Brutal 22 away games out of 33 overall finally over for Magic
On Jan. 3rd, the Magic record stood at 12-15, and they were right there fighting for the last playoff spot. However, the Magic were about to embark on a very rough stretch of 22 away games and just 11 home games from Jan. 3rd to March 6th. I was hoping that the Magic would win 7 or 8 of the home games, and maybe 9 or 10 of the road games to finish the stretch at 16-17 or even 17-16. If they had done that, their record right now would be 28-32 or 29-31, only a game or two behind for the last playoff spot.
Here's how the Magic actually fared: 6-5 at home; 2-20 on the road; for an overall mark of 8-25 (2-18 in their last 20 games). Many of those losses were close, but a loss is a loss. So much for the playoffs! Here's how the standings now look for the worst record in the league:
4) Orlando 20-40
3) Portland 19-41
2) New York 17-43
1) Charlotte 16-45
At least we have a high draft pick to look forward to.
Some other positives that happened the last month: the trade of high-priced and injured C Kelvin Cato for talented youngsters Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo; the return of Jameer Nelson from injury, and the trade of talented but erratic and high-priced G Steve Francis for the expiring contract of Penny Hardaway to create more cap room, and young F Trevor Ariza (if only we could get Coach Hill to play him).
Because the Magic play more home games and face several sub-.500 teams (I know, those are the teams that give the Magic real problems), I still expect the Magic to win around 8 of their remaining 22 games to finish at 28-54, which should pretty much guarantee a top 5 or 6 pick.
Here's how the Magic actually fared: 6-5 at home; 2-20 on the road; for an overall mark of 8-25 (2-18 in their last 20 games). Many of those losses were close, but a loss is a loss. So much for the playoffs! Here's how the standings now look for the worst record in the league:
4) Orlando 20-40
3) Portland 19-41
2) New York 17-43
1) Charlotte 16-45
At least we have a high draft pick to look forward to.
Some other positives that happened the last month: the trade of high-priced and injured C Kelvin Cato for talented youngsters Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo; the return of Jameer Nelson from injury, and the trade of talented but erratic and high-priced G Steve Francis for the expiring contract of Penny Hardaway to create more cap room, and young F Trevor Ariza (if only we could get Coach Hill to play him).
Because the Magic play more home games and face several sub-.500 teams (I know, those are the teams that give the Magic real problems), I still expect the Magic to win around 8 of their remaining 22 games to finish at 28-54, which should pretty much guarantee a top 5 or 6 pick.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 3:45 AM
6 Comments:
At 12:10 PM,
Big Figure said…
The magic could win half of the remaining games,if they can end this streak against a good team like cleveland,that type of confidence might propel them into more victories,at this point i'm happy with the fact that we'll have a top ten pick,so the guys should focus on making it tough for other teams to lock up a playoff position by winning some of these last 20something games,4 out of the next 5 at home means pride is on the line b/c its alot easier to lose on the road,3-2 over that stretch or better is what i think we'll see at home!
At 12:21 PM,
Big Figure said…
The fact that jameer came back on the road trip means the guy will have an opportunity to finally play at home,in front of his own crowd he can gain some confidence back,after playing his first three on the road,playing at home should bring out some better performances by dwight,darko,deshawn & hedo to give jameer some help,3 days off probably feels like a little break for them also,so we should see a magic team re-energized and ready for the stretch run,beating cleveland would signify the magic aint just gonna tank the season,you can still have fun in stopping someone else from getting in!
At 5:32 PM,
Big Figure said…
25G's,they hit b-hill pretty hard,hope it makes some calls go in our favor!
At 5:53 PM,
OVERWADED said…
I know I don't like the guy, but B Hill went up 1 small notch on my charts just for the fact that he openly bitched about the refs and said, fine me, I don't care.
At 4:32 AM,
Ken said…
I was surprised to see him critisize the officiating rather than breaking clipboards. 25K is a pretty hefty fine, now maybe we can get a call or two to go our way.
At 3:51 PM,
Ken said…
LOL... good point tragic.. I can just imagine his expression when he heard the news. That same look he gets on the sideline, he croses his arms and his face gets all red and that little frown he gives then he looks like he's gonna break into tears at any moment. Sorta reminds me of the same pouty look my kid gave when I would tell him it was bedtime....... when he was 3
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