Can Boston beat Orlando?

[PP34Deuce]

THIS ^^^

Bulls were AWFUL on D. The only presence they have on D is blocking shots with TT and Noah. No perimeter defense, terrible at fighting through screens, apparently awful against the pick and roll.

When you look at the Boston-Chicago series, the one thing that really killed the Bulls was the lack of size inside. Even though Noah had a good series, he was abused by perkins. Perkins got a ridiculous number of offensive boards and they always capitalized on them. Obviously, Perkins wont be able to push around Howard like hes a 12 year old girl.

I think the Magic take this in 6. Thats only if the Celtics continue to make every god damn last shot like they did against my bulls.

To the people saying who guards pierce and allen....Does it matter who guards them? we had Salmons on Pierce and he was basically no where to be found for most of the series. With Allen it doesnt even matter, he apparently makes every freakin shot he takes.

The bulls are a lot more athletic at the wing spots and were able to at least slide their feet. The magic are a bad rebounding team( look beyond Dwight) The magic dont have much size other than Dwight. Tony BAttie doesnt scare me, neither does the 3rd string bigs they have.

They have 2 SF's and only Rashard lewis will pose a matchup problem because of us not having a big that can move laterally to prevent him from driving. Pierce has always been able to make Hedo a non factor most of the time. Ray Allen wins the matchup against either Lee or Reddick, though Lee would make him play a bit more defense.

Howard will get his 20-17, but the celtics will be a better team rebounding collectively. The celtics are a lot more tougher physically than this magic team that is soft.

Boston in 6.

[GatorKid117]

The bulls are a lot more athletic at the wing spots and were able to at least slide their feet. The magic are a bad rebounding team( look beyond Dwight) The magic dont have much size other than Dwight. Tony BAttie doesnt scare me, neither does the 3rd string bigs they have.

They have 2 SF's and only Rashard lewis will pose a matchup problem because of us not having a big that can move laterally to prevent him from driving. Pierce has always been able to make Hedo a non factor most of the time. Ray Allen wins the matchup against either Lee or Reddick, though Lee would make him play a bit more defense.

Howard will get his 20-17, but the celtics will be a better team rebounding collectively. The celtics are a lot more tougher physically than this magic team that is soft.

Boston in 6.

What does sliding your feet well have anything to do w/ great defense? The fact of the matter is, Gordan and Rose are anemic on defense. I don't care how athletic they are, athleticism does not equal defense. Tyrus Thomas is arguably the most athletic PF in the game but he has no fundamentals and gets exposed regularly on defense.

I agree with you on Pierce, Turk and Pierce usually cancel each other with a slight edge to Pierce. However, the rebounding I don't agree with either. Do you know how many rebounds Big Baby had last game.........2. He is not a great rebounder. Perkins is good but Dwight is the best rebounder in the game. Orlando has a better rebound rate so far in the PO with like you said 1 guy doing the bulk of the work. Boston does not have an edge in rebounding.

Ray Allen, I agree with. He will torch us w/o Lee.

Forgot to say, Philly was the #1 offensive rebounding team in the league. So Philly>Chicago in rebounding, just an FYI.

[darius15]

This should really be an interesting series. I'll tentatively say Boston in 7, but there are a lot of factors at play, including Boston fatigue and Perkins foul trouble.

[Sriracha]

Rondo is going to dominate this series. Reddick should in no way be starting over Piektrus.

[bomber]

We have three players who need to be spectacular (Rajon, Ray, and Paul) and when they are we won't be beat. Dwight might not be effective on the offensive end, Perk and Baby will have to be rock solid. We have a good chance if we defend.

[yeaaaman]

Honestly I'm not sure how much fatigue will be a factor for the Celtics in this series.

Anyways, I think there are alot of important things to look at:

Guys like Hedo and Lewis who for the most part struggled in the first series had some time off to rest, well vetrans Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had to play a very hard fought 7 game series, not to mention all the overtimes.

Without Powe or Garnett, the only reliable defender left against Howard is Perkins, and although I don't like the guy I have to give him credit, he is a very solid defender and has enough muscle to play Dwight one on one. The problem is Howard still has the ability to dominate Perk, and give him foul trouble and if the latter happens the C's frontcourt becomes VERY thin, so one could expect alot of offensive rebounds and putback dunks, where against Perk Howard would actually have to work and use some of his skill, with the other guys he would just dominate them physically.

Rondo for the most part has been playing amazing, and I expect him to continue to play well. I think both guards need to keep their heads in the game, Rondo has to control the pace and not get caught up in a running game because that would play into the hands of the Magic, and Alston needs to take good shots and work on continuing to get Howard the ball down low.

As people have been mentioning the Magic had alot of trouble containing the 1 and the 3 against the Sixers, and that could continue, especially with Courtney Lee out. I expect a better series from Pierce in particular.

I don't mind seeing Reddick start because right away that's another dangerous three point threat which will allow Howard a bit more space and to get comfortable and possibly in a rhythm from the get go. Plus, it's good to have an energy player like Pietrus who can come in and do a little bit of everything, especially defend, its not a good thing to have a huge dropoff when your second unit comes in.

I think Lewis vs. Big Baby will be an interesting matchup which should be problematic for both teams, but I would say more so for the C's.

Finally as someone else also mentioned I think Marbury and some of the other guys might get a bit more burn this series, and in the case of Marbury he needs to play less timid and be a bit more natural out there rather than really trying to force himself into the system, because at times I feel he's overdoing it, especially when he's passing up open shots or that floater once he's already beat his man off the dribble. Sometimes making the extra pass isn't always the right idea.

Also, now that we're in the second round and Orlando has a good shot with KG out, expect to see Stan Van Gundy pop a blood vessel on a missed defensive assignment by Reddick or possibly even experience cardiac arrest if Hedo decides to take one of his ill advised pull up 3 pointers with 19 seconds on the shot clock

Overall the series could go a lot of ways. If Orlando wins I would take them in 7, splitting the games in Boston and then coming home to take care of home court, losing game 5 and then coming home to close it out in game 6. If it goes the way of the C's I see them winning in 7. Should be a good series.

[PP34Deuce]

Rashard Lewis scares me the most. we have no Big who can match up with his finesse style.

Pierce will be on Hedo, so that leaves Davis who will lose that battle easily.

[ProfessorMurder]

You guys are forgetting that Dwight has poor offensive skills. He's a great player, but he's got a pretty bad shot.

All Perk/Baby/Scal/Moore need to do is keep Dwight in front of them, and box him out. His hook shot is inconsistant, and if they keep him out of the low block he won't score more than 20-25.

Just play straight up D, like a wall, and Dwight won't drop 40 anytime unless there's severe foul trouble.

[Sriracha]

You guys are forgetting that Dwight has poor offensive skills. He's a great player, but he's got a pretty bad shot.

All Perk/Baby/Scal/Moore need to do is keep Dwight in front of them, and box him out. His hook shot is inconsistant, and if they keep him out of the low block he won't score more than 20-25.

Just play straight up D, like a wall, and Dwight won't drop 40 anytime unless there's severe foul trouble.

[ProfessorMurder]

GTFO

I'm going to GTF-In. I'm not saying that Moore/Scal will shut Dwight down. But in a pinch they may need to guard him, hence why I put their names down.

Perk will do well against him though. Dwight will get his numbers no matter what; but he's not who will kill the Celtics, someone else will have to step up.

[Sriracha]

I'm going to GTF-In. I'm not saying that Moore/Scal will shut Dwight down. But in a pinch they may need to guard him, hence why I put their names down.

Perk will do well against him though. Dwight will get his numbers no matter what; but he's not who will kill the Celtics, someone else will have to step up.

I misunderstood your post and though you were trolling.

[ProfessorMurder]

I misunderstood your post and though you were trolling.

Haha It's cool man.

I'm rooting for the Celts in 6. I honestly think it'll go 7, but it really could go either way.

[MMM]

Transitional offence is going to be vital for the Celtics to have success it is imperative that they beat a set Magic defence anchored by the DPOY Dwight Howard. This is where the importance of Rajon Rondo come into play. Through out this year he has been a one man fast break for the Celtics whether it is finishing in traffic or kicking it back to to an open Ray Allen, Paul Pierce or Eddie House. Beside Howard the Magic don't seem to have great athleticism at the other positions so this is a great opportunity for the Celtics to finish at the basket when transition chances present them selves.

Ray vs JJ. Reddic/Rashard vs Big Baby
Bot teams would love to exploit this match ups. For the Celtics it is important they get the most out of their advantage as it might not last that long while the Celtics will have to deal with Rashard the entire series. Courtney Lee when he returns does have the ability to guard Ray he in fact is one of the better defenders at his position. Big Baby will have a difficult task at defending Lewis especially seeing as how hot he has been lately but Baby needs to go at him at the other end as well as much as he possibly can without running into the DPOY. That is a critical point Davis is not a great finisher in the paint and he needs to be aware of Howard. As hot as Lewis been over the last couple of games Ray Allen might have been hotter (26.7ppg, 45%fg, 52%3FG over 6 games)

Perk vs Howard
This match up might hurt Boston more so offensively then the other side of the ball . Perk scoring inside has been solid in the absence of Garnett but with Howard in the middle the Celtics will lose a lot of opportunities to get easy scores in the paint. Defensively I'm not too concerned with Howard vs Perk I think Perk can do a solid job on him but what I worry about is Perk picking up fouls not only from Howard but on moving screens, push offs, etc. Perkins can not afford to pick up those cheap fouls he is just to important to the defense as a whole. Mikki Moore or Scalabrine have 0 chance against Howard.

Will the Bruins Bruins still playing playoff hockey have any effect on this series?
We have heard about how cold the building is during games could this have effect on the shooters?

Overall I have the Celtics in 6 mainly because of a factor I have not mention so far and that is Paul Pierce. I see him having a big series because he can get to his spot against Turk and a Pierce that is getting to his spots might not bode so well for the Magic.

[ProfessorMurder]

Will the Bruins Bruins still playing playoff hockey have any effect on this series?
We have heard about how cold the building is during games could this have effect on the shooters?

Dude, the Garden is cold as f*ck! The players will cool off quickly when they are sweating.

I went to game 5. The 80 degree day, plus I got into Boston around 6, so I had to basically run from South Station to the Garden. Therefor I was sweating a bit.

When I got to my seat I was freezing for about the first 25 minutes until I acclimated to the 50-ish degree building.

Plus thanks to the game going into OT, I had like 20 minutes to book it back to the station or I'd miss the last bus of the night back to Maine.

It was f*cking awesome though!

[Shepseskaf]

Bulls were AWFUL on D. The only presence they have on D is blocking shots with TT and Noah. No perimeter defense, terrible at fighting through screens, apparently awful against the pick and roll.

So, the Magic are suddenly a top defensive team? With JJ Reddick playing significant minutes? You must be kidding. Rondo and RayRay will feast. Ray might score 80+ a few times.

The Magic has probably the worst guard combo remaining in the playoffs, and the backcourt is Boston's strength.