Why is Cleveland perceived to be a better team than Orlando?

[MagicFan32]

I am not hating on the Cavs but Orlando currently holds a six game lead on them for the 3rd seed in the east. We all know how great Lebron James is, but Dwight Howard is a first team all star, superstar in his own right and I think most would agree Orlando has a better supporting cast at the moment.

Yet everywhere I look the Cavs get lumped in with Boston and Detroit. How is a team 8 games over .500 being lumped in with two teams who are each nearly 30 to 40 games over .500?

Since the all star break the Cavs are 8-6,Orlando 11-3. Orlando has a monster point differential going in those 11 wins. Yes some of the teams were less than stellar but many forget the Magic held their own during an extremely difficult first 3 months schedule wise.

I'm not saying the Magic are on par with Boston or anything but come on, they are atleast in the same second tier discussion as Cleveland IMO..

[SOUL]

LeBron James - and their run last year, until we do stuff in the playoffs nobody is going to notice.

[Quiet-Storm]

Lebron James.

He single handedly destroyed the pistons twice in a playoff series when the pistons were the elite team in the east that season.

[FlightNo.23]

I have a question. Does Hedo or Rashard play PF?

[SOUL]

Shard.

[Hunter]

Why is Cleveland perceived to be a better team than Orlando?

That's the respect you receive by going deep into the playoffs. If the Cavs had lost in the 1st or 2nd round last year, or probably even the ECF then people would be looking at them differently.

And as much as I love Dwight he's not as valuable as LeBron. That's because LeBron is a closer. He's more apt to take over a game down the stretch and assert his will. He's arguably the most potent 4th quarter player in the league atm, with the possible exception of Kobe who does it at both ends.

I realize this is a bit of a conundrum since championship teams are usually built on the shoulders of dominant bigmen, but you'd be surprised how often those contests where actually decided by guards in the last 2 minutes. That's because bigmen are generally poor FT shooters and heavily reliant on somebody else getting them the ball in the proper position.

LeBron on the other hand can bring the ball up the court and get himself into his own offense, splitting the defense or doing damn near anything else he wants. You can deny Dwight the ball or put him on the line. Trying keeping the ball out of LeBrons hands.

Maybe Orlando does have the better team. But Cleveland has the best player and sometimes that's all you need.

I'd like Orlando a lot better if they didn't have guys like Arroyo & Nelson at the point, too.

[One of Shemps Kids]

Its not Cleveland as a team, its just the potentiality of LeBron James taking over the series and winning it for his team, with no one being able to stop him ala Pistons series last year.

[Rasheeed!!!]

the fact that Cavs are only 6 games behind the Magic is a miracle considering all their injuries.

[damo[23]]

There are alot of reasons;

The more obvious and more agree-able ones are things such as Clevelands run last year, their "playoff type trades" to make them a bit tougher, the fact Lebron can take over a series in a way that Dwight or Shard cant [Hedo prob gets closest with the way he can take over in the 4th].

Theres also smaller reasons such as Cleveland are a "national" team if you will, with lebron they are actually watched and studied. Orlando are not; and we know this just simply because pundits, broadcasters, writers and pretty much anyone commenting on Orlando make such basic mistakes that its completely evident they dont watch them except for against the big teams.

[MagicMadness]

James has been a monster in the postseason, and of course, the Cavs did win the conference last year.

While the Magic seem to be a better team than the Cavs this regular season, we'll have to wait and see if they're a better playoff team as well.

[Icefire10304]

Answer: LeBron. He's a BEAST

[prekazi]

Because 1-LeBron James 2- Rebounding 3- Orlando has lots of weaknesses in game especially@back court and PF. I mean Shard is playing power forward even LeBron will eat him alive on the boards, not to mention Z, Varejao, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith. 4- Orlando is unproven.
5- Cavs weren't healthy all season so their record is deceptive.

I understand Magic fans though. They look really good lately and Cavs are playing like a NBDL team with LeBron. They deserve more respect. But, don't worry about being an underdog. It's better, I know because I'm a Cavs fan.

[TheOUTLAW]

Clearly respect is overrated. Just look at the teams that have at one time or another claimed to being disrespected.

[TooNice00]

well they play each other tomorrow so i guess we will see what happens.

[B Mac]

well they play each other tomorrow so i guess we will see what happens.

Again that is a regular season game. I know we are getting close to playoff time, but the top 4 spots are pretty much set. I dont see any real reason why the game should be playoff-like.

I understand that feeling of being underrated Magic fans. Cavs fans have felt it for a few years. Once you get over everyone telling you "no you cant" you'll realize its actually a fun role to be in, because when you go on your run it makes it all the better.

The reasons the Cavs are viewed above the Magic is simple. 1. LeBron 2. Experience 3. We have missed the second most games of any team to injury, and thats not including the holdouts of Varejao and Pavlovic. As the Piston fan said on the last page, the fact that we are so close at this point is a pretty great feat in itself.

I do cheer for the Magic, let me rephrase that, I cheer for Dwight (how can you not like him), so let me just say that a ECF between Cleveland and Orlando would be uber amazing. Especially since all both teams have heard all year is that Boston and Detroit are locks to win the East.

I look forward to seeing how the Magic perform in the playoffs, when games really matter.

[TooNice00]

the regular season can still reveal who is the better team. you see how they matchup and the weaknesses and advantages of both teams against one another. i personally don't see how the cavs are a better team.

[CzBoobie]

the regular season can still reveal who is the better team. you see how they matchup and the weaknesses and advantages of both teams against one another. i personally don't see how the cavs are a better team.

In last three years, the Cavs are 4-2 against the Spurs in the regular season...We have seen how it worked out in the playoffs.

I don't see how back-to-back game in Orlando while playing without the best shooter in Gibson and without the second best player and best low-post presence in Ilgauskas can reveal anything about quality of respective teams in the playoffs...

[Hydroponic3385]

1) Lebron in the playoffs, and the fact that Orlando and its players haven't really done much of anything in the playoffs

2) You can talk about records this season all you want, but Cleveland has been hindered by injuries more than any team not named the Wizards

3) It's not like Orlando and Cleveland will face each other anyway, but if I were Boston and/or Detroit, I'd rather face Orlando. Did you watch the ECF last year? Lebron's not a guy you want to face in the playoffs, no matter how good Dwight or Hedo is. Especially if the Cavs are full health or close to it. Missing Boobie, Andy and Sasha for a LARGE part of the season, as well as Z and Lebron for 5-10 games, and getting adjusted to 4 new players more than midway thru the season...I'd say that's pretty good reason to be suffering in the win category so far.

[wiff]

I agree it has to do with the Cavs deep run last year but I also think it has to do with the PR MARKETING MACHINE called the NBA and LeBron James being the poster child for the NBA. Not that he doesn't deserve to be the poster child because the kid does.

The NBA: Where "scoring 25 points in a row" happens.




But let's not forget

The NBA: Where "Hijacking your favorite team" happens.

[dockingsched]

why wouldn't cleveland be ahead of orlando?