Magic travel to Atlanta to try and end 3 game slide
The Atlanta Hawks are looking for their first 3 game winning streak for the first time in nearly 2 years tonight against the Magic. The Hawks bring a 13-31 record and a 9-14 home record into the game, while the Magic are 18-25 overall and 9-14 on the road.
The Hawks are probably playing their best basketball of the year, as they are 3-3 in their last 6 games. Earlier this season, they even beat defending champ San Antonio in Atlanta, so the Magic better be ready for this game. The Hawks are led by former Suns star Joe Johnson, who is averaging 19.8 pts and 5.8 assists per game, and who is coming off his first career triple-double against Charlotte. Johnson is also averaging over 26 pts a game his last 6 games. Al Harrington is averaging 18.9 pts and 7 rebounds per game. Two other players, ZaZa Pachulia and Tyronn Lue (both former Magic players) are also averaging in double figures. Pachulia has been particularly impressive, averaging 11.3 pts and 8.3 rebs per game, quite an improvement from his rookie year with the Magic 2 seasons ago.
The Magic are favored by 1 and a half pts tonight (www.pinnaclesports.com). However, the Hawks have a young, very athletic team who are playing well, and if Coach Hill doesn't have the team properly prepared for the game tonight, the Magic will be left to explain yet another disappointing loss. Defense is critical for the Magic, along with better offensive execution. I hope Coach Hill uses more than 2 guys off the bench tonight!
The Hawks are probably playing their best basketball of the year, as they are 3-3 in their last 6 games. Earlier this season, they even beat defending champ San Antonio in Atlanta, so the Magic better be ready for this game. The Hawks are led by former Suns star Joe Johnson, who is averaging 19.8 pts and 5.8 assists per game, and who is coming off his first career triple-double against Charlotte. Johnson is also averaging over 26 pts a game his last 6 games. Al Harrington is averaging 18.9 pts and 7 rebounds per game. Two other players, ZaZa Pachulia and Tyronn Lue (both former Magic players) are also averaging in double figures. Pachulia has been particularly impressive, averaging 11.3 pts and 8.3 rebs per game, quite an improvement from his rookie year with the Magic 2 seasons ago.
The Magic are favored by 1 and a half pts tonight (www.pinnaclesports.com). However, the Hawks have a young, very athletic team who are playing well, and if Coach Hill doesn't have the team properly prepared for the game tonight, the Magic will be left to explain yet another disappointing loss. Defense is critical for the Magic, along with better offensive execution. I hope Coach Hill uses more than 2 guys off the bench tonight!
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 3:50 AM
12 Comments:
At 7:22 AM,
Ken said…
The Hawks have been playing some pretty good ball the last 6 games. And have beaten a couple of good teams.
The Hawks are precisely the kind of team that the Magic seem to fall to. Which bench scrub for Atlanta will have a carreer night tonight? Brian Hill, the assigned babysitter for this club (notice how I didn't call him a coach) had better have them focused and their collective heads in the game, or this could turn into just another ugly loss for the underachieving Magic.
On a positive note: Dwight Howard always plays well in his hometown, and 20 rebounds have practically become the norm for him there.
I agree with ya Mike from Il. about playing more than just 2 subs. I'd like to see what Diener could do agains Lue. Or even Howard and Kasun as Orlando's version of the twin towers. Who knows, maybe it could work against the Hawks. Or will Babysitter Hill, (again, no coach reference) insert Garrity for another 30 minutes, and then watch as the Atlanta offense runs circles around him?
At 9:36 AM,
Matt said…
Well said, Omar. I agree that the Magic needs to establish some defense first before thinking of offense. That should be the norm until Grant and Jameer come back and insert some offensive stability. The last 3 games that the Magic has lost were huge defensive lapses allowing huge opponents' points production. The defense should be tight from the start or we will see anther tragic loss.
At 10:00 AM,
WeRDevos said…
Ty Lue - the slow unathletic short man that Gabriel mistook for a starting PG. I wonder how many times he won't throw the ball to Johnson tonight like he used to not toss to T-Mac? Just for old time sake it'd be fun to watch Francis go postal on him.
Earlier in the year lots of pundits were predicting a 30 rebound night for Howard. Tonight would be a good night.
Unless Howard does something pretty it should be an artistically ugly game. Magic Assist/Turnover ratio for the season is 1.19, Atlanta 1.18
At 11:39 AM,
Big Figure said…
The first thing i would like to see tonight is,if BS Hill will change his starting line-up,If keyon is inserted to the line-up and steve moved over to the two,and hedo coming off the bench or even deshawn,then i'll take back everything i have ever said negative about BS hill,that one move of putting steve in a position where he could dominate,is the only thing that is holding this team back,even without jameer,grant,cato & others,we could win on most nights if our players were used to their strengths,and that is what BS hill is failing to do,not being able to recognize strenghts and weaknesses in our players & bad substitutions or lack there-of are killing us,as good as our players are,they cant overcome those two glaring weaknesses in BS hill's coaching! oh yea,BS stands for babysitter,like omar has already labeled him accurately!
At 12:09 PM,
Matt said…
Big Figure, are you suggesting to move Deshawn to SF and bring Hedo off the bench? I like the lineup of Keyon, Steve, Deshawn (or Hedo), Dwight and Tony. With Deshawn in SF we will strengthen our defensive posture, and I am all for it.
At 2:41 PM,
Big Figure said…
Ya Know matt,the thing i would really like to see is,what's our record when the following are in the starting line-up at the following positions,steve-pg,deshawn-2g,turk-sf,dwight-pf,battie-c,i think it's bad,and he's used that line-up alot! But yeah,moving steve to the two to me has to be done,and yes moving hedo back to the bench needs to be done also,mainly for depth purposes,and also to put guys in the role they feel most comfortable,you would think that would be a no brainer!
At 3:12 PM,
Big Figure said…
Here's what i see,at the begining of the season we all know grant was out,so coach chose to put hedo in the startin line-up with the regulars(steve,deshawn,dwight & tony),that line-up struggled to win any games to start the season,just wasnt working,for reason's i wont go into know,but when we went on that five game win streak,that was after alot of match-up searching in my opinion,so i give coach the benefit of the doubt to start the season,but during the win streak i thought that coach finally realized that steve for this team needed to play the two,i guess i was wrong b/c the last three games he's started at the one,all losses,so two things we see,hedo should come off the bench,and steve should play the two,lets see how long coach does it his way,i got a feeling were gonna lose alot while he does!
At 3:35 PM,
Big Figure said…
What we have is a very proud coach,one who thinks that if guys get injured that others should just step up and get the job done no matter what,well i dont think we have a talented enough coach to realize that player management is most important,the reason we started winning is b/c jameer does all the things steve wont,they are the perfect complement for each other,jameer's outside shooting and penetration,with steve's mid-range game and playmaking ability,ala billups and hamilton! When you stick steve and deshwan in the same back-court,you just put two players together that are pretty much the same,neither shoots the three particularly well,and deshawn isnt aggressive enough to man the shooting guard,so you just handicapped yourself in the scoring column,thats what we have guys!
At 4:33 PM,
OVERWADED said…
At least I know everyone on here is feeling the same as me. It's been hard for me not to blame Brian Hill for the past 3 losses. He seems to fall short in many areas whether it be communication, preparation, and player rotation. The only way this team is going to do anything is if they do it themselves. That's just the way it seems. If Grant Hill ever returns that will help a ton because he'll be our "floor coach". The recent losses have pissed me off and has forced me to "tune out" as much as possible. It's been the same thing over and over this year, and I just needed a break! Hopefully they can get their sh.. together tonight, but Atlanta is the type of team the Magic seem to lose to. Once again, after 3 losses, there is no excuse for losing tonight's game. I'm hoping the players will be jacked up to just TAKE a win after losing 3. God knows Brian Hill isn't going to help motivate them.
I agree with bigfigure. Hedo NEEDS to be coming off the bench NO MATTER WHAT. Francis should move over to the 2 spot because he'll be more effective. He'll still be able to pass, shoot, and rebound, it'll just help limit his turnovers because he'll be handling the ball less. Stevenson pretty much has the game of a SF, and I don't see any problems with him moving there. If anything I think he should be able to use his quickness and strength to his advantage. And Dooling has shown he can run a team, why not give him a try, let him start, and see how he does. It can't hurt, it's the perfect time with Jameer out, and we're already losing...
At 5:42 PM,
Big Figure said…
Couldnt have said it better myself intro! My sentiments exactly
At 9:42 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hahahaaooooohmygód. I see the humor of it all, but damn...losing to the Hawks...that's not god, that's not good at all, is it?
You gotta, you gotta love this team, I mean...the drama they provide...jesus christ! So just as we're going to talk about burying the season, i'm sure we'll see a winning streak soon enough. Oh man.
We lost to the bloody Hawks.
I need to get some sleep.
Man oh man.
At 9:49 PM,
Ken said…
Who do you think will represent the Magic this year at the NBA Draft?
I'm at a loss for words after this.
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