2009 NBA Playoffs

[Türküm]

obviously there are no TVs in North Carolina

this isn't even up for debate, no question the Lakers have the better team...not even an after thought about it

[persianbruin]

LeBron is averaging over 42pts this series...he has had ABSOLUTELY no help!

I would take the Lakers team minus Kobe over the Cavs minus Lebron ANY DAY...anyone would!

The Cavs performance outside of LeBron has just been non-existant...no matter how good 1 player is he cannot carry a team by himself...not even Jordan could do that!

Have you watched the laker games?? Kobe cant even rest for 3 minutes!! He sits down and the nuggets go on a huge run EVERYTIME.

[teammelli34]

obviously there are no TVs in North Carolina
this isn't even up for debate, no question the Lakers have the better team...not even an after thought about it

LOL you have got to be kidding me.
Cavs dont have the best players but atleast they can do something. West and Mo can both make big shots. Verajou or however you spell it plays his heart out.

besides pao, Lakers....well....they have odem.
Nuff said.

[Türküm]

no they are not!! The point is that it has to be a mix of 2. Did steve kerr avg 40+ points a game for 4 months during his career?? (MJ had none) Did steve kerr have 24 50+ point games? Did steve kerr become 7 time all defensive team? Did steve kerr become the youngest allstar ever??
come on mo! You know you are using the extreme for examples all the time. Just a heads up. That wont fly with the judge later on when you get to the court!!

so now we're judging on awards received? Steve Kerr's basketball fundamentals are far superior to Shaq's...of course Im going to give you an extreme example rather than one which is watered down!

Shaq couldn't hit a free throw to save his life! No question his fundamentals are better! Tim Duncan's fundamentals were ALWAYS better than Shaqs but Shaq will go down as the best Center of the past 15 years no Duncan

Per Espn

Who is better?
LeBron, only because of his leadership ability. What he's done and how he's been able to get a team of players up to seven years his senior to follow and believe in him the way the Cavs have (and the ease with which he seems to make it happen) put LBJ over Kobe as the better player right now. Not even Magic was this good a leader at this age. (Jackson)

[Türküm]

LOL you have got to be kidding me.
Cavs dont have the best players but atleast they can do something. West and Mo can both make big shots. Verajou or however you spell it plays his heart out.
besides pao, Lakers....well....they have odem.
Nuff said.

please watch the games or even read the stat line...u really have no idea wat ur talking about Bro...Williams, West have done shit

Put me in and ill play my heart out...it doesn't mean anything...Farmar plays his heart out every night.

[teammelli34]

please watch the games or even read the stat line...u really have no idea wat ur talking about Bro...Williams, West have done shit
Put me in and ill play my heart out...it doesn't mean anything...Farmar plays his heart out every night.

I cant believe we are even debating this.
Kobe was out for like two minutes yesterday in the first half, and the game was then finished.
Cavs without Lebron and the Lakers without Kobe would no doubt both not be good. but Cavs would deff have a better record.
I dont think its me that hasnt watched the games, I think you just have ONLY watched cavs games.

[persianbruin]

awards??? scoring 48 points and grabbing 16 rebounds on the road in the playoffs at the age of 22 is not an award! scoring 45 points AT top seeded san antonio at the age of 22 and scoring 8 overtime points at Indiana with shaq being fouled out in the NBA finals at the age of 21 are not awards my friend!!

Kobe (from espn)

Kobe Bryant doesn't have a single dominant skill that far outweighs all others, like LeBron does. Instead, he has the most complete, versatile, and polished skill set in the NBA. Pull-up jumper, leaner, runner, floater, fadeaway, fallaway, midrange, long-range, close-range, pump fake, jab step, up-and-under, dunk, layup, left hand, right hand, face-up, post-up, driving, elevating, strength, savvy, power, finesse, balance, body control, footwork. Bryant can do it all. His footwork, in particular, is unparalleled, and because of it, he is extremely effective in the post, making easy work of smaller players and even taking advantage of larger players without the fundamental skill set to compete with his own.

[Türküm]

I cant believe we are even debating this.
Kobe was out for like two minutes yesterday in the first half, and the game was then finished.
Cavs without Lebron and the Lakers without Kobe would no doubt both not be good. but Cavs would deff have a better record.
I dont think its me that hasnt watched the games, I think you just have ONLY watched cavs games.

ya I can't beleive we're debating this either...there is NO QUESTION the Lakers are the better team...PersianBruin will be the first to tell you...

I don't know which series you're watching...the games are on ESPN...not ESPN Classic bro

[teammelli34]

ya I can't beleive we're debating this either...there is NO QUESTION the Lakers are the better team...PersianBruin will be the first to tell you...
I don't know which series you're watching...the games are on ESPN...not ESPN Classic bro

Its making me frustrated that you really think the Lakers are the better team.

[Türküm]

awards??? scoring 48 points and grabbing 16 rebounds on the road in the playoffs at the age of 22 is not an award! scoring 45 points AT top seeded san antonio at the age of 22 and scoring 8 overtime points at Indiana with shaq being fouled out in the NBA finals at the age of 21 are not awards my friend!!

Kobe (from espn)

Kobe Bryant doesn't have a single dominant skill that far outweighs all others, like LeBron does. Instead, he has the most complete, versatile, and polished skill set in the NBA. Pull-up jumper, leaner, runner, floater, fadeaway, fallaway, midrange, long-range, close-range, pump fake, jab step, up-and-under, dunk, layup, left hand, right hand, face-up, post-up, driving, elevating, strength, savvy, power, finesse, balance, body control, footwork. Bryant can do it all. His footwork, in particular, is unparalleled, and because of it, he is extremely effective in the post, making easy work of smaller players and even taking advantage of larger players without the fundamental skill set to compete with his own.

we're talking about fundamentals, not accomplishments when it comes to Kerr and Shaq...Shaq was a great rebounder and low post scorer...his body is so big that you can't just drive down the lane and expect to get away unscaved...

Those are the ONLY 3 things shaq is better at then Kerr

Kerr is a better FT shooter, 3pt Shooter, Passer, Dribbler...etc

now tell me who has BETTER fundamentals



regarding Kobe...thats fine if his offensive arsenal is more complete...that takes time...and as Lebron continues to tune his he will just increase the distance between himself and Kobe...the kid is only gonna get better and the source you've been quoting to show me how great of a player Kobe is already acknowledges Lebron is the better player right now!

[Türküm]

Its making me frustrated that you really think the Lakers are the better team.

Check the Box Scores for the Magic and Nuggets series alone

check their stats for the regular season

its not up for debate

[KasraKhan]

I would take the Lakers team minus Kobe over the Cavs minus Lebron ANY DAY...anyone would!!

Yes, I agree with that 100%. Its pretty much a foregone conclusion. Although LeBron's supporting cast is much tougher, something we are in dire need of in L.A.

[KasraKhan]

Btw, eventhough the Cavs are down 3-1, I still dont think this series is over.

Cleveland will win Game 5, then after that, all they have to do is steal Game 6 in Orlando.

[Türküm]

Btw, eventhough the Cavs are down 3-1, I still dont think this series is over.
Cleveland will win Game 5, then after that, all they have to do is steal Game 6 in Orlando.

I want them to lose game 5

Send a message that this team needs changes

Keeping Szerbiak at deadline was a mistake

[ommy48]

Howard's determination lifts Magic over Cavs
by Charley Rosen

Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 15 books about hoops, the current ones being The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA and No Blood, No Foul.



For sure, the game was a squeaker that was theoretically up for grabs even as the buzzer sounded with the last shot in the air. But in the final accounting, Orlando won, Cleveland lost and this particular pressure-packed contest finally revealed some truths and some lies about both teams.

The truths, painful and otherwise


MAGIC


During regulation, Dwight Howard scored when he ran to the rim in early offense situations, when he was the recipient of drives-and-drops and when he was on the finishing end of screen-and-rolls. When the Cavs doubled him in half-court sets, Howard twice failed to meet inbounds passes and took several poor shots. But in the overtime period, the young man still had sufficient strength and quickness to blast his way through the weary defensive efforts of both Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao.
Also, while Howard was guilty of numerous faulty rotations on defense, he also came up with a couple of game-changing ones.
In sum, Howard's offense remains somewhat crude, his defense is iffy and he's still a work-in-progress. The Magic made a huge mistake when they replaced Clifford Ray with Patrick Ewing as Howard's primary mentor.

Hedo Turkoglu was effective only when he was involved in high screen-and-rolls with Howard. He's not very fleet-footed, his shot-release is likewise a tad slow, defenders who are aggressive and quick can successfully attack his dribble and he made too many ill-advised passes in traffic. But his size, unselfishness and shooting range make him a tough cover.

Rashard Lewis is exceptionally talented but isn't always exceptionally aggressive — except in the clutch.

Rafer Alston's hot shooting kept the Magic in the game during the third quarter. When he's riding a streak, Alston is a game-changer and he's always been more of a shoot-first point guard who tends to force too many of his shots.

Courtney Lee has a brilliant future.

Mickael Pietrus hounded LeBron and worked hard to deny him the ball on several occasions. What Pietrus couldn't accomplish was to prevent James from powering his way to the rim, but who can? At the other end, Pietrus knocked down five treys. Yes, he often forces shots, yet he demonstrated once more why he's one of the best sixth men in the league.

Anthony Johnson played his usual sturdy game and as usual, had difficulty matching strides with the quicksilver antics of Mo Williams. Johnson remains a valuable backup at the point who can only be a positive force in carefully selected situations.

Marcin Gortat is a clean-up center who will never be more than a quality backup. But given Howard's immaturity and penchant for collecting fouls, Marcin — who collected four rebounds and two points in his four minutes of daylight — is a quality and necessary cog.

The Magic's only interior scoring threat is Howard, whose effectiveness is limited in a bump-and-grind game. Essentially this is an inside-out, or even an outside-out ball club. Indeed, in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, Alston, Turkoglu and Pietrus took turns trying to hit triples that would put the Cavs to sleep. Only rarely did one of them try to turn the corner on a high screen-and-roll, nor could Howard be trusted with the ball in the low post. But Lewis finally hit the big bopper that gave the Magic the lead and enabled them to withstand a pair of free throws by James — and then proceed to win the game in OT.

Teams that live by the long-distance jumper usually die, but the Magic are so persistent and so accurate that it appears as though they'll survive into the Finals.

Stan Van Gundy makes plenty of mistakes, as witnessed by his failure to adequately harass the inbounds pass and two-time James in the closing seconds of Game 2. And why didn't he double James at the end of regulation in Game 4?

In addition, Van Gundy's courtside manner is over-the-top demonstrative. Watch how the majority of his players avoid looking at him the whole time he's exhorting them in timeouts. Still, he does maximize the talents of his players.

And the best aspect of this team is their never-give-up attitude.

CAVALIERS

The several truths as revealed in Game 4 by the Cavs must necessarily begin with LeBron. He's strong, quick, creative, basically unselfish and an ultra-exceptional finisher. But his jumper is erratic — 5-for-13 including an airball in overtime — and when he was matched up against Alston, he gave too much ground. Indeed, it was under LeBron's watch that Alston went off in the second half. And he missed only two free throws in the fourth quarter.


James made several costly mistakes in the end, mostly throwing foolish passes in the second half. For the game, his eight turnovers were more weighty than his seven assists.

Mo Williams shoots too much and plays inadequate defense.

Ilguaskas is a 7-foot-3 one-hand push shooter with minimal lateral quickness.

Anderson Varejao played terrific defense on Turkoglu and has incredibly quick hands and feet. Unfortunately, he's really a part-time player whose weaknesses get exposed the more he plays.

Delonte West is bulldog tough. His defense against the much bigger Turkoglu was outstanding, and — next to James — he's the most dangerous post-up scorer on the team. The guy is easily the second-best player on the team.

Ben Wallace made the most of his limited time, which is all he deserves on the down-side of his career.

Daniel Gibson hit a pair of treys, but a young player like him needs to be in his team's regular rotation to keep his game sharp.

As always, Wally Szczerbiak played good positional defense versus Lewis but was helpless when he was forced to move his feet.

Mike Brown didn't exactly coach a terrific game. He didn't play Joe Smith enough (only four minutes). He bears the onus for the Cavs' lack of ball movement for most of the game. And why on earth did he have Wallace guarding Lewis with the game on the line? Did he really expect Big Ben to play adhesive defense that far from the hoop?

In Game 4, the Cavs outran the runners but couldn't out-gun the gunners.


The lies

LeBron is as good as Michael Jordan.

LeBron is as good as Kobe Bryant.

LeBron has become an extraordinary defender because he blocks breakaway layups from behind.

The Cavs are the best team in the NBA.

Mike Brown is the best coach in the NBA.

Dwight Howard is Superman. Captain Marvel, perhaps, but certainly not the Man of Steel.

Dwight Howard is the best defensive player in the NBA.

The referees have been advised to rig the games so that Kobe and LeBron will meet in the Finals. In fact, everybody who subscribes to this — and other — conspiracy theories is only doing so because their favorite team turned out to be losers.