duncan228
01-01-2009, 05:56 PM
'Scary’ Magic are the real deal as contenders (http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=502534)
By Sean Deveney - SportingNews
CHICAGO—Tuesday was a rare day in the Eastern Conference. Boston, playing in Portland, lost to the Blazers. And the Cavaliers lost in Miami. The two teams that seem to be destined for a showdown in late May in the East finals actually dropped a game on the same day.
But wait. Another East heavyweight hit the mat Tuesday—the Orlando Magic, which, at 25-7, is just 2.5 games behind the Celtics, 1 game behind the Cavs. They have the fourth-best record in the NBA. And yet, oddly, the Magic, despite the gaudy record, are not considered on par with the East teams in front of them.
“We’re just that ‘other team,’ you know, kind of hanging around,” Magic forward Rashard Lewis said. “We don’t mind being under the radar.”
Certainly, the Magic’s under-the-radar status is understandable. The good record has come without the heavy credentials the Celtics and Cavs bear. Boston is the defending champ. Cleveland went to the NBA Finals in 2007. Orlando? Well, the Magic won 52 games last year and knocked off Toronto in the first round of the playoffs. But that was the first time since 1996 they’d gotten out of the first round, and they were summarily bumped in the second round by Detroit last season.
Throw in the fact that they played an exceptionally easy schedule early this season and you’ll be excused if you omit the Magic as a championship factor. “We haven’t done anything,” said point guard Jameer Nelson. “You look at Boston, you look at Cleveland. They’ve gotten somewhere. We haven’t done that yet. That’s something we still have do before people look at us the way they look at some other teams.”
But this just might be the year that Orlando can get something done. Not only do they have center Dwight Howard playing at an MVP level, they have two of the most versatile forwards in the game, 6-10 Hedo Turkoglu at small forward and 6-10 Lewis at power forward. Both can set up beyond the arc and knock down 3-pointers—Lewis hits 40.6 percent, and Turkoglu hits 34.0 percent, a number that is low for him and will certainly come up. But what makes them dangerous is that both have the ballhandling and passing skill to drive into the paint, draw defensive attention and kick it back out to the perimeter for open shots.
Often, the Magic just set up Howard in the paint and fan out the other four beyond the 3-point line, giving Howard the option of hitting an open shooter or taking his man one-on-one. As a team, they’re second in the league in 3-pointers attempted (822) and sixth in percentage (38.1). Pay too much attention to the shooters, though, and Howard will kill you inside. It’s a very difficult offense to defend. “I don’t take them lightly,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “They have players at every position who can do something different. That’s scary. Their big men, especially, are scary.”
They don’t get much credit because Howard is their only top-tier individual defender, but Orlando’s defense has been only slightly behind the championship-caliber defenses of Boston and Cleveland. They have active, long-armed defenders who can clog passing lanes, and they have Howard under the basket to erase mistakes with blocked shots (which also allows perimeter defenders to gamble). The Magic allow 93.6 points per game, fifth in the NBA, and give up just 42.5 percent shooting from the field, which is only behind Boston and Cleveland.
“I think that is something we all learned from last year,” Nelson said. “If you want to win in the playoffs, you have to play a certain kind of D. In the playoffs, you whole season can come down to how you do in a couple of possessions, and we are learning how to play that way as we go.”
Indeed, last year, the Magic dropped the final two games of their East semifinal against Detroit by a total of six points. A few possessions could have, at least, extended the series. Win those games, and the Magic will longer be overlooked. “That’s the next step,” Nelson said. “For people to consider us with Boston and Cleveland, we have to win those tight, tough games.”
By Sean Deveney - SportingNews
CHICAGO—Tuesday was a rare day in the Eastern Conference. Boston, playing in Portland, lost to the Blazers. And the Cavaliers lost in Miami. The two teams that seem to be destined for a showdown in late May in the East finals actually dropped a game on the same day.
But wait. Another East heavyweight hit the mat Tuesday—the Orlando Magic, which, at 25-7, is just 2.5 games behind the Celtics, 1 game behind the Cavs. They have the fourth-best record in the NBA. And yet, oddly, the Magic, despite the gaudy record, are not considered on par with the East teams in front of them.
“We’re just that ‘other team,’ you know, kind of hanging around,” Magic forward Rashard Lewis said. “We don’t mind being under the radar.”
Certainly, the Magic’s under-the-radar status is understandable. The good record has come without the heavy credentials the Celtics and Cavs bear. Boston is the defending champ. Cleveland went to the NBA Finals in 2007. Orlando? Well, the Magic won 52 games last year and knocked off Toronto in the first round of the playoffs. But that was the first time since 1996 they’d gotten out of the first round, and they were summarily bumped in the second round by Detroit last season.
Throw in the fact that they played an exceptionally easy schedule early this season and you’ll be excused if you omit the Magic as a championship factor. “We haven’t done anything,” said point guard Jameer Nelson. “You look at Boston, you look at Cleveland. They’ve gotten somewhere. We haven’t done that yet. That’s something we still have do before people look at us the way they look at some other teams.”
But this just might be the year that Orlando can get something done. Not only do they have center Dwight Howard playing at an MVP level, they have two of the most versatile forwards in the game, 6-10 Hedo Turkoglu at small forward and 6-10 Lewis at power forward. Both can set up beyond the arc and knock down 3-pointers—Lewis hits 40.6 percent, and Turkoglu hits 34.0 percent, a number that is low for him and will certainly come up. But what makes them dangerous is that both have the ballhandling and passing skill to drive into the paint, draw defensive attention and kick it back out to the perimeter for open shots.
Often, the Magic just set up Howard in the paint and fan out the other four beyond the 3-point line, giving Howard the option of hitting an open shooter or taking his man one-on-one. As a team, they’re second in the league in 3-pointers attempted (822) and sixth in percentage (38.1). Pay too much attention to the shooters, though, and Howard will kill you inside. It’s a very difficult offense to defend. “I don’t take them lightly,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “They have players at every position who can do something different. That’s scary. Their big men, especially, are scary.”
They don’t get much credit because Howard is their only top-tier individual defender, but Orlando’s defense has been only slightly behind the championship-caliber defenses of Boston and Cleveland. They have active, long-armed defenders who can clog passing lanes, and they have Howard under the basket to erase mistakes with blocked shots (which also allows perimeter defenders to gamble). The Magic allow 93.6 points per game, fifth in the NBA, and give up just 42.5 percent shooting from the field, which is only behind Boston and Cleveland.
“I think that is something we all learned from last year,” Nelson said. “If you want to win in the playoffs, you have to play a certain kind of D. In the playoffs, you whole season can come down to how you do in a couple of possessions, and we are learning how to play that way as we go.”
Indeed, last year, the Magic dropped the final two games of their East semifinal against Detroit by a total of six points. A few possessions could have, at least, extended the series. Win those games, and the Magic will longer be overlooked. “That’s the next step,” Nelson said. “For people to consider us with Boston and Cleveland, we have to win those tight, tough games.”