Off-Day Open Thread: Pistons or 76ers?

by Ben Q Rock on Apr 30, 2008 3:11 PM EDT in Off-Day Open Thread Comment 5 comments

Although it's not yet official, it looks like our opponent in the next round of the playoffs will be the Detroit Pistons. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers last night to take a 3-2 series lead.

But suppose it were up to us, the Magic fans: which team would you rather us play? On the one hand, we handled Philadelphia fairly easily in the regular season, blowing it out twice and winning three of the four games overall. On the other hand, we fared okay against Detroit, including a surprising blowout win in The Palace in our last meeting with them. Additionally, facing the Pistons gives us the opportunity to repay them for all the harm they've done to us over the past several seasons: beating us 8 times last year, and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat us in 2003. And historically, they've given us more grief than any other Eastern Conference team. We have an all-time record of 30-42 against them.

So, who do you want to escape that series: the Pistons or the 76ers? For what it's worth, Believing in Magic hopes for the 76ers.

Poll

Would you rather the Magic play the Detroit Pistons or the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals?

Bring on the Pistons!

27 votes

Bring on the 76ers!

24 votes

Bring on whomever! I don't care!

12 votes

63 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 5 comments

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Comments

I would much rather see the 76ers in the second round because Detroit is still Detroit. We also match up very well with Phili, it would be a sweep.

With that said I think that we can still beat the Detroit Pistons. In this series they have only been succesful when they set the halfcourt tempo. We can run just as much as the 76ers but we can also play halfcourt basketball much better then Philli. Rashard Lewis is going to be clutch because Maxiell will have a lot of problems guarding him. Dwight would also have to bring it to Wallace for 48 minutes. I noticed that Sheed tends to burn out late in the game when defending Dwight.

It’ll be a rough matchup that will, without a doubt, go 6 or 7 games. I do believe the Magic have what it takes to beat them though.

by magic fanatic on Apr 30, 2008 3:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Is this even in doubt? It’s Philly all the way. First off we’d get home court advantage. Then there is the talent disparity between the two teams. Philly ain’t no where near as good as Detroit, victory or no. Yes we have a grudge against Detroit but truthfully I’d much rather face a weaker opponent and have a better chance to move on than get even with Detroit. That bing said, bring on Detroit!

'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12

by Eyriq the Red on Apr 30, 2008 4:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m hesitant to count Philly out just because I don’t want to do to them what the rest of the NBA and ‘experts’ have been doing to us—basically, discounting our hard work, defense, offense, maturity, etc. The east coast teams wanted to face the Magic going into the first round because we were the “easy team”, and it stung and kind of pissed us off. I don’t want to do that to the 76ers. Plus, it could really come back to bite us in the butt if we say we want to face them in the second round, then get eliminated early.

The experts all thought Toronto would be a much bigger obstacle than they ended up being. We might have a sordid history with the Pistons, but I think we’ve got something to prove to those guys. I say let’s BRING IT ONNNN!

by TheGiantSquid on Apr 30, 2008 6:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm Changing My Pick

I want Detroit to win. Denton says if Detroit wins tomorrow we play in Detroit on Saturday at 7:30pm. The sooner the better!

'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12

by Eyriq the Red on Apr 30, 2008 10:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No, No, No, No, No

I want Detroit. Screw Philly … I want to Eastern Conference and the NBA as a whole to treat us with more respect. We’re not going to do that beating Philly … screw them … I want Detroit. Give me Detroit so we can beat the best.

Staff Writer for The DePaulia (school newspaper)
Class of 2009 - DePaul University

by erivera7 on May 1, 2008 1:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs