by David Snipes

Created on: April 24, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

The Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic are by far the worst match-up in the Eastern Conference. There is little to no way that the Raptors can survive this series - which is sad, as they are a fun team to watch and an exciting team for the future.

THE POSITION BREAKDOWN

CENTER

Rasho Nesterovic (7.8 PPG 4.8RPG)
VS
Dwight Howard (20.7 PPG 14.2RPG)

Nesterovic has shown monthly improvement this year and has shown a quickness that has not been witnessed since his days in Minnesota. His minutes stayed the same but he ended the year up across the board and also cut down on his fouls - he still only goes half the game, but he is productive.

Backing him up is Primoz Brezec, who has fallen WAY off from his Bobcat days. In 2005 this was a 13 PPG and 7.4 RPG player, and now he is not even getting 4 points and 2 boards per game.

Bosh also plays some minutes at center - giving us the match up we are looking for this series.

Howard is the BEST frontcourt player in the East save Kevin Garnett - and for some stretches he even approaches Duncan as the best frontcourt player in the NBA. (Yes, that includes LeBron - I will take the best center in the NBA over the best offensive shooting forward since Dr J...)

Howard has the complete game, though his big weakness is that he does not pace himself during games and tries to do too much. He then seems to pull back too much and disappears for a time, as if he is playing either full-bore or at only fifty percent during the game.

Bo Outlaw and Adonal Foyle are on the roster but never see the floor, so the few minutes that are not taken by Howard are used by one of the forwards sliding over, either Hedo or Lewis.

Advantage: Orlando

POWER FORWARD

Chris Bosh (22.3 PPG 8.7RPG)
Vs
Rashard Lewis (18.2PPG 5.4 RPR)

Bosh is one of the better power forwards in the league, coming from the same draft class as James and Wade. He has not reached the level of those players yet, but he has also not had the supporting cast of those players either. Bosh is in for a hard series - if he gets too hot, the Magic can slap Howard on him... but he should have his way with Lewis.

Lewis, meanwhile, was THE free-agent catch of the off-season and has not lived up to expectations. He is the second free agent Orlando has signed to a big money deal which so far has not lived up to expectations. Unlike Grant Hill, though, Lewis has played well, but his scoring and rebounding numbers have dropped. Lewis has a chance to do well this series as Bosh may not know if Howard is taking him this

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