Another day, another loss for Magic
The Magic continue to move closer and closer to a very high draft pick as they lose their 5th game in a row, 12th road game in a row, and 17th loss in 19 games as the Nuggets cruised to a 110-94 victory. It was only a 4 pt deficit at the half, and the Magic actually had a 1 pt lead in the third but DEN gradually pulled away after that.
Five players scored in double figures for the Magic, led by GHill with 19 pts, DHoward (15 pts 11 rebs), CArroyo (12 pts), JNelson (10 pts 10 assists) and TBattie (10 pts). Three players scored over 20 pts for DEN, led by Carmelo Anthony (24 pts), Reuben Patterson (21 pts), and super-sub Earl Boykins, who scored 21 pts off the bench. I was disappointed to see Darko play only 20 minutes (7 pts 3 blocks). The only thing I can think of as to why he's not playing more is maybe his conditioning isn't quite good enough yet to play 30-35 minutes a game. Otherwise, there's no excuse as to why Battie (28 minutes) should see more playing time than Darko.
Not a good game for the Magic stat-wise. DEN outplayed the Magic in virtually every area. They outscored the Magic from the field 98-71 on 56.5% FG shooting. The Magic shot 46.7%. DEN dominated the boards 41-26. Once again, the Magic opponent had a superb assist-to-turnover ratio: 31 assists for DEN to just 15 TOs, while the Magic's ratio was only 23-17. 23 assists is good, but 17 TOs is too many. The only thing the Magic did well was FTs, outscoring DEN 23-12 from the line on 74.2% shooting. Even our bench was outscored by the DEN bench 40-33.
The five game road trip ends at Utah on Monday, and this current brutal stretch of 22 road games out of 33 overall will finally be over, thank goodness.
Five players scored in double figures for the Magic, led by GHill with 19 pts, DHoward (15 pts 11 rebs), CArroyo (12 pts), JNelson (10 pts 10 assists) and TBattie (10 pts). Three players scored over 20 pts for DEN, led by Carmelo Anthony (24 pts), Reuben Patterson (21 pts), and super-sub Earl Boykins, who scored 21 pts off the bench. I was disappointed to see Darko play only 20 minutes (7 pts 3 blocks). The only thing I can think of as to why he's not playing more is maybe his conditioning isn't quite good enough yet to play 30-35 minutes a game. Otherwise, there's no excuse as to why Battie (28 minutes) should see more playing time than Darko.
Not a good game for the Magic stat-wise. DEN outplayed the Magic in virtually every area. They outscored the Magic from the field 98-71 on 56.5% FG shooting. The Magic shot 46.7%. DEN dominated the boards 41-26. Once again, the Magic opponent had a superb assist-to-turnover ratio: 31 assists for DEN to just 15 TOs, while the Magic's ratio was only 23-17. 23 assists is good, but 17 TOs is too many. The only thing the Magic did well was FTs, outscoring DEN 23-12 from the line on 74.2% shooting. Even our bench was outscored by the DEN bench 40-33.
The five game road trip ends at Utah on Monday, and this current brutal stretch of 22 road games out of 33 overall will finally be over, thank goodness.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:10 AM
11 Comments:
At 10:42 AM,
Big Figure said…
You sure its gonna be over,teams come in our house and play like their at home!
At 12:52 PM,
Ken said…
Your right, home court hasn't meant much this year
At 2:05 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
We do play several sub .500 teams at home this month that we at least will have a good chance at winning.
At 7:23 PM,
Matt said…
This team is underachieving and it is not all players' fault. Well-coached and disciplined teams know what they exactly have to do when they get in their offensive sets. Magic, as I said time and time again, is reinventing the wheel on the offensive end, night in night out. Therefore, as Big Figure has mentioned, when players figure what they have to deal with on the fly, the team wins. The lack of offensive schemes also causes turnovers, simply because players are in uncharted waters, night after night. Good teams have a few offensive sets that they milk them until the opposing team figures it out, at which time they will try another set that they have practiced on long enough to be able to execute well.
At 8:55 PM,
Ken said…
If we can keep these guys together long enough I think their time will come. They have the talent, although raw, they are developing very nicely. Having Grant Hill around, and to a lesser extent Tony Battie, these guys are the ultimate professionals. No constant complaining after every foul call and just acting in a professional manner on and off the court will do alot for this team. It wasn't BSHill who guided this team to the NBA Finals, it was Shaq and Hadaway, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott and their talent that got them there, any one of us could have coached the team that year and gotten credit for it.
Mike, I'd love to agree with you about those sub .500 teams, but those are the teams that worry me most. I've just seen to many of those sorts waltz into the Waterhouse and bench players having career nights to totally embarrass the Magic.
It's great to see Jameer back in uniform. With him back, I think we got the best of both worlds. In Jameer we have a PG who can take over at the end of games and score. He isn't afraid to take the big shot and his hustle is infectious to the rest of the team. When others' shots aren't falling he can find ways to score and keep us in the game until the others get it together..
With Arroyo, we have a pass first PG who is always looking to keep everyone involved in the game. Theres no standing around watching while Carlos is on the floor, you better be ready for a pass at any time And by that, he makes everyone else around him a better player. He is a breath of fresh air compared to watching Francis and Me Mac the last few years.
If I were running the team, I would start both Jameer and Arroyo in the backcourt, screw the matchups, and have Dooling as the reserve. GHill at SF, Dwight at PF, and Darko at C. Youth, athletisism, and veteran leadership.
I read in the Slantinel this morning that Deeener may be sent down to the NBDL.
At 11:53 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Interesting idea, Omar, about starting Jameer and Arroyo in the backcourt together. Even though it would cause a match-up nightmare for the Magic with the opposing backcourt, due to lack of size, the hustle and quickness from Nelson and Arroyo might give the opposition headaches. Knowing how BHill likes to play the matchup game, I would never expect Arroyo and Nelson to start together.
I like the starting lineup that Big Figure has suggested before: Nelson, GHill, Hedo, Dwight, and Darko. Arroyo and Dooling would be the reserve guards, Stephenson and Ariza at SF, Battie PF/C, Outlaw PF, and Kasun C. Stephenson could be used as a starter at the SG or SF if necessary. I'd like to see more of Travis Diener, but with Nelson back, it would be awfully tough to get Diener playing time. It's probably a good idea to send him to the NBDL, because he would see a lot more action, and I still think he could be a big part of the Magic's future.
I hate to see any player get hurt, but at least PGarrity, with his sprained shoulder, won't do the Magic any harm on the bench wearing a suit.
Matt, your recent post makes a lot of sense. BHill needs to put in better offensive schemes and plays so the players can get familiar with them, instead of having to create plays "on the fly".
At 11:18 AM,
Big Figure said…
Jameer,grant,hedo,dwight & darko is the only playoff winning caliber team we can put on the floor as starters,my comparison's would be to compare detroit (our leagues best team) to the magic,at point guard-chauncey & jameer:edge detroit(chauncey's experience is the difference),at 2Guard-rip & grant:edge magic(with grants size rip would have problems all night),at SF-tayshaun & hedo:wash (tayshaun might be a little better defender,while hedo's probably a better scorer),at PF-ben & dwight:wash (dwight pretty much does everything better than ben,but ben's got experience & rings),Center-rasheed & darko:edge detroit (sheed pretty much taught darko everthing that he knows,but the understudy has come out of his shell),after some comparison you can see that even the best team in the league would have problem's with that line-up,quickness with jameer,defensive ability with grant,dwight & darko,three point shooting with hedo & jameer,and jameer,hedo,grant & darko are all good freethrow shooters,offense shouldnt be a problem with grant & jameer pushing the ball and dwight & darko down low,while hedo sits outside and spread's the defense! Any other combination will give the same results that we're getting now,you put carlos in the starting line-up and you have a defensive liability from the jump,and we dont have to go that rout with all this talent,deshawn & tony in the starting line-up handicaps your scoring output,they would be much better of the bench,all three,carlos,deshawn,ariza,battie & mario,would now represent a back-up five that could all start!
At 11:38 AM,
Big Figure said…
Same 5 against san antone,PG-tony parker & jameer:edge san antone (parker is about the same age and experience,but has proven a winner,this one was close),2guard-ginobili & grant:edge magic (see rip and grant),SF-bruce bowen & hedo:edge san antone ( bruce can defend anyone and shoot the three, nuff said),PF-Timmy & dwight:edge san antone (teacher & student),Center-nesterovic & darko:edge magic (darko in a few games has showm more than nesterovic in his whole career),with some comarison we see that san antone would have problem's also,parker has the edge but jameer would probably score right with him,and grant & darko would pose big problems for them! Will we ever see our best five remain's to be seen!
At 11:56 AM,
Big Figure said…
The fact that on paper if the right line-ups are used the magic can seem much more competitive,tells me that this coach is just tooooo stubborn to change anything and doesnt want to seem like he doesnt know anything,see if coach hill goes looking for answer's or start's listening to blog's/journalists,he'd be admitting that he didnt have a plan coming in or that his plan isnt working,both cases would signal an unknowledgeable coach which could get him fired,so what he's doing is not looking for help from anyone so it seems like he knows what he wants to do even if no one else understand's his motive's,game after game he stays with the same guys in his same substitution pattern's which is my proof,the only time we see changes is when someone gets injured or return's from injury,which is what i based my opinion on,pride needs to be taken out of the equation so that you can put your best players on the court,BSH is such a moron that if he actually took/read some good advice and used it,he'd look good b/c the team would win,no one would care about where he got his info!
At 12:23 PM,
Big Figure said…
Players by position,everyone should give a rating and that would give you a starting five,The magic's top point guard: Nelson (combination of quickness,toughness,and scoring output makes him #1 over carlos & keyon who both have quickness and toughness,but both lack in the scoring department,carlos is a close second),Top shooting guard:Grant (grant isnt a shooting guard,but he'd be an upgrade for deshawn at the position,grants game is an attacking style & thats what a two guard is supposed to do ATTACK,deshawn's a good defensive 2 or 3,probably best as a reserve),Top small forward:hedo (if grants now at the two,hedo's your next best thing,deshawn doesnt spread the floor,and augmon's too old with no offense),Top PF:dwight (nuff said),Top center:Darko ( battie has been a warrior and consimate professional,but its darko's time,i think battie understand's that and wouldnt be madd with a move to the bench,his minutes wouldnt change that much,they'd just be reserve minutes and not starting one's! The fact that we probably wont see this line-up means we have a pre-school level coach!
At 12:33 PM,
Big Figure said…
The magic probably lose again tonight with the same starting line-up with deshawn and tony making their usuall starts,0-5 on a road trip would get some coaches fired,so if they lose maybe we'll start hearing some grumblings from magic management! I doubt it though!
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