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.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Agonizing 2 OT loss for Magic

All the recent trends indicated that the Bucks would have an easy time of it against the Magic Wednesday night. The Magic tried their best to pull off a stunning upset, but despite a game defensive effort, still lost in 2 OT 94-89. The Magic have now lost 6 of their last 7 games after a 5 game winning streak.

The Magic missed an astounding 58 shots from the field, shooting just 32 of 90 (35.6%). They also shot just 18 of 26 from the FT line (69.2%). 21 Magic TOs really hurt and they were outrebounded by the Bucks 52-47. The Bucks bench outscored the Magic bench 34-22. A good defensive effort by the Magic kept them in the game, as they held the Bucks to just 39.8% shooting (35 of 88). Michael Redd led the Bucks with 27 pts on just 10 of 30 shooting. Four Magic players scored in double figures, led by Hedo Turkoglu's 27. However, Howard, Dooling, and Garrity combined to shoot just 8 of 33 from the field. Francis was held to single figures ( 8 pts) for the second straight game and committed 5 TOs, though he did have 7 assists and 6 rebs.

Again, 7 players played the bulk of the minutes for the Magic as Augmon, Diener, and Kasun received just a few token minutes. Overall, a nice defensive game by the Magic, but their problems on offense continue. The starters continue to play heavy minutes, as Coach Hill's reluctance to give the bench more playing time is starting to wear down the starters. The Magic remain 4 games behind PHI for the last playoff spot, and guess who's next up for the Magic... the best team in the NBA, Detroit.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:45 PM  

7 Comments:

  • At 2:26 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    Good review Mike..
    For the first quarter of the game the Magic actually looked and played like a team with a purpose. They got out on the fast break and actually looked pretty sharp. Then the 2nd period started and they just looked like the old Magic again.

    If there was a night for DHoward to have a career game, I think this could have been the one. With no one who could really match up against him, and the Bucks' desicion not to doulbe team him, he continuely missed shots from point-blank range and is still getting pushed around in the low post. I know he's young, and really hasn't been effected from a "sophmore slump" yet, but it would be nice to see him develop a mid-range jump shot of some sort, something. But that just goes back to what i mentioned in previous posts, wondering if the Magic have the ability or knowledge to develop a raw - quality player such as Dwight.

    Dooling was simply a train wreck tonight, and pretty much has been since he came back from his suspension.

    I don't even know what to think anymore of Francis. I believe him when he said all the trade rumors didn't bother him much. And he seems to have his head in the game, and just when you think he is going to have a break-out game, he shoots 4 - 11 and commits the most ridiculous, childish turnovers ever. 21 total turnovers. And I think most of those were un-forced. Get close enough to a Magic player and they will eventually throw it out of bounds or just dribble the ball off their own foot.

    For some reason Dictator Hill refuses to allow Kasun and Deeeener and sort of valuable playing time. Can he not see that Kasun is a 7ft hulk that can clog the lane and not give anyone a free run to the basket? Can he not see that Deeener is a freakin dead-eye shooter? He's the best 3 guy we got, and he probably won't even turn the ball over as much as Francis....

    But hey, on the bright side, we got 35 minutes of pure NBA at its' best pleasure of everyones favorite power forward. Pat Garrity. This monster of a player has positioned himself as BSHill's number 1 substitute. The first man off the bench. The man that BSHill turns to when he needs that spark.
    And we are blessed to watch him lumber up the floor, then usually get called for illegal screens or half-hearted attemps at swiping the ball away. It is just painful for me to watch while garrity is on the floor. Any other team and this guy would be sitting next to the injured guys section. But in BSHills' regime, he's the first one off the bench, and BSHills choice for the 6th man award.

    I know sometimes we tend to really trash the Magic and organization here, But we are all here because we are all devoted Magic fans and will continue to be. Thats why we're here. None of us here are fair-weather fans. Thats one of the reasons i feel fortunate to be here. And because we can all talk intelligently and rationally, trash them when they do stupid things, but in the end, we're still the most faithful fans around.

     

  • At 9:11 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Omar said all that needed to be said on behalf of everybody. When a system is not working, something has to give in to change. Time and time, we have mentioned that without Grant this team doesn't have the offensive fire power to win games on offense only. A logical conclusion would be that we have to rely on defense to be in the games. It also means that defensive-minded subs get preference over defensive-liability ones. Brian Hill is too rigid in his puny mind that cannot see it that way.

    Last night, without Deshawn's defense we would have lost the game flat-out. Once again we cannot fault the efforts of the players but we came short at the end.

    When would the ownership realize where the problem is?

     

  • At 11:14 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Coach hill thinks dwight is shaq,i've been thinking about this alot,and last nights game plus matt's comments from yesterday about shaq's agent confirmed it for me! OK i know he doesnt look anything like shaq,and your probably wondering what i'm talking about,but the truth is,the player coup-de-tat that got hill fired in the first place,may have been the right thing to do! Do you guys remember in the middle of the good days of shaq,penny and the crew,fans,media & everyone else crticized hill b/c he had no offensive scheme way back then,he would just dump it in to shaq all the time,and make the other players watch,which was perfect for nick & dennis b/c they wanted to play inside out anyway,but not for a young penny who had tons of game back then,coach hills inability to do anything other than just throw it into shaq got him fired,and now he's doing it again,but with dwight this time,dwight's two inches shorter and 100 pounds lighter than shaq so what's happening is,instead of winning fifty games b/c you have the best mismatch in the game,we have a young PF who's being force fed the ball on the block as if he were as dominant as shaq,and its really starting to show,last night when dwight was stinking up the joint from point blank range,thats when a talented coach would have gone to the high post and let dwight get into the game without having to post him up,ala tim duncan & KG they are deadly from the high post b/c usually the guy guarding them isnt as quick of foot so they can get all the way to the basket,or jab step to get you rocking and pull the jumper in your face,but no,time and time again,just throw it into dwight and watch him work as if he were shaq,i love dwight but untill he starts shooting a better free-throw % he shouldnt get so many post up attempts or be our go to guy,dwight showed last night that not only is he limited in his offensive game but his basketball iQ is still immature,but that's b/c he doesnt have much coaching in games or in practice,our assistants arent teaching him nothing,or you'd see improvements in games,is it me or does it seem like dwights freethrow shooting has gotten worse since the end of last season,i mean at the end of last year dwight seemed to have got'en his shot down,but boy is he shooting awful from the line now,what happened? Dwight isnt shaq and nobody ever will be,but i think in coach hill's mind he thinks dwight can put up the same type numbers (20pt & 10RBs) as shaq,and i beleive that too,but dwight should get his point differently,he's an athletic player,we should have a true center so that opposing PF have to play dwight not their centers,if that happened he would instantly become a mismatch against every team we play,except duncan & KG of course,but you'd see dwight actually out on the wing ready to receive passes from our guards on fast break,dwight on fast break is a one handed thunder dunk waiting to happen,but no all we see is dwight under the hoop all night long as if he were shaq grabbing 15 rbs a night,i give dwight his props for never complaining and fighting with the biggest and the best down on the block,but he damn sure shouldnt have to so much,when cato was healthy and grabbing 9 or 10 rbs last year for J.Davis everything seemed so much easier for dwight playing beside a true center,and we got to see dwight actually leading some breaks!I dont know how long dwight can last like this,coach hill doesnt even know what he's doing to dwight!

     

  • At 11:31 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Dwight needs to play with more movement,not so many post ups,and more pick and roll which promotes passing and cutting from the backside players,matty guokas said it best when we were playing the memphis grizz,pau gasol lets his guards do all the work running around all over the court,and he makes himself available all night,what that does is,it takes away from him having to create his own shot(not that he cant),if you catch the pass from off the roll your usually wide open for a 15 ft jumpshot or players without that shot will take a dribble and dunk the ball, either way it's points,if dwight started posting up less,but making himself available more he get more dunks,more fast break opps,more lobs(alley oop) over the defense,and basketball would be so much easier,but i cant blame dwight for his current situation,there's only one person that can take that blame and thats BS HILL,Hey coach hill "dwight isnt shaq"!!!!!!!!

     

  • At 2:43 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Dwight Howard's FT% last season... 67.1%
    Howard's FT% so far this season... 61.3%

    Howard's FG% last season... 52.0%
    Howard's FG% so far this season... 51.2%

    So yeah, his FT shooting has regressed considerably... this is something that he does need to work on, in addition to the other stuff Big Figure wrote about.

     

  • At 6:50 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     

  • At 10:40 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    The Sentinel's melodramatic approach to reporting on Magic is pathetic. Can't they stick to objective journalistic standards?

     

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