I think this is what Dennis Green meant.....sickening....

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/20 ... miami.html

If this team doesn't win it all, then it's an epic fail for TheBron, DWade and Bosh. The only team that could acceptabley beat them is LaLakers. If they lose to anyone else in the playoffs its just sad.

yeah good for those long suffering south beach fans. man they have hard lives...

I'm thinking that I'm not the only one rooting for that team to fail, and I hope against hope that it's my team that takes those SOBs down...

kobe can defend lebron, artest can keep wade at bay and gasol can keep bosh down. they match up great without double teaming anyone. then, if you compare the benches you can see why lakers are still the team to beat.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

yeszir!

I am Ike, once you realize this you will sleep better at night.

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

Ike didnt even have the matchups right. Artest would clearly guard LeBron and Kobe on Wade. And Artest cant guard LeBron at all, so I disagree that the Lakers are clearly the favorites still.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If we learned anything from the playoffs this year (other than LeBro will quit) it's matchup matter. While the Heat would have the edge on the outside Miami would have no answer for Gasol and Bynum. When Odom comes off the bench it would get worse. The Lakers and Magic still have the better TEAM right now. That isn't likely going to change.

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I would say the Lakers are still the favs. It's true that Ron can't guard James but it doesnt matter anyways since LeBron disappears when the game is on the line anyway. Kobe can defend Wade much better than Wade can guard Kobe and Bosh and Gasol is pretty much an even matchup. The Lakers are still much deeper with Bynum, Fisher and Odum.

The east is gonna come down to The Heat and Celtics. Orlando will be in the mix too so I don't think its gonna be a runaway for the Heat as some people think

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"You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution."

But what happens when D.Fish takes his 7 pts and 3 assists to Miami next year?

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/07/10/heat ... index.html

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But you know what he was getting at.

Sorry FF but in order to be the champs you have to beat the champs first.

_________________
You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

If we learned anything from the Lakers the past three years it's that Bynum cant be relied upon. Wade/Bosh and Kobe/Gasol more or less cancel eachother out IMO. LeBron is so much better than Artest that it clearly makes up for a depth problem. Let's remember the Lakers arent a deep team at all either, especially if Bynum cant stay healthy.

Hernandez, I obviously agree with you with LeBron not showing up in big games the past couple years but I dont see it as much of an issue with Wade there to take pressure off and carry the load. He's so much better than anyone on the Lakers outside Kobe that his bad games are 24/8/8. I think this gives them the edge.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Didn't the dream team get the shit kicked out of them by teams like Argentina a few years ago? There is still only 1 ball, someone will probably get injured (lebron may have a partially torn ucl for all we know),lebron will also probably not be able to truck everyone on his way to the hoop and then get a foul call (he may actually get called for a charge now). Stern is also good at marketing and he knows he has a true villain team right now and villain need to seem like they are going to win only to get beat by the saviors which are apparently the lakers. This is creeping me out how much of a wcw nwo vibe this whole thing has.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

To me, a Lakers vs. Heat matchup would depend on how the refs want to call the series. Alternating Odom, Bryant, and Artest on Lebron would be trouble for the King. If the refs let Artest put a body on LBJ then I think the Heat would def have a problem.

The Lakers bench is bad beyond Odom, and the Heat have no bench... at all.... Literally.

I do think it would be an interesting matchup, and as an NBA fan, it's the series I want to see next June.

Agreed Bynum cannot be relied upon to last 82+ games, but Id be more worried about who's running the point if I were a Lakers fan right now. I actually think D-Fish would hurt any team he goes to because he cant play defense, and he doesnt put up even decent numbers anymore. All that championship experience talk is garbage. He's the John Paxson of this generation.

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obviously. But it doesnt mean they should be favorites going into the season. Vegas agrees with me so I'm right!

Actually I can see why you guys think the Lakers are still the favs(although I cant even understand why HOVA thinks the Magic are better), I just disagree. I'm not guaranteeing a Heat title or dynasty, I would just put them as the favorites right now.

Artest is noticeably on the downside of his career. He wont be able to guard LeBron really at all. Kobe can for spurts. Odom wouldnt be able to at all either.

And I forgot who said it, but I disagree that Kobe can defend Wade better than Wade can defend Kobe. I think that's about as close to a push as you can get. Kobe is a better defender, but not by a significant degree. Wade is an outstanding defensive player and at this point faster, quicker, and more explosive than Kobe. In terms of a video game if Kobe is a 97 I think Wade is a 95 or 96.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I agree about Bynum. It's really just wishful thinking on my part when it comes to him staying healthy. However I don't agree that it's a Kobe/Gasol vs Wade/Bosh is a wash. IMO the Lakers clearly get the edge. Ask 100 basketball fans if they would rather have Wade or Kobe and the majority would pick Kobe. Ask the same question about Bosh and Gasol and most would pick Gasol. IMO Gasol is way better than Bosh on both ends of the court. Then when you consider the Heat have no answer for Odom (if he decides to play) and I believe it's clear who comes out on top. As they stand right now the 3 Mi-migos would have to play 40+ mins every game. That's tough to do even at their age. Especially considering the league will attack them like they are the champions every night.

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It's really easy to guard a guy who doesn't show up in the playoffs

Of course the Heat are the "favorites" they have two of the top 5 guys in the league, but i'll tell you what the Heat don't have(right now) that the Lakers do..........

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You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

When Odom plays in May and June, it's a lot dif than the rest of the season for him. His length would bother LBJ. He doesnt have good defensive footwork, but he is a problem for guys shorter than him when he wants to be. I dont think he could do it all game, but if they rotate defenders Odom is an X factor.

Offensively, I think Kobe and Wade are close, but Id give the edge to Kobe on the defensive end. He's just smarter/craftier than any other player in the league on both sides of the ball.

It's all good tho. Im glad to see this finals matchup is the desired one on this board.

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Not for me.

Bulls vs Lakers for me

_________________
You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

The Lakers have a top 2 player and a top 10 player. They have 2 players that are the best at their position. If it were a 3 on 3 obviously it wouldn't even be close. I'm interested to see how the chemistry works. Early in the season won't tell me much. I'll be looking forward to how they play in March and April and to see if Wade and Bosh can hold up for a year. LeBron will be LeBron. I expect him to average a triple double this year but he will only score about 22 points a game.

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I was thinking this the other night Hov... How long has it been since the finals had 5 of the top 10 players in the league playing in it? Idk if it's happened since the 80's, or 70's even.

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Rondo will get better but the Big 3 will only get worse. Even though they got O'Neal this was their last run IMO.

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I would have to agree.

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I was thinking that too, except I'd go Bulls vs. Golden State cuz I wanna see the Bulls win a title.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Naw I'd rather beat the best

_________________
You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

Is there even 100 NBA fans left?

I would also take Kobe over Wade and Gasol over Bosh. I really am still not sure how I feel about Bosh. But I do believe the difference between those guys is negligable and LeBron > Artest + Odom.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Favre Fan is purposely not responding to any of your posts.....either you are him, or you two guys got it on.....emphasis on guys....be careful FF, that's frowned upon in the military.

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I already did respond to a Carrie post in the Dan Gilbert or Defending LeBron thread or whatever. This obsession you have trying to connect me and Carrie seems pretty odd. Bored?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He needs attention now that I stole his B.F.F

_________________
You never miss your wealth, till your well went dry
Seem like only yesterday, you were here smiling
Now you gone away, but I know you in a better place
No traces of you, what can I do?
Alone and confused

I was being facetious. I'm pretty sure the Bulls wont be better than the Heat, Magic, or Celtics, but they are younger than all those teams and have alot of potential. This wont be their year though. Obviously I'd love to be wrong on this one.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul