Who do you want in the first round?

[t2thadot]

Each team has its own Pro's and Con's, so when it comes down to it, if you had a choice who would you rather face in the 1st round? Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Orlando?

Lets bring things down

Atlanta - They have guys who can shut down Bosh and Bargnani, our two main offensive weapons. Bosh and Bargnani wouldn't have their quickness advantage by playing against guys like Marvin Williams and Josh Smith. But...their PG Bibby isn't really a dribble pentrating PG, so Calderon wouldn't have much trouble guarding him. Their an up tempo team, as long as we can slow them down i think we'll be fine, but we've shown this season that we have a tough time playing against them.

Boston - They are just really physical, 4 allstars. What more can you say? The only positive out of playing Boston is that, their old and not really that athletic, and there is a possibility that they break down.

Cleveland - Just two words, Lebron James. If we can contain him i think we can beat them, but thats a big IF. Shaq is washed up, i don't think we need to worry about him as much. Mo williams is a good PG, but i don't think we would have much trouble containing him, as the offense is mostly run though Lebron, and MO is there simply to score the basketball.

Orlando - 1 -3 against them so far this year. They started off well but are struggling now. Carter is having a horrible year, Nelson is working himself back from injury, and that's a guy that always kills us. They have many shooters, and our problem this year has been closing out on shooters. Not to mention Dwight Howard simply destroys us since we don't really have a guy who can guard him 1 on 1, but that might change when we get Reggie Evans back.


So taking everything into consideration, who would you rather face in the first round?

[Korr]

I'm hoping that the Hawks suck for the rest of the season and we face Miami.

[why22]

Each team has its own Pro's and Con's, so when it comes down to it, if you had a choice who would you rather face in the 1st round? Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Orlando?

Lets bring things down

Atlanta - They have guys who can shut down Bosh and Bargnani, our two main offensive weapons. Bosh and Bargnani wouldn't have their quickness advantage by playing against guys like Marvin Williams and Josh Smith. But...their PG Bibby isn't really a dribble pentrating PG, so Calderon wouldn't have much trouble guarding him. Their an up tempo team, as long as we can slow them down i think we'll be fine, but we've shown this season that we have a tough time playing against them.

Boston - They are just really physical, 4 allstars. What more can you say? The only positive out of playing Boston is that, their old and not really that athletic, and there is a possibility that they break down.

Cleveland - Just two words, Lebron James. If we can contain him i think we can beat them, but thats a big IF. Shaq is washed up, i don't think we need to worry about him as much. Mo williams is a good PG, but i don't think we would have much trouble containing him, as the offense is mostly run though Lebron, and MO is there simply to score the basketball.

Orlando - 1 -3 against them so far this year. They started off well but are struggling now. Carter is having a horrible year, Nelson is working himself back from injury, and that's a guy that always kills us. They have many shooters, and our problem this year has been closing out on shooters. Not to mention Dwight Howard simply destroys us since we don't really have a guy who can guard him 1 on 1, but that might change when we get Reggie Evans back.


So taking everything into consideration, who would you rather face in the first round?

the nets

[MattBoner]

I say Orlando even though I think we match up better with Cleveland, because I know the refs will do everything in their power to not let the Raptors upset the Cavs

[gregdj]

oh god... uhhh, i would go with boston or cleveland. I think we would have a hard time with atlanta and orlando is a maybe for me. Considering were turning things around who knows what kind of shape we will look like by playoffs we could be better than we are now. This thread would be better 3/4 into the season for a more accurate jugement.

[hoop_head]

Orlando, because they aren't on the level of the other three right now.

[MagnusPinus]

Call me crazy but i say cleveland.. It is probably not gonna happen, cos we are finishing 5th or 6th.. but aside from Lebron, I think they don't have other nightmare matchups( i feel we can definitely solve Shaq's problem)

[chuckerz]

miami heat could be a better opponent depending on how they do. If the hawks drop down below the hawks and raps (i doubt it will happen) than that will make for an ideal match up. Or even if the magic drops down.

[gregdj]

I'm hoping that the Hawks suck for the rest of the season and we face Miami.

+1

[Brinbe]

Obviously the team that we just beat that is struggling atm. Hawks will run us out of the arena, the Cavs we may have a chance against if we can shut down Bron and if the rest of the shooters are cold, and the Celts just have our number.

[redred9]

give us Orlando
They should be great but that is a team falling apart at the seams. Vince looks out of shape and unhappy. Neither Dwight or Nelson have taken the next step and they miss Hedo like crazy.

4. Orlando Magic
5. Toronto Raptors

hell yes.

[LebronMJ23]

Boston - NO
Orlando - NO
Cleveland - NO
Altlanta - NO

Which is the lesser of the 4 evils?

I'm starting to lean towards Orlando because I think Carter has become a cancer at this stage in his career. That team is looking awful lately. It's between Orlando and Atlanta for me. Boston and Cleveland in the 1st round would be IMPOSSIBLE. Even with luck those are 2 elite teams that could potentially win it all. Lets hope we get Magic and get to give a big f u to VC if we manage to knock them out in the 1st round. How sweet would that be!?

[5DOM]

Any team but the Hawks. We are definitely getting blown out 4 times in a row if we face them.

[GamePoint]

Haven't we done this thread like 3 times over the course of our good stretch?

It's simple, we want ATL, no matter how athletic they are. Our job would be to slow it down, which is common in the playoffs. No silly turnovers that cause fast break opportunities. We won tonight because we finally made Philly play halfcourt.

We don't want anyone else.

Orlando is a worst match up for us. They're struggling right now, but they've owned us 3 times, we barely got away with 1. In a 7 game series, we lose no doubt. And remember the awful refs? It would be just like that in the playoffs. Also, as lowly as Vince has been, you know when he turns it on, we can't stop him. He would win at least 1 playoff game on his own. Their hot shooting will be there at least 1 game. And the refs will give them the other two.

As for Boston and Cleveland? If you thought the refs were bad with Orlando, wait till you see what could potentially happen with these two in the post season.

There IS NO CHANCE IN HELL that the NBA will allow Boston's last year with the Big 3 and Lebron's potential last year in Cleveland to end in the first round of the playoffs to the Toronto Raptors.

[McFurious1]

I have no idea...

Orlando the refs will screw us over bc of Dwight.

Cavs LBJ will screw us over.

Boston the big 3 will screw us over.

Hawks their young core will screw us over.

Bottom line is we're screwed.

[Bankai]

Didnt I respond to pretty much the same thread 5 times this week?
And for the 5th time, I say Atlanta though NONE of those teams are a cakewalk.

[barrist]

Miami would be a dream opponent, only because we don't match up well with any of the top 4.

Miami vs Toronto would be a dogfight imo

[Homer Jay]

Like I said in the other thread... it's the Hawks. Bibby is a much better matchup for Calderon than any other PG. I must disagree with OP about Hawks bigs being tough on our bigs. I think it plays to our favour more with them having athletic bigs like ours. Plus Reggie should be back by then and he will put a couple of hard shoulders into Horford to set a tone early. Key to them is letting JJ get his, and shutting down everyone else especially Crawford. I also think our second unit matches up VERY well against theirs as well. That isn't true about Boston for sure.

[GamePoint]

Lol. Cmon guys, Orlando leading the vote count?

Some of you seem to be forgetting we've lost to them 3 times, one of them being a complete blowout, and we also lost twice on our home floor. Everyone goes through rough patches, and the Magic are going through theirs. They're still 12 games above .500 and have the experience, talent, and COACHING to sweep us.

Boston always manages to intimidate us, we couldn't even beat them without Garnett, Pierce, and Rondo. And LBJ would crab dribble his way past us.

We play ATL two more times this season. If we manages to beat them once on our home floor, and at least keep it competitive at their place, we'll know for sure they're our best bet.

[koolguy]

i'd rather go against the hawks. at least we won't get screwed by the refs.

EDIT i forget about their timekeepers