Brian Hill, this is potentially your last chance to keep your job. This is what you HAVE to do to receive some faith from the fans and possibly steal a couple of games. 1) Start Darko. This is Darko's chance to prove that he is not a bust and to show off to his former team what he can possibly do. Not only start him, but allow him to operate around the FT line. He is capable of hitting that jump shot and him being at the FT line gives him better passing angles to find cutting wings or Dwight. Utilize his strength and stop forcing him to just stay down low. Play him at least 30 minutes(assuming his ankle is able to take 30 minutes). 2) Give Dwight Howard the damn ball. He is your only chance to win any games in this series. If you give him 15-20 shots a game you will show him that you trust him. I don't care how many turnovers he commits or if his shot is not falling. YOU HAVE TO GIVE HIM THE BALL. That will in turn allow Dwight to get even more playoff experience and will keep him extremely active on the glass and on the defensive end. 3) Play Keyon Dooling and Trevor Ariza a lot. You need to keep one of those 2 on Chauncey Billups for the majority of the games. I wouldn't be opposed to starting either of them. When Billups is in the game, make sure he is matched up against someone that can guard him and not Jameer. When both are in the game, put Ariza on either the PF(to keep us more as a fastbreak team) or Rip. 4) Don't settle for jump shots. Make sure to give Dwight, Darko, or Battie one touch in the post on every other possession at the worst. Dwight will bring the double team which will give open looks to other players. We have to set up the outside by pounding it inside. Make sure you have great ball movement to get the open looks. 5) Pray that you get a miracle and we stay competitive enough for you to keep your job. Also pray that Flip Saunders doesn't out coach you by a wide margin every single game.
ESPN: Magic-Pistons Least Intriguing Series <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">You'd think that a series sending Darko Milicic and Grant Hill back to Detroit for at least two games would rank higher on this list on intrigue factor alone. Right? Problem is, this matchup is such a mismatch that I'm struggling to muster even faux enthusiasm for it, with the teams not dissimilar in style but miles apart in quality. Bank on Chauncey Billups having a huge series, since he'll be pitched against smaller guards who've had trouble defending point guards all season ... point guards not necessarily in Chauncey's class. Milicic's foot injury, furthermore, is a killer, given that the one thing Orlando has (had?) to throw at the Pistons is the combined size of Darko and Dwight Howard. If Milicic misses significant time, Hedo Turkoglu and Trevor Ariza will have to play bigger than they are. Not a welcome assignment against of a frontcourt rotation like Detroit's. I suppose that the Magic can steal a game if the Pistons lose interest, like Milwaukee did in the '06 first round, but as one scout reminded me Wednesday night: "That Milwaukee team was better than this Orlando team." Prediction: Pistons in four.</div> Source: ESPN
Doesn't surprise me that people think this way. Orlando hasn't been very successful against Detroit the past couple of seasons and with Detroit's playoff experience it will be tough for the Magic's youth. Just remember we are going to be getting great playoff experience that will better this club for next year. What better way to get playoff experience then to play in front of one of the most loud group of fans in the NBA? I just hope Brian Hill prints this out and puts it on our bulletin board.
I don't expect the Magic to win in this series, but it is always an important step to get into the playoffs. I don't have high expectations for the Magic, but I like to look at this as more of an important learning experience for the Magic to get their first few playoff games under their belt and get the feeling of the playoffs which is also how I look at the Raptors even though they're the 3rd seed. You can always learn a thing or two when you're playing against the top team in the East.
i agree on all the above but the one i think brian hill needs to follow the most is #4... we gotta throw it down low to create something if we wanna beat the pistons plain and simple
Pistons Sweep Magic? Not Likely <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Magic head into the playoffs as the veritable 16th-seed, but here's how I see it: Doom, yes. Broom, no. Here's why: The Pistons don't sweep people. The Pistons haven't swept ANY team in ANY series since. . . .the 1989-90 season. They won the first three games in a best-of-five series against the Indiana Pacers. That's over 27 series, spanning 12 years. Even this latest edition of Pistons --- the group that won a title in 2004 --- hasn't pulled off a sweep. It either lets down or gets distracted or Rasheed Wallace finds the refs more interesting. Heck, the year they won it all, the Bucks won a game off them in round one and the Nets took them to seven. Last season the Bucks beat them in Game 3 in Milwaukee in the first round. The Cavs won three straight to force a Game 7 in the semis. So you can impress your friends and counter the doubters at the water-cooler with this pearl of wisdom. As far as the series, uh, I'd love to say the Magic have a realistic chance if A and B comes together to meet C. Can't. I see the Magic winning one, at home. Don't weep. No sweep.</div> Source
Game 1: Magic @ Pistons Game Thread (4/21) <div align="center"> <font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic</font> @ <font color=""Red"">Detroit Pistons</font> Tipoff: 7:00 PM ET | TV: ESPN/WRBW MY65 | Radio: WDBO AM 580 Projected Starting Lineups <font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic</font> <font size=""1""> Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, Dwight Howard </font> While this is the lineup that will be starting the game, expect many changes to be made throughout the game. Keyon Dooling and Trevor Ariza will probably play big roles in this series. They will most likely be used to shut down Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton since Jameer Nelson and Grant Hill can't keep up with those guys for the entire game. Another player that will come off the bench is Darko Milicic, depending on the severity of his ankle sprain. Right now, he is day to day and whether or not he is healthy is very important for the success of Orlando. If the Magic want to have a chance in this game, they need to limit their jumpshots and work the ball inside to our big men. We have a great offensive force in Dwight Howard and we need to use him. You can't beat a team like the Pistons in a seven game series by relying on jumpshots because you never know when your shot is going to be on.</div> <div align="center"><font color=""Red"">Detroit Pistons</font></div> <div align="center"> <font size=""1""> Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber</font> <div align="center">The Pistons have many different offensive weapons at their arsenal and it's going to be very tough trying to slow them down. Their entire starting lineup (and possibly Antonio McDyss off the bench) are all capable of putting up big numbers offensively. Chauncey Billups has torched the Magic all season and has embarrassed Jameer Nelson numerous times. Expect either Keyon Dooling or Trevor Ariza to matchup against Billups for a large portion of this series. Another scary thing about Detroit's starting lineup is the amount of playoff experience each team has. Compared to the young Magic, there experience is a huge advantage. This team swept Orlando in the regular season and are many people's favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals. It's going to take a hell of an effort to keep up with these guys.</div> Key Matchup Rasheed Wallace and Dwight Howard control the paint for each of their respective teams and how each of them perform is a very important factor in this series. During the regular season, Howard got Wallace into foul trouble early and it helped Orlando keep the games close. If Dwight can get involved early, it will help the Magic keep the game close. Rasheed can score inside and out, a significant advantage he has over Dwight. If we can force Wallace to score from the outside, it will lower his field goal percentage and also give us more rebounds which takes away Detroit's second chance points. This matchup should be very interesting and it'll be exciting to see how Dwight performs in his first playoff game against a very experienced veteran like Rasheed Wallace. Analysis If the Magic want to have a fighting chance in this series, it is very important that they win Game One. If they can steal a game on Detroit's homecourt (where the Pistons have played spectacular all season) it would be a huge confidence builder for our young team. The Pistons are the team with all the expectations and pressure right now and the Magic have thrived in the underdog role this season. People are already talking about the Pistons playing either the Heat or Bulls in the second round and I think our team will use this as motivation to steal a couple games from Detroit. Steven A. Smith even went as far as to saying that we'll be lucky if we can win two quarters during this series. All of these words will be used as bulletin board material and hopefully our guys step up. While it's going to be nearly impossible for us to win this series, it's going to provide us with a ton of playoff experience and it'll teach us how important it is to keep our focus during the regular season so we don't sky rocket down in the standings again in the future. Many of our players are making their playoff debut tonight and it should be very interesting to see who steps up and performs when their team needs it the most. Let's just hope we have some good games and we stay competitive throughout the series. Go Magic! And last but not least... Hot girl for good luck! Here are some interesting articles previewing the series: School's In Session for Magic Dwight Howard: "Now It's My Time" Do you believe in miracles? Sure, why not? Numbers Don't Favor Magic</div>
I've merged all of the playoff talk into this thread. I'll post previews in this thread before each game.
I think if we are going to win any game in Detroit it has be the first game. You know the Pistons are hearing all the analyst saying that they are going to sweep and that the Magic have no chance since we got swept in the regular season. I just hope we can catch them looking forward to the next round tonight. If the Magic win one game in Detroit the playoffs would be a success. We are in a very good position since everyone is counting us out. Anything good that happens will be magnified and will bring more buzz to Orlando.
<div class="quote_poster">smokrockz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think if we are going to win any game in Detroit it has be the first game. You know the Pistons are hearing all the analyst saying that they are going to sweep and that the Magic have no chance since we got swept in the regular season. I just hope we can catch them looking forward to the next round tonight. If the Magic win one game in Detroit the playoffs would be a success. We are in a very good position since everyone is counting us out. Anything good that happens will be magnified and will bring more buzz to Orlando.</div> I disagree. I think the game that is the most possible for us to win in Detroit is Game 2. Detroit is going to be pumped up for the playoffs and will feed from the raucous crowd in game 1. Magic will be amazed at the playoff atmosphere and it might startle a lot of the guys making their debut. I think Game 2 the Magic will play more loose then they will in Game 1 and will make the game much closer than Game 1. Here is how I see the series going..... Game 1: Detroit wins by 10-15. Game 2: Detroit wins by 3-5. Game 3: Orlando wins by 1-3. Game 4: Detroit wins by 7-10 Game 5: Detroit wins by 10-15 I think Detroit comes out in Game 1 to send a message to the Magic. Magic aren't as talented as Detroit and I bet the playoff crowd will get to them. In Game 2, I think the nerves are gone for the Magic and they play more loose and keep the game close(similar to 3 out of our 4 regular season meetings). Game 3, Detroit starts to get a little bored and it's the first home playoff game in Orlando in 3 years. Game 4 and 5, Detroit says forget this and plays great basketball while Orlando is outmatched and wins the last 2 quite easily.
Why have we just stopped looking for Dwight? We gave it to him a lot early and now it's all jump shots and all Dwight is doing is setting screens. I don't think he has gotten the ball in the post in the last 8-10 possessions. It's no coincidence that Detroit has now extended the lead to 28-16.
Being down 12 after 1 really isn't too bad, considering we've had 7 turnovers(probably 4-5 unforced), are 0-4 from the line, and we don't feel like giving our best player the ball.
We're turning the ball over way too much (surprise, surprise). Detroit has a 12 point lead at the end of the 1st. I won't be able to see the rest of the game, but I'm sure I'll come home to a loss. Well, anyways, GO MAGIC!!!!
We go on a 7-0 run because we fed down low and now Detroit is on a 7-0 run after we start settling for more jump shots. Coincidence? I think not. Dwight had 10 boards with 9:21 remaining in the 2nd. He really needs to make FT's though, 0-4 so far. As a team we are 2-8(Darko 2-4)
Dwight's been a beast on the boards like Gators said, he also has 3 blocks, but no 0-6 from the FT line. 4-16 for the whole Orlando team. The game would be much closer if Orlando could have shot better from the free throw line.
We're playing some sloppy basketball right now. We can't hold onto the ball and we can't make any free throws. Gators, the reason we don't want to give the ball to Dwight is because they just keep hacking him and he's missing every single free throw. If we want to win this game, we need to run the fast break, improve our free throws, and limit the Pistons' second chance opportunities. We're very fortunate that this lead isn't more than 8 points but we have momentum on our side right now. That buzzer beater by Trevor should motivate us and hopefully we can go out there and play a little better in the second half. GO MAGIC!
What a great end of the half. Magic have cut it to 51-43. It's amazing that this game is even close with the way the Magic have been careless. 6-20 from the line and 11 turnovers(so many unforced), not to mention we have only knocked down 1 3 pointer. Darko has really stepped up and he has played very good on offense. We should start him in the 2nd half, because his confidence is very high right now. We still have a chance here, we need to start the 2nd half extremely strong by settling down on offense and trying not to do too much that would force stupid turnovers. We need to continue to pound it down low and work inside out and when we do get stops, we need to run the break. Not to mention knocking down FT's when we get them. So far this is sort of what I expected, down about 8 at halftime with some early sloppy play. We have settled down a little bit.
the magic arent playng that bad considering all of their turnovers. 90% of people thought blowout city
