tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3886232041589293094.post8796739449292481127..comments2023-06-06T05:52:58.131-07:00Comments on Boston Sports fan in DC: When did the Magic get good?Karl Dillingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14360640520114625818noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3886232041589293094.post-12053823285963505722009-05-27T14:50:02.995-07:002009-05-27T14:50:02.995-07:00great point on cleveland's defense and orlando str...great point on cleveland's defense and orlando stretching the floor being the reasons cleveland ain't winning and not lebron's teammates not stepping up. the effort is there on cleveland's end, but Orlando just matches up well against Cleveland and forces them to play defense differently. it doesn't mean they are a better overall team (think golden state vs dallas 2 years ago... dallas was a better team against 28 other teams but the warriors just because of match ups). Their defense doesn't rely on a lot of double teams in the post, but they are forced to do that against orlando b/c ben wallace and big z can't guard dwight 1 on 1. In fact, ben wallace is useless vs orlando because howard is one of the few players that he can't guard 1 on 1 (even at his declining play) and he doesn't need to be guarded on offense. varejo and joe smith are good interior defenders and rebounders, but this is a moot point as they are being forced to guard rashard lewis at the three point line- most teams don't have power forwards who would take varejo away from the basket 95% of the time. so with varejo/smith having to run inside to double dwight and then run outside to catch rashard lewis, someone is going to be open. most teams cleveland plays against allows them to play their nature defense. sure, mo williams and big z aren't playing up to par on offense, but thats not why this team is losing... its bad defensive match ups. there is a reason cleveland is 3-8 vs orlando the past 2 seasons. and in reality, this series is much more even then the 3-1 score, game 3 is the only game that really couldn't have gone either way. good post.Brian Cnoreply@blogger.com