Cle/Lal/Orl/Den-Which team is the best?

klemen4 · Post #1 » by **klemen4** » Thu May 28, 2009 6:49 pm

More I watch this games in semifinals more I think that Orlando may be the favorite to win it. Im surprised in myself having that opinion but it looks like they have the best mix of players, style of play, team chemistry of all 4 teams. Ok they are still a long way from the finals and also if they manage to get there probably Lakers will be the favorites on paper but they sure suprised me.

Let me take a quick analyze of the team:

Orlando:
+
Howard in the midlle is a big plus, DPOY, amazing athlete, hitting ft in closing minutes
Mismatches with Lewis in pf spot, unstoppable penetrating by other pf, great 3pt shooter
Turkoglu good clutch player, 6-10 playing point, can take it to the rim, draw fouls
Amazing defense by rookie Lee also hitting big shots without pressure
Alston is solid, knows the role
Bench: Great play by Pietrus, Johnson and Gortat also solid... good bench rotation

Lakers:
They still are the favorites but,
- Bynum is not the same after injury
- Fisher passed his prime
- Poor bench rotation by Phil
- Not good defensive team

Cleveland:
- Not good enough supporting cast
- Z to old, No offense by Varejao
- No inside game
- guard not hitting good shots
- Poor bench rotation by Brown

Denver:
- No inside game
- Low basketball IQ
- No expirience, to many turnovers

If Orlando and Lakers make it to the finals I think that...
- Bynum/Gasol can stop Howard like Perk did
- Odom is fast enough to stay with Lewis

so I predict Lakers wining it.

BRUNiNHO91 · Post #2 » by **BRUNiNHO91** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:22 pm

Boston...who ever wins this year, won because Boston wasn't healthy. So this season's winner is a FLUKE..it is what it is...

Papa Irish31 · Post #3 » by **Papa Irish31** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:49 pm

Bynum just isnt good, you cant blame that on any injury, he is just not what LA fans thought he was, mostly because LA fans vastly overrated him from the start

if he was good kobe wouldnt have wanted him traded, nothings changed, im sure kobe would take and trade of bynum and odem for a legit star any day of the week

Oh and Boston is the best team when healthy, theres no question about that in anybody's minds

klemen4 · Post #4 » by **klemen4** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:15 pm

Yes, we are the best team if healthy and I think also the fans of other teams would agree.

celt4ever · Post #5 » by **celt4ever** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:46 pm

None. The best team is not playing right now!!!

SonicYouth34 · Post #6 » by **SonicYouth34** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:48 pm

Celtics. /Thread

Rocky5000 · Post #7 » by **Rocky5000** » Thu May 28, 2009 9:06 pm

The best team of those 4 is the Cavs. The Magic will beat the Cavs because of matchups, and I think they'll also beat the Lakers for the same reason. Just like when the warriors beat the Mavericks. The Mavericks were close to, if not the best team in the league that year, they just matched up horribly with the warriors and drew the worst possible matchup for them in the entire league. Doesn't mean that the warriors were a better team.

The Cavs weakness this year has been inside-out defense, when we beat them without KG we did it inside and then started hitting outside shots, the Magic are well suited to exploit that. The Mavericks of 06-07 couldn't play up tempo or small, and then they hit the epitome of that style in the Warriors.

threrf23 · Post #8 » by **threrf23** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:02 pm

The Cavs were most dominant in the regular season. Lakers were 2nd, and have three star caliber players when Odom is on his game. The Nuggets have talent and decent depth and Chauncey Billups can help harness it, they are sort of a wildcard. The Magic are a team that outperforms by way of a system where everybody is used almost perfectly relative to their strengths, their success depends on matching up against teams well and an emotional playoff atmosphere can theoretically work against them. Like SVG or not, he gets my pick for COY.

The Magic's success against the Cavs surprises me, but I guess they match up fairly well. A large reason for the Cavs' success is their inside defense. Not only does Dwight Howard's sheer strength at least help to neutralize this, but the Magic are a team whose success is predicated on its ability to hit outside shots, so that inside defense goes to waste. The Cavs' bigmen defend and rebound well, but aren't necessarily fit to guard Rashard Lewis and they have no PF to exploit Rashard Lewis' status as a soft PF on the offensive end.

Further, another reason for the Cavs success normally is that opposing wings have to exert so much effort guarding Lebron, there is less effort to go around on the other end. But because the Magic's wing players aren't called on to work hard to create their shots and they can bring a guy like Pietrus off the bench, this doesn't affect the Magic so much either. Finally, the Magic's biggest defensive weakness is at SG (at least statistically, I know they were able to bother Ray but doing so still altered their plans I am sure) and the Cavs rely on role playing from the SG position and thus do not exploit this.

Cavs/Lakers would make an interesting matchup. I'd give a slight edge to the Cavs. Lebron > Kobe, Cavs front court D can neutralize Gasol/Bynum/maybe Odom. Both teams can play solid D and have solid role players that fit well.

Magic/Nuggets wouldn't be as interesting as people might assume. Nene has a stronger body than Perk and his game is similar to Dwight's. K-Mart and maybe Balkman if Karl were to play him could defend Rashard Lewis fairly well - K-Mart is an overrated defender but matches up well versus Rashard. Turkoglu is a solid player but not the type of player that could really exploit any of Carmelo's weaknesses on the defensive end. Meanwhile Billups>>>>Alston and the Magic would theoretically have trouble guarding JR Smith, especially when Carmelo was in the game alongside him. Nuggets would potentially sweep.

I do think that Mike Brown should be starting Ben Wallace over Varejao. He is arguably a better option to guard Rashard Lewis and when in a starting lineup his teammates can mask any scoring deficiency.

brassviews · Post #9 » by **brassviews** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:48 pm

klemen4 wrote:Yes, we are the best team if healthy and I think also the fans of other teams would agree.

Should have ended it at "healthy."

MaxwellSmart · Post #10 » by **MaxwellSmart** » Thu May 28, 2009 11:31 pm

The Cavs beat up on BAD teams and lost to Good teams...whereas, the Lakers and Magic both beat GOOD teams...if you remember last year, WE Beat the GOOD teams-and relaxed and lost a few to the BAD teams....So, I say Orlando and LA are the best two teams...Denver has just been on a hot streak the last month or so----they're only a top 10 team.

chakdaddy · Post #11 » by **chakdaddy** » Fri May 29, 2009 12:04 am

MaxwellSmart wrote:The Cavs beat up on BAD teams and lost to Good teams...whereas, the Lakers and Magic both beat GOOD teams...if you remember last year, WE Beat the GOOD teams-and relaxed and lost a few to the BAD teams....So, I say Orlando and LA are the best two teams...Denver has just been on a hot streak the last month or so----they're only a top 10 team.

No, Cleveland beat up on bad teams; but Orlando and LA got stretched to 7 games by teams that were DECIMATED by injuries and shouldn't have stood a chance.

The Orlando/Cleveland thing is kind of turning my theories upside down...I don't think Orlando matches up well at all with LA, and I'm upset that our blowing the Orlando series will likely give LA the title.

MaxwellSmart · Post #12 » by **MaxwellSmart** » Fri May 29, 2009 12:27 am

chakdaddy wrote:
MaxwellSmart wrote:The Cavs beat up on BAD teams and lost to Good teams...whereas, the Lakers and Magic both beat GOOD teams...if you remember last year, WE Beat the GOOD teams-and relaxed and lost a few to the BAD teams....So, I say Orlando and LA are the best two teams...Denver has just been on a hot streak the last month or so----they're only a top 10 team.

No, Cleveland beat up on bad teams; but Orlando and LA got stretched to 7 games by teams that were DECIMATED by injuries and shouldn't have stood a chance.

The Orlando/Cleveland thing is kind of turning my theories upside down...I don't think Orlando matches up well at all with LA, and I'm upset that our blowing the Orlando series will likely give LA the title.

Maybe I should have been more precise--I meant During the REGULAR SEASON----Orlando and LA beat Good teams more often than Cleveland did.

tfmiii · Post #13 » by **tfmiii** » Fri May 29, 2009 1:24 am

Of the teams currently playing Orlando is the best, they would expose LA just as they are exposing the Cavs. One of the aspects that i really like about Orlando is that they can hurt you from every position.

Not true of the Cavs, not true of the Lakers (depending on the tweets lol) and not true of Denver. Granted the Lakers and Nuggets can get an atypical game out of a Nene, Fisher, KMart or Odom - but for the most part they are limited in their offensive options. Cleveland, well they have only one reliable option.

Orlando puts a lot of pressure on teams to defend them well and forces them to change their game to minimize poor match ups. The only team that comes close to Orlando's versatility is Boston (when healthy) and Boston is a better defensive team, although the Magic are nothing to sneeze at. Speaking of D, once Cleveland has been eliminated Orlando will stand head and shoulders over the the remaining teams in terms of defense. LA has not faced a defense as intense since we whupped 'em a year ago.

I think Orlando met their stiffest test in defeating us. Not only did we match up best against them (even depleted) we took advantage of their lack of playoff toughness. Well they graduated and I think the Magic are a better team for the series they played against us, like we were after we defeated Atl and Cleveland last year.

kakopedi1 · Post #14 » by **kakopedi1** » Fri May 29, 2009 1:26 am

Its a toss up between the remaining 4 teams but def a healthy Boston team is Best and hangs 18 if it werent for the injuries.

On a side note, Kobe vs. James is finally settled in my mind and its def King James. I mean James 2nd banana is Mo friggin Williams!! Kobe would bail if he was in James shoes right now, hell Kobe wouldnt have gotten the Cavs in the playoffs in the 1st place.

Youth4Glory · Post #15 » by **Youth4Glory** » Fri May 29, 2009 2:34 am

LA would beat Cleveland but lose to Orlando
Denver would beat Orlando but lose to Cleveland
Orlando would beat LA but lose to Denver
Cleveland would beat Denver but lose to LA

so basically boston is the best

CelticFaninLBC · Post #16 » by **CelticFaninLBC** » Fri May 29, 2009 3:25 am

Hate to say it, but LA's the best team due to the experience of Kobe and Phil... Denver's the most talented team, but is too emotional.. They kinda remind me of the Bad Boys a year prior to their title run.

Cleveland has no #2 guy to complement Bron. Mo Williams is no Scottie Pippen. Not even a Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom. Yes, Odom hasn't done a lot recently, but he really hurt himself in the Houston series.

Boston would win it all again, if Garnett was back. Lewis was a huge matchup problem in the Orlando series, and KG would shut him down.. LA may have Bynum back, but he sux.