No. 1 seed already locked?

[Cleveland's Finest]

Bold statement. I'd take the Magic and Hawks over the Cavaliers.

 

On what premise?

 

3-0 vs. the Hawks and Magic this year, more experience and the depth in terms of bigs is a big advantage.

[kingfish]

Their only 5 up in the loss column on the C's and Hawks, its far from a lock.

[Flash]

On what premise?

 

3-0 vs. the Hawks and Magic this year, more experience and the depth in terms of bigs is a big advantage.

 

You didn't watch the ECF last year?

[Poe]

I guess you're an idiot. You haven't been paying much attention to what the Hawks are capable of doing. One of their key players has already "changed" his mindset on his game and you clearly don't understand the vast improvements the Hawks have made compared to last season.

 

It's all about health and chemistry for the Magic this year. They will not get beaten in the 1st round.

 

Do you think the Heat are going to the finals or something?

Yes, I'm an idiot for believing the Hawks aren't good enough for the Cavs, who clearly have the better record AND destroyed them last year.

 

And Josh Smith has not changed very much, at least from a numbers perspective. He's had better seasons with blocking shots, he's averaged less turnovers before with similar minutes, his rebounding isn't that far higher from his career average, and his assists are barely a career high. The only thing that has changed is that he's stopped attempting threes, and all of a sudden he's the most mature athlete in the league.

 

Crawford's extra scoring he brings will help the Hawks with their regular season record, but there is no way one bench player is turning a second round sweep into a conference finals, or an NBA finals team.

 

 

The Magic have lost three of their five starters that originally brought them to the finals. They decided they needed to fix something that wasn't broken, or rather worked remarkably well. They decided to throw away their only starter worthy SF, who was arguably their best or second best player last year, and now it turns out JJ Redick is becoming close to outplaying Vince Carter, and the coach is still having trouble figuring out who is replacing Turk at the 3.

 

Come playoff time, with the way the Magic play, it's all about "getting hot". If their shot is off collectively, they could lose to anybody in the first round, especially when they are ignoring Howard in the post.

 

 

And yes, the Heat are going to the finals without a half-decent PG, a fragile center, only two good bench players, and a superstar who has decided to stop slashing and start bricking threes.

[Cleveland's Finest]

You didn't watch the ECF last year?

 

So Hedo's on he Magic this year? Shaq is on the Suns this year? Ben Wallace and Z are in our starting lineup? Jamario is on the Heat, Powe on the Celtics, Parker on the Raptors, Courtney Allen and Rafer on the Magic?

 

This isn't an analysis of the Cavs last year.

[Flash]

So Hedo's on he Magic this year? Shaq is on the Suns this year? Ben Wallace and Z are in our starting lineup? Jamario is on the Heat, Powe on the Celtics, Parker on the Raptors, Courtney Allen and Rafer on the Magic?

 

This isn't an analysis of the Cavs last year.

 

You think Vince Carter is going to keep having months like January? Rashard Lewis is still there too. Watch out for that team before you crown your team champ of all things NBA.

 

And once Boston gets back to 100% they're better than Cleveland too. Watch out for the Hawks because if they get hot they're a tough team to go up against.

 

You swear your team has [expletive] locked up. It's February 1st. You haven't won a thing.

[Cleveland's Finest]

You think Vince Carter is going to keep having months like January? Rashard Lewis is still there too. Watch out for that team before you crown your team champ of all things NBA.

 

And once Boston gets back to 100% they're better than Cleveland too. Watch out for the Hawks because if they get hot they're a tough team to go up against.

 

You swear your team has [expletive] locked up. It's February 1st. You haven't won a thing.

 

I never said our team was going to win the title, and I never said they were guaranteed the number one seed.

 

I asked the posters on here if they believe that with the current state of the East, is the number one seed locked? Don't put words in my mouth.