with this post but laugh.  Objectivity is certainly not your strong suit.

Have you forgotten last year already? Lebron with a Cavs team that was not nearly as tough as this year's squad destroyed you. Perhaps it was my comment about KG inducing a few techs from Rasheed that causes you to laugh? Remember, KG got much tamer people than the ultimate headcase to lose their cool in the first two rounds. If he continues to employ the same tactics there is no doubt in my mind that Rasheed will be ejected at least once.

I can only wish I could forget last year and what Lebron did to us.  He almost did it to you guys too the other night , and then we could relate and bond over our hatred for the Cavs.

1) The Cavs last year are not the Cavs this year.
2) If you've watched Sheed at all, you'll know that it's not the other team that gets Sheed riled up, its the refs.  KG talkin Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. to Sheed will only add fuel to the fire, but if the refs start messing around with this series, then yeah, I'd say its a pretty safe bet that Sheed picks up a T.  The thing is though, is that Sheed has 4 T's already and at 7 he's suspended.  I could see him picking one up tonight or in Game 2, then leaving it be to allow him for maximum meltdown in a game 7 or in his mind allow for some breathing room in the finals.

My laughing was aimed directly at your comparison of this year's Cavs team to this year's Pistons team.  The Pistons won 12 more games than Cleveland did, so if that's what we're going by then you could say there's a pretty close comparison between Boston and Orlando.  I don't think we need to get into that argument since we can all agree that Boston and Orlando are at two completely different levels.  Although it's not quite as ridiculous as claiming Detroit to be an easier playoff matchup than Cleveland.

[RebusRankin]

Detroit is a good team but gets too much credit. They've choked in the last two ECF and didn't play well against Philly. Orlando they did but lets all agree Cleveland is better than Orlando.

[crownsy]

Detroit is a good team but gets too much credit. They've choked in the last two ECF and didn't play well against Philly. Orlando they did but lets all agree Cleveland is better than Orlando.

debatable in my opinion, orlando has more than one good player. i think clevland, or rather lebron, is better, but not by much. and only because dwight howard doesn't have a mid range jumper. if he had that, they'd be much, much tougher to defend.

as it is, come playoff time they can't get anything done against good defensive teams like us and detroit because everyone knows howard isn't going to pop out on the role, it kills thier pick and roll game.

[Babyeater]

Detroit is a good team but gets too much credit. They've choked in the last two ECF and didn't play well against Philly. Orlando they did but lets all agree Cleveland is better than Orlando.

I don't think Detroit has really gotten all that much credit outside of getting props for getting to the ECF the past 6 years.  Even the players believe that their only chance to even be considered a dynasty would be to win a title this year, and realistically next year as well.

[35Reggie]

Detroit isn't as tough as Cleveland. They're virtually the same team with Rip instead of Lebron and more offense from the PF position in Rasheed. I think KG owns Rasheed in this series and maybe even gets him to commit a few techs. The biggest challenge they will have is containing Billups if Cassell continues to play like crap.

I don't even know what to do with this post but laugh.  Objectivity is certainly not your strong suit.

Have you forgotten last year already? Lebron with a Cavs team that was not nearly as tough as this year's squad destroyed you. Perhaps it was my comment about KG inducing a few techs from Rasheed that causes you to laugh? Remember, KG got much tamer people than the ultimate headcase to lose their cool in the first two rounds. If he continues to employ the same tactics there is no doubt in my mind that Rasheed will be ejected at least once.

I can only wish I could forget last year and what Lebron did to us.  He almost did it to you guys too the other night , and then we could relate and bond over our hatred for the Cavs.

1) The Cavs last year are not the Cavs this year.
2) If you've watched Sheed at all, you'll know that it's not the other team that gets Sheed riled up, its the refs.  KG talkin **** to Sheed will only add fuel to the fire, but if the refs start messing around with this series, then yeah, I'd say its a pretty safe bet that Sheed picks up a T.  The thing is though, is that Sheed has 4 T's already and at 7 he's suspended.  I could see him picking one up tonight or in Game 2, then leaving it be to allow him for maximum meltdown in a game 7 or in his mind allow for some breathing room in the finals.

My laughing was aimed directly at your comparison of this year's Cavs team to this year's Pistons team.  The Pistons won 12 more games than Cleveland did, so if that's what we're going by then you could say there's a pretty close comparison between Boston and Orlando.  I don't think we need to get into that argument since we can all agree that Boston and Orlando are at two completely different levels.  Although it's not quite as ridiculous as claiming Detroit to be an easier playoff matchup than Cleveland.

Trust me, the Celtics didn't have to lose to Cleveland for us to bond over how much we hate them.  After seeing the way the refs pander to Lebron they are a close second to LA in my book for most hated team.  You're obviously a passionate fan so I feel bad that your team will be finished playing in a matter of days   Let me provide an answer to your post point by point.
1) You're right, Cleveland is not the same team this year that they were last year -- they're better.  They have more shooters from the outside then they did last year and as human as Big Ben is on the offensive end, I'm sure you know better than most how effective he is on the boards and on the defensive end.  Drew Gooden was a better option offensively, but that's about it.  Throw a healthy Z into the equation, Anderson Verejao playing out of his mind, and Joe Smith providing decent offensive punch inside and strong rebounding off the bench and you have a much better team then they were at the beginning of this season.  It took them some time to gel, but once they became comfortable with each other they really took off.
2) Sheed is insane. I don't think he thought it out as well as you did, I just think something p---es him off and he goes crazy.
3) As I mentioned earlier, you can't judge Cleveland based on their number of wins this year as they needed to get comfortable with each other after the trade was made.  Orlando and Boston didn't make any major trades during the season and therefore they can be judged based on their records.  Like I said, you are a passionate fan and I don't think I'm going to convince you that my argument is right, but you don't have a chance of changing my mind either.