Boston or Detroit?

[LiquidFire]

Who do we least want to play? who do we want to take over number 1 seed, and who do you want to play more and why?

[eyejayem]

I can't believe this but I dont think Cavs fear either team. Detroit is the better team in my opinion and more consistant and better seasoned for the playoffs so I guess I rather not face Detroit but we have had their number the last two seasons. They have gotten better but as did the Cavs. Boston seems that they wont be able to ever stop Lebron and usually Ray or Pierce are usually hurt by this point in the season but who would have ever thought that it would be KG. Since they are not so deep I'd rather face Boston. And they couldnt beat Cleveland at full strength and the best chemistry early season. They had problems while both teams werent at 100% two weeks ago. When Varrajao and Sasha get back I think Boston would get wore out by game 5.

[Rise Against]

It doesn't matter who we face.

[mg]

Detroit has more depth so I would prefer the Cavs play Boston. With that said they will likely have to beat both teams to make it back to the Finals.

[the sockk]

They both have comparatively weak frontcourt depth. But the strength of Detroit's backcourt would probably be more problematic. I think that Cleveland had a legit shot at winning a series against either of Detroit or Boston before the trade but now I don't think the Cavs are worried about any team in the East.

[LiquidFire]

i like how rondo wont light us up anymore, as we now have wallace in the middle and a quick pg in dwest.

[chrice]

Rather play Detroit.

[Gordon Bombay]

does anybody think we should put sasha on billups and west on rip or vice versa?

personally i think either could have success on either player

[YiYaoYue]

Did larry hughes play good D against billups? not too sure if west can defend billups... if larry hughes was bad then yea no worries for cavs other than pistons bench has been better this season.

[B Mac]

Larry did play well on Billups, there is no denying that, but strangely enough Gibson also played extremely well on Chauncey as well. I havent seen enough of Delonte's defense yet to know what exactly he is capable of, but I will say that if he has any defensive upside at all he wont be able to utilize it any better then in our system. If Damon Jones can be turned into a serviceable defender or the once porous Z can be turned into a great defender or the once "I've never heard of defense" Sasha Pavlovic can be turned into a lockdown defender, I think there is a ton of hope for Delonte. Knowing you have LeBron, Ben, and Z protecting you on D has to be extremely comforting.

Oh and speaking of Pavlovic. I think he is truly the forgotten man. One of the biggest excuses people are throwing out there as to why this was a bad trade for us is that we lost our perimeter defense. I dont know why people still keep saying that since Larry wasnt even our 2nd best perimeter defender. LeBron and Sasha take the first two spots in that equation. Not scared at all of any "defensive problems" we might have.

Sorry, I realize I've jumped off track a bit. As to the question at hand: My answer is both. We are likely going to have to beat them both anyway, so there is no point in worrying about who comes first or second. I think we can beat either of them and to be the best you have to beat the best, and I wouldnt have it any other way.

[cisco]

i like how rondo wont light us up anymore, as we now have wallace in the middle and a quick pg in dwest.

Except that Delonte West is not a quick pg. Decent though.

[gflem]

after reading 23 pages on the general board, the consensus is we arent in the same league as either. AND orlando is better than us too. its an exercise in frustration going there, but there a few "genius posts" that made it worthwhile.

The funny thing is that whenever a poster that I have never heard of says something good about the cavs he is branded as a cavs fan. the hate on our team would be amusing if I had a better sense of humor I guess, but I cant wait till the playoffs to bring that thread back up. hopefully we will be healthy.

I think we would have a good series with either boston or detroit, and it wouldnt be surprising to win or lose to either, but I feel having the best player is an advantage. if big ben comes to play it could really make a difference for us. he doesnt have to do much to be better defensively than gooden, and hughes couldnt give much last year.

Ive read that det didnt try last year and thats why we won. I think more accurately rasheed quit last year when he realized they couldnt win. I wonder what makes people think he wont quit again? and with ben to knock a few heads I would think that intimidating them would be even easier this year. well, that should bring me some piston hate, but until I hear a good reason (excuse) for that team quitting last year I welcome it.

[Gordon Bombay]

after reading 23 pages on the general board, the consensus is we arent in the same league as either. AND orlando is better than us too. its an exercise in frustration going there, but there a few "genius posts" that made it worthwhile.

The funny thing is that whenever a poster that I have never heard of says something good about the cavs he is branded as a cavs fan. the hate on our team would be amusing if I had a better sense of humor I guess, but I cant wait till the playoffs to bring that thread back up. hopefully we will be healthy.

I think we would have a good series with either boston or detroit, and it wouldnt be surprising to win or lose to either, but I feel having the best player is an advantage. if big ben comes to play it could really make a difference for us. he doesnt have to do much to be better defensively than gooden, and hughes couldnt give much last year.

Ive read that det didnt try last year and thats why we won. I think more accurately rasheed quit last year when he realized they couldnt win. I wonder what makes people think he wont quit again? and with ben to knock a few heads I would think that intimidating them would be even easier this year. well, that should bring me some piston hate, but until I hear a good reason (excuse) for that team quitting last year I welcome it.

the pistons are the atlanta braves of the nba. every year, you can give them a regular season championship and you can count on them flaming out in the postseason. theyve had one championship and bunch disappointment after that (yes 5 straight ecfs is dissapointing with only one championship to show for it - a solid 20 percent). they definitely should have done more in this 5 year period than just 1 championship and only one other finals appearance

[LoveThemCavs]

I'm with you gflem. I don't quite understand the overall disdain for Cleveland from this site. It's like this in MLB and the NFL too.

But to stay on topic, I'd rather face Detroit too. Just for the fact that their fans can't use this "we didn't take you serious" crap anymore. If they can't put us out this year, it's over. No more excuses from Detroit. Fact is, Tayshaun is a good defender. And he still isn't even close to good enough to stop LeBron. That team can run over about anyone, but our team isn't one of them. Any Pistons fans that care to chime in I don't really care what they say either. That team scares me none. I'm sure it's mutual, thats why I want this matchup. I'm sick of their holier than thou attitude.

[TheOUTLAW]

To be honest, they should have been able to use the "we didn't take you seriously" nonsense last year. But they did, whether is made sense or not.

[CzBoobie]

I would love to stick it to the Pistons in the 2nd round again and see them whine like only Pistons fans can and then proceed to destroy the Magic in the ECF

[L&H_05]

Both, give me both and Orlando in round 1.

Boston is the biggest frauds in the NBA (unpopular opinion)-- They are so thin up front, and have a 2nd year PG leading the charge without any serviceable backup..

Luckily for us we have this LBJ fella that allows us to go PG free.. But wait, we now have this Delonte guy that can take some of the ball handling duties away from LBJ, and should be able to regain a decent shooting form with some quality open looks from THE KING.

But back to the boards. I wouldn't be shocked if we outrebounded Boston by 20+ if we face them with a healthy squad... And please, please, play that fat ass rookie during critical minutes in a playoff game because you're getting murdered on the glass..

Boston is a fine NBA team, make no mistake about it.. But, that team is not built for playoff basketball.

Orlando ??? Please..

Detroit ?? Now here we go.. This is the team in the east that is going to pose the toughest challenge.. Detroit is the best team in the east IMO. Great balance, experience, leadership and depth... Boston has two of those, Orlando has one of those, and IMO we have three, and pending on the balance we might have all four..

But regardless of what we do and do not have, if healthy, (we have this guy ) and those teams simply don't..

In terms of the east, I'd like the following so we can work our way up another level per round:

Orlando in round 1
Boston in round 2
Detroit in round 3

[TheOUTLAW]

Facing all 3 of those teams is likely too difficult for us to make it all the way through. Not to mention I doubt that Orlando falls enough that we'd play them.

[B Mac]

I still cant get over when Damon told Big Baby to "Shut your fat ass up."

That cracks me up still.

Its as if people dont realize that the regular season and the playoffs are two different games around here. Everyone running around saying record this and record that... Who gives a rats a? The playoffs are all that matters and it looks like once again we are setting ourselves up to go in on a high note. (knocks on wood) So let people underrate us, and let them talk uninformed garbage about our team. It will make it all the sweeter when we once again curb stomp their favorite team. Maybe this year when we get to the Finals everyone might actually give us some credit...... Naaaah.

[heathmalc]

This is how I see the eastern conference shaping-up:

First Round:

#1 Detroit Pistons vs #8 Atlanta (or Chicago)
#2 Boston Celtics vs #7 Philadelphia
#3 Cleveland Cavaliers vs #6 Washington
#4 Toronto Raptors vs #5 Orlando

Second Round:

#1 Detoit Pistons vs #5 Orlando Magic
#2 Boston Celtics cs #3 Cleveland Cavaliers

Eastern Conference Finals:

#1 Detroit Pistons vs #3 Cleveland Cavaliers


This set-up is "poetic" as the Cavaliers have a second re-match with the Wizards, and sweep them yet again, in the first round.

In the second round, we'd face the Celtics, who have been hyped all year, and who has talked trash all year. LeBron has a vendetta against the Celtics...no-way the Celtics beat us in a 7-game series.

Finally, the Cavs and Pistons have their "rubber-match." This will be the third straight year we have faced each other in the playoffs, and the second straight for the conference title. When we beat them, they will have to come-up with a whole boat-load of new excuses why they lost.

Finals:

Cavaliers vs Lakers (LeBron vs Kobe)

It cannot get any better than this! The ratings for this will break all sorts of records, and when we win the title, there will be NO QUESTION who is the better player!


To answer the thread's question: I have no preference. I think the above scenario will be pretty close to what happens, and I think that will be the best way for us to go...we can win the title, take the toughest road, and shut-up the critics in one sweet motion!