@ <span style="color:#FF0000">Detroit Pistons(12-7)</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Nazr Mohammed</span><span style="color:#000000">Key Bench Players: Flip Murray, Antonio Mcdyess, Jason Maxiel, Carlos Delfino, Lindsey Hunter</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Orlando Magic(14-6)</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, Dwight Howard</span><span style="color:#000000">Key Bench Players: Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo, Trevor Ariza, Keith Bogans, Keyon Dooling</span><span style="color:#660000">Injury Report:</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Pistons- Lindsey Hunter- questionable-Ankle</span><span style="color:#3333FF">Magic- Keyon Dooling- day to day- Back Spasms</span><span style="color:#009900">Valo's X-factors:</span><span style="color:#FF0000">For the Pistons</span> it will have to be Rasheed Wallace. They are going to need him to play big on offense, defense, and get on the boards big time. If he can help to box out Howard, and keep Howard from pulling down a good 12 or more rebounds, this team will be looking good. Offensively, he needs to take the ball inside, and use his length and size. He does not need to settle for jumpshots. I expect to see Wallace show up big tonight.<span style="color:#3333FF">For the Magic</span> I see Dwight Howard being our biggest X-factor. It being Howards 21st birthday, and the first home after a six game road trip, Howard will be pumped up for the game and want to show alot. What can not happen, is for Howard to come out to pumped up, try to go for to many big blocks early, or try to go through people, and cause charging fouls or any other kind of fouls early in the game that cause him to go to the bench early. Howard will be guarded by Wallace, Mohammed and Mcdyess everyone, and each will try to help block him out on the boards I suspect. If Howard can control the boards for us, and set a tone offensively, the Magic will be tough to stop.<span style="color:#663333">Valo's key matchup:</span><span style="color:#FF0000">Richard Hamilton against Grant Hill</span> will be the key matchup to this game in my opinion. Grant Hill, is older knows alot more tricks to catch Hamilton off guard when Hamilton trys to guard Hill. On the other end, Hamilton is much faster, constantly going into motion, running his man off of screens and being tiresome. I expect both teams to use these two alot to attack the other team.<span style="color:#663366">Valo's random bits about the game</span>: This will be the Magic's first home game after a succesful six game road trip, where the Magic went 4-2. This first game after a long road trip, combined with it being Dwight Howard's 21st birthday will pump up this team. Darko and Arroyo might be a bit fired up also, playing their former team. Especially Darko, sincee the Pistons gave him almost no chance to be a good player. Detroit comes in after a good win last night at Dallas, and being the best team to date that the Magic will have faced, but you have to think that back to back road games in Detroit and Dallas will take it's toll on Detroit just a little bit. <span style="color:#000000">Valo's predictions:</span> I think we will see a strong showing by this Magic team who will be a little rested and pumped to be back home. I also think Dwight Howard will play well tonight, in route to a Magic win at home.
At halftime the Magic are up 44-40 in what I think has been a good game so far for the Magic. They have done some things right, and some things wrong. Some things they have done wrongefensively the team has been doing pretty decent. One thing I saw the Magic doing earlier that I didn't like though. The Pistons would set a pick, and both of the Orlando players would try to trap the one coming off the pick with the ball, and leave the one that set the pick. I saw Wallace step back twice and nail threes off of this move. However, the Pistons went away from doing this with Wallace until later in the game, but they did it with other guys. By the time they did it with Wallace again though, Bogans switched which was smart, and Wallace did not have that open three. They need to stop trapping the guy with the ball off the pick, and switch so someone is on the guy that set the pick. Offensively they have tried to force a couple of plays inside to Howard, and played a bit out of control at times. Some things they have done right:For the most part on offense the team has been doing good though minus the forcing a couple of passes inside to Howard. Our guards and perimeter players are attacking alot which is good, especially whoever Billups got put against. Nelson started it by attacking Billups, Arroyo and Dooling continued. The pistons are trying hard to stop the attacking, as they have ran alot of zone so far. You can tell they miss Ben Wallace, because we have waltzed through the paint a few times. Our bench has outplayed the Pistons bench, which I believe is just great. Especially Ariza who is hustling, moving around offensively,running the floor, and playing good defense.
This has been a pretty good game. The pistons got flip murray off the bench who's been taking Jameer Nelson to school pretty well.I think the Pistons interior defense is sucking now - we try to play zone and than we get some guy just zip through the middle and get an easy layup.Also Chauncey needs to step it up a little - he over matches his defender by a LOT. (He did get 16 in the 3rd - give him that.)
The Magic are not keeping their composure right now. We was tied, caused a turnover at about a minute and 10 seconds, then Milicic got the three second call not paying attention. Detroit up by two, then Nelson tried to force a pass inside to Milicic that was very ill advised, Detroit up by four. Howard causes a turnover, then Bogans rushes up court with no help and trys for a very bad shot with three people around him. This has just been horrible for us keeping our composure during this part of the game. Magic loose 87-83, after doing very well for 3 quarters.
Darko had two crucial t/o's in the last seconds - that killed the magics chances.what do you think rasheed was saying to howard at the end - hopefully veteran to young guy advice.
I'm sure he was. I am still wondering why Ariza was not in during the last five minutes of the game, that was a coaching error right there. That was the first blatant coaching error I have seen all season by him that I can recall. A final lineup of Nelson, Bogans, Ariza, Hill and Howard is what we should have had on the court, since the Pistons had Billups, Murray, Hamilton, Prince and Wallace in. That would have saved Milicic guarding Prince, and Hill trying to guard Hamilton who was way to fast for him.The young guys also made some very poor decisions, Hill should have went and got that ball towards the end. That is the one time all season his veteran leadership has dissapeared. So this is a game of two firsts for me.
Yeah - and it's only the 2nd time the Magic have lost at home.I don't think your bench was that much better than ours - Flip Murray was HUGE. 13 pts off the bench is very very solid.
I actually do think our bench was alot better than yours. Murray did good, but other than him, I didn't see much from anyone else on the bench. Plus when our benchs matched up at the end of the first and into the middle of the second we built a lead. Our bench also outscored you bench by 11 points, even with Murray's 13.
