ESPN picks Orlando to finish 4th in the East

[tjm384]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/stor ... redictions

[FFBlitzace]

That's fine. I think 4th is a reasonable projection, although we'd obviously say we'd repeat as 3rd.

But it's laughable how they shrug off our moves, yet say "If JJ Hickson can make an immediate impact inside." for Cleveland. Who the f*** is JJ Hickson? I'm kidding, I know who he is, but you get my point.

[magicfanatic23]

Ehh no shocker here. The list looks pretty solid to me. Hopefully we can surprise and do better than that.

[christian72589]

i will never understand people that love the cavs so much outside of cleveland... what does that team have that is so great... Lebron?? it has been proven time and again that ONE player cannot do it all yet these anylists continue to pick cleveland over orlando with one perrennial allstar and two boarderline... shard and hedo, with a solid ( i don't care what anyone says about this) PG in Jameer who got it done when it counted... blasphamy

[lovehoops01]

Apparently, they don't think the entire Magic team is as sexy as LeBron by himself.

Frankly, I think it's much easier for the national media to focus on one star than the team as a whole. They are not here in Orlando watching what's going on every day. And let's face it....LeBron is an entire industry, like Tiger. They probably think it's a bad idea to get on the wrong side of him.

I'm OK with that ranking, though. Last season, they said the Magic would struggle to make the playoffs. The Magic will have some things to prove -- that last season wasn't a fluke and that the moves of other teams did not make them better than the Magic. (I'm not saying those things are true, but some other people have.)

[sChOlaRlY_Magi]

IDK.. Maybe it's just the eteranl optimist in me (LOL), but after reading that and how the Pistons are in Limbo... I think we should at least be in the number 2 spot and King James should be the Lebronze of the East!

[paperboymafia]

i think we could snag 2 with an injury free season and IF MP plays well, and Howard progresses a bit more,..etc etc a lot of IFS but if they come true, then we're 2.

[eyriq]

Boston with only 55 wins? I thought all their win predictions were modest at best actually. I certainly don't see the Magic actually winning LESS games than last year. Cleveland can play D and they have the best player in Lebron so I can see giving them some love over Toronto and Philly, but not over the Magic. I think the Magic and the Pistons were pretty close to even last year and that with our changes we pull even if not past them this year. But what the hell man, this is why they play the games!

[Bucs80]

acouple of you guys know Cavs were a 50 win team back to back years before last seasons injury riduled year last season. and they still won 45 games.

Lebron James went to the finals with the Cavs, Took the Pistons to a game 7 in 06, and took the Celtics to a game 7 where they pretty much lost the series in the last minute.

Come guys really?

It would kind of make sense that Cleveland might have the better record at the end of the season (barring injury). Not saying they will it might happen.

[fendilim]

Anyone else thinks Cavs is overrated? They have a good core but the players surrounding LeBron are one-dimensional ..

[SOUL]

they suck reg season but surprise in playoffs

[EasternMagic]

im surprised they picked us that high...

[drsd]

But it's laughable how they shrug off our moves ....

I agree and disagree. The Magic needed a new PG given Arroyo and Dooling's departures, but does Johnson alone fill the gap? The Magic needed an actual starting quality SG, but does tabbing a career back up, Pietrus, fill that hole? And the Magic basically filled the PF slot simply by getting Battie back. Will he even be at 90% of his pre-injury levels?

These are questions that need in-game answers. For now, I basiclly agree with ESPN that a 49 win season would get the #4 and this is one probable outcome.

As for all the Cleveland talk, I like the Mo WIlliams signing, but the fact is that the Cavs are still soft in the front court. The Magic are project to win one less game, thus ESPN must conclude that the magic might be better than the Cavs. (The same can thus be said for the Pistons, also projected at 50 wins).

Anyhow, it is nice to see that the Media bandwagon is not over-emphasizing the Sixers.

[damo[23]]

The win totals are pretty irrelevant, I think its just ESPN demonstrating that the East is definatly tougher down into 9th or 10th place; and with the West still as good as it was, wins are going to be harder to come by.

In the general board the ammount of west fans getting bent out of shape because even though they are ranked well they've got less wins that last year is terrible.

Though I still dont see Miami making the post season, I might be wrong, but I wasnt wrong last year when I thought they were a bad lottery team, and some people had them down as 3rd place ...

[Magic.City.23.]

Cleveland can make a legitamite case for #3.... Mo Williams is good PG, just as good as Jameer. LeBron is one of the best player in the league and one of the most physically imposing perimeter players to ever play the game. Big Ben brings some toughness up front, and Hickson looks to be a Ben Wallace type player, but with offense....... Big Z, Wally Z, DWest, Boobie are all solid role players..... If LeBron is doin his thing, this team can be great and can challenge the Magic.......If CLee or Peitrus really prove to be something special tho, we will still have edge over them in my book. We have the better starting 5, but they have the best player which always makes them a threat.

[Def Swami]

Cavs wont get to 50 wins. Mo Williams doesnt give them anything Delonte West didnt give them. I think Orlando will finish second if the they stay healthy. Boston is overrated, but understandably, ESPN has to give them respect as returning champs. I think the loss of Posey and PJ Brown will hurt them. Detroit increased their depth this offseason, making them no. 1 in the east. Most of these predictions are a little weary about the Magic because we got a lot of "ifs", but theyre underestimating the pick up of CLee, MP, AJ, and the return of Battie and Cook, who will hopefully help Dwight on the boards. Our defense should greatly improve.

Why does everyone think MIA is going to make the playoffs? I think Wade's performance during the Olympics has everyone buzzing. They have a nice trio with Marion and Beasely, but unless Haslem has a break out year I dont see it happening. They got a small front line and could get killed on the boards playing teams like Philly, Raps, or Detroit. I cant even name anyone on their bench. Why would anyone sleep on the Hawks? Their young nucleus is coming back and unlike the Golden State fairy tale a couple of years ago, the Hawks play D. The Hawks have a much better team than the Heat. I'd take Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Horford, and Bibby over the Heat's trio.

[trebone]

we love the underdog role as it is

[Bucs80]

Mo Williams is better than Delonte West. West in my eyes can't be a starting PG in the league. He did have acouple of good games last year in the playoffs. But The Cavs need someone else who could score the ball other than Lebron. Game 7 against the Celtics where no one else beside Lebron could score the ball. And Williams can score 16-18 points a game after Lebron.

[drsd]

Mo Williams doesnt give them anything Delonte West didnt give them.

Wow. Bold statement. One that I do not at all agree with. Williams is a gosh-darn-fine guard. He will be a key asset for Cleveland next year. And the give and go with LBJ only makes Williams stat line more fat.

[Hairy Midget]

Only problem is that Williams needs the ball to do his thang, and that ball will probably need to be in the hands of the Cav's better player. Though I'm not sure exactly how good of a spot up shooter Mo Williams is.