ROUND 2: Magic vs Celtics

[AD23]

Orlando Magic

Pg: Steve Nash/Darren Collison/Jameer Nelson
Sg: Manu Ginobili/Courtney Lee
Sf: Nicolas Batum/Carlos Delfino
Pf: Paul Millsap/Al Harrington
C: Tim Duncan/Omer Asik/Mehmet Okur

This team has everything. I honestly can't think of a style of play that they wouldn't be successful at. Maybe isolation basketball, but that never really leads to winners anyway. Great 3 point shooters, defenders, passers, mix of youth and veterans, and role players. Really a team that meshes well together. Probably the most depth of any team not named the cavs. Doesn't need a guy to score 20 to win. Remove a player of your choice and I still think I could win a couple rounds. Only way I can see this team losing is if voters way overvalue ALL NBA star power.

VS

PG - Chris Paul - Jason Kidd
SG - Brandon Rush - Stephen Jackson - Marco Belinelli
SF - Ron Artest - Stephen Jackson
PF - Ryan Anderson - Carl Landry
C - Tyson Chandler - Chuck Hayes - Aaron Gray

Team description:

This team was built around the pick and roll brilliance of Chris Paul. Paul has been surrounded with the perfect plethora of shooters and big men capable of operating in the pick n roll. Anderson will act as the main pick and pop man, and with his incredible efficiency, should be a deadly target. With the defense and alley oop threat of Tyson Chandler, the Celtics will be diverse on both ends and look to pose a threat to any team.

[BeeBall Reasons]

Defense
The Celtics are a good team built around the chris paul pick and roll/pop, however, there is no #2 shot creating option on this team. The second best scorer is Landry, followed by SJax. Nash will play on Rush and Lee will start again where he, Collison and Batum will guard Paul. Millsap can cover the perimeter shooting Anderson and is not uncomfortable defending beyond the 3 point arc (Millsap played a lot of 3). Duncan also plays P&R defense well, always in good position.

Offense
My team however has a lot of offensive options, Millsap will have a good series vs. Anderson and Manu would destroy Rush. Tyson Chandler is good at covering the basket but everyone on my team can make the extra pass once they get inside. Also my team is more perimeter oriented making Chandler less effective. Also the shooting threat of Duncan pulls Chandler away from the basket.

I would give them a win or 2 in the series based off of the brilliance of paul, but other than that my team would just be too good.

[AD23]

Defense
The Celtics are a good team built around the chris paul pick and roll/pop, however, there is no #2 shot creating option on this team. The second best scorer is Landry, followed by SJax.

This, the Celtics are kinda like the 07-08 Hornets minus D-West, plus an extra shooter (and better bench but the Magic's is better). Not enough scoring options

[Bee-Fense]

The Magic are a wonderfully built team with a lot of different options. Very well built team.

However, I do think one of my players is being greatly overlooked and that is Ryan Anderson. Anderson is the 2nd best scorer on this team, not Landry or Jackson. Anderson averaged 16ppg this year, with a terrific TS% of 59%, 3% higher than David West's career best. To emphasize Anderson's efficiency on offense, Anderson led the Magic in not just win shares, but win shares per minute because of his great offensive rating. For the past 2 years, he's been in the top 8 in offensive rating for the past 4 years and was even 4th this year. His value is tremendous as he was actually 9th in the entire NBA in win shares and win shares per minute. The main argument against efficiency is a small sample size, but Anderson was the 2nd leading scorer for a solid Magic team, so that argument is not that great for Anderson. He was the most improved player of the year for a reason - he's a very solid scorer with INCREDIBLE efficiency. Now, this was with Jameer Nelson as his PG. What happens when Chris Paul is your PG? Who knows, but I have a hard time believing his player doesn't rise even more, especially when Steve Nash is on defense.

Artest would defend Manu and do a respectable job on him, while Jack and Rush would switch on Batum. I think Landry is very effective in this game against Harrington/Millsap and would have a solid game. Nash is going to have a tough time defending Paul at this point in his career, and this will allow the role players to get some open 3's and hopefully they can nail them. I think Millsap will pose a threat on defense and Duncan will limit a lot of Tyson's offensive game, but I think Paul's ability to run the pick n roll against one of the worst defending PGs in the NBA with a perfect cast surrounding him, the Celtics would come out on top in a tough game.

[BeeBall Reasons]

The Magic are a wonderfully built team with a lot of different options. Very well built team.

However, I do think one of my players is being greatly overlooked and that is Ryan Anderson. Anderson is the 2nd best scorer on this team, not Landry or Jackson. Anderson averaged 16ppg this year, with a terrific TS% of 59%, 3% higher than David West's career best. To emphasize Anderson's efficiency on offense, Anderson led the Magic in not just win shares, but win shares per minute because of his great offensive rating. For the past 2 years, he's been in the top 8 in offensive rating for the past 4 years and was even 4th this year. His value is tremendous as he was actually 9th in the entire NBA in win shares and win shares per minute. The main argument against efficiency is a small sample size, but Anderson was the 2nd leading scorer for a solid Magic team, so that argument is not that great for Anderson. He was the most improved player of the year for a reason - he's a very solid scorer with INCREDIBLE efficiency. Now, this was with Jameer Nelson as his PG. What happens when Chris Paul is your PG? Who knows, but I have a hard time believing his player doesn't rise even more, especially when Steve Nash is on defense.

Artest would defend Manu and do a respectable job on him, while Jack and Rush would switch on Batum. I think Landry is very effective in this game against Harrington/Millsap and would have a solid game. Nash is going to have a tough time defending Paul at this point in his career, and this will allow the role players to get some open 3's and hopefully they can nail them. I think Millsap will pose a threat on defense and Duncan will limit a lot of Tyson's offensive game, but I think Paul's ability to run the pick n roll against one of the worst defending PGs in the NBA with a perfect cast surrounding him, the Celtics would come out on top in a tough game.

Anderson is a very good shooter/player, so efficient, but he's not a guy who you can put the ball in his hands and tell him to get his own shot.

Also no way do I play Nash on Paul, Nash will be playing Rush or Kidd as I stated a little earlier, A combination of Lee, Collison, and Batum will guard Paul.

[sleepingbunch]

I say this goes 7, and is the closest matchup of the ones available.....Paul will destroy whoever is covering him - the Magic have no defensive answer to him. His pick-and rolls to Chandler and his penetrating and popping the ball out to Anderson for jumpers will cause nightmares for the Magic.

That being said - The Magic have too many offensive options here, and way better depth. They might have the smartest/most team oriented starting lineup left in the tournament, and a tough 2nd line off the bench. With Nash and Duncan, this could be the best passing team left as well. I see the Magic winning in a close series, despite Paul being the best player on either team.