No idea why Boston and Cleveland are rated higher. Orlando has the most depth, the best big man in Dwight, great shooters and great defense.
They have the best team in the NBA IMO..
I understand why others would have LA or Boston ahead though, so it's not a big deal..those 3 teams are on the top-tier of the NBA right now..
I've been praising them for a while now, and a lot of people here were ting on them..
Celtics are the team to beat in the league. Lakers come next(assuming Gasol comes back healthy). Magic come next, then Spurs.
This has been the greatest development this season. Some real compe ion.
It's a toss-up in the East.
Magic, Celtics for tier #1
Cavs/Wizards for tier #2
Atlanta/Miami for tier #3
In the West #1 is now wide-open due to Pau's injury
Lakers (without Pau), Spurs, Mavs, Nuggets (MVP Melo) for tier #1
Blazers, Suns Tier #2
yall... spurs first then the rest come last!
After Howard, the Magic don't have much of a frontcourt. Can't possibly rate them ahead of Garnett/Wallace/Perkins/Davis (or TD/Dice/Ratliff/Blair/bonner, for that matter)
Gortat, Bass, Anderson and Lewis at the 4 is a very, very good frontcourt..I definitely disagree..
Wallace and Big Baby isn't as impressive as it sounds IMO..
Howard is currently the best big man in the NBA though, and that can't be ignored..
Gortat would be starting Center on over 20 NBA teams.
Granted the Raptors aren't a good team, being able to beat them without Lewis, Carter and Pietrus is pretty impressive.
The Magic are definitely not the team to beat in the east. Their defense is nowhere near Boston's level and never will be. The most overrated team in the NBA, the Orlando Magic, and that's considering the fact that they made the finals. Had KG been healthy, no way would they have advanced that far.
100% agree
don't know what the hype is all about. once playoff comes, magic cannot compete with the big boys.
Let's not forget magic needed 7 games to beat a Garnett-less Celtic team, the baby bulls took that same Celtic team to 7 games and 4 overtimes.
overhyped
That's because there's a major shortage of quality centers. I'm not saying Orl has no frontcourt at all...just that after DH, they're nowhere near the level of the Celts or Spurs.
I can agree with this part.
An average NBA Center right now sucks.
As a Spurs fan, I can say that Orlando's frontcourt is definitely better than ours..Howard and Timmy are at worst(with my Duncan bias) equals right now..we don't have a Gortat on our team though, which would fill a huge need..at least IMO..
Orlando's defense was #1 in the entire NBA last year..Howard is currently the best anchor for a defense in the NBA..
You just contradicted yourself.
The Magic and the Celtics will take each other out and curbstomp whoever comes out of the West.
I guransheed a Western Winner.
Kobe and Vince actually have pretty good duels on both sides, one guy never dominates the other consistently..Carter's problem is always motivation, and he never lacks it against Kobe..
Thing is can Orlando's D contain the Lakers O? A healthy Nelson can give LA problems, but they aren't beating LA 4 times in a shootout. If ANYONE wants to have a realistic chance of beating the Lakers in a 7 game series, you MUST contain them offensively. If you try to beat the Lakers by outgunning them, that won't get the job done.
As for the thead le, I don't disagree with it. They won the East last year and are currently defending that bragging right.
We won't know that until they play..I do know that Orlando's offense is just as dangerous as any team though..they have the best collection of 3-point shooters in the NBA..everybody criticized them for "living and dying by the 3" last year, but it got them to the Finals..
I think Orlando is the best reg. season team.
The problem is that I don't like how they match with Boston. The Celtics have two guys to throw at Howard able to defend him 1on1 (and much of Orlando's power still depends on teams doubling Howard, Carter is the only superior creator off-the-bounce, like Hedo last season), and Rasheed Wallace/Kevin Garnett is a big problem for them because it forces Howard or Gortat to get out of the lane and that's the core of their defence.
Depth doesn't matter much in the play-offs, unless you have injuries (and I doubt any team can survive to injuries to one of their top-4 players). You play 8 guys, a 9 one to compensate foul troubles, and that's all. Orlando's awesome 4th big or 4th wing or 3rd guard are irrelevant. One of Anderson, Brass or Gortat will be stuck in the bench, so who cares if their much better than Sheldon Williams or Darnell Jackson? Who cares if JJ Re or Matt Barnes are better than Vujacic or Luke Walton? Sitting on a bench, Tim Duncan doesn't deliever more wins than DJ Mbenga.
Have the Pistons returned to the Elites???
Pistons 85
Orlando 80
The Magic better hope the Pistons don't make the playoffs.
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