Sorry theOutlaw. I'll be done after this post.
You should've been done before it!rjgraca wrote:Because of some of the dumb posts acting like how the teams are set today is how the teams will be when they matchup next season.
Hmmmmm...kind of like some Magic fans' posts on the CAVs board in this thread.
Fair enough.
VC hasn't dominated the CAVs lately...don't look at this as happening soon or Pietrus assuming Star status being forced into the starting line-up.
Wow, Bass or Sheed which would cost Orland their whole MLE which I believe I have read that the Magic's GM doesn't want to spend the MLE on one player...another fantasy shared on the CAVs board by a Magic fan.
Let me guess. Lebron was covering VC the most recent games that VC played against the Cavs, since he was the best wing option for the Nets and Bron guards the best. I didn't watch the games against the Nets, but I would assume that's what happened based on typical Cav matchups. Either Lebron guards VC or he will guard Shard against us, I'd guess with the PF talk, he would be guarding Rashard, which would mean that VC should go off against a much smaller Delonte West. VC(and Devin Harris) were the only 2 threats the Nets had, so you just had to focus on them. When you have the other 3 players we have playing around VC, it'll be tough to just focus on him. I wouldn't really put past productivity on a much less dangerous team as what's going to happen. It could still happen like that, we don't know until the game gets played.
Otis Smith rarely shows his hand, so we really have no idea what's going to happen. There is a report saying that we have offered Sheed the full MLE and there is a report saying that Brandon Bass is our first option(which I would deduct that we would also offer the MLE if we offered it to Sheed our 2nd option). Otis is one of the few GM's that doesn't go out in the media. For example look at the speculation of the VC trade in comparison to the speculation of the Shaq trade. Shaq trade was all over the news the week before it actually happened. VC trade came out of nowhere. Otis is one of the best GM's in the NBA and by far the best GM that we have ever had, so I have to trust that he will get one of his top targets. It's not like Orlando isn't a very attractive place to play, we got our core locked up for multiple years including the best center in the league, it's in Florida, and we don't have a state tax. Not to mention we made the Finals this year.
The Magic have about $10 mil to spend to get a minimum of 4, maximum of 7 players. The speculation is that the Magic will use the MLE(5.8 mil) on Sheed/Bass and be contempt filling out the rest of the lineup with vet minimum and minimum caliber deals. I expect to get 1 or 2 vet minimum guys after the MLE and then just fill the rest with summer league players. Obviously if we can't get either of our top 2 Targets, we will split the MLE 2 ways.
Honestly if you are Brandon Bass, how do you decline the same amount of money(without taxes), a starting spot playing alongside Dwight freaking Howard, and a chance at a championship?
So the 2 OT games don't count as close games? I'm sorry that it's safe to say that the Cavs had 2 close games so it was razor close, while the Magic lost 2 close games and it didn't matter. My bad, forgot the Magic don't get the benefit of the doubt. Both Cleveland(against Orlando) and Orlando(against LA) lost convincingly in 2 games in the series and the other 2 losses could have gone either way if the ball bounced a different way.
I still have faith that since Dwight is only 23 right now he will be able to improve his game in the offseason. I expect that he will become a much better post player now that he has the entire offseason to actually work on his game. His stats might not go up offensively because of the weapons we have around him, but he should be less mechanical when he gets the ball in the post and hopefully he'll make better decisions with the ball
.
Nice of you to notice how close the series actually was which was razor thin edge to the Magic. Dwight is just a bull in the China shop offensively which is why the CAVs got an old Bull (in Shaq) to challenge him offensively and defensively. You took two paragraphs of wishful thinking on the CAVs board which is NOT impressive at all.
How close you feel the Cavs were to beating the Magic was about the same closeness that the Magic were to beating the Lakers.... We pretty much add an all-star PG and an all-star SG and subtract a near all-star SF to the team that beat you last year. We'll see how it pans out the rest of the offseason, but I'd say VC + Jameer + Rasheed Wallace/Brandon Bass -Hedo -Lee= a better team than we were last year.
The point is that Shaq doesn't have to be that dominate...just play his role on the CAVs to be an inside presense to keep other teams like the Magic honest in the post. Shaq showed last season that he was a good fit in facing off against the Magic in their two match-ups...the CAVs are not looking for much more. VC is a more traditional line-up for the Cavs to face which will take away the slight height advantage of Hedo and now Howard's free hand in the post has been answered by Shaq. Yes, the Magic could make your dream come true...but I wouldn't count on it for a higher profile free agent--think Drew Gooden as the best the Magic can hope for and even that will be stretch.
Shaq is also diminishing, while Dwight is getting better. Shaq should be able to make Dwight get more tired then Z did, but then again Shaq isn't going to draw Dwight out of the paint defensively. Every time Lebron drives, he will have Dwight sitting right there. Not to mention we all know Shaq's afraid of Dwight, hence the flop the last meeting between them.
As of now the Magic are starting Rashard at PF still, so we don't have a more traditional lineup at all. It's a little shorter with Pietrus starting instead of Hedo, but it's still the same concept. If we do what the rumors are and sign either Sheed/Bass, then yes we are a more traditional lineup, but we have enough versatility in our lineup that we could still start Shard at PF for the matchup problem and bring Sheed/Bass off the bench. If Lebron was really going to play PF against Shard then it doesn't really matter that much if we get a Bass/Sheed, because it will still be the same matchup just at SF with another matchup advantage for the Magic at PF with Bass/Sheed.
I have faith in Otis that he will make good moves to fill out the roster.
And some Magic fans have posted this rah rah stuff again which answers the not too smart part.
Which is exactly what you are doing too, you are just posting rah rah stuff too......
