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.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Embarrassing performance by Magic in big loss to CHI

The Magic (29-34, 19-13 home) could have made a statement THU night that they were serious about making a strong playoff push, but instead the Magic laid a huge egg as the Bulls (36-28, 12-20 road) dominated the Magic in virtually every facet of the game 100-76. The Magic have now lost 8 of 10 games since the All-Star Break.

The Magic were led by DHoward with 17 pts, 14 rebs, but made only 5 of 14 FTs; JNelson 13 pts but just 1 assist, 3 TOs; and TAriza off the bench with 10 pts. HTurkoglu, DMilicic, and KBogans combined to score just 10 pts on 4 of 15 FGs. GHill went scoreless from the field but made 7 FTs in a reserve role. CHI was led by Ben Gordon with 25 pts (4 of 5 3 pt FGs); Kirk Hinrich with 17 pts (all in the first half); and Luol Deng with 15 pts (all in the second half); Chris Duhon led the Bulls bench with 9 pts.

CHI (34 of 73, 46.6%) outscored the Magic (28 of 71, 39.4%) from the field 75-58. CHI hit on 7 of 12 3 pt FGs, while the Magic were just 2 of 9 from long range. The Magic shot a pitiful 18 of 36 from the FT line, while CHI shot 25 of 33. CHI dominated the boards 48-31. The Bulls had an AST/TO ratio of 21/20, while the Magic had a poor ratio of 12/17. The Magic bench outscored the Bulls bench 36-29.

Bulls coach Scott Skiles after the game: "We took the game to them. We were aggressive at both ends of the court and didn't let them dictate the tempo of the game."

Magic have 2 days off to try and figure out why they were so badly beaten with so much at stake before another tough game at HOU on SUN.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:05 AM  

10 Comments:

  • At 2:41 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Hard to believe this was the same Magic team that played so well against the Bulls last week. Like Matt says, the Magic are a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of team. Why couldn't BHill properly prepare and motivate his team against CHI with every game so important now? At the same time, the players need to look themselves in the mirror also.

    Credit goes to the Bulls for coming out strong after their bad loss against MIA and Scott Skiles for making adjustments against the Magic after being beaten by them the previous two times this season; but the Magic certainly didn't help themselves by missing so many close-in shots and so many FTs, along with the usual careless TOs.

    Our pt. guards are back to their usual style of play as they combined for 2 asts and 5 TOs. I had been encouraged by Arroyo's improved play of late, but against the Bulls he looked awful.

    Tough break losing HTurkoglu for the second half, but he was having a tough time in there also before his injury.

    A funny thing I heard while watching on WGN... the Bulls announcers were saying that they were surprised the Magic waited so long before inserting Pat Garrity into the game, because he had played well against the Bulls in the past. I kind of had to laugh at that one... like he really would have made a big difference... the Magic probably would have lost by 30 if Garrity came in earlier.

     

  • At 4:21 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Nothing like embarrassing themselves on National TV! In a twisted-hoping that people take notice kind of way I did enjoy hearing boos as I was watching the game on TNT. At least I wasn’t surprised one bit as I was expecting a loss… Much more of those kinds of performances, and changes will have to take place no matter what.

    So, since Ariza has been cleared to play, we’re 2-6. Four of the games were on the road, and four were at home. Otis and Brian are not going to be able to blame injuries anymore. Even mentioning Grant being out injured as an excuse now a days is laughable… Ariza is now back. Battie doesn’t make enough of an impact on games to be mentioned. So we got our roster, and we still are not winning.

    At the same time, they still show positives every now and then, as Matt always says Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And the players are to blame, but the coach is to blame even more so. He’s the one that’s supposed to have these young guys prepared and motivated as Mike mentioned. The Magic are kind of making me sick; it’s just getting old.

    Two quick last thoughts… The talk on the radio and on TV before the game is how they are going to try bringing Grant off the bench. I’ve been saying that all damn year, even before the season started. It takes the team to be in a 100% free fall for something to happen? Just like Darko starting, and still, the only reason he is starting is because Battie got injured. These are just two obvious examples of why Brian Hill sucks. If he was a decent coach, things like this could have been realized early on, in turn, at this time of the season, we’d have a group of guys out there that are used to playing with each other, and being in different game situations. As of now, Bogans and Redick didn’t play most of the season. Darko came off the bench with the 2nd unit most of the season. Grant was in and out the entire time. The entire team is a mess, and I think if our coach had half of a clue, things would be looking at least a little better right now.

     

  • At 4:22 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Oh yeah; FIRE BRIAN HILL’S DUMBASS RIGHT NOW!

     

  • At 7:04 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    Damn! That game was a real STINKFEST!
    It started getting ugly right after the opening tip-off and never got any better. So much for Turkglues recent consistency streak, and so much for Nelson and Arroyo distributing the ball. Your not going to win many games shooting 39 percent. I guess if there was a bright side to this game, it would be they only had 17 turnovers.. At least they kept it under 20. Is it just me, or does BSH only bring Reddick off the bench as a last resort kind of move? Kind of like Garrity, when the game has old BSH totally dumbfounded he brings in Reddick and garrity because he can't figure out what else to do.. I'm also growing weary of all this talk about a late season push towards the playoffs etc etc etc. The're all starting to sound like a bunch of bullshit artists and I for one am about fed up with it.

    BRIAN HILL MUST GO!!!!

     

  • At 7:08 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    They are lucky they only received a smattering of booo's. Many more games like this and people may start ripping the seats out and throwing them on the court.

     

  • At 1:42 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    There's alot wrong with this team,but the point blank truth is the only thing that will help this team is a summer of change,first and for most this season was a waste because of exactly what intro has desribed,having a five that has played together for a period of time to become a playoff contender hasnt happened here in orlando since shaq left,damn sure didnt happen with grant at anytime as a memeber of the magic,so we basically wasted another year messin around with grant,the only benefit that can come out of a season like this is more playing time for darko which didnt get much in detroit,and dwight and trevor's maturation process continuing,but other than that everyone else has had a season to forget.In my opinion this summer otis has the ability to take us up another level as a playoff contender,or bad moves could set us back further,but untill we know what we have at season start next year,the only thing we can do is speculate,but this roster definitely has to be tinkered with and the coaching situation has to be addressed,two things that will only happen in the summer.

     

  • At 1:59 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    As for the game last night,guys you just got a taste of what play-off basketball feels like,last night dwight and darko were defended much tougher around the basket,and anytime dwight got an advantage ben smartly fouled him.Darko wasnt a factor offensively because at this point his game only offers jumphooks and when he's off he usually struggle's,this summer dwight really needs to take darko under his wing and show him footwork around the basket,darko settles way to much in there,plus the ref's didnt help with a whole bunch of phantom calls on darko that kept him in foul trouble.The bulls just played harded and were coached smarter,you could tell that skiles message to his team last night was to get physical with the magic and we didnt respond very well,i thought the fact that bsh didnt adjust very well to skile's defensive tactics and zone evey now and then that skile's won the coaching matchup which was a much bigger factor on the game than how the players played,the good thing is that we dont have to face the bulls again this season,bsh should have been ready having been in playoff games before and adjusted accordingly,i didnt expect the magic to excell in that style of game where post play is very tough if your not a good free-throw shooter because bsh has only one offense "throw it in to dwight",the game basically turned into a offensive game,and we should expect bsh to lose all those battle's.

     

  • At 2:55 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I wonder if doug collins would like to come back to coaching? He made a statement last night that was very interesting to hear come from someone outside of the organanization saying "the magic need to up-grade their point guard position",then went on to say "jameer nelson would make a perfect back-up".The man watched us on national TV for the first time this year,and it only took him half the game to identify one of our glaring weaknesses (point guard play)and what should be done with the position,bsh has had all year what's his excuse? If bsh is retained as coach this summer,then its otis's responsibility to give bsh adequate piece's to play his style of game,and jameer isnt a pass first point guard as much as we all like jameer,with better point guard play the team itself would get much better,guys who struggle with shooting percentages would automatically become better players offensively ala the steve nash factor. The more and more i watch chris duhon from the bulls,he would be an upgrade size wise and three point shooting wise from the point guard position,and the fact that he passes the ball and isnt a shoot first point guard makes him very attractive,and he probably could be had for cheap even though i'm not sure about his contract status,but anybody can be had if you want them bad enough.

     

  • At 6:22 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Briefly, I mentioned it last year that Jameer is not a prototype point guard, at which Kidd and Billups are of one kind and Nash is another kind. It has been argued appropriately that Jameer's lack of size and defensive shortcomings could be offset by his offense. I bought into that argument last year, but Jameer of last year was a lot more efficient than Jameer of this year. The drop in field goal percentage is quite evident. Therefore, short of giving up on Jameer, it is a legitimate question whether or not he is the right point guard to support Dwight in reaching a higher plateau.

     

  • At 6:42 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Commissioner Teresa Jacobs, has recently said something about more public involvement in the Town Center Project (or whatever the name is) that has been reflected in Sentinel. I have just posted my comment on it as follows:

    "Once again, people who don't have the slightest idea about developmental economics are trying to put in their dimes based on their puny minds. Wake up, Commissioner Jacobs! We don't live in Switzerland where every thing is decided by referendum. We live in a representative democracy. It is your job as an elected representative to decide on behalf of your constituents, if you have the guts to do it. If you don't vacate your position so that somebody else could make those decisions."

     

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