Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Magic get back on winning track

What a great second half played by the Magic, outscoring the Wizards 62-47. Looking at the numbers from the box score, it was a really well-balanced, team effort by the Magic tonight. 4 of the 5 starters scored in double figures, while Orlando's bench outscored Washington's bench 32-20. The Magic did a good job of drawing fouls, as they went to the free throw line 37 times, making 28. They outscored the Wizards from the field 78-67, which was important because the Wizards did an outstanding job drawing fouls, going to the FT line 41 times and making 31. Good job defensively also on Gilbert Arenas, who shot only 5 of 20. The Magic had 23 team assists, an indication of good ball movement. Francis did well coming off the bench, having a good all-around game, despite shooting only 2 of 7. He had 8 rebs, 7 assists and a steal, with only 3 TOs in 31 minutes, which is quite an improvement over his recent play. Will Francis mind coming off the bench as long as he plays over 30 minutes a game and the team wins? I don't blame Coach Hill wanting to enjoy this win for a day, and then worry after that about the starting lineup for the next game. The Magic really needed this win.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:00 AM  

5 Comments:

  • At 12:59 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    The game went pretty much how I figured. Cato was surprising, showing flashes of the start of last season; until he got hurt again. Francis and Nelson played side by side TOGETHER at the end of the game just as I thought they would. I know, no matter what, some people will worry about that backcourt because of the lack of size. But honestly, I think we cause just as many problems for other teams. And tonight Jameer, Francis, and Stevenson did more than hold their own against a solid Washington backcourt. Add Dooling soon enough, and that is a nice group that could shape our backcourt. Also not to forget Diener, who I still think could play a nice role on our team. That's all for now... I'm just glad we got a win and the Magic are starting to win on their home floor.

     

  • At 8:36 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I have moved this posting from under a different heading so that it won't be missed:

    Introvert316 and Big Figure were prophetic on their predictions. I was pleased to see the Magic back to their hard defnsive minded game. They held Arenas in check and held WAS to 40% shooting (33% on 3s). Magic in return shot 50.7% (50% 3s).They outrebounded WAS 41-34. It seems to me that the decsion not to start Steve was reached in agreement between Steve and the coach. Steve said he needed to get his legs back since he was off for a week.

     

  • At 9:55 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    The Good:

    Howard: 9 pts, 10 reb, 3 blocks, 2 assists while in foul trouble the whole game.

    Nelson: 22/5/5 almost all in the 2nd half. He looks like the second coming of D.Armstrong and was a little monster in the 3rd.

    Francis: 12/8/7 off the bench is huge. Wonder if they can convince him to be a 6th man for awhile.

    Garrity: 25 minutes and he mostly didn't suck. 8 points, a steal, an assist and a block with 0 turnovers.

    The Bad:

    Cato played. Cato got hurt. Cato had 0 rebounds in 12 minutes played.

    Diener looked lost. Kasun got a DNP-CD.

    The Ugly:
    Jamison was 9-11 at one point and finished 12-18. Some of that was Garrity not guarding him, but others spent time not guarding him as well.

    It was a good win but Magic match up well with Wizards. The game was basically 7 on 7 with good PG play off the bench for both teams.

    At this point the Magic still need a bench. It would be nice to see if Hill, Dooling and Francis coming off the bench would work.

     

  • At 10:36 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I recall the old say about not feeding a dragon since the more you feed a dragon, the more the dragon would want. It's funny when you ask the question: What if the only way of defending the town's boundaries is to keep the dragon happy? I know things are not that black or white, but isn’t that the dilemma in deciding to do what is right and appropriate, most often than not?

     

  • At 5:29 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    "winning track" i think would have to be more than one win,the magic seem to win a game and then lose the next four,lets see if they can go into char and take care of business,this is a team we should not lose to,for no reason!

     

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