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, December 20, 2006

Hornets/Magic preview

After a sorely needed 3 day break and coming off an 81-74 win vs CLE, the Magic (16-10, 9-4 home, 2nd East) go up against the NO/OKC Hornets (10-13, 5-8 road, 13th West). NO started off the season 8-3, but due to key injuries they have lost 10 of their last 12. NO is coming off a 101-99 loss to MIA on MON night on a Dwyane Wade last second jumper. G Chris Paul led NO with 26 pts.

NO is without G/F Peja Stojakovic (17.8 ppg) and F David West (17.4 ppg) for an indefinite period, and could also be without G Bobby Jackson (10.9 ppg). They are led by talented second year G Paul, who averages 19 pts and 9 asts per game. G/F Desmond Mason is at 11.6 ppg; former Bulls C Tyson Chandler 5.7 ppg, 11.5 rebs per game; G Jannero Pargo (who burned the Magic last season with the Bulls) 8.4 ppg. NO is the lowest-scoring team in the NBA at 90.9 ppg, while allowing 94.2 ppg. ORL averages 92.8 ppg, while allowing 92.3 ppg.

The Magic are 10-1 in games in which they've held the opposition to 90 or less points. However, the Magic have not scored over 90 themselves in 7 games, and have not scored over 100 since Nov. 24th against MIA. The Magic are 7 pt favorites (www.pinnaclesports.com).

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:20 AM  

7 Comments:

  • At 1:43 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    It is imperative for us to win the next two games at home, since the game on Saturday with Cleveland is a back-to-back for us but not for them. The good news is that we don't play again until the next Wednesday when LA. Lakers come in town. That should give us some resting, as well as practice time.

     

  • At 3:14 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Well matt,we'll only win these games if bsh takes his head out of his ass and stays with what worked,i have a feeling were going to see the same slow tempo offense with dwight dominating the ball and our perimeter players not getting any shots/enough shots,what i'd like to see tonight is the same coaching strategy that went on in the final three quarters of the game against cleveland,where our guards dictated the action by running alot more pick and roll,it spreads the floor and gets guys shots off of ball movement,then if nothing presents itself within the roll,you still can dump it down into the post with alot less seconds on the shot clock making any shot taken from the post a good shot because the shot clock is close to be up,i get tired of seeing the magic race down the floor to only dump into dwight and watch him work while theres 20+ seconds on the shot clock and nobody else touches the ball,and for the rest of the offensive possession our perimeter players wind up not getting into any kind of rythem,cause all they do is stand around and watch,carlos and grant specifically should have their hands on the ball alot more(carlos needs to get to the free throw line and stop relying on so much outside shooting,take the ball to the basket please!).

     

  • At 3:45 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Well Big Figure, if you expect a dynamic basketball from Hill, I say good luck. Hill believes, as he did when Shaq was here, in playing inside out, and does not understand that he no longer has the services of great shooters, like Nick, Dennis, Penny and Jeff available to him. Therefore, as you have mentioned, if the ball goes to Dwight early, it's like going to the black hole because he is gonna take it to the basket. We should also remember how good of a passer, out of the double-team, Shaq was which Dwight is not there, yet.

     

  • At 4:37 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I guess one can hope. All i want for christmas is a coach with a clue!

     

  • At 5:17 PM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    Big,

    Sorry. You're not getting your wish for Christmas, so come up with something else... I know it hurts, but you're going to have to come to peace with it this year.

    So I agree with Matt. What I want for Christmas is a big time shooter to put this team firmly in contention. Magic do not have a single player in the top 50 NBA in 3 pointers (Hedo 61, Dooling 72). I could talk myself into liking just about all of the players on that list:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/statistics?stat=nba3ptpct&season=2007&league=nba

    And I really want for Dwight to continue his amazing development. Shaq had 3 years of college. I say start comparing DH against guys like Shaq, David Robinson & Tim Duncan next season.

    If I dissappear again for the rest of the year y'all have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

     

  • At 11:57 PM, Blogger tdawg said…

    I can't believe I've found a blog about the Magic. Living in Oregon, you never get any Magic news.

    Its been a good start to season, hopefully Orlando can stay a top the division the rest of the way.

     

  • At 2:13 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Hey Tdawg, welcome to the blog! Hope you get the chance to check it out often and add your comments about the Magic and the games.

     

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