<div align="center"> vs. <font color="black">Washington Wizards (1-1)</font> vs. <font color="blue">Orlando Magic(1-2)</font> Date: November 6th, 2006 Time: 7:00 P.M. Eastern TV: CSN and Sun Sports Place: TD Waterhouse Centre</div> [div=50%]<font size="3"><div align="center"><font color="blue">Magic Starting Lineups</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(J. Nelson, H. Turkoglu, G. Hill, T. Battie, D. Howard)</font></div> <font color="blue">2006-07 Magic Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Grant Hill - 19.3 PPG Leading Rebounder: Dwight Howard - 9.3 RPG Leading Assist Man: Hedo Turkoglu - 3.7 APG Points Per Game: 98.0 Field Goal Percentage: 51.0% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 35.7% Rebounds Per Game: 40.7 Assists Per Game: 15.7 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jameer_nelson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Jameer Nelson</font> PPG: 13.0, RPG: 3.3, APG: 2.3 Orlando's playmaker Jameer Nelson looks to come in and rebound off his poor performance against the Hawks with 5 turnoevers, 4 fouls and only 4 points. On the defensive end, he needs to play tight on Arenas and not let him perform big on their court. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/hedo_turkoglu.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Hedo Turkoglu</font> PPG: 9.7, RPG: 7.0, APG: 3.7 Hedo can't be too happy for himself coming off a 1-10 shooting from the field. The Wizards had a hard time containing Szczerbiak and Telfair's long range shooting on Saturday and if Hedo gets on his stroke tonight, he will open up the offense for the Magic. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/grant_hill.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Grant Hill</font> PPG: 19.3, RPG: 4.0, APG: 1.7 Suprisingly in his first three games, he's been scoring consistenly on the floor and hustling on both ends for Orlando. The 36 year old veteran looks to keep up his performance and help Orlando contend for a playoff spot this year. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tony_battie.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Tony Battie</font> PPG: 5.7, RPG: 4.0, APG: 0.0 Tony has not been much of a factor for Orlando this year, although he has been able to contain his man and grab some rebounds. There is room for some improvement though and going against the Wizards team who so far have been outrebounded 93-61, Battie should look to take advantage of that. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dwight_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Dwight Howard</font> PPG: 17.3, RPG: 9.3, APG: 1.7 Well, despite Dwight's limited time on the court due to foul trouble, he has been a monster in the paint for Orlando this year. The key for Orlando is to make sure he's able to stay on the floor, in order for him to exploit the Wizards' frontcourt tonight, or they will have a hard time trading baskets with the Wizards. [/div]<div align="center"><font color="black"><font size="3">Wizards Starting Lineup</font></font> <font size="1">(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, E. Thomas)</font></div> <font color="black">2006-07 Wizards Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Gilbert Arenas - 25.5 PPG Leading Rebounder: Antawn Jamison - 6.0 RPG Leading Assist Man: Gilbert Arenas - 8.5 APG Points Per Game: 109.0 Field Goal Percentage: 49.7% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 29.0% Rebounds Per Game: 30.5 Assists Per Game: 22.0 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/gilbert_arenas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Gilbert Arenas</font> PPG: 25.5, RPG: 3.0, APG: 8.5 What a great way to bounce off a 7 point performance in Cleveland with a 44 point performance in the home opener. I think it was safe to say he was on fire on Saturday. He showed his ability to shoot behind the 3-point line consistently and he led the Wizards to their first win of the season. If he can repeat the same performance in Orlando, expect the Wizards to win their second game. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/deshawn_stevenson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Deshawn Stevenson </font> PPG: 4.5, RPG: 3.0 APG: 2.5 DeShawn along with other perimeter defenders had a hard time trying to get Telfair and Szczerbiak out of their shooting stroke on Saturday, but overall, he had a decent game. He made a shot and showed some hustle out there on the defensive end, but expect him to produce a lot more against the Magic. Also, going against his former team in Orlando, he shouldn't let it get to his head, just play basketball. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/caron_butler.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Caron Butler</font> PPG: 21.5, RPG: 5.0, APG: 3.0 The second leading scorer Caron, comes off another game being very active on defense by forcing turnovers and on the offensive side giving the Wizards an all-around scoring performance. Orlando will need to take care of the ball around Caron or else he may repeat his 5 steal performance against them. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antawn_jamison.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Antawn Jamison</font> PPG: 24.5, RPG: 6.0, APG: 1.5 Antawn Jamison lit up out there with 13-22 shooting from the floor. He was able to become another scoring threat out there and spread the defense for his teammates. Also, he's been playing a lot aggressively down-low fighting for the rebound, so it may be signs of him stepping it up as a 'power' forward while still being able to do his job on offense. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/etan_thomas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Etan Thomas</font> PPG: 10.5, RPG: 5.5, APG: 1.0 After these first two games, Etan Thomas is proving to us why he deserved the starting job over Haywood. He's been aggressive in the paint grabbing rebounds, and blocking shots. Now going against Dwight Howard, his skills will be put to the test, and expect the ball to go to him and try to abuse Etan Thomas down-low. <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="blue">Score Inside</font> – For the Wizards in the 1st quarter alone, they gave up 10 easy layups and that's just unacceptable espicially when you want to improve your defense. For Orlando, with Dwight Howard roaming in the paint, he should have no problem creating attention and scoring buckets. [*]<font color="blue">Take Care Of The Ball</font> – Orlando commited 22 turnovers in the 15 point loss to Atlanta, and with the Wizards ability to steal the ball, they need to be extra aware or Washington will prevail.[*]<font color="blue">Prevent Long-Range Shots</font> – With Arenas, Jamison and Butler's ability to hit from long range, it makes the Wizards' offense that much more deadly. But from looking at the stats, the Wizars were 7-18 from the 3 against the Celtics with Arenas nailing 5-10. Washington got off lucky by trading baskets with the Celtics, but if Orlando can stop their shooting, they'll win.[*]<font color="black">Rebound!</font> – And please. The Wizards have done a poor job being outrebounded 93-61, and it's not helping the Wizards getting the key stops they want on defense this year. Antawn Jamison and Etan Thomas needs to keep Dwight Howard in check and not control the boards tonight, or they'll have a hard time winning.[*]<font color="black">Contain The Long Range Shot</font> – The Wizards in these two games haven't been able to cover shooters like Larry Hughes or Wally Szczerbiak, which has been one of the main reasons they had huge games. Dwight Howard will cause attention down-low, but it's important to get back on their man.[*]<font color="black">Transition</font> – The Wizards have done a great job moving the ball up and getting easy, high percentage baskets, in compliment of being able to force turnovers and creating fastbreak points off of them. If they can steal the tempo from Orlando, I think they'll have no problem on offense tonight.[/list] <font size="3">Prediction:</font> Wizards take it 109-103 Will's Prediction Record: 1-1 (Last: Wizards over Celtics 101-90)
Magic should come out with a lot of energy. You would of thought that for the last game though. I wouldn't be surprised to see either happen. We have to give Dwight the ball, 5 shots just flat out will not win you any game. The X factor for the Magic will be Jameer Nelson. He needs to be effective in distributing the basketball. Only 3 assists will not cut it. He needs to put up 7+ assists for the Magic to win.
I think the Wizards will take this one. The Magic need to make a huge effort to go to Dwight if he's being guarded by Jamison, and if they don't, it will be to their own demise. I expect Arenas to continue his play from the Celtics game, and have another big game. Caron should also be able to do well against Hill, and Jamison's ability to bring either Darko or Dwight out of the paint will help.
Man, the Wizards need to do a better job forcing Hedo to pass to ball. He's been deadly so far with 4-5 from 3 point land. Other than that, we're doing a good job preventing Dwight Howard from scoring down-low, and Etan's done a great job containing him. They do need to stop driving inside, Dwight alone has 4 blocks.
Great job by Washington to be able to tie it by halftime. They need to be able to make defensive stops on defense or force turnovers to get easy baskets to win. Caron Butler hasn't been involved much besides the last part of the second quarter, so they need to get him the ball. Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison are playing decent so far and we're going to need them to keep up their performance in the second half.
Dwight was swatting Arenas in this game. The defense down the stretch was just dissapointing. The Wizards gave up way too many open jumpers, and Arroyo just destroyed us. Etan Thomas was nice with the rebounding and help defense inside, but the overall defense was poor. The Wizards always play fake good defense by forcing turnovers, but the man to man defense really needs to get to a higher level for this team to be succesful. Arenas had a poor shooting night again, and he should bounce back.
I noticed that there were several times that Arenas argued about a call and he didn't get hit with technical foul. I was surprised that he was risking that with the way these refs have been so far this season.
<div class="quote_poster">og15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Dwight was swatting Arenas in this game. The defense down the stretch was just dissapointing. The Wizards gave up way too many open jumpers, and Arroyo just destroyed us. Etan Thomas was nice with the rebounding and help defense inside, but the overall defense was poor. The Wizards always play fake good defense by forcing turnovers, but the man to man defense really needs to get to a higher level for this team to be succesful.</div> Actually the defense during the last two minutes did pretty well. They played zone and forced bad shots, and they had 2 chances to tie it, which Jamison and Butler missed. But the defense overall this season has been pretty bad, the perimeter defense needs to improve and we need to take care of the ball in the 4th quarter.
Some interesting stats from the first 3 games: Arenas 4.3 TPG, but Wizards a league low 11.3 TPG Arenas 4.7 FPG (though not fouled out yet) 1) Though Gil is turning the ball over a lot, it's good to see that the team is not turning it over too much. I guess he's taking the turnovers for the team there. 2) Arenas needs to take it easy with the fouling, I know a good amount are offensive fouls, which also add to his TPG total, but man, he's averaging almost fouling out every single game. This is what the foul prone C's average. He won't be able to get in rythm during games if he's fouling like this.
