The Magic have moved up again in the rankings from 13 to 11 <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Magic 8-4 Magic might sit only second in the Southeast, but before Miami's win over Boston on Sunday night, Orlando was (if only briefly) No. 1 in Florida and the division. </div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking...son=2005&week=4 Here is the Magic's Progression in the rankings so far this season: Training Camp Rank: 22 The names sound somewhat appealing: Stevie Franchise, Cuttino, Hedo, Dwight Howard . . . maybe even a Grant Hill sighting. Of course, they're just names 'til we see some games. Preseason Rank:20 Grant Hill and rookie Dwight Howard are holding up better than expected, but expectations might be too high now with so many people picking Magic as their sleeper team. Week 1 Rank:17 Record:2-1 It could be worse, Orlando. Much, much worse than losing to Charlotte. Remember last season? Magic won on opening night . . . then dropped 19 straight. Week 2 Rank:17 Record:4-3 Magic thinks it should be better than one game over .500, but you won't hear much complaining because all of Orlando remembers how it feels to go 0-14 in November. Week 3 Rank:13 Record:6-3 Keep it going, Grant. You sense that everyone associated with the league welcomes any feel-good story it can find right about now and this is clearly No. 1 on the list. I think the Magic should be ahead of Pistons and maybe a few other teams for a 8, 9, or 10 spot but i think 11 is good. I am glad the Magic are getting some recognition for how they have been playing and i hope they will be able to continue throughout the season and especially through this first road trip out west.
I think the Pistons should not be that hgih, and of course not over Orlando say what you want about them not having Big Ben, but the fact still stands they are playing horrible basketball right now, and can not even beat some of the worst teams in the NBA. They still have practically the entire team that won them the title last year in tact outside of Ben no reason for there struggles. IMO.
The reason is because they lack depth. Without Ben they have little depth. I agree with their comment on the pistons(read it). I am glad he put the Heat lower then what they were(5 now they were 3) But i think the Pacers are better then the heat.
The Magic are impressing people and I hope they keep moving on up! We are getting some respect and should earn some more in the next couple of weeks because Cuttino Mobley should be back anytime now.
Sorry guys, but I just think you're too high on them. They've improved, but not that much, I personally think 11 is already too high, and they're not yet a top 10 team.
Coranor, basically anything from last year is improvement. If you dont think they ahve approved a lot then WOW. Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard, Kelvin Cato, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, and Tony Battie those are just some of their players. MUCH MUCH MUCH better then last year. Go to NBA.com and look at some things. Go to statistics and then team sortable and look at it. THe magic are top 10 (at least) in just about every aspect. 7th in PPG 6th in FG % 8th in FT %(would be higher without Howard, lol) 1st in RPG 2nd in BPG 17th in SPG IMO the Magic are one of the top 5 defensive teams in the league and one of the best 15 offensive teams in the league. We arent going to high on the Magic, everyone else is going too low.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OrlandoMagicFan:</div><div class="quote_post">Coranor, basically anything from last year is improvement. If you dont think they ahve approved a lot then WOW. Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard, Kelvin Cato, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, and Tony Battie those are just some of their players. MUCH MUCH MUCH better then last year. Go to NBA.com and look at some things. Go to statistics and then team sortable and look at it. THe magic are top 10 (at least) in just about every aspect. 7th in PPG 6th in FG % 8th in FT %(would be higher without Howard, lol) 1st in RPG 2nd in BPG 17th in SPG IMO the Magic are one of the top 5 defensive teams in the league and one of the best 15 offensive teams in the league. We arent going to high on the Magic, everyone else is going too low.</div>
@OrlandoMagicFan How can you say we're a top5 defensive team after this blowout against Boston? We are a much better team than last year but no top10 team, 13 at best. After the playoffs 2003, many people were very high on our team, you know the rest.
Coranor, everyone is so focused on this "blow out". Yes it was some Magic defense but not mainly. Mainly it was the Celtics shooting almost 70% in the first half. That is why the celtics won. If you watched the game you would have seen the VERY impressive 3rd and 4th quarters in defense. You dont think 12 blocks and 56 rebounds is good defense?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OrlandoMagicFan:</div><div class="quote_post"> 8th in FT %(would be higher without Howard, lol) </div> You forgot to mention that they wouldn't be 1st in rebounds without Howard I see the Magic staying around this rank for the rest of the year. They may go through a couple of weeks struggling, but they might have a great week that will put them back in this area. They'll be around 10-16 in the power rankings all year. They aren't elite yet, but when they have Howard at his highest potential in a few years, this team will be a contender.
I wasnt trying to diss Howard. He just struggled from the free throw line at the beginning(but lately he has been doing better and im glad, good going D12) but its normal for most rookies. I think the Magic should be like 8-10 in Power Rankings for the year. I think they are a contender this year but very much an underdog to Pacers and Cavs.
OrlandoMagicFan... The first 10 games, we had probably a top 10 defense, but the last 3 games we've given up 99 pts to the Hawks(yes the Hawks, who haven't scored 100 pts all season, we held them to 13 4th quarter pts to hold them at 99) and the Sixers, plus 117 pts to the Celtics. That makes a 105 average in the last 3 games. That is really really bad defense. We need a really good 3-5 game stretch defensively to get some more confidence and start to hold teams under 90 pts to be considered a top defense, because right now we definetely aren't a top 10-15 defense, much less #5.
The only reason it is a 105- average is because celtics went up by 17 in first quarter. Other then that the Magic game would have been tied. What about the Magic's offense the last 3 games? 117 against hawks, 105 against 76ers and 101 against Celtics which is a 107.6 average. which is +2.5. That would be 10th in the NBA in difference between points. Their offense would be first ahead of suns and defense would be worst in PPG. They just have had high scoring games.
Still our defense still sucks. We're not gonna win many games when our defense gives up 105 points. We definetely need to improve our defense.
It isnt our defense though. It partly is but it is just the fast-paced games that score a lot. The Magic play great defense usually but it isnt their fault if the other team makes 70% of its shots. (Uncontested then YES it is their fault but most of the shots were contested)
It is the Magic fault if the other team takes a whole lot of layups. Celtics scored so many layups. The Magic should be able to contain the other team and not allow them to score over 100. I'm not saying we are that bad, but we're not top 5. Today against the Raptors again, we gave up more than 100. I know they scored a lot of 4th quarter pts against our scrubs, but still. We were way better though.
The Magic have averaged 113 points over the last 4 games. Their oponents have averaged 105.75 The Magic have a 7.25 difference. Most of the points as you said were against the magic's 2nd and 3rd line.
