Charles Barkley prediction

[slamtheking]

  This is about where I thought the C's would be when they made the trade for Allen before KG.  Big baby is giving us about what Jefferson would have.

I disagree.  BBD isn't anywhere near Al when it comes to offensive skills and rebounding.  No knock on BBD but put Al in the post on this team with 2 of PP, Ray and House on the outside and the C’s dominate on offense.  Go small with Al at the 5 and put those 2 shooters on the floor with Rondo or Marbury distributing and there’s no way any other team defends that.

Al would also provide solid rebounding – double-digit games similar to KG. 

If Al had the opportunity to learn defense under Tom T., I don’t think it’s a stretch to believe he would have improved defensively to at least be as good as BBD, quite possibly better since he has the height to play center and was a decent shot blocker when he left.

A C’s team after acquiring Ray and keeping Al (and Gomes would have been a bonus to keep, no, I’m not going to speculate on Gerald and Telfair) would have been a very potent team to contend with---definitely capable of winning the ECF if not a title.  The X factor would be whether the C’s get Tom T to come in and get the team to buy into the defensive mentality it adopted with Tom and KG’s arrivals.
 

[CoachBo]

Offensively, I agree.

Davis is a better defender than Al right now, who remains very disappointing on the D end. Al's got the talent to defend, but I don't see the effort and I'm not sure he's in an environment where he'll ever grow into anything more than a very ambivalent defender.

As for Nick's post, I totally agree. Orlando has more bullets in its gun than we do, but they're not smart enough to know when and how to use them.

[Slugger]

A) - Barkley isnt wrong - we havent won the series......yet

and

B) - As GUAVA mentioned, it isnt unreasonable for him to pick them.  The series was, and still kinda is, a coin flip.  Why is Barkley copping so much flack for choosing the Magic?.

Heck, how many of us had thought that the C's were absolute certainties to be the Magic.

[CelticsWhat35]

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.

Thank you!!  It's amazing to me to see how many people on this board actually thought the Magic were the better team going into this series.  As if they hadn't watched the Celtics play all year, or didn't know what kind of a team the Magic are.

There's no problem with Barkley picking the Magic to win the series.  Many other respected analysts did the same, and they still have a chance to win the series.  The problem with Barkley is that he always has to make these ridiculous statements of "fact", like saying the Celtics had "zero" chance to win the series.  Seriously??  The Magic aren't good enough to have a 100% chance of beating most any team in a 7-game series.  These aren't the '86 Celtics or the Jordan Bulls we're talking about.  It's a good, yet inconsistent team that hasn't done anything in the playoffs in the past.

[BballTim]

I don't see what's the problem.  I would have made the same prediction myself.  That is why this has been so enjoyable. The dying swan song of a champ.  These guys got so much heart.  This is about where I thought the C's would be when they made the trade for Allen before KG.  Big baby is giving us about what Jefferson would have.

  23 points, 11 boards and the best low post player left in the playoffs equals 17 points and 6 boards? Baby's hit some big shots, but he's giving us closer to what we'd be getting from Gomes if we hadn't traded him but with somewhat better defense. It would be more like adding Big Al to our current roster, and adding Al to this roster makes Cleveland a lot less scary.

[Greenbean]

Okay I have gone through this whole thread and Nickagenta kind of touched on how I usually process Barkley's comments in his post. First of all, Barkley is going to present all of his opinions in a bold fashion. That is just how he is and it is the reason why he provides some of the more entertaining "analysis" around. On the other hand, what made him so popular is that he would sprinkle in some basketball knowledge among his crazy comments.

While he has done this less and less recently, on this occasion I view this as vintage Barkley. He begins with the outlandish comment laced with hyperbole. "The Celtics have ZERO chance of beating the Magic"

Now that he has your attention, he goes on to break down the fact that the Celtics SHOULD have no answer for Dwight Howard as long as they run the floor and dont walk it up and stand around the 3pt line watching Dwight get "out physicaled" by Perk. This point he makes is absolutely true. I DO NOT buy the assertion that the Magic have more talent. I would say however, that without KG it is fairly even. However, Dwight Howard should be a nightmare match-up for anyone and if utilized correctly, could have put Orlando over the edge. However, SVG thinks he is Shaq which is so far from who Dwight is. He is one of the most athletic bigs I have ever seen. He should be beating Perk down the floor every possession looking to establish early post position. Instead he gets the ball with about 8 seconds on the shot clock with Perks monster frame pushing him all over the place. This is exactly what Sir Charles said they should not do and he was right. The Celts are arguably the most physical team in the league. Fast athletic teams give them trouble and the Magic happen to have the fastest most athletic Center in the universe. I mean seriously, could you imagine Dwight in the Suns offense the past 5 years instead of Amare? Ouch!

So while it is fun to point out how wrong Barkley probably will be, you really cant get all worked up about it. Everything he says is delivered in the same manner and its pretty entertaining if you ask me. I'm sure they will show this clip to Barkley and rag on him after the series (hopefully), but when they do, he will be able to say that he was still right about half of it. What we should be taking out of this is that SVG is inferior to Doc and the rest of the Celts coaching staff and most people in basketball can see that he does not know how to get the most out of his roster.

[dmopower]

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 have to agree here, DH has no touch on the ball, and just seems to throw it at the rim hoping something good happens.
Baby has been great for us, but he is providing us with no where near what we would have now with a healthy A Jefferson.
He has been terrific though and I hope he leans out a bit and plays to his potential.
Charles is more entertainment than a functional analyst.

[makaveli]

I still remember Charles sain' that Mavs will wipeout Warriors few years back and we all know how that wraped up. From that point i don't really pay any atention to his opinions regarding playoffs.

[Greenbean]

I still remember Charles sain' that Mavs will wipeout Warriors few years back and we all know how that wraped up. From that point i don't really pay any atention to his opinions regarding playoffs.

THAT is what made you stop paying attention to Barkley?!?!? Who didnt pick the Mavs in that series? They won 67 games. That was probably his least outlandish prediction.

[moiso]

Offensively, I agree.

Davis is a better defender than Al right now, who remains very disappointing on the D end. Al's got the talent to defend, but I don't see the effort and I'm not sure he's in an environment where he'll ever grow into anything more than a very ambivalent defender.

As for Nick's post, I totally agree. Orlando has more bullets in its gun than we do, but they're not smart enough to know when and how to use them.

I don't think Orlando has more bullets in its gun.  Rafer Alston and JJ Redick as starters?  Come on.  The C's may not have the depth, but they have more talent.

[makaveli]

I still remember Charles sain' that Mavs will wipeout Warriors few years back and we all know how that wraped up. From that point i don't really pay any atention to his opinions regarding playoffs.

THAT is what made you stop paying attention to Barkley?!?!? Who didnt pick the Mavs in that series? They won 67 games. That was probably his least outlandish prediction.

Yeah but they was like 1-3 against the Warriors and he said they would sweep them