Since we have the attention of all these Magic fans: Thoughts about Orlando's defense with the new acquisitions? My feeling is this is a step back, but I'll admit Orlando's D surprised the heck out of me last season. I thought it would be difficult to cover up for Lewis at PF, but Howard was such a monster that it didn't matter that Lewis is allergic to rebounds. The rotations were solid, they did a good job forcing ball handlers in directions they didn't want to go, and the closeouts were very sharp. Is SVGs system compatible with these new look guys?
If he were in prison, he would be the guy who screams and cries for the first half hour and wears a contraband wig and bra the rest of the time
I think the D's effectiveness is predicated around Dwight Howard. As long as he's here, I think we should always be a top 5 defensive team regardless of the pieces we put, assuming quality effort is being put forward. That might just be a biased opinion, but that's how I look at it.... I think Bass could be could help Dwight in the post defensively and perhaps force Dwight to expand his game offensively. The frontcourt depth can allow our bigs to take more risks and be more aggressive IMO..... I guess we'll have to see how the chemistry works out tho, to know for sure... Im sure Jameer's little team retreat will get all of the guys on the same page get the team chemistry in a good place before training camp tho.
I think most members around here are holding back and being good sports. The real reason we are reverent towards Hedo is swag.
The guy was confident and fairly physical. When the cavs hit him in the mouth, he smiled.
You guys need to really watch carefully when Vince Carter faces a physical defender. The cavs have shut him down with Ira Newble Eric Snow and Sasha Pavlovic in the past. He fakes injury in 3/4ths of the games we face him. If he were in prison, he would be the guy who screams and cries for the first half hour and wears a contraband wig and bra the rest of the time.
You think Shaq is washed up, we think Wince Cater has a vagina. I guess we won't know the winner until the actual game is played.
I wouldn't think you'd want the front court to be more aggressive. SVG seems to be all about keeping people off the foul line and Dwight out of foul trouble. I agree Howard is the biggest factor, but I'd be concerned that he's going to be caught out of position more often if Vince plays the same D he did in NJ (no intensity, lackluster lateral movement).
Orlando decided to trade for Vince Carter to get past the Lakers. Not the Cavs.
There's a reason why our resident genius (Danny Ferry) did not get vince carter when he was being shopped for wall-e. You, Orlando fans, will be able to see that reason this coming season.
The lakers gave us real BIG match up problems. Bynum, Gasol and Odom/ariza all on the court at once, thats pretty scary. Cleveland is a good team but they don't create huge match up problems for teams except for lebron, there really isn't a team that has someone to match up with him. IMO I thought SVG's defensive strategy in the ECF was genius, by letting lebron do his thing and shutting down the other players. It will be interesting to see how things will pan out this year
Lol, I thought you guys wanted Vince, but just didn't have the pieces to get him? Lol, Since NJ is trying to get LBJ, they didn't want to give CLE any help and your expirings werent enough to convince them...
I mean if they just wanted expirings, we would have just tossed them Anthony Johnson or JJ Redick, but we had to give up a damn good prospect, Courtney Lee, to get him. Lol, Danny Ferry is a failure. He been trying to get Vince for 2 or 3 years now and couldnt get the job done... Otis Smith >>>>
(lol, just givin u guys a hard time, dont take it the wrong way)
Cleveland made moves last season to defeat Boston, who Danny Ferry assumed would be our opponent in the ECF.
Now Orlando is making the same mistake by preparing for LA while giving up the matchup advantages against Cleveland and Boston.
I believe Cleveland did a good job this offseason since they addressed their weaknesses from last season without giving up a major piece of their roster (such as TurkeyGlu).
Could be wrong though.