Charles Barkley prediction

[Fafnir]

Barkley is who he is.  A loud, vocal, "tell it as it is" commentator.  Much like a modern day Howard Cossell.  Granted he played the game but I see him more as entertainment value than being a true "analyst" in the sense.  When he wants to be, he can talk the game with the best of them but, too often, I think he just throws things out there for shock value.  

I wouldn't get worked up too much about anything he says.  

TP for that, stated my opinion perfectly. I enjoy Charles for the most part, but you can't take him for as seriously as you would say a Hollinger/Legler/Sheridan/Bob Ryan/etc.

That is not his role, or his approach to being a commentator.

[guava_wrench]

I always liked barkley as a player but sometimes as an analyst i want to slap him. He is one of the most biased analysts i have ever witnessed. This guy is a good friend with howard and bigs him up all the time. He doesn't even talk about the other players in the magic team and thinks they would play around howard only.

We will make him eat his words by the end of this series

I don't think Barkley is biased for a particular team. He is mostly just opinionated.

Without KG and Powe, Orlando should be favored. We are fortunate that we have homecourt advantage and that they don't seem to have the mental toughness needed in the playoffs.

[hpantazo]

I always liked barkley as a player but sometimes as an analyst i want to slap him. He is one of the most biased analysts i have ever witnessed. This guy is a good friend with howard and bigs him up all the time. He doesn't even talk about the other players in the magic team and thinks they would play around howard only.

We will make him eat his words by the end of this series

I don't think Barkley is biased for a particular team. He is mostly just opinionated.

Without KG and Powe, Orlando should be favored. We are fortunate that we have homecourt advantage and that they don't seem to have the mental toughness needed in the playoffs.

I think the fact that Howard has no offensive skills but thinks he does is a factor as well.

[guava_wrench]

I always liked barkley as a player but sometimes as an analyst i want to slap him. He is one of the most biased analysts i have ever witnessed. This guy is a good friend with howard and bigs him up all the time. He doesn't even talk about the other players in the magic team and thinks they would play around howard only.

We will make him eat his words by the end of this series

I don't think Barkley is biased for a particular team. He is mostly just opinionated.

Without KG and Powe, Orlando should be favored. We are fortunate that we have homecourt advantage and that they don't seem to have the mental toughness needed in the playoffs.

I think the fact that Howard has no offensive skills but thinks he does is a factor as well.

I find it ironic that SVG complained that the team stopped pushing the ball, yet Howard seems to blame the coach for the team not pushing the ball.

[connerhenry43]

i love when people say "charles barkley tells it like it is." that is not true. charles barkley tells it like he sees it, and that is fine, but he is wrong, like all of us, some of the time. at least he is not afraid to take a stand or criticize someone, but he does not tell it like is.

[paintitgreen]

Good distinguishment, conner. You'll make a fine little helper.

I can't believe we're having this debate when he hasn't completely been proven wrong yet. We still have to win another game before his prediction is entirely incorrect. I will give this credit to Barkley. When Kenny accurately pointed out Perk's ability to defend Howard, Barkley said "if Orlando walks it up the court against Boston, that's just stupid." That's exactly what has been happening, Orlando is walking it up the court when they should be pushing it more to prevent Boston from setting up the defense. If they did that, Howard has a better chance of getting a mismatch by beating Perk down the floor, and they're more likely to get open shooters because Boston's defense will be scrambling. They're not doing it consistently, which is crazy.

I mean, Orlando should be winning this series on talent. Rashard Lewis can absolutely score at will on this team because we have nobody who can guard him (except possibly Pierce, who's busy on Hedo), but he's not doing it. They don't take advantage of their mismatches and advantages, while we do. We are outhustling them, we seem to want it a lot more, and something I didn't think I would say - Doc is coaching the pants off of Stan Van Gundy. Have to hand it to him.

[footey]

but to be fair, he' changed his stance over the course of the series, saying that orlando is more talented with KG and leon down (true) but that they can't even come close to matching the celtics heart and determination.

people are allowed to be wrong on their initial impressions. I though GG would be a productive NBA player at one point  .

Very weak defense of Barkley.  He loves to make these bold predictions, as if it is gospel. More often than not he is wrong. He was a great player but is a mediocre commentator, and a poor prognosicator. He predicted we would lose every series last year other than the ATL. Guys like him have used up their excuses, don't create more for them.

Why does he need defending? because he didn't pick us?

should he be sorry or need defending because he looked at a depleted celtics team with exactly two viable big men due to injuries and picked the squad that on paper should win?
He made a prediction, it looks like it's going to be wrong, but he's been harping on the magic the whole series, and praising boston for guttign out wins.

sorry if you don't like him or something, but he doesn't need "defending" who gives a rats behind if he picked the wrong team to win a seven game series?

 He's a NBA analyist, not a comcast annoucner, he doesn't need to display homer tendincies to keep his job, he can pick, and be wrong about, whoever he wants. All i was pointing out is that he's taken the magic to task for not playing to thier level, and this preception that he's somehow ignoring us or dismissing us is asinine.

Then why do you keep defending him?

[kheeko]

crownsy are you a celtics fan? if so shhut it

what kind of dummb comment was that

How could anybody call another person's comment 'dumb' when writing a 'shut-up' post?

hey hey hey lol

barkley will eat his words after the series agree

[TitleMaster]

later on to the rockets to play with olajuwon and drexler, they couldn't get it done. It hurt him to see Ray Allen, KG, and Pierce get it done last year, he can't get over it, it's understandable.

Actually, the trade which brought in Barkley had kicked, not only Kenny Smith but also Cassell and Horry, off the Rocket's roster. That essentially ended Houston's chance for a threepeat in what was Olajuwon's final healthy year ('96 season) as an all star. He was half the player, the following season, with leg problems. The Rockets, like Orlando, was a squad of outside shooters complementing the big man in the middle but in this case, along with the slasher, Glyde. And unlike Howard, Perks could never contain Olajuwon.

Unfortunately, cutting out the drives and making the Rockets a jump shooting team, in essence, destroyed 'em in the playoffs since Drexler didn't have his outside shot by that time. Before, it executed perfectly as any Olajuwon possession would draw two or three defenders to pass out to Kenny, Robert, or Sam for a wide open jumper. Barkley was a bad luck charm.

[angryguy77]

This is driving me nuts. Why is everyone so hell bent on the Magic being the better team? Thet are not better than us and it's showing. Sure they might have a little more talent, but there is a difference between talent/speed and having skill. The lakers were more talented on paper last year, but we proved w/o a doubt who had the best team. We crushed them because we had more skill and played better as a team. Its the same here, the magic have some guys that can bury 3's and a big man, but they dont have the skill or the over all game to take us down. We had more rounded players. The only reason this series is this close is they are not playing with the energy we are used to seeing. We may get rolled by the cavs if we close this thing out, but I would go as far as saying that it's not because they are that much better, but because we just dont have the energy needed.

[Thruthelookingglass]

Barkley is who he is.  A loud, vocal, "tell it as it is" commentator.  Much like a modern day Howard Cossell.  Granted he played the game but I see him more as entertainment value than being a true "analyst" in the sense.  When he wants to be, he can talk the game with the best of them but, too often, I think he just throws things out there for shock value.  

I wouldn't get worked up too much about anything he says.  

True.  Barkley's an entertainer.  He knows how to work people up and sometimes he'll say something just to get a rise out of people.  Oftentimes he's just presenting his opinion, period.  He's smart, but yeah, he can be wrong too.  At least he'll admit it and move on.

We should all like him a little -- back when he was retiring, he said something about how he liked Celtics fans because they knew basketball.

[crownsy]

but to be fair, he' changed his stance over the course of the series, saying that orlando is more talented with KG and leon down (true) but that they can't even come close to matching the celtics heart and determination.

people are allowed to be wrong on their initial impressions. I though GG would be a productive NBA player at one point  .

Very weak defense of Barkley.  He loves to make these bold predictions, as if it is gospel. More often than not he is wrong. He was a great player but is a mediocre commentator, and a poor prognosicator. He predicted we would lose every series last year other than the ATL. Guys like him have used up their excuses, don't create more for them.

Why does he need defending? because he didn't pick us?

should he be sorry or need defending because he looked at a depleted celtics team with exactly two viable big men due to injuries and picked the squad that on paper should win?
He made a prediction, it looks like it's going to be wrong, but he's been harping on the magic the whole series, and praising boston for guttign out wins.

sorry if you don't like him or something, but he doesn't need "defending" who gives a rats behind if he picked the wrong team to win a seven game series?

 He's a NBA analyist, not a comcast annoucner, he doesn't need to display homer tendincies to keep his job, he can pick, and be wrong about, whoever he wants. All i was pointing out is that he's taken the magic to task for not playing to thier level, and this preception that he's somehow ignoring us or dismissing us is asinine.

Then why do you keep defending him?

So if i say anything other than barkley's a jackass celtic hater like the other people in this thread, I must be defending him and have a huge man crush on him, seems reasonable  .

Gotcha, I'll go back to baaaa'ing with the other sheep, hang on:



charles totally hates us, how dare he have an opinion that doesn't conform to ours!!!! what a moron LOL!@!@!@!@.

is that acceptable for you footey? didn't mean to have a non-homer opinion of a national entertainer on a halftime show, i broke the 4th wall their for a second.

[nickagneta]

Having read the entire thread what I think is most important is why Barkley came to the decision he did.

Charles said the Magic have more individual talent now that the Celtics do without KG and Leon. Personally, I think he is right. Charles also, is his mind, thought that the best way to beat the Celtics was to use the superior individual talent in a certain manner, exploiting their size, game pace, and match ups. His assumption was that Stan Van Gundy and the Magic players also were plainly aware of how to accomplish beating the Celtics and would do it.

Now comes the part where Charles has erred, as of right now that is. Van Gundy and the Magic players obviously haven't figured out a way to properly utilize their advantages or just aren't constructed well enough as a functioning unit to utilize those advantages.

You see, that's the wonderful thing about team sports. What's important is the whole and sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Orlando has better individual talent but the Celtics are a better team. Hence, when it comes to being able to overcome and exploit, the Celtics are better at it as a whole than the Magic are, even if the individuals are better on a one by one comparison basis.

So, in essence, it comes down to being able to measure the intangibles and seeing if the intangibles will be enough to overcome the talent issue. So far, it has been and Charles has been wrong.

In his defense, he did state that the talent needed to used in a certain manner and when the Magic have played in that manner they have pretty much beaten the Celtics handily. But the C's are forcing their will upon the Magic and forcing them out of what they should be doing.

And it's that reason Charles will be wrong and the Celtics will win. Will. Heart. Determination. Chemistry. Cohesion. Tenacity. Intelligence. Guidance. Experience. Perseverance. And the fear and abhorrence of losing. These are things that weren't considered that have carried the Celtics since they were brought together in Rome and must always be part of any prognosticators equations.

[Edgar]

Having read the entire thread what I think is most important is why Barkley came to the decision he did.

Charles said the Magic have more individual talent now that the Celtics do without KG and Leon. Personally, I think he is right. Charles also, is his mind, thought that the best way to beat the Celtics was to use the superior individual talent in a certain manner, exploiting their size, game pace, and match ups. His assumption was that Stan Van Gundy and the Magic players also were plainly aware of how to accomplish beating the Celtics and would do it.

Now comes the part where Charles has erred, as of right now that is. Van Gundy and the Magic players obviously haven't figured out a way to properly utilize their advantages or just aren't constructed well enough as a functioning unit to utilize those advantages.

You see, that's the wonderful thing about team sports. What's important is the whole and sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Orlando has better individual talent but the Celtics are a better team. Hence, when it comes to being able to overcome and exploit, the Celtics are better at it as a whole than the Magic are, even if the individuals are better on a one by one comparison basis.

So, in essence, it comes down to being able to measure the intangibles and seeing if the intangibles will be enough to overcome the talent issue. So far, it has been and Charles has been wrong.

In his defense, he did state that the talent needed to used in a certain manner and when the Magic have played in that manner they have pretty much beaten the Celtics handily. But the C's are forcing their will upon the Magic and forcing them out of what they should be doing.

And it's that reason Charles will be wrong and the Celtics will win. Will. Heart. Determination. Chemistry. Cohesion. Tenacity. Intelligence. Guidance. Experience. Perseverance. And the fear and abhorrence of losing. These are things that weren't considered that have carried the Celtics since they were brought together in Rome and must always be part of any prognosticators equations.

i nomiate this as post of the year t u nick

[vl819]

Terrific post from nickagneta. I second that TP.