I think we are a better team than Miami

[BudBall]

Ill be curious to see what happens on Friday when the Magic take a visit to Miami and how they will match-up with Howard.

[Diesel]

Boston has elite guard play - we don't have average guard play. They also have legit bigs to burn off the bench and excellent shooters. Oh and they play defense better than anybody.

With all that going for them, they lost to the Lakers, they lost to Orlando the year before, and they have struggled against us the last 2 years and we were the same team. The difference for us is that we are a scoring machine. People say defenses wins championships. However, last year, the best defensive team was beaten by an offensive team. The point is that every defense can be broken. I have been watching Basketball for a long time. I realize that all those great Celtic teams up until this group won with outstanding offense. The Lakers = great offense. There's more than 1 way to a title and if we can get our offense purring, we're on our way.

[Deeman]

Lets wait till at least till the middle of November to try to asses a team.

[macdaddy]

All i know is that the Heat only can lose 11 more games and still attain the 70 wins that many were predicting when the signings went down. Good luck!

[thecampster]

Boston has elite guard play - we don't have average guard play. They also have legit bigs to burn off the bench and excellent shooters. Oh and they play defense better than anybody.

Boston vs. Atlanta Matchup

Bibby vs Rondo - Obviously Rondo

Johnson vs Allen - I might be the 3rd biggest Joe hater on this board but Ray Allen is farther behind Joe than Bibby is behind Rondo.

Marvin vs Pierce - Despite Marvin's solid Defense, Pierce is a Hawk killer and much much better.

Josh vs Garnett - Garnett in his prime would win this matchup but this is old Kevin, not new. I'd take Josh in this matchup.

Al vs Shaq - I love Shaq but let's be real about this. At his age and lack of mobility, Al runs circles around Shaq in almost every category.

Bench - Audible sigh. Some nights we win this matchup but most nights we don't. It all depends on Jamal and Zaza.

Matchup - Atlanta runs circles around Boston as they are slow and plodding and can't recover from their mistakes. Boston mistakes against a running team are guaranteed 2 points at the other end. Most teams can't match up with Boston's size but Boston executes at a snails pace and Atlanta is athletic enough to make up for Boston's pinpoint execution.

We are not a better team than Boston but we are a matchup nightmare for them.

Atlanta vs. Heat matchup

Bibby vs Chalmers - Although not athletically up to Chalmers, I'll take Bibby's IQ in this matchup all day long. Bibby makes people around him better on offense and can still shoot lights out from 18 feet.

Johnson vs Wade - Edge to Miami here but only a slight edge. Joe is a better defender and that makes up for his deficiencies in the offensive superstar category.

Bron vs Marvin - Lebron wins this matchup going away but in Marvin's defense, he plays Lebron as well as anyone and lessens his impact some.

Josh vs Bosh - Bosh is very talented but is not a complete player. He is a talented scorer and good rebounder but he is a space killer on the floor and is only a little better than average defensively. Slight edge Josh.

Al vs whatever player they try next week - Al is far and away better than anyone would throw out there. Anyone that argues this is a blind Miami fan.

Bench - Slight edge Atlanta. Miami's bench can't score with ours and are just holding the starters spots while they rest.

Team play - It is obvious no one knows who to defer to in Miami.

summary - We are a better "team" than the heat and a terrible matchup for Boston. Only teams with big centers that are the go to on offensive sets give us real trouble. I think this thread stands on it's claim.