irish Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Great no-call on the last play in regulation. It originally looked like a lot of contact not to be called, but considering that Howard basically pulled Varejao towards him to initiate the contact, no call was the right call, IMO. Orlando sure does live and die by the three. So far, so good, but they're a real roller-coaster of a team, offensively. Another big three by Pietrus. Tough to beat a team that can shoot like this. Down 4 with a minute and a half left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpholmes Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Live by LeBron, Die by LeBron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Great no-call on the last play in regulation. It originally looked like a lot of contact not to be called, but considering that Howard basically pulled Varejao towards him to initiate the contact, no call was the right call, IMO. I was pulling for cleveland to even it up and potentially make this a longer series, but I really disagree about that last call. one guy is trying to get to the ball, the other guy is plowing through him trying to keep him away from the ball. I don't think the plowee initiated contact. IMO orlando really got rooked with that call and the call right before it against pietrus on lebron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS Miscreant Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Another big three by Pietrus. Tough to beat a team that can shoot like this. Down 4 with a minute and a half left. What really made this valuable was the fact that the Cavs had to defend out high and it allowed the Magic to go inside to the big man in overtime. Howard had 17 in regulation and 10 in OT. Really good coaching if you ask me. The execution wasn't too shabby either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I was pulling for cleveland to even it up and potentially make this a longer series, but I really disagree about that last call. one guy is trying to get to the ball, the other guy is plowing through him trying to keep him away from the ball. I don't think the plowee initiated contact. IMO orlando really got rooked with that call and the call right before it against pietrus on lebron. That's what I thought the first time. Then, I watched it again and just focused on Howard's hands/arms. He intentionally hooked arms with Varejao when the inbounds play started, then did it again before the pass arrived, initiating contact, and then did it a THIRD time when he realized he wasn't going to catch the pass, pulling Varajao to the ground. The defender did nothing, except have better position than Howard. Like Barkley, Kenny, and Ernie Johnson said... good no call. The Pietrus call was unfortunate for him, but any time there's that much contact when the offensive player is driving with the ball, there's going to be a call. The only call possible was a foul on Pietrus because he didn't have position for there to be an offensive foul called. Like I said, tough for him, since he really did nothing egregious and both players were moving, but that's one of those where the defender is going to get whistled 90% of the time. When it's Lebron James and less than five seconds left, that 90% becomes 100%. Like coach Van Gundy said in the post-game locker room clip, Orlando had better not rest easy, assuming they don't "need" game 5. Lose game 5, and all of the sudden game 6 becomes a must win for them. Like Kenny Smith said, Orlando has just as much pressure on them as Cleveland does, if it goes to a sixth game. Win, or go back to Cleveland for a seventh game... not a good scenario. They had better do everything within their power to close this out in Cleveland on Thursday. So far, though, Orlando has shown me nothing to indicate that they're the type of team that has a "step on your throat" mentality. I still think this could go either way... the odds say that Cleveland has a less than 5% chance of winning (8 out of 180-something in NBA history down 3 games to 1). Maybe it's because I'm SLIGHTLY pulling for Orlando in this series (and I'm skeptical that they're really going to pull it off), but I think Cleveland's chances are significantly better than what the numbers indicate, just because Orlando lacks that killer instinct... I give the Cavs a 1/3 chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt Ryan Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) So far, though, Orlando has shown me nothing to indicate that they're the type of team that has a "step on your throat" mentality. I still think this could go either way... the odds say that Cleveland has a less than 5% chance of winning (8 out of 180-something in NBA history down 3 games to 1). Maybe it's because I'm SLIGHTLY pulling for Orlando in this series (and I'm skeptical that they're really going to pull it off), but I think Cleveland's chances are significantly better than what the numbers indicate, just because Orlando lacks that killer instinct... I give the Cavs a 1/3 chance. If not for a complete miracle shot with 1 second to inbound and shoot a 3 by Lebron, Cleveland is swept 4-0. And you dont think they have a killer instinct. Forgive me, but I do not think Cleveland has what it takes to win 3 straight against this team that completely owns them. Cleveland has big leads, and it simply doesnt matter, Orlando comes back and wins. I have nothing against Cleveland, but they are a 1 player team. Mo has shown he is a very avg PG in this series, and the rest of the team all seem average at best. Take Lebron, off this team, and they are fighting the Kings for the #1 pick in the lottery. Look at that irony. The king is the only reason Cleveland isnt the Sacremento Kings. Edited May 27, 2009 by Sgt Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 If not for a complete miracle shot with 1 second to inbound and shoot a 3 by Lebron, Cleveland is swept 4-0. And you dont think they have a killer instinct. Forgive me, but I do not think Cleveland has what it takes to win 3 straight against this team that completely owns them. Cleveland has big leads, and it simply doesnt matter, Orlando comes back and wins. I have nothing against Cleveland, but they are a 1 player team. Mo has shown he is a very avg PG in this series, and the rest of the team all seem average at best. Take Lebron, off this team, and they are fighting the Kings for the #1 pick in the lottery. Look at that irony. The king is the only reason Cleveland isnt the Sacremento Kings. Don't get me wrong... Cleveland clearly has shown even less of a killer instinct, giving up double-digit leads in nearly every game in the series. All I'm saying is that Orlando hasn't exactly taken advantage of their opportunities this year. They had a great chance to secure the 2-seed in the East, but fell apart at the end of the regular season. As it turns out, they were still fortunate enough to face an out-manned Boston team in the second round... a Boston team that had no business taking Orlando to seven games, but Orlando didn't take care of business until game seven. Orlando has shown a lot of poise in individual games, which is completely different than killer instinct. Instead of finishing Boston in five or six, they allowed the Celtics to push them to the limit. As far as Cleveland goes, I'm not sure what your point is... nobody is arguing that they're a good team without Lebron. That's why he's the clear MVP of the league. Whether he stays in Cleveland or not, it's only a matter of time before he wins championships... he's still young. I'm not predicting a Cleveland win in this series. If I had to bet, like I said, I give Orlando a 2/3 chance of winning it. Plus, I'm pulling FOR Orlando. I just wouldn't be completely shocked if Cleveland pulled it off. After all, they've had fairly significant leads in every game. Sooner or later, they'll learn to hold on to those leads, one would think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat2334 Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 What really made this valuable was the fact that the Cavs had to defend out high and it allowed the Magic to go inside to the big man in overtime. Howard had 17 in regulation and 10 in OT. Really good coaching if you ask me. The execution wasn't too shabby either. Ron Jeremy gets a bad rap but the play he altered to get Rashard the open 3 near the end of regulation was genius. Instead of going to Hedo at the top of the circle like usual he saw Wallace was guarding Lewis and they executed the slip to the corner perfectly - well done the call on LBJ was definitely questionable but that is what you get with a superstar driving hard to the rack - it puts pressure on the defender and the official to make a call - it happens the no call with Howard at the end was the correct call - he hooked Varejo's arm and the contact was on both sides. PLus with .5 - it is a longshot play at best and they are going to swallow the whistle there unless it is blatant - kind of like a hailmary in the NFL - guys commit offensive and defensive PI all the time on it but the refs aren't making a call there........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopher Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Ron Jeremy gets a bad rap but the play he altered to get Rashard the open 3 near the end of regulation was genius. Instead of going to Hedo at the top of the circle like usual he saw Wallace was guarding Lewis and they executed the slip to the corner perfectly - well done the call on LBJ was definitely questionable but that is what you get with a superstar driving hard to the rack - it puts pressure on the defender and the official to make a call - it happens the no call with Howard at the end was the correct call - he hooked Varejo's arm and the contact was on both sides. PLus with .5 - it is a longshot play at best and they are going to swallow the whistle there unless it is blatant - kind of like a hailmary in the NFL - guys commit offensive and defensive PI all the time on it but the refs aren't making a call there........... I know it's a rarity, but I agree with everything you just said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Oven Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Wow, I can't believe there's no talk about the game last night. LBJ just took over the game and the Magic couldn't do a damn thing about it. Dude's a man-child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefjay Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 (edited) Wow, I can't believe there's no talk about the game last night. LBJ just took over the game and the Magic couldn't do a damn thing about it. Dude's a man-child. Edited May 29, 2009 by chiefjay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinL Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 the teams in the west are GOOD. top to bottom. all 8 teams that made the playoffs bring something to the table that presents a serious challenge to any other team in the NBA. the east has cleveland, no doubt a great team, a crippled celtics team, an inexperienced and vulnerable orlando team, and then a bunch of teams that wouldn't have even had a sniff of the playoffs if they were out west. my point was, whoever makes it out of the west is going to be battle tested, with their team game in high gear. with the power vaccum behind the cavs right now, I think cleveland is going to waltz through to the finals, and THEN have to deal with a team that is significantly tougher than the other teams they dispatched. I haven't done any research to correlate this, but to me it seems like history has favored the team coming out of the stronger conference in situations like that in the past. Apparently you and I were both pretty far off on this one. Frees up some time now that I'm not watching games any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMikeinNY Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 My Finals Prediction? Orlando vs. San Antonio I would be shocked if either team made the finals.... Magic vs Spurs ? That is nutty crazy talk there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Apparently you and I were both pretty far off on this one. Frees up some time now that I'm not watching games any more. yeah, orlando's a lot better than they looked in that celtics series, and the cavs are, to state the mind-numbingly obvious, far too dependent on one player. I do still think the lakers will beat orlando convincingly, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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