Official Crow Eating Thread

[PosImpos]

The Cavs did sure look unbeatable for most of the year, but I think their wild success and dominance of all but the best teams made almost everyone (myself included) overlook two really important indicators:

a) They had a bad record against the best teams in the league.

b) Their team is a bunch of roleplayers except for LeBron.  Mo Williams is the only other guy on that team I'd call a starter and he isn't a legit All-Star talent (David Stern made him an All-Star, he wasn't voted in).

You can't win Championships if you can't beat the best teams and you only have one all-around high level talent.

[Fan from VT]

I'll eat some crow. I looked at the first game of the Orlando-Cleveland series, and thought:
-Lebron was Lebron
-every other Cav was putrid
-everything went right for Orlando
-yet orlando barely won!

So I put that together and figured that Cleveland would eventually prevail.

What I didn't count on was just how bad every other player on Cleveland would be. Ilgauskas was terrible, no one could make an open shot, and Mo Williams was just awful (i mean i knew he was a joke of an "all-star," but he still should have been a lot better. I mean, Lebron was far and away the best player in the playoffs; he's on any other team and that team goes to the finals no problem. But his teammates could not have been worse.

[Chris]

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.

Well, he doesn't need to "match" Howard, he just needs to be able to handle him one on one in the post, so they don't need to constantly send double teams on him, leaving their shooters wide open. 

Considering Big Baby was able to do this for stretches, I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that Bynum can as well.  He doesn't have to score himself, or shut Howard down.  If he can hold Howard to 20-25 points per game, in single coverage, then I think the Lakers win. 

[Redz]

I thought Howard was a one dimensional overrated bum.

I also thought the Magic lacked the intestinal fortitude to beat the Celtics and/or the Cavs

[RebusRankin]

I thought Cleveland would beat Orlando.

I didn't think Orlando was that good. I thought Superman was overrated.

[houseonfire09]

I thought that Orlando was the worst fringe contender in NBA history because they constantly blew huge leads against the Celtics  and should have beat them in 5.  Now, I think they will Beat LA!

[kheeko]

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. 

But his teammates, mo, z, verejao etc did basically nothing it was a one man thing. LA's proved they dont need kobe to score 40-50 and can still win. Plus I think Phil will son stan-fat-tummy.

[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. 

But his teammates, mo, z, verejao etc did basically nothing it was a one man thing. LA's proved they dont need kobe to score 40-50 and can still win. Plus I think Phil will son stan-fat-tummy.

And last year, the Celtics proved you can punch the Laker big men in the mouth with physical play, and they wilt up an die.

[LB3533]

Magic shot .346 from 3 point range against the Celtics in the Conference Semis and shot .407 against the Cavs in the ECF.

I will eat crow believing the Cavs would do a much better job defensively against the Magic than a severely undermanned Celtics defense. Which is why I had the Cavs winning in a sweep, at most a 5 game series.

I was wrong.

[PosImpos]

Magic shot .346 from 3 point range against the Celtics in the Conference Semis and shot .407 against the Cavs in the ECF.

I will eat crow believing the Cavs would do a much better job defensively against the Magic than a severely undermanned Celtics defense. Which is why I had the Cavs winning in a sweep, at most a 5 game series.

I was wrong.

They missed a lot of open shots against us, too, though.  And in Game 7 they rained them down on us.  I'm not saying the Celtics didn't defend against the Magic well, but their shooting was bad in large part because it was...well...bad.  Then it got a lot better against the Cavs, partly because the defense wasn't as good (probably) but also because the shots were simply going in.

[Ed Teach]

I too thought didn't think that the Magic were a serious contender.  After watching them throughout the season I thought that they couldn't handle the pressure of the playoffs. They had shown an inability to win close games down the strech. They are a team that has been known for panic, especially Van Gundy.

Last year they were a better "team" than Detroit, but folded when faced with the experience of the Pistons.  I thought this years team would provide more of the same.
I didn't think Howard had what it took to put the team on his back when needed.  I didn't think Rafer could be an effective PG and would be a TO machine.

But, the Magic grew up in the post season.  They learned how to handle the close games and there confidence grew  during the Magic vs Celtics series.  Dwight has shown that not only can he handle the pressure, he can excell.  I am not sure if they can take the Lakers, but this Magic team is a much better team than the regular season version.

[kozlodoev]

Howard's contribution in overtime of game 4 was, in principle, converting on a bunch of open dunks.

In game 6, he was mostly being guarded by Vareajo, whose idea of "defense" consisted of pedalling backwards every time Howard got the ball.

I am not too impressed with Howard -- but I _am_ impressed Cleveland's big man rotation's inability to guard the proberbial chair.

[Eeyore III]

Have an extra fork, anyone?

I agree that the Magic win over Cleveland was all about matchups.  I can't believe Wild Thing was so anchored to the paint, and Smith ... he coulda helped the Cavs against the Cs, but he was all wrong for the Magic.

I see it as the Cavs being geared personnel-wise just for the Cs, and being all mismatched versus the Magic.  

I still don't think the Magic are all that hot, and am very optimistic, so long as Danny gets us a bench, for another Celtic banner next season.  Every team is going to be after the long players with the foot speed to defend the perimeter, this offseason.

[RAcker]

I remember your thread and respect the coming back to admit a wrong.  Hey, a lot of people bought into the media hype behind this team.  No big deal.

Roll out that NBA Regular Season Championship trophy.  Oh, that's right.   

[housecall]

I too thought didn't think that the Magic were a serious contender.  After watching them throughout the season I thought that they couldn't handle the pressure of the playoffs. They had shown an inability to win close games down the strech. They are a team that has been known for panic, especially Van Gundy.

Last year they were a better "team" than Detroit, but folded when faced with the experience of the Pistons.  I thought this years team would provide more of the same.
I didn't think Howard had what it took to put the team on his back when needed.  I didn't think Rafer could be an effective PG and would be a TO machine.

But, the Magic grew up in the post season.  They learned how to handle the close games and there confidence grew  during the Magic vs Celtics series.  Dwight has shown that not only can he handle the pressure, he can excell.  I am not sure if they can take the Lakers, but this Magic team is a much better team than the regular season version.

I agree that the Magic grew up during the postseason...they are definitely better now than in the regular season.tp