THE BOSTON CELTICS will make it back one last time. We talk about Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce as a bunch of old guys hanging out with the young’uns for one last pick-up game. The problem is, they’re not really that old. Ok, Ray Allen is about to turn 34, which in basketball years is getting up there, but KG is only 33 … wait… and Pierce is about to turn 32… alright you got me, they’re old for the NBA. But they can still play. Hey, Kobe Bryant is about to turn 31 and Derek Fisher is about to turn 35, and if you haven't heard, they just won the title. It may sound unimportant, but an overlooked aspect of the Celtics game is the free throw shooting of Ray Allen. He’s a CAREER 89.3% from the line. Last season (post and regular) he shot 95%. In January, he broke a Celtic record of 72 consecutive free throws. He also had several other streaks of 50 or more in the same season. If the officiating from last year's playoffs is indicative of a new trend, making free throws will be a major part of advancing in years to come. The excuse I have for the Celtics lie in the same reason they didn’t get there this year: can they stay healthy? With a fully functional KG, Celtics lose to the Lakers in 5 games this year, but they still beat Orlando and Cleveland and make it to the Finals. They’ll be the Eastern Conference Champs next year all things considered.
THE ORLANDO MAGIC is probably the least likely of the big three in the east to make it to the dance. Even though Magic Owner Rich DeVos has stated that they’ll go over the salary cap to keep Hedo Turkoglu, we’re all still going to have to wait to see what happens. If the front office follows through, the declaration will have been the defining moment when Orlando joined the big boys. Even though he practically gets away with murder, Hedo Turkoglu is the cornerstone of the Magic. Sorry Dwight Howard, but he is. I’m big on defense and Howard is the best inside defender there is, but the Magic quickly defined themselves as a scrappy team this post-season, and Turkoglu is the scrappiest of the scrappy. The front office knows it and all Magic fans should accept it. In the Laker only loss in the series, Hedo was a big part of the Magic’s first Finals win in franchise history. He had 18 points and 7 assists (most of them to Dwight Howard), and even though Howard had 21 points, he only had 2 blocks. In comparison to game four’s 9 blocks which set a finals record, two is pretty measly. Oh, and did I mention they lost game 4? Turkoglu makes things happen for the Magic. They’ve got to get him back if they want to have a chance. The only thing that will hinder them is a healthy Boston and odd coaching decisions concerning guard play. Getting to the Finals was really neato for them, and like I always say, “no neato without Hedo.”
*Wildcard
THE ORLANDO MAGIC is probably the least likely of the big three in the east to make it to the dance. Even though Magic Owner Rich DeVos has stated that they’ll go over the salary cap to keep Hedo Turkoglu, we’re all still going to have to wait to see what happens. If the front office follows through, the declaration will have been the defining moment when Orlando joined the big boys. Even though he practically gets away with murder, Hedo Turkoglu is the cornerstone of the Magic. Sorry Dwight Howard, but he is. I’m big on defense and Howard is the best inside defender there is, but the Magic quickly defined themselves as a scrappy team this post-season, and Turkoglu is the scrappiest of the scrappy. The front office knows it and all Magic fans should accept it. In the Laker only loss in the series, Hedo was a big part of the Magic’s first Finals win in franchise history. He had 18 points and 7 assists (most of them to Dwight Howard), and even though Howard had 21 points, he only had 2 blocks. In comparison to game four’s 9 blocks which set a finals record, two is pretty measly. Oh, and did I mention they lost game 4? Turkoglu makes things happen for the Magic. They’ve got to get him back if they want to have a chance. The only thing that will hinder them is a healthy Boston and odd coaching decisions concerning guard play. Getting to the Finals was really neato for them, and like I always say, “no neato without Hedo.”
*Wildcard
*THE CLEVELAND LEBRONS, oh sorry, I mean CAVALIERS. The Cavaliers a wildcard? Hold on, they had the best record in the NBA this last year! Yes, they had a great record in the much weaker east. Judging who gets home court advantage in the Finals by comparing the records in two completely lopsided conferences is almost as bad as giving it to the winner of the All-Star Game. Using John Hollinger’s ranking (which I agree is systematically flawed), the Atlanta Hawks were the East’s 4th best team in comparable to the West’s 4th, San Antonio. The east has three of the top four teams yes, but the next 8 in the listing are not even close, arguably giving the west 9 out of the top 12. If Lebron isn’t on the Cleveland Cavaliers, they’re not even a PLAYOFF TEAM. With Lebron, they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals where they’re outmatched by Dwight Howard in the paint. Here’s where the “wildcard” comes into play, in February of this last year, there was a proposed trade with the Phoenix Suns that never really took wings. Yep, you guessed it, it’s for Shaq. The old switcheroo would have been Shaq for the declining defensive specialist Ben Wallace and the 4.6 PPG Sasha Pavlovic. Some say Shaq is done, but he had a great last season with nearly 18 PPG, plus he’s still 325lbs at 7’1”. If Shaq goes to the Cavs, they now have the inside presence they need to contend with the likes of Boston and Orlando, having a much better shot to make it further in the playoffs. Lebron is phenomenal and won a much deserved MVP this year, but as we saw in the Eastern Conference Finals, he can’t do it alone.
Here's the wild card for the East: does Dwight Howard develop his skills in the low post and demonstrate that he can consistently drop a 15-foot jumper? If he achieves ONE OF THESE, the Magic take the Celtics to 7 games (if the old Celts are healthy...per Brian's excuse). If Howard achieves BOTH, the Magic could be in the finals for 5 years straight and they beat LA in 2010. Assuming the Turk comes back...
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