Official Crow Eating Thread

[EJPLAYA]

I wasn't able to get logged on last night or else I would have done this immediately, however better late than never.

Mid year, after a sound beating by the CAVS,  I posted a thread calling them the 2009 NBA champions then and there. At that point they looked unbeatable and it looked pretty clear that they were going to steam roll the rest of the NBA on to Lebron's first championship. Up until the Magic series I felt pretty confident in that assessment. Well... So much for that.

With a little salt and pepper I am stuffing a fork full of crow into my mouth. All of you who told me I was crazy and anything could happen were right. I was wrong. I guess I will be rooting for the Magic to knock off our arch nemesis. Go Magic.

[celticmaestro]

Nice thread, I remember we had a conversation or two regarding your original post. Well, TP for admitting you were wrong and rooting against our enemies.

[Roy Hobbs]

I thought the Cavs were the best team in the NBA.  I didn't think they were unbeatable, maybe, but I thought they had to be the clear favorites for the title (after KG went down).

I think Cleveland would have beat just about every other team other than Cleveland.  Orlando simply has Cleveland's number, beating them 6-3 in the season / playoff series.

[wdleehi]

Just goes to show, in the NBA, the best regular season team usually doesn't win it all in the playoffs.  (at least in the more recent past with a few exceptions)

[Rondo_is_better]

A very honorable thing to do EJ. TP.

[nickagneta]

Don't feel too bad EJ, there's probably 100's of "experts" at TNT, ESPN, CBS Sports, ABC, NBC, the NBA front offices and at marketing companies, vitamin companies and such across the nation who are eating a lot more crow than you are, my friend.

But Cleveland's demise from regular season steamroller to never was is more common in the NBA and sports than most realize and as wd stated, recently in the NBA, what the Celtics did last year is more the exception and not the rule.

[Chris]

I really thought the Cavs weren't as good as they looked for most of the season.  I felt like come playoffs, they would not be much different than they were last year against the C's, mainly because I though Mo Williams would be as much of a liability as an asset in the playoffs.  Unfortunately, I finally bought in as they were tearing teams apart down the stretch, and they seemed to make the leap in the first two rounds of the playoffs.  I was duped.

But really, where I was wrong was with the Magic.  I thought they were a flawed team, even with Nelson, and without him, they didn't stand a chance.  To me, they lived and died by the 3, and did not have a killer instinct.  I also thought Howard was overrated.

With Howard, I think I was biased by watching Perk, and even Davis, constantly force him into terrible shots.  I didn't realize that he is dominant against most other teams in the league, and does force double teams.  

And as for the killer instinct...I think they were missing it, but then they found it.  After game 5 against the C's, you saw something click with them.  Suddenly, they weren't choking down the stretch anymore, and they were hitting dagger 3 after dagger 3.  

I really underestimated this Magic team.

[CoachBo]

The lesson here is about depth and versatility to control a variety of matchups.

Orlando's a bad matchup for Cleveland at the 5 - good Lord, Z is finished - the 4 and the bench.

[BrickJames]

It's all about matchups.

Cleveland owns us because Pierce cannot guard LeBron and Perkins will foul out.  Cleveland is big enough to give KG a hard time on the high post.

Orlando owns Cleveland because Dwight Howard is the only player in the east that LeBron cannot physically run over, plus he actually won't get called for a foul 100% of the time like Perk.  Also their shooting stretches Cleveland's "good" defense to the point of no return.


It's all about matchups.


That said I would be surprised if LA doesn't sweep Orlando.

[wdleehi]

It's all about matchups.

Cleveland owns us because Pierce cannot guard LeBron and Perkins will foul out.  Cleveland is big enough to give KG a hard time on the high post.

Orlando owns Cleveland because Dwight Howard is the only player in the east that LeBron cannot physically run over, plus he actually won't get called for a foul 100% of the time like Perk.  Also their shooting stretches Cleveland's "good" defense to the point of no return.


It's all about matchups.


That said I would be surprised if LA doesn't sweep Orlando.

Why? 


They have the defenders to shut down Gasol and Odom.  They have shown that one man, no matter how good, isn't going to beat them in the playoffs. 

[nickagneta]

Roy andCoach are right, it was the matchups that killed this Cavs team this year and really always will until they can get some other superstar type skills at other positions. I'm not saying superstars but superstar type skills. They need a scorer that is pure NBA scorer, not one exists on that team. They need a big man with superstar defensive and/or rebounding skills underneath. They need a PG that can run an offense.

They have none of that. Say what you want about the two teams left playing but they have superstar skills in lots of areas. For the Lakers it's Kobe and Gasol's underneath game and when healthy Bynum's rebounding, Ariza's sixth man capabilities, Odom variety on offense, Fischer's ability to run an offense. For the Magic it's Howard and Lewis's outside shooting and Turoglu's varied offense and Pietrus's defense and ability to spread the floor and Nelson's leadership and Gortat's  big man skills off the bench.

The varied amount of high quality skills on those teams as well as the Celtics are what makes Boston, LA and Orlando different and better than Cleveland because Cleveland has Lebron and really nothing else that is dominant in any one of their other players' skills.

[Reddo]

It's all about matchups.

Cleveland owns us because Pierce cannot guard LeBron and Perkins will foul out.  Cleveland is big enough to give KG a hard time on the high post.

Orlando owns Cleveland because Dwight Howard is the only player in the east that LeBron cannot physically run over, plus he actually won't get called for a foul 100% of the time like Perk.  Also their shooting stretches Cleveland's "good" defense to the point of no return.


It's all about matchups.


That said I would be surprised if LA doesn't sweep Orlando.

Why? 


They have the defenders to shut down Gasol and Odom.  They have shown that one man, no matter how good, isn't going to beat them in the playoffs. 

It all hinges on how Bynum can handle Dwight.  If Bynum can go one and one and not get too many fouls then LA wins.  If not, and LA plays Dwight like the Cavs did, then Orlando should win.

That "should" is because it all depends on the three dropping for Orlando.

We'll see, its going to be an interesting series.  Go Magic! (I am a Celtics fan)

[housecall]

I found the bench to be second to Howard being the key to Orlando's success...it takes a few good role players to blend into a decent team to win it all.Pietrus was the xfactor in the orlando vs cavs series.I never felt the cavs were that good as a team all season. A.Varejao would be a role player on a lot of teams.I question Mo Williams defensive abilities.The only other starter besides James who impressed me all season was D.West's growth.

[johnnyrondo]

It's all about matchups.

Cleveland owns us because Pierce cannot guard LeBron and Perkins will foul out.  Cleveland is big enough to give KG a hard time on the high post.

Orlando owns Cleveland because Dwight Howard is the only player in the east that LeBron cannot physically run over, plus he actually won't get called for a foul 100% of the time like Perk.  Also their shooting stretches Cleveland's "good" defense to the point of no return.


It's all about matchups.


That said I would be surprised if LA doesn't sweep Orlando.

I wouldn't say Cleveland owns us. We beat them last year in the playoffs and we'll beat them next year as well if we play them.

[wdleehi]

It's all about matchups.

Cleveland owns us because Pierce cannot guard LeBron and Perkins will foul out.  Cleveland is big enough to give KG a hard time on the high post.

Orlando owns Cleveland because Dwight Howard is the only player in the east that LeBron cannot physically run over, plus he actually won't get called for a foul 100% of the time like Perk.  Also their shooting stretches Cleveland's "good" defense to the point of no return.


It's all about matchups.


That said I would be surprised if LA doesn't sweep Orlando.

Why? 


They have the defenders to shut down Gasol and Odom.  They have shown that one man, no matter how good, isn't going to beat them in the playoffs. 

It all hinges on how Bynum can handle Dwight.  If Bynum can go one and one and not get too many fouls then LA wins.  If not, and LA plays Dwight like the Cavs did, then Orlando should win.

That "should" is because it all depends on the three dropping for Orlando.

We'll see, its going to be an interesting series.  Go Magic! (I am a Celtics fan)

Except Bynum hasn't been a player this playoffs with the exception of one or two games.

No way he matches Howard.