Reply With Quote
If we can beat the magic it would be our quality win that could really put us on the radar. We all know how the league fanboys are gaga over the celtics, lakers, heat, and magic. I like this game, could be the best one yet!
It would probably indicate the Magic are the better team. But I was basing my claim on my assumtion that the Spurs would win.
I really think this Magic team is overrated. I've seen them lose Some ugly road games. Last year against SA was one of them.
If we can beat the magic it would be our quality win that could really put us on the radar. We all know how the league fanboys are gaga over the celtics, lakers, heat, and magic. I like this game, could be the best one yet!
I can see Orlando winning this game... They are better than the Spurs. (There! I jinxed the Magics now)
We have Hack a Dwight. What do they have?
Orlando is the best defensive team in the league. Howard allows them to defend the paint without leaving perimeter players open. I'm curious to see how Spurs will do against them.
A My key player will be Rashard Lewis. He has had a bad start of the season but if he is in a good day, he is a matchup nightmare for Spurs. He could force Spurs to go small.
Yes, He seems to have done relatively well against the Spurs in the near past -
http://bit.ly/b8hSTU (from Basketball-reference)
Outside of ATL, the games in the W column for the Magic are suspect.
Their last 3 road wins were against not good teams (CHA, NJ, IND = 14-23) with a margin of 8 points. TOTAL. For the three games.
Only 3 of their 12 opponents have had winning records (MIA, ATL, UTH) and they are 1-2 against those teams.
They have no quality road wins.
Not understanding the 'OH NOES IT'S THE MAGIC!!!!1!' that some posters are having about this team. Howard being 'on' inside and their shooters being 'on' outside doesn't seem to be happening for them this year, because they have one quality win and are struggling to close out bad teams on the road.
http://www.nba.com/news/referee.html
Referee Assignments
Mon. Nov. 22
Orlando @ San Antonio: Greg Willard; Mark Ayotte; Courtney Kirkland
thats one thing i like about pop he doesnt give a if he looks like a for doing it, and mike has learned these principles, haha and they do it with suh a serious look on their face howard was pissed.
yeah when timmys not playing we need tiagos big body in there caue i dont see anyone else being able to stand up to howard i mean can u imagine bonner of blair matchup??
We have plenty of bigs to play Hack-a-Ho.
I think the key will be defending the 3s...
For both teams
JMcDonald_SAEN
If Nelson is head of snake for ORL, what's Dwight Howard? Pop: "They've got a 2-headed snake." #spurs
Advanced Scouting: Orlando Magic at San Antonio Spurs
by Scott Sereday
48 Minutes of
http://www.48minutesof .com/advan...-antonio-spurs
My memory of last year's home game against the Magic was a Magic player (Carter or Lewis?) shooting a halfcourt shot at the buzzer (halftime or 3rd quarter); normally those kind of shots are short, but this one went well over the backboard and into the 15th row. I thought that was hilarious!
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursna...nge-for-spurs/Retooled Howard will provide big challenge for Spurs
by Tim Griffin
...“Dwight is a serious player. He’s gotten better every year and he knows what he needs to work on and he’s done that, ” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s done what all great players do, they come back every year after the summer and are a little bit better than they were before. He’s no exception.”
Denton: Howard Looks to Emulate Duncan
By John Denton
November 22, 2010
SAN ANTONIO – The moment is sure to come on Monday night when Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard will take the ball in the post, turn and stare down San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan and deftly kiss a shot off the glass.
And most likely, the two Goliaths and friends from their days together as Adidas pitchmen will share a chuckle all the way down to the other end of the floor.
Still a few weeks shy of his 25th birthday, Howard looks at the likes of the 34-year-old Duncan as a gold standard of centers. The first consensus All-NBA pick in Magic history feels that he is just now about to enter his prime and the face-up bank shot off the glass is just one of many ways that Howard wants to emulate Duncan.
Like Duncan, Howard knows that his legacy will be dependent more so on his championship hardware than any rebounding les or dunk contests awards. Howard looks at a center like Duncan who is nearing the twilight of his career and knows that now is his time to grab the NBA by the throat and strangle every bit of success out of it as possible.
Criticized at times for his playful nature, Howard turned serious this season as he chases a championship. And he became a student of the low-post game in the offseason, doing more listening than talking, more thinking than laughing. He drilled with Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone on the court, and away from it listened to words of wisdom from seasoned big men like Dikembe Mutombo and Tony Battie.
``(Mutombo) was talking to me about getting the best out of myself now while I’m young and have all of the things that I have,’’ said Howard, whose Magic (9-3) face Duncan and the red-hot Spurs (11-1) Monday night in Texas. ``He wasn’t just talking about jumping, dunking and blocking shots. He was talking about a guy like K.G. (Kevin Garnett), whose best years came when he got to Boston. Even though he’s faced a couple of injuries, he won a le and got to The Finals. I don’t want to say that (Garnett) waited too late … but my window of opportunity is now and I want to take advantage of it. I want to take advantage of all my gifts, and that’s what I have to do.’’
Monday night’s matchup between the Magic and Spurs will pit the two teams with the best records in the Eastern and Western Conferences. Orlando has won eight of 10 and four in a row, including Saturday’s hard-fought 90-86 win in Indiana. And the Spurs are the hottest team in the NBA, having won 10 in a row.
Howard got good practice for Monday’s matchup against Duncan by facing the vastly improved Roy Hibbert on Saturday night. The Magic center had to play through some early foul trouble and a fast start by Hibbert, but Howard dominated the second half and finished predictably with another monster game statistically (25 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots, 11 free throw attempts and three offensive boards).
``In the first half, my foul trouble was stupid, reaching instead of going for blocks, just throwing people out of the way. That’s stuff I shouldn’t be doing,’’ Howard said. ``In the second half, I just tried to beat him (Hibbert) down the court, seal and force him to foul me and send me to the free throw line. He had a good first half. I just didn’t want him to have that same second half.’’
Howard’s noticeable determination and sense of urgency led to him working tirelessly this past summer to greatly expand his game. The mid-range jump shot, an idea borrowed from Duncan, has gotten the lion’s share of the attention, but it’s the other aspects of Howard’s growth that has fueled his improvement. Already, he’s displayed more combination moves and shots off fakes in 12 games than he did last season. And his game now is one more of poise than just simply power.
``He has more variety in his offense, but there’s a lot more of a poise, a calm and a patience in his game,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of Howard, whose 21.2-point scoring average would be the highest of his career. ``He’s not rushing and forcing things now. There’s been very few times where he’s tried to just bull his way through two guys and tried to get to the rim. He’s much more patient making the play that’s there, taking the shot that’s there and making the pass that’s there. It’s just a much more mature game, I think.’’
And that’s where Duncan comes in. No big man has dominated the game the way Duncan has while taking such a mature and cerebral approach. Duncan is a two-time MVP and a four-time NBA champion, but that seems like almost a lifetime away with Duncan aging and the Los Angeles Lakers grabbing control in the Western Conference.
Duncan’s numbers are down to pedestrian levels by Hall of Famer of his ilk, averaging just 13.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in 29.2 minutes a game. On the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday, Duncan played just 17 minutes and scored only eight points.
Howard sees how Duncan’s game has transformed through the years, and he knows his time is now to make his mark much the way the San Antonio star did while ranking 28th all-time in scoring (20,805 points), 25th in rebounding (11,450) and 11th in blocked shots (2,259).
Howard said he looks at players like Duncan and thinks about his own basketball mortality. And his mission is clear: The time is now before he’s too old to do something about it.
``I think about longevity, but I’ve put in a lot of work already and these legs have a lot of years on them to be just 24,’’ Howard said with a chuckle. ``There is a lot of stuff that I want to do, but I want to start it now instead of waiting until I’m 35 or 40. The time is now, and I have a window of opportunity.
``While I have the opportunity, you want to explore new things,’’ Howard continued. ``I’m more than just a basketball player, so there’s more than me just playing until I’m 40 to get a paycheck. I’ll never play for that reason. But I love the game and I’ll play it until I can’t walk.’’
John Denton writes for OrlandoMagic.com. E-mail John at [email protected]. Submit a question to John for his mailbag segment at [email protected].
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17980NBA PM: ans Set To Clash
By: Yannis Koutroupis
Hoopsworld
Magic Prepped For Spurs: The San Antonio Spurs and Orlando Magic faceoff tonight in a matchup between two of the league's best. The Magic (9-3) have the top record in the East, while the Spurs (11-1) are tied for the top spot out West with the New Orleans Hornets.
The Spurs, currently riding a ten-game winning streak, look differently than they have traditionally. The core of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker is still the same, but as a team they're pushing the tempo a lot more than they have in the past. Previously the Spurs would look to play a methodical style and beat teams with their defense. Now they're outscoring teams thanks to having so many capable players offensively.
"They're playing great offensively, as well as we've probably ever seen them play," Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy told HOOPSWORLD. "They're shooting 43% from field and are second or third in the league in fast break points. Tony and Manu are playing tremendous basketball. They have a lot of shooters around them. It's a very, very good team. They're obviously playing as well as anybody in the league. They have the best record in the league; they've won 10 in a row. It's a very good team."
The last time these two teams met up was on April 2nd when Ginobili erupted for 43 points in a 112-100 Spurs' victory. So far this year Ginobili is off to a fantastic start, leading the Spurs in scoring at 20 a night.
"I don't have any idea," responded Van Gundy when asked about how to slow down Ginobili. "We tried the same things you do on anybody. Pick-and-roll defense has to be good. You have to play him, stop his cuts. You have to stop them in transition and you have to do as good of a job as you can on your pick-and-roll defense, which is a tough job with him and Parker.
"He's a very, very difficult matchup. (Michael Pietrus and Quentin Richardson) are going to have to do their job, be solid, not give them easy things and our team defense is going to have to be great."
Parker was out with an ankle injury for both contests against the Magic last year. Like Ginobili, he's been hot out of the gates (19 ppg and seven apg) and is someone who the Magic are really going to have to focus in on stopping as well.
"(Parker) adds another dimension to their team when you have a guy that's getting (around) 18 and eight," said Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, who is going to have the defensive assignment of Parker.
"He's one of the guys that tries to get into the paint all night. I just try to contain him as much as I can alone but also get (help)."
While this game could be a potential NBA Finals preview if both teams keep up with their current pace, Nelson is looking at this just as another game and nothing more.
"We're just going to come out and play our game," said Nelson. "We know they're a great team offensively and probably even better defensively so we just want to stick with what we do on both ends of the court and be aggressive.
"I never thought about (both teams having the best records). Regardless you play a San Antonio and Orlando game it's going to be big because you know the teams are good despite the records. Both are going to be prepared with good coaching staffs, two of the best in the game."
Manu > Vince at this time or any time, except in a dunk contest.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
