Who is the current Beast of the East?

[rcklsscognition]

Never know what to expect when you shuffle up a team. I'd expect Howard and Lewis to benefit the most from this shuffle. I see Dwight around 24/14/2 a game next year and rashard at 20+ a game as well. Vince will sink in around 20 a game and so will nelson. Anyone predicting a breakout year? I think Dwight's ready for a big jump in stats.

[magicman123]

Tyronn Lue.

thats what i thought, but why did he add him? of course he substituted anderson for a guy not even on the team right now..

[ClashCityRocker]

Tyronn Lue.

thats what i thought, but why did he add him? of course he substituted anderson for a guy not even on the team right now..

Haha he forgot to factor in that by simply getting Lue off our roster we probably gained 4 ppg.

[vinageras]

PG. Rondo>Nelson>>>>>Williams
SG. Carter>Allen>>Parker
SF. LeBron>>Pierce>Rashard
PF. KG>>>>>>Bass>>Varejao
C. Dwight>>>>>Shaq>Perk
6th. Sheed>>Gortat>Illgauskas
7th. Pietrus>>West>>House

Therefore:
1. Celts
2. Magic
3. Cavs

[Nemesis21]

Never know what to expect when you shuffle up a team. I'd expect Howard and Lewis to benefit the most from this shuffle. I see Dwight around 24/14/2 a game next year and rashard at 20+ a game as well. Vince will sink in around 20 a game and so will nelson. Anyone predicting a breakout year? I think Dwight's ready for a big jump in stats.

So you think Dwight's bpg will decrease ? He almost avg'd 4 bpg last season.

[Nemesis21]

PG. Rondo>Nelson>>>>>Williams
SG. Carter>Allen>>Parker
SF. LeBron>>Pierce>Rashard
PF. KG>>>>>>Bass>>Varejao
C. Dwight>>>>>Shaq>Perk
6th. Sheed>>Gortat>Illgauskas
7th. Pietrus>>West>>House

Therefore:
1. Celts
2. Magic
3. Cavs

[ClashCityRocker]

PG. Rondo>Nelson>>>>>Williams
SG. Carter>Allen>>Parker
SF. LeBron>>Pierce>Rashard
PF. KG>>>>>>Bass>>Varejao
C. Dwight>>>>>Shaq>Perk
6th. Sheed>>Gortat>Illgauskas
7th. Pietrus>>West>>House

Therefore:
1. Celts
2. Magic
3. Cavs

I don't even know what all that garbaj means.
Nice logic.

[KingRobb02]

If you want to do it that way...

PG:
1. Nelson (All-Star)
2.Rondo (triple double threat but a head case)
3.Williams (pity All-Star so I'mputting him behind Rondo)

SG:
1. Allen (All-Star/best player on a 60 win team last year.)
2. Carter (deserved an All-Star nod, but no one wanted 2 all-stars from a lottery team )
3. West/Parker (whoever starts will be a distant third)

SF:
1. James (duh)
2. Pierce (still a beast even though he can't do it every night anymore)
3. Pietrus (I'm assuming we will keep our mismatch at 4 until Stan says otherwise.)

PF:
1. Lewis (All-Star who can score 20 in his sleep no matter where he plays)
2. Garnett (Until I see proof of life, I'm assuming that the knee is still a problem)
3. Varajao (Great defensive big man, but nowhere near a star)

C:
1. Howard (1st team All-NBA)
2. Shaq/Z (Whoever stars will probably split time with the other and they will both give like 15 and 8)
3. Perkins (Not quite there yet, but still gives Dwight fits.)

Bench:
1. Cleveland (whoever doesn't start among West/Parker + Shaq/Z will be huge at 6 and 7 plus Gibson, Hickson and Kinsey)
2. Orlando (Bass, Anderson, Redick, Johnson, Gortat)
3. Boston (Sheed, House, T. Allen, Scal)

Coach:
1. Stan (The only coach in the playoffs last year that seemed able to make adjustments)
2. Mike brown (excellent defensive coach who knows how to ride his star)
3. Doc (Come on. We know he gets along with everyone, but it's still Doc.)

[Gerhalt11]

I'd put Stan waaaaaaaaay over Doc and Doc waaaaaaaaaaay over Brown.

[The_Cut]

VC is a better player than Ray Allen - book it - i don't know how anyone can put Allen ahead of Vince.

With Boston you can almost guarantee that one of their old stars won't stay healthy - and we're younger, more athletic and have gained a lot of experience last year. I put us at 1 Boston 2, Cleveland 3. But no else will and i'm ok with us being once again a bit of an underdog. At the end it's all about who really wants it more. And after the last year, a motivated VC and Bass coming in - i think we'll be the best team in the east!

[contentode]

I'm not sure how things are going to shake out for the coming season. The Magic lost 36.9 ppg between Hedo, Alston and Lee while gaining 33.7 by adding Vince, Bass and Luo. Cleveland, on the other hand, lost only 7.6 ppg between Ben Wallace and Pavlovic while gaining 28.5 by adding Shaq and Anthony Parker. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Doesn't work that way.

Dynamics are going to be altered so you can't just add and subtract #'s.s

What you say is true Craig01, but the point I'm making is that for Cleveland, Wallace and Pavlovic were total non-entities in the total scheme of things. Shaq and Parker WIILL make a difference, not only from the standpoint of +/- points, but also in the the dynamics you speak of. When is the last time Cleveland had a post player who could score and/or intimidate in the paint? Parker and Pavlovic are close, but Parker is more experienced, has a much higher BB IQ, and plays better defense.
I keep hearing on this forum how much better the Magic are with Vince. What exactly does Vince give you that Hedo did not? What, he's a flashier dunker? They both score points and neither is a great defensive player.
Alston and Lee came up huge against Cleveland in the Conference Finals. When has Vince ever shown that he is a difference maker in terms of putting his team over the top?...especially in a playoff scenario. Again, I'll say that time will tell. but count me among those who think Orlando took a step backward this offseason.

[craig01]

Carter brings consistency and legitimizes the back court (a fundamental component of most championship teams).

He also allows the Magic to drift away somewhat from being so dependent on 3 pt shooting.

Who knows what the future brings, however, I was one that was NOT a fan favorite of the "old" style. That style just doesn't win rings. It's up to the players and coaches to make this work.

The pieces are now there.

[NickAndersonsBack25]

did anyone save the memo that our "mismatch" at PF with Shard was what killed us. people still don't see to get the mismatch to our disadvantage in rebounding and shard guarding a true PF inside outweighed the advantage shard had on offense. sideshow bob just isn't a scorer that's why it was ok against the Cavs. But legit teams (like the C's with KG, the Lakers, and even the Pistons and 6ers (with Brand)) feasted on that and killed us.

Shard creates mismatches on offense even at SF. there's not too many that can guard him.

[jgiannip]

i think i like the magic over the celtics, not worried at all about the cavs.

[KingRobb02]

did anyone save the memo that our "mismatch" at PF with Shard was what killed us. people still don't see to get the mismatch to our disadvantage in rebounding and shard guarding a true PF inside outweighed the advantage shard had on offense. sideshow bob just isn't a scorer that's why it was ok against the Cavs. But legit teams (like the C's with KG, the Lakers, and even the Pistons and 6ers (with Brand)) feasted on that and killed us.

Shard creates mismatches on offense even at SF. there's not too many that can guard him.

It "killed" us all the way to a 60 win season and a trip to the finals. If C-Lee makes that buzzer beater and Hedo/Dwight make 1 more free throw in game 4 we are up 3-1 in that series. That's how close we were to a title and people act like we need to change our entire structure. Please...

[Chris_ORL]

1. Orlando - they're still on top until somebody in the east knocks them done. Say whatever you want, but it's the truth, and they might just be better. I'm honestly worried about the defense though, I'm hoping Carter and Nelson can make this a priority because I see them both as subpar, but not bad.

2. Cleveland - Lebron is the best in the game right now and he is going to be determined, Shaq is an upgrade if he's focused and healthy, and Parker is decent. Take away Hedo, even with our additions, and I say this match will be a great one to watch.

3. Boston - KG needs to show us something, and that's why they get the downgrade - well, that and they're old. They have three guys that are legit Dwight defenders: Perkins, Sheed, and KG. That alone worries me. If Rondo gets a J and some sanity, KG is healthy and gets some sanity, and Ray Allen brings it like he did against Chicago - they could be the team to beat. That's a lot of IF's, so they get 3rd.

I REALLY want to see the Celts and Cavs play this year. I don't know why but Perkins on Shaq is a matchup that piques my interest.

[ice11red]

Here is my order of the East in its current state.

1. Cleveland
2. Orlando
3. Boston

Boston is having problems with Rondo, Glenn Davis has not been secured, and their age/ health is going to be an issue. They lost Posey who was a big part of their title run. So far, the only positive change for them was getting Wallace and possibly KG coming back 100%.

Cleveland went out and got Shaq. That automatically improves the team which had the NBA best record.

Orlando improves, but there are a couple of things that I find questionable. For starters, I think I am in the minority for thinking we improve by getting rid of Turkoglu and getting Carter. Turkoglu I always felt was too streaky, his shooting, his career and most of all, his decision making. His +/- throughout the season was horrible, and how many times have we seen him hold the ball until the end of the shot clock and chuck up a horrible shot. I think Carter's IQ is higher. We take a tremendous hit with Lee being gone. Nelson is back, and I think he will return to form after the offseason and training camp, better then the rushed playoff nelson. We also improve on the 4 spot as matching other power forwards in the league by adding Bass and Anderson, however we do lose the advantage that got us into the finals by having mismatches at the 3 and 4 with Turkoglu and Lewis. I think Orlando has more then enough potential to be number 1 in the league or perhaps number 3. I think with Orlando there are too many unknowns and loss of core guys. Other teams were just missing role players here and there from the team they were last year.

[craig01]

Sure, the Magic lost their match up advantage at the 3 and 4 spots.

What they gain is more post presence, depth, and physicality in the box.

They probably will become a better rebounding team (not so much in pure #'s, but in importance of rebounds by having sealed off opponents from chasing down rebounds.....size, positioning, and physicality are important for this).

Lee is easily replaced by Carter.

This team (with the roster yet to to be filedl out completely) is on paper a better team than last years.

Health, chemistry, and coaching will all be factors in how it plays out.