Orlando Sentinael - "Matt Barnes will cover Ray "

[rondohondo]

http://celticshub.com/?gcid=C12289x022&gtkw=Celtics+Hub

It didn’t take long for our first small match-up surprise. The Orlando Sentinel’s Tania Ganguli reports that Matt Barnes said today he will start the series on Ray Allen, leaving Orlando’s nominal shooting guard, Vince Carter to defend Paul Pierce. Big thanks to Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Pos for the heads up

So what do you guys think of this matchup? I think it will be harder for barnes to chase Ray around screens than it would be for Carter. I am sure we will see a lot of Pietrus on Ray too.

[CelticSooner]

It means Pierce will go off this series and the C's will win in 6. 

It's much better for Ray as well.

[PosImpos]

well, it means Vince will be covering Pierce, which may or may not be a good thing.

it means Barnes will be covering one of the faster players on our team...and he's kind of slow for a SF.  i think this is a very good thing.  it may also mean Van Gundy isn't confident in Vince's ability to fight through screens on defense.

[j804]

Barnes is pesky, and since when was he slow? hes pretty quick

[Who]

I was reading a few comments on the Magic blog and they were quite complimentary about Carter's defense on Pierce during the regular season. Saying that he did very well.

I can't remember much about Carter defending Pierce ... Does anyone else remember this?

[Overrated]

I think Barnes will defend Ray well, so that's a good decision on Orlando's part. Barnes is kind of an annoying, pesky defender so he could disrupt Ray's rhythm for sure.

I mean Rashard and Vince aren't going to run around chasing Ray, so there's that way of looking at it too.

[manl_lui]

Barnes have back spasm...in my opinion that will affect his speed...maybe its just me, whenever my back hurts, it affects my speed and strength in terms of working out, playing basketball or volleyball

your back is very important...therefore, if he does cover ray, ray will outrun him...i expect Ray to take advantage of this if this is true...

VC on Pierce on the other hand is a wildcard...Pierce can probably use his strength on VC, but im afraid of VC going off offensively

[angryguy77]

Barnes have back spasm...in my opinion that will affect his speed...maybe its just me, whenever my back hurts, it affects my speed and strength in terms of working out, playing basketball or volleyball

your back is very important...therefore, if he does cover ray, ray will outrun him...i expect Ray to take advantage of this if this is true...

VC on Pierce on the other hand is a wildcard...Pierce can probably use his strength on VC, but im afraid of VC going off offensively

If we can handle DW and LJ, Vince isn't going to be a problem.

The more I think about these matchups the more I'm liking our odds at another finals trip.

Too bad I'll be missing the first game due to starting my new job politcal campaigns don't take days off this time of year...

[Prof. Clutch]

I wonder if Matt Barnes suffering from back spasms will effect any of this.

[timepiece33]

Barnes is pesky, and since when was he slow? hes pretty quick

Barnes is a good effort guy, but he is a tweener SF/PF from a foot speed perspective. 

I'm glad that we are seeing him against Ray.   

[jr_3421]

I like this match-up for Pierce. Barnes is an active defender who I think would disrupt Pierce's rhythm. VC, however, is not as disruptive and after being guarded by Lebron, I think Pierce should do fine.

Putting Barnes on Ray is a good decision by the Magic because Ray would run VC into the ground leaving him no energy for offense. But I still believe that there is no one in the NBA who can guard Ray Allen in our offense. If Ray can find the range he cannot be stopped.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I was reading a few comments on the Magic blog and they were quite complimentary about Carter's defense on Pierce during the regular season. Saying that he did very well.

I can't remember much about Carter defending Pierce ... Does anyone else remember this?

I don't think it matters or that it sets precedents of any kind whether he had success or not with Pierce during the season. I have to think that if Pierce is ready to play as he should, Carter won't be able to contain him. But if Pierce is a bit off, which can certainly happen quite often at his stage of his career, Orlando can afford to have Carter on him.

In all, I have to think, that whatever the outcome is, it'll have more to do with Pierce than with Carter, and I fully believe that having Carter on him will make it easier for Pierce to get going if he's due to get going.

[Rondo_is_better]

I think we can all agree on this though:

Varejao sucks.

[SamuelAdams]

I think we can all agree on this though:

Varejao sucks.

I think he was hurt.  He usually gives us a better game.

[Overrated]

I think we can all agree on this though:

Varejao sucks.