The Magic Are Pretty Sure They Wanted To Play Boston
Everyone on the Magic congregated at Dwight Howard‘s mansion on Saturday night to check out Game 7 of Celtics/Bulls and the destruction of Ricky Hatton shortly thereafter. Though intrepid sportswriter John Denton didn’t get into which fighter they preferred, he did get at which team they wanted to face in Round Two. Consensus seems to be that they’d rather feel proud of beating “the better team” than taking the easy road.
“We wanted the champs and the better team,” Magic point guard Rafer Alston said. “If Chicago would have won the series, they would have been the better team. But I don’t know many people on our team that wouldn’t say they don’t want Boston. I think you do want to go through the champs.”
If we’re able to sift through Rafer’s double-negativity, his point is that a win over the guys who won last year helps to ferment the belief that you could win this year. A win in this series could give Orlando the confidence that they lack during their inconsistent stretches.
But at the same time, does a win over the KG-less Celtics give Orlando the boost that they’d need to take down Cleveland? The Magic beat Boston in their last two contests – both without Garnett – after losing to the Celtics in their first two games with KG this season.
Ultimately, Boston is still favored in this series, though by a small margin (-2.5). And even if a win over Boston now isn’t as much of an accomplishment as it would’ve been with their best defensive player, Orlando could still say that they beat the defending champs.
Source: Florida Today
-->
May 4th, 2009 at 9:35 am
QQ says:
Who wouldn’t want to face a team who struggled against a lower seed? And a TIIRRRREEEEEDDDDD team, too.
GO ORLANDO!
May 4th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Kudabeen says:
Hatton looked like a drunk guy on the bad end of a bar fight. To drunk to realize he is out gunned or evade a punch. He was really wild in the ring and Pac gave him some “get right”…
I think Bulls would have been a tougher out for the Magic…Boston doesn’t have the bigs to deal with Dwight and I don’t thing their perimeter defenders are as good as Sixers (not saying a lot right now) in stopping Turk and crew from loading up from three or driving…Too many injuries and too many minutes played. Celtics had to outscore the bulls, but Orlando is a much more dynamic offensive team. I can’t see Boston out scoring them without someone like Tony Allen, House or another bench player goes nuts…
May 4th, 2009 at 9:55 am
celticsdada says:
The Magic sounds like a very confident team. We went through the same route last year beating ATL in 7 games and won the championship. this year CHI in 7 games…lets see whats gonna happen next. I could consider this a board materials for our team. Not like we need extra motivation but this could help. good job Rafer ” the Thug” Alston
May 4th, 2009 at 9:59 am
dk says:
Lmao A win over Boston!? Without KG its not a win over Boston, duh. LAst year they had no chance because Boston was a 3 man team, well, it worked. This year they have no shot of making it being a 2 man team, its over…. Big Baby is not the answer, lmao….
May 4th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Quedas says:
@celticsdada
How does Rafer Alston describing you as ‘the better team’ and ‘the defending champs’ qualify as a motivating put-down? How is that ‘board material’? “What?! They said we’re good?! The nerve! Let’s f****** get’em!!!”
May 4th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Metropolitan's Finest says:
@ QQ
SHUT UP!!!!!!
QUEER LOSER
lol
May 4th, 2009 at 10:30 am
the_don_mega (representin' the 3 stars and a sun) says:
cleveland vs orlando is a toss-up… it won’t be easy for any of ‘em
May 4th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Bruce says:
The first knockdown was delivered from Pac-man right hand. That is mighty impressive, considering Pac is a left-handed.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:34 am
QQ says:
@ 6:
Wow. The best kind of zings. The-I-don’t-have-anything-intelligent-to-say-about-your-opinion-so-i-will-just-resort-to-calling-you-names kind.
And that ‘lol’ at the end. Perfectly employed by a really bright mind to cover up the fact that what he has said is completely irrelevant to the topic, and that he is showing his bravado by making you think that he is laughing at you.
Congratulations, for being the most brilliant mind ever.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:42 am
NTstateOFmind says:
i was salty that the pac/hat fight lasted only 2 rounds
…granted pacman landed some sick hits, i smell some kind of conspiracy since Mayweather Jr conveniently announced his un-retirement that same day
and they wonder why UFC is more popular than boxing nowadays
May 4th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Big V says:
@ NT
What’s the conspiracy? They obviously held Mayweather’s press conference on the same day of the fight because they want to start selling the idea of Mayweather-Pacquiao.
If Mayweather gets past Marquez on 7/18, it’s most likely going to be the next logical fight, and one that fans have been waiting for a long time to see.
It’s all pretty transparent.
May 4th, 2009 at 11:59 am
drew wonder says:
@NT
ummm… you do realize UFC fights last only 3 rounds at the most. and on average their fights end somewhere in the 2nd round.
their is no conspiracy. Pac-man is just that good.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
There’s only onnnnnnnnnnne….. Manny Pacquiao!
Netted myself almost 4 bills on that fight. Although it didn’t make up for the fact that the Bulls lost but it helped. A little.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
liukz says:
The Celtics still great, big baby isnt playing great but he is playing very good at 18ppg and 7 rebounds and IT IS A BIG 3 again cuz RONDO its playing way better than last year at 19ppg 11 apg and almost 10 rebounds
Orlando has the tools to be a very good team,Rashard its their X factor,if he plays to his potential he can DESTROY the celtics easy. orlando has the heigth advantage but if the dont exploit that they are done
May 4th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Nickels says:
If anyone watched Orlando Boston games this year they would know that Perk + Big Baby are capable of giving Howard fits…Orlando’s gotta stay hot from beyond the arc
May 4th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
kevin k says:
Rafer is the scrubbiest, most overrated pg in the league
May 4th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
doc says:
Floyd gonna whip that ass!
May 4th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
swiper says:
if chi beat boston, than orl would have to beat the team that beat boston. is that still “going through the champs”?
May 5th, 2009 at 12:34 am
jay says:
@17
not so sure on that one..
pacquiao did not only beat the “great” ones (dela hoya, hatton, morales), he destroyed them forcing them to retirement or think of retirement. mayweather does not have the power pacman has. he can match pac’s speed but that’s just about it. the only way he can beat is to be a technical fighter where he needs to punch and run, punch and run. but even with that, it would still be difficult for him to execute that. pacman is too smart for that strategy. im pretty sure he’ll chase him around all night until he gets caught with that knockout punch!
to summarize, remember mayweather’s fights with dela hoya and hatton then compare them with pacman’s fights with those two. it’s not even close, man!
LOL