Orlando Magic @ Golden State, Game Thread, 12/10/2004

<font size="4">Orlando Magic (12-6) at Golden State (5-13)</font>

<font size="4">Probable Starters:</font>

Orlando Magic (Road: 5-4)



PG - Stevie "Franchise" Francis
SG - Cuttino "The Cat" Mobley
SF - Grant Hill
PF - Dwight Howard
C - Tony Battie (Kelvin Cato is injured my bad, didn't see him on the IR or the nba news make a big fuss - 2 weeks he's out I think)

Golden State Warriors (Home: 4-6)



PG - Speedy Claxton
SG - Jason "Jrich" Richardson
SF - Mike Dunleavy Jr.
PF - Troy Murphy
C - Cliff "Uncle Cliffy" Robinson

<font size="4">Quick Recap</font>

Magic's Last Game (Win Over Utah)
Warrior's Last Game (Loss to Phoenix)


<font size="4">Key Matchups
</font>
Francis vs. Speedy Claxton
Jason Richardson vs. Cuttion Mobley
Dunleavy vs. Grant Hill
Troy Murphy vs. Dwight Howard

Let's just say Jrich has got to pressure Mobley, because the guy has been going nutso on 3 pointers lately and he can take pressure shots. Jrich also has a slight size advantage on Mobley so he has to use his size to post up and shoot over him. Mobley is no slacker on defense so this might be tough for Jrich to get a clean shot. It also might be tough for Jrich to cover Mobley since he's really quick without the ball.

Claxton will have to pressure Francis like crazy to force turnovers and hope his shooting is off in this game. Francis clearly has the height/strength advantage with 4-5 inches over Speedy and 30 lbs. Hopefully Claxton can frustrate Francis into coughing up the rock a couple of times before he gets into position to drive toward the hoop. Maybe Pietrus will do some work on Francis to help take him out of the game like last year.

Dunleavy might struggle with Hill as he is an excellent slasher and appears to be in game shape. Hill will be one of those guys that will get his teams involved so it is important for Dunleavy to anticipate passes in the lane that could go to Mobley or Francis who are also quick slashers. Hill is probably the guy to focus on this game as he appears to be IMO the glue guy for Orlando who can score, rebound, pass, play defense. Kind of what we want Dunleavy to be....

Murphy might have trouble with Orlando's young power forward. Howard's got good shotblocking ability and quickness to gain position in the paint to sky for rebounds. Murph will also figure out that Howard has some perimeter game and will have to play him honest if he's feeling it from the perimeter.

<font size="4">Prediction

</font>It looks like the Warriors may finally be figuring out what kind of team they want to be: a team that likes to run. However, it wasn't good enough to stop the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday who have been one of the more dominant running teams in the West. The Magic might look to run a lot as well and they certainly have players that can thrive in the open court, shoot from the field (Mobley, Turkoglu), slash toward the rim (Francis, Mobley, Hill) and have plenty of offensive weapons to go to in the 4th. The Warriors must use the home court to their advantage and play almost flawless team basketball if they are to survive the magic. The Magic will certainly be one of the teams to beat to build confidence. They've got a healthy Grant Hill and 3/5's of last year's Houston Rockets, a veteran squad that made the playoffs last year. The best rocket of those 3, Stevie Francis has been playing great and closing out 4th quarters with either his passing or his unstoppable drives. Cuttino Mobley, who has been injured in the early beginnings is now healthy and is putting up terrific stats from 3 point land and also getting it done in the 4th. Dwight Howardhas been putting up some pretty decent numbers in blocks, rebounds and they've had excellent contribution from the bench with Hedo Turkoglu outscoring Utah's bench Wednesday night.

I think the W's are clearly outmatched, but if they keep the game close by forcing turnovers, not standing around on offense or defense and taking good shots, they have a chance. Magic by 15.

 

Nice preview, but for your info, our big guy Cato is out for 3 weeks...

Magic did well against the Jazz and won the game by 6.
Hopefully the team will carry on with the momentum to Golden States.
I think if my team can stay away from foul troubles and handle the ball well, we can win this one by 10
Francis and Hill will have 25 points apiece.

 

Yeah I know forgot he had shoulder problems or something? Thanks for correcting me I kind of just threw it together (really pulled it out of my ass) because I'm probably not going to be able to do it Friday and nobody else really does the game previews besides Zhone and Rudeezy.

I've only been paying attention to the Orlando Magic in terms of the players I have in my roster or the players going against me in my Yahoo fantasy league. I have not seen them play as a team which is why game previews aren't my cup of tea. I know the individual players though and I know their strengths and weaknesses pretty much i think so I could guess how they would play together. How they operate as a team I have yet to see.

 

Nice Preview. I can't wait until this game because it should be a good one. Where did you get those small pictures of the players? I haven't been able to find any like that for my previews. Anyways, my prediction for this game is a Magic win 105-94.

 

Golden State's woes won't end here with the Magic game here.

I Think once again thaat Golden State will actually have the lead,and they will blow it.but the Warriors will put on a great comeback effort and make the game close,but it won't help before the game is over with.

Magic 94 Warriors 89

 

magic 111 Warriors 97 Grant hill with 23 or smth =D

 

Very nice write up. I like the pictures and the reviews of the last game. I also like how you did the match ups individually. I think the magic's big 3 (hill, francis, smith) will out play our big 3 for the win. Wait, who are our big 3? It seems like we usually only get 2/3 per night. Oh yeah, watch Dun get eaten ALIVE by hill. Hill is the player everyone wishes Dunleavy would have been. Maybe he can learn a few things from his fellow dukie...

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">Very nice write up. I like the pictures and the reviews of the last game. I also like how you did the match ups individually. I think the magic's big 3 (hill, francis, smith) will out play our big 3 for the win. Wait, who are our big 3? It seems like we usually only get 2/3 per night. Oh yeah, watch Dun get eaten ALIVE by hill. Hill is the player everyone wishes Dunleavy would have been. Maybe he can learn a few things from his fellow dukie...</div>
Hill, Francis, and Smith? Who is Smith?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MagicFan3:</div><div class="quote_post">Hill, Francis, and Smith? Who is Smith?</div>

Sorry, Howard...

 

I just want the Magic to have Mobley and Francis jack up all the shots they want as they shoot 38% and hope the Warriors keep their hot shooting and running.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Warriorfansnc93:</div><div class="quote_post">Sorry, Howard...</div>

Oh ok I was lost for a second .

 

I can see a win for the Warriors. 97 to 88. Just feed the ball to the hot hand and bam.

 

Thanks guys, I just used the pics from Yahoo and just threw together some sloppy writing I did. I didn't even use complete sentences on some of it, but you get the idea. Also wanted to mention that Tony Battie will make it hard to score on, so the W's better find a way to get in there, because these guys look like they have the ability to play great defense at all positions. And Yes... Turkgolu also plays defense and can play all the positions that Dunleavy plays. ....It's really up to the Magic coach if they want to put some incredible mismatches in the game with their roster. It looks pretty solid from what I can tell. Deshawn Stevenson even sounds interesting. I'll have to check out his game if he plays.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting custodianrules2:</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks guys, I just used the pics from Yahoo and just threw together some sloppy writing I did. I didn't even use complete sentences on some of it, but you get the idea. Also wanted to mention that Tony Battie will make it hard to score on, so the W's better find a way to get in there, because these guys look like they have the ability to play great defense at all positions. And Yes... Turkgolu also plays defense and can play all the positions that Dunleavy plays. ....It's really up to the Magic coach if they want to put some incredible mismatches in the game with their roster. It looks pretty solid from what I can tell. Deshawn Stevenson even sounds interesting. I'll have to check out his game if he plays.</div>


Pretty good thread. You might have Zhone in a deadlock for who should do those more often

 

Even sports writers don't always use completely correct English, because so much of it is in the vernacular and uses common, every-day examples and slang and other unconventional writing. As long as you're understandable, I think that's the point.

 

Very nice preview! The Warriors will pull it off.

 

I say the Magic by 10 or more.

First off, the Warriors live and die by the jump shot. Second, the Magic are best rebounding team in the NBA. Jumpshots are not very high percentage shots and if the Magic do a good job of contesting shots and putting pressure I think that their frontcourt can combine for 22 boads or more in this game (30+ if Cato was back). Not to mention that the Magic won't have much problems attacking the offensive boards for second chance points.

With Cato and Grant Hill healthy, IMO, the Magic have one of the best frountcourts in the NBA.

Just my 2 pennies.

 

I figured rebounding was a given on that team with Dwight Howard averaging at least 10 boards a game. That's terrific for a rook!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3818

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Miami's Finest:</div><div class="quote_post">First off, the Warriors live and die by the jump shot.</div>
Funny you bring that up. When they live and die by jumpers they look horrible and lose badly (except against the Bulls). When they attack the basket they are pretty entertaining and win (except against the Suns).

If the Warriors keep up the attack like the last few games they will tire out some of Orlando's guns and will cruise to victory. If they settle for too many perimeter shots, Orlando by 10+ is probably a safe bet.

 

Orlando can attack the basket too though, so we better not tire out.