Orlando Magic Likely to Face Charlotte Bobcats in First Round of NBA Playoffs

The Magic needs to take advantage of thier homecourt and send a massage in the very first game. " We are the defending Champions and this is my homecourt" move away kitties (Bobcats).

They seem very capable of playing well in the playoffs.

PS. I have a crow as a pet, so I know how she bites.

In other news, http://www.celticsblog.com/2010/4/10/1414061/paul-gets-it-kg-doesnt#comments is a funny read, for the “lolz”. The comments are great too.

If miami drops 2 of 3, they finish with the same amount of losses charlotte has already.

in other words. charlotte has to win out and miami has to lose 2 of 3.

simple link: 42 37 miami is 44 35, so char. goes to 45 wins and wins out, miami wins 1 out of 3 and goes to 45 wins.

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/sundaydime-100411/abc-sunday-dime

Interesting read by John Carroll. I like how he’s consistent with ESPN analyst Jon Barry in stating opinions as “FACTS”.

“The difference between these two teams lies in the fact that the Cavs can win without Shaq; the same can’t be said for Howard and the Magic. Cleveland can play Zydrunas Ilgauskas, or go smaller with Anderson Varejao.”

Didn’t the Cavs play Z and Floppy on Dwight last ECF? And didn’t Dwight foul out in 3 of the 6 ECF games? Interesting….

The Magic need a lot more scoring and consistency from VC to advance to the ECF and get by the Cavs? Remove VC’’s month of January and he’s shooting 45% FG and 39.2% 3pt. Why would he even say “Although he’s played well recently, Vince is averaging just 16.5 ppg (down from a 22.9 career mark)”. Actually VC is avg 16.7 ppg not 16.5. Recently as in the past 2.3 months aka the past 31 games? VC hasn’t hit his career scoring mark of 22.9 in 3 seasons so why not simply compare VC this season to VC last season? Makes it slightly more relevant, no? VC’s scoring 4.1 ppg less this year because he’s taking 3.1 FGA less this season and 5 FGA less than his career average. Remind me again of the teammates VC had in NJ that were putting up 18.4 ppg, 14.2 & 12.3 to go along with his 21.3 & 20.8 the past 2 seasons in NJ.

“Hedo was Orlando’s one-on-one, pick-and-roll guy, but they essentially replaced him with Vince Carter.” Hedo was only that guy because Jameer was injured. Talk about selective memory…

A 9 year NBA Coach and the guy can’t even do the proper research to write an accurate article? Lame.

If not for LeBron’s buzzer beater in game 2 we would have swept them. Oh and that was without Jameer, it was with some guy named Rafer Alston in case you were wondering. This years Magic team is better than last years squad by far. The upgrades start with a healthy Jameer Nelson, and I’m pretty sure all of us here can agree Vince is an upgrade over Hedo. When you look at Vince’s numbers as a whole they dip a little but since the end of January he’s been more aggressive at getting to the hoop and shooting near 50% (I’m on my blackberry so I don’t have the patience to look up his exact figures but I’m pretty sure that he’s hovering around 50).
The only addition the Cav’s made that truly scares me is JJ Hickson. Much like Nelson last year, here’s a guy who was not available in the series last year but is a real difference maker on his squad. He is long and really could have help guard both Hedo on the pick and roll as well as Shard on the perimeter.
In the end I think we have the better team though. We had a better team last year and it showed. We have an even better team this year. Barnes, Vince, Anderson, Jameer and JWill are much better than Hedo, Rafer, AJ, Battie and Richardson. Now this maybe toeing the line a bit, but that’s a fact.

Woops

How are the games going to be officiated… you really have to adjust to that, especially if you’re Dwight.

But before all these, the Magic need to take it one game at a time. Don’t look too much into the future, just make sure you win the present.