Gibson does not get anything close to start minutes; in fact, his minutes have been going down recently because of his poor shooting. Wallys got more minutes than Boobie in 3 of the 4 games against the Hawks.

Dwight Howard is dominant on the defensive end but not on offense. Most of his scoring comes from getting open looks after the defense rotates to cover their 3-point shooters. A large percentage of his baskets are dunks. He’s not very good at back-to-the-basket plays when he’s being guarded by a defender. If we can keep a man on him and stop him from getting open looks then he won’t be much of a scoring factor.

The Cavs have the decided edge in this series, but if Orlando can shoot like they did in game 7 against Boston then they can definately beat us. The key will be our defense on the perimeter keeping their shooters in check. I have a feeling Delonte West will be big in this series.

Good teams give every team problems. Losing two to the Lakers means nothing; in ‘07 the Cavs beat the Spurs twice in the regular season and still got swept in the Finals. Not giving the Cavs credit for sweeping Detroit and Atlanta is ridiculous. Sure, they weren’t great teams, but that’s the reward the Cavs got for clinching the #1 seed. But you have the give the Cavs credit for the way they completely dominated those teams. Atlanta is a good team that the Cavs made look awful. I’m not saying the Cavs will do the same thing to the Magic, because they won’t, but they are playing well right now.

As I said above, Howard can dominate defensively but not offensively. And our defense was ranked first in the NBA, so if it’s not that good then who is? You can’t just look at two games and say our defense isn’t that good, you have to look at what happened over the whole season. Two games is much too small of a sample to determine anything from.

look, this is going to be a good series, and will certainly be the toughest series the cavs have faced in these playoffs…but what you lay out here is patently ridiculous. i guess i’ll just retort in order:

5. i’m quite sure this stat will get a lot of play in the orlando media, but to me it’s entirely meaningless. how many seasons do those 11 games span? 3? 4? i’m not going to go back and check, but the two teams played 3 times this year…i’d venture a guess that they didn’t play 8 times last year.

4. cleveland has not been tested? you’ll say this one plenty, as well, but it is also absurd. the cavs played an 82 game schedule and won 66 times. that’s pretty tested. and, on the flip side, the magic are “tested” b/c they struggled with a weak 76ers team and were taken to the brink by a KG-less celtics team? the mere fact of cleveland’s dominance says nothing of their “testedness”, just as their inability to close out weakened teams doesn’t assign any greater “testedness” to orlando.

3. false. just absolutely false. and you have no facts to back this up. #1 defense in the NBA for 82 games. and the quickness point is maybe your worst one. every player in the cavs starting 5 is quicker than his counterpart on orlando except the z/howard matchup. but you have jj redick. next.

2. dwight howard is a man-beast on defense and the glass, no question. but the c’s series exposed his paltry offensive game for just that. we’ll single howard when we’re on defense, and then penetrate and pop to z, who hits j’s at better than 50%, while howard cherry picks for blocks. as well, z and av are 2 of the best offensive rebounders in basketball, so howard’s block attempts should lead to second chance points.

1. while i appreciate you’re trying (and failing) to be funny here, this one is pathetic, too. the cavs were the best team in the NBA this year. we have every reason to be confident.

oh yeah…and LeBron James.

as you were.

…i mean i’m a Magic fan bu that last part was just brutal..lol!!

are you making this up as you go? have you watched the cavs this year?

More weapons?!?!?! Who? Better overall players besides LeBron — do you really think that JJ Redick is better than Delonte West? Rafer Alston is better than Mo Williams? Really? Have you seen the Cavs play at all this year, or are just making this up?

And why do you think game one is “ripe for the taking” — because the Cavs have had over a week off to rest and prepare? And don’t say they’re going to be rusty because the Cavs destroyed Atlanta in game one of that series after having a week off. The Cavs goal is to win a championship and nothing less will make they happy; they are focused on that one goal. Orlando is not going to sneak up on them or catch them off guard.

Exactly. The Cavs have taken care of business, straight up. I fail to see what’s wrong with that.

Who are you replying to? Use the reply button, it’s helpful to know who you’re talking to instead of just posting at the bottom of the page.

Rest = rust.

this is the sort of thing that teams who have little factual basis to be confident resort to saying.

Atlanta and Detroit were just happy to make the playoffs?!?! Are you serious?? I’m sorry, but that statement ruins your entire credibility. The Pistons made SEVEN straight conference finals, so why the heck would they be happy just to make the playoffs? And the Hawks almost knocked off the Celtics last year and beat D-Wad and the Heat this year, so saying they were just happy to make the playoffs is ridiculous.

I don’t know why people continue to act like the Cavs winning by large margins is a BAD thing. That’s simply crazy. Do you really think the Cavs are scared of the Magic? Of course they respect them, but to act like Orlando will be a “bully” to the Cavs is silly. Every game in the playoffs is meaningful, it doesn’t matter what the quality of competition is. The Cavs are a focused team and have not taken any game for granted. You can’t argue that the games against the Hawks and Pistons are meaningless.

game 4 of the atlanta series. atlanta was a very good team this year…they were the 4 seed in the east! if you’re discrediting atlanta, then what does that say about orlando, who finished a mere slot ahead of them in the east standings?

using your own criteria, ask the same question of the magic. when was the last time the magic played a REALLY GOOD team in a meaningful game? the celtics, without KG, are not a really good team. they’re just not. so, please, with the checklist you’re using to denigrate the cavs’ playoff performances, comment on the magic.

personally, i’d say that winning game 7 was a big win for the magic, an important win. but so was game 4 for the cavs. my feelings about the outcome of this series have very little to do with who and when they played in “meaningful” games.

game 4 was big b/c a.) it was a playoff game and those are all big, and b.) it was a close out game, which is the biggest of all playoff games. putting the hawks away on their floor, with their backs against the wall was a big win for the cavs. period.

boston clearly drops out of the cleveland/orlando league without KG. you just can’t convince me otherwise. i realize they were 18-7 w/o him in the regular season (although they were 7-7 w/o him in the playoffs), but it’s not the same team. the c’s w/ KG played at a 63.5-win rate, w/o they played at 59 wins. if you factor in the playoff games, they were 25-14 w/o KG, which is a 52.5-win rate.

i’ll stand by the statement that the c’s are not a REALLY GOOD team w/o KG.

Nah, you’re cool. You’ve provided a lot of insightful stuff with only a little cliche :-)

Just a general note.