Laker Game Assessments

I finally was able to watch a Magic game, between not getting UPN and Gator basketball game conflicts, I haven't been able to watch many Magic games this year and especially recently. This is what I noticed......

-Brian Hill isn't a very good coach. Us Magic fans think he's better than he really is, because we put up with Johnny Davis's crap for 2 years.

Here are some examples of why I think this.....

-Garrity plays 15:50 and GETS ONE SHOT! If you play him, let him shoot. If he's not going to shoot, don't play him. Play Kasun instead who will at least foul hard and not give up dunks. He gave up countless dunks to Turiaf and Odom and all of them.

-Beginning of the 2nd half, we started giving Dwight the ball and we were hanging in there, cutting the lead to 2(or 4), then for some reason there was a 4-5 minute stretch where he only touched the ball once(caught it at the top of the key at the 3 pt line and immediately passed it to Dooling). Was it coincidence that that stretch was also the stretch where they just took over the game?

-Dooling should not be our starting PG. Our offense runs so much more smoothly with Arroyo playing PG. Dooling is a good energy guy off of the bench, but I would rather see him at the SG than the PG.


Other game notes....
-Darko looked really good last night. Yes he airballed a jumper and missed badly on another one, but he really crashed the glass tonight and made a couple of really nice passes. He also got 3 blocks and seems to be in the right place at the right time on defense. It's just a matter of getting him accustomed to the offense.

-Deshawn Stevenson is a very good/underrated SG. He got the matchup against Kobe and for the most part shut Kobe down(as much as you possibly can). Kobe was passing a lot more than usual, but Deshawn for the most part had a hand in his face every time he shot it. Has he been hitting jumpers like last night recently? He was on fire last night and nearly every shot didn't even touch iron. He had a much improved looking jumper last night.

-Carlos Arroyo should be our future starting PG. This is where me and many Magic fans will disagree. Arroyo sets the offense up and the offense looks better than it has the entire year when he's in the ball game. He looks to create first and then if that doesn't work, he still has a very capable jumpshot.

-Grant Hill looks really good. He was hitting all of the jumpers and when Stevenson was out, he guarded Kobe pretty good. It's going to be interesting to see how much we play him tonight after playing 39 minutes in the front end of a back to back.

-I would like to see Trevor Ariza play more. He's got good potential at being a defensive stopper. He played the last 1:19 last night and forced Kobe in 1-2 shooting after that(the 1 was the 35 footer that Ariza couldn't do anything about).

-WHERE IS OUR REBOUNDING? We got owned on the offensive glass. We looked like the Gators rebounding. Is it a requirement for my teams to be crappy teams on the glass.

-Get Dwight the ball more on the low block. He had position a bunch of times against a weak Laker frontcourt and we just didn't give it to him, Arroyo seems like the only person who gets it to him consistently.

-Why do unheralded players like Smush Parker and Chris Mihm still have monster games against the Magic? It seems like if a role player wants a career game scoring they just look for the Magic on their schedule.

 

Nice thread I agree with you on everything but Arroyo being our future starter (Jameer Nelson) Deshawn is very underrated Imo his jump shot has been like that all year just imagine what he could do if he didn't have a bad knee. Arroyo would be a nice player to split time with Jameer but I would have Jameer starting. Brian Hill isn't a great coach (very overrated)

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheHighness:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice thread I agree with you on everything but Arroyo being our future starter (Jameer Nelson) Deshawn is very underrated Imo his jump shot has been like that all year just imagine what he could do if he didn't have a bad knee. Arroyo would be a nice player to split time with Jameer but I would have Jameer starting. Brian Hill isn't a great coach (very overrated)</div>

I would rather have Arroyo eat up the beginning minutes of the game and the 2nd half to get our offense moving and he can match up with the other PG's(at least a little) on defense. Our offense struggled early last night and then started to get into a groove when Arroyo came in. I just love the way that Arroyo gets everyone involved before himself, which keeps everyone in the game, rather than jack up shots. I am saying that I would rather have Arroyo start, but I would probably rather give Jameer more minutes(maybe even together, that'd be scary(on offense and defense)). Jameer needs to understand that starting isn't everything. Every team needs a good 6th man. Ben Gordan is a great 6th man and he's always in at the end of games. My preferred lineup would be Arroyo starting and Jameer playing a Ben Gordan type role.

 

I would have Jameer start just because he has said it means alot to him to be a starter and I don't think it is big of a deal to Arroyo. I would love to see both of them starting against the smaller teams in the league but considering the fact that this is only Jameer's 2nd year I think he will be a much better PG in the future than Arroyo.

 

I was impressed by Darko's defense. Granted, he was only guarding Kwame, but he fronted his man well, and he showed good timing on his 3 blocks. On offense, he had good form and footwork, but seemed rusty on his finish. He definitely got up and down the court quickly, and I was hoping Arroyo would look to him for an outlet pass.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GatorsowntheSEC:</div><div class="quote_post">I would rather have Arroyo eat up the beginning minutes of the game and the 2nd half to get our offense moving and he can match up with the other PG's(at least a little) on defense. Our offense struggled early last night and then started to get into a groove when Arroyo came in. I just love the way that Arroyo gets everyone involved before himself, which keeps everyone in the game, rather than jack up shots. I am saying that I would rather have Arroyo start, but I would probably rather give Jameer more minutes(maybe even together, that'd be scary(on offense and defense)). Jameer needs to understand that starting isn't everything. Every team needs a good 6th man. Ben Gordan is a great 6th man and he's always in at the end of games. My preferred lineup would be Arroyo starting and Jameer playing a Ben Gordan type role.</div>

I think Jameer would make a great off guard, starting Arroyo and Jameer would have two guys who can create for their teammates (Jameer is an underrated passer) and Arroyo doesn't turn the ball over (29 assist and only 6 turnovers) These guys can penatrate and feed for Dwight Howard and Milicic.

The only thing is that, Howard and Milicic need to be ready for the passes, and not lose the ball or turn it over. But this team is learning each other, and that problem will be solved soon.

Also, I hope Ariza gets minutes, he's a very good defensive player, and Orlando are struggling for defense.