Which one of the "Big 3" do you feel most confident against?

Cleveland. Boston. Orlando. These are the consensus class of the Eastern conference. Kaz's wacky thread inspired to me think about this question: what team do you think the Raptors stand the best chance against? If we had to face one of them in a playoff series, who would we keep it closest with?

I personally prefer Cleveland. It deserves more of an explanation, that I can't give right now because I'm about to escape work earlier than I'm supposed to. I'll expound on my choice later.

 

You need to add a "None of the Above" choice. Your roster is ill suited for post season success in general, but is an exceptionally bad match up against any of these three teams. With Cleveland adding Shag and Boston adding Sheed, you lack the toughnes to match up with any of them inside, and you don't have the perimeter defenders to stop LeBron, Pierce, Allen, Shard, Vince, etc.

You're only realistic hope (outside of an injury to LeBron) is against Orlando if all their outside shooters go cold at the same time and Dwight Howard can't make a FT. I don't really see Toronto giving any of these teams much trouble in a play-off series. I'd be surprised to see you go more than 5 games against any of them.

BNM

 

i dont like any of the three but if i had to choose i would say orlando because im not entirely convinced they are a championship team. they struggled against philly and an injury plagued boston team yet they had a legit chance of sweeping the cavs.

 

Orlando (in the past), in spite of maving Dwight Howard has depended heavily on their 3-point shooting for success. They tend to live by the 3 and die by the 3. If their outside shooters aren't hitting, it allows teams to tighten up the defense and double team Howard. That may change somewhat with Vince and his ability to penetrate and create his own shot. Vince gives them another way to score other than just bombing away from 3, or dumping it into Dwight down low.

Of course, the big problem the Raptors had last time they met the Magic in the play-offs was keeping Dwight off the offensive boards. When the Magic aren't hitting from outside, you need to keep Dwight off the offensive glass. Otherwise those missed shots lead to offensive rebounds and extra possessions. Dwight averaged 7 ORB/G in that series, including 10 ORB in the final game. Even when a team is shooting poorly, they can still beat you if you give tham that many extra possessions per game.

BNM

 

ill cosign most of what u said but vince skills have acutely diminished. i think the magic are banking on big returns from vince, unfortunately the 32 year old vince is a shadow of his former self. plus, the magic's biggest weapon last year was their ability to create a matchup hell scenario's for the opposing team, although, the addition of vince as well as hedo leaving- turns them back into a conventional team.

 

i voted cleveland just because i think they are the worst team of the 3.

 

The problem is Evans and Rasho aren't going to be getting many minutes - and won't be in the game at crunch time. You had Rasho the last time you played the Magic in the play-offs and Dwight Howard averaged 7 offensive rebounds per game in that series.

You lost Marion, your 2nd best rebounder overall (and best for his position) and replaced him with Hedo, a below average rebounder for his size/position. On paper, your starting (and finishing) 5 are a weaker rebounding team than last season's 33-win club.

You'll need both Bosh, and especially Bargnani to step up the rebounding if you hope to have a chance to advance in the play-offs. Defense and rebounding are the keys to winning in the post season. The last two times the Raptors made the play-offs they were out rebounded by their 1st round opponents and bumped in the 1st round. What will be different this time?

BNM

 

I agree that Vince isn't the Vince he once was. However, he's still a good player. His stats from last season compared to Hedo's:

Vince: 20.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.7 APG, 0.437 FG%, 0.385 3FG%, 0.817 FT%, 19.3 PER
Hedo: 16.8 PPG, 5.3RPG, 4.9 APG. 0.413 FG%, 0.356 3FG%, 0.807 FT% 14.8 PER

Their overall production was very similar, but Vince was a more efficient scorere and shot higher percentages. He also contributed more steals and more blocks. While their styles are different, I don't think Vince is a downgrade over Hedo.

Plus the addition or Ryan Anderson gives the Magic yeat another 3-point threat and Brandon Bass gives them another big who plays physical and is a good rebounder. Even when Howard is out of the game, the Raptors will struggle to keep Gortat and Bass off the glass. With tough, physical bigs that can rebound and play defense, Orlando's roster is much better suited to post season succcess than Toronto's.

BNM

 

It's all relative, of course. Notice I didn't ask which team you thought we can beat. I'm just asking which team you think we will be most competitive against. Perhaps I should've asked which team we will be least uncompetitive against to pander to your opinion of the Raps, but I'm inconsiderate like that.

I know I said I'd explain my choice later, but Shape basically posted what I was thinking. Cleveland struggled against Orlando's heavy use of the pick-and-roll in the playoffs, and the Shaq acquisition will only compound that problem. If Toronto's offense got hot enough, they have the kind of players that could dictate the style of game against Cleveland. It'd take a helluva hot streak, of course.

 

The thing is though Orlando had the human eraser in Howard. Against us Lebron would just drive at will and have no resistance at the rim.

 

shaq is still an intimidating force, irrespective of what some might say

 

Yep, even at his advanced age and expanded girth, he still averaged 17.8 PPG, 8.4 RPG in 30 MPG, had a PER of 22.3, led the league in FG% at 0.609 (the highest of his career) and was 3rd team all-NBA behind Dwight and Yao.

Most importantly, he can still easily overpower anyone and everyone on the Raptors roster. He can no longer lead a team to a title, but paired with LeBron, he has a decent shot at getting his 5th ring.

BNM

 

That statement always needs to come with an asterisk. The man's motivation level can be so arbitrary and inconsistent.

 

yeah but shaq had an all star season last year and thats probably the best indicator of future success

 

I don't consider it trashing, just injecting a dose of reality.

BNM

 

I voted for Magic, simply because of Hedo vs. Carter match up, sure VC has better stats but Hedo is clutch! Hedo makes plays, yes Marion is one of the best players for his position in my opinion BUT hedo and Calderon can really make plays. Raptors will have the best match up against them because raptors are saying screw defense let's put up one more point then the other team and win! Cavs have LBJ and thats all they need really to get back to where they were last year so no point of bothering with them, Boston is going to the finals simply because they have KG and Sheed, so the only choice is Magic! Raps can compete with Magic