By Dan Savage
Right now Magic fans are lot like an expecting father, they’re doing a lot of sitting around and waiting. They’re also doing a lot of wishing, pondering whether they would rather play the Hawks or the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
While some may argue vehemently for one choice or another, let’s preface this debate by first pointing out that there’s no such thing as an easy playoff opponent.
The Hawks and Bucks are both formidable postseason foes. While Atlanta can overwhelm the opposition with its high number of extremely gifted players, Milwaukee plays with immense energy and effort on both ends of the court.
But let’s face it, perhaps more than any other professional sport, basketball games are won on talent. And the Hawks have a lot more of it.
They have a perennial All-Star in Joe Johnson, a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Josh Smith, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in Jamal Crawford, a veteran point guard in Mike Bibby and a versatile big man in Al Horford.
Milwaukee, on the other hand, is currently lacking in the talent department, particularly on the interior. While the Bucks have put their tremendous heart and hustle on display this postseason and spread their marketing slogan of “Fear the Deer” like wildfire, that’s only going to get you so far in the playoffs.
With Andrew Bogut out for the season, Milwaukee is forced to go to war with Kurt Thomas and Dan Gadzuric at center. Although you’ll likely never find a bigger Thomas fan than yours truly, at this stage of his career he has no business attempting to hang with the league’s most explosive center, Dwight Howard.
Orlando’s Superman could perhaps average 30 points and 15 rebounds per game against the diminished Bucks’ frontcourt. Unlike Charlotte, Milwaukee doesn’t have enough bigs to continuously foul Howard and send him to the charity stripe.
And after a frustrating first round series for D12, the only thing better than an Eastern Conference Semifinals series win for the Magic, would be an Eastern Conference Semifinals series win, where their All-Star center goes off.