Possible 1st round matchups

MVP16 · Post #1 » by **MVP16** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:08 pm

With the season winding down it's time to think of our 1st round opponent. I see 4 possible opponents - Heat, 76ers, Pistons and Bulls. The first 3 teams are only separated by 2 games right now so either of them could be 5-7 seeds. The Bulls are 3 losses behind Detroit for the 7th seed, but they have a pretty easy schedule with most of their games being at home so they could definetely move up to the 7th or maybe even 6th seed. And we could either be the 2nd or 3rd seed (I don't think we have a chance of catching the Cavs right now). So which team would pose the biggest challenge and which would be the easiest out?

Miami Heat
Pros: inxperienced with a starting rookie pg and rookie 6th man. 2 of their starters came over in a midseason trade so they may not have their chemistry down. Don't have too much depth.
Cons: Dwyane Wade.

Philadelphia 76ers
Pros: bad 3 point shooting team, no low post threat, no 1 great player, very little depth.
Cons: very athletic, similar to the Hawks.

Detroit Pistons
Pros: we beat them last year when they were much better, KG beasts on Rasheed
Cons: have a lot of experience so they could it put together, Hamilton is a tough cover

Chicago Bulls
Pros: we dominate them when we've been healthy, rely on a rookie pg a lot, Rondo/Pierce/KG should have field days.
Cons: have solid depth if Deng comes back, Gordon/Salmons can get hot and drop 20-30 points.

BRUNiNHO91 · Post #2 » by **BRUNiNHO91** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:13 pm

I would hate to see Detroit in the first round...I would love to see Philly though...Philly is the weakest of the 4...Chicago got nice players all around...Gordon, Hinrich, Rose, Tyrus Thomas, Salmons, Deng....yeah I want no part in playing Chicago...Miami has Wade and we would have our struggles having to go thru the playoffs guarding Wade, Howard, LeBron and KObe...so Philly would be my choice...

TheOGJabroni · Post #3 » by **TheOGJabroni** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:08 pm

I'd say the Bulls just because they are so inexperienced. Next would be the 6'ers but like the OP said, very reminiscent of the Hawks and I would rather avoid that in this year's first round if at all possible. Detroit, not that I'm worried but not a team I want to see in the first round since they are so experienced and absolutely do not want Wade to wear down Pierce or Allen on D before we have to see LeBron, Kobe, etc.

Cyclical · Post #4 » by **Cyclical** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:58 pm

You are sleeping on Charlotte. The Bobcats are peeking at the right time and IMO will be either the 7th or 8th seed. They've won 3 in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. Pros: They're the young Bobcats. Cons: Larry Brown ball - energy and tough defense. They're a deceptively tough matchup for anyone.

SonicYouth34 · Post #5 » by **SonicYouth34** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 9:07 pm

I'd love to see Philly and would hate to see the Heat or Pistons (if they aren't playing Iverson and if they aren't then i want them)

MVP16 · Post #6 » by **MVP16** » Sat Mar 21, 2009 9:22 pm

Cyclical wrote:You are sleeping on Charlotte. The Bobcats are peeking at the right time and IMO will be either the 7th or 8th seed. They've won 3 in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. Pros: They're the young Bobcats. Cons: Larry Brown ball - energy and tough defense. They're a deceptively tough matchup for anyone.

I could see Charlotte making it as the 8th seed, but not the 7th. Right now they are 4 losses behind Detroit and Detroit owns the tiebreaker. Lets say Charlotte goes 10-3 in its remaining games (pretty optimistic considering 8 of them are on the road), then Detroit would have to go 7-7 at worst. Catching the 76ers is a little more realistic for them since they have 2 more games left against them, but I don't see it. Chicago also owns the tiebreaker over the the Bobcats. So they would have to leap over Chicago and either Detroit or the 76ers...the chances of that happening are very small.

Avalanche · Post #7 » by **Avalanche** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:36 am

I want no part of Detroit or (less likely) Miami...

Dwyane Wade can do anything, and you never want to go up against those guys if you can avoid it... Detroit, while im confident in getting the win are a hard team and would take a lot of energy out of our players, very early on in the playoffs

Al-Haqq · Post #8 » by **Al-Haqq** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:13 am

I like Philly because that way the Pistons and the Magic can match up in the opening round, leaving us to play one of the two, as opposed to playing them both in separate rounds.

Avalanche · Post #9 » by **Avalanche** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:18 am

there would also be a solid chance of Detroit getting the upset over the Magic IMO