Orlando Magic News for May 11th: Praise for the Magic's Attitude and Jameer Nelson
by Evan Dunlap on May 11, 2010 2:00 PM EDT
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Print- Behind the Box Score, where the defending champs are rolling - Ball Don't Lie - NBA Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports comments on the Orlando Magic's demeanor.
No team looks as focused, no team looks as good. Put it this way - they're the only team that has me looking forward to the typically pablum-infused halftime or between-quarter interviews from players and coaches. There's just a calm about them that lends itself to articulation. It's almost, like, what's the opposite of a master of panic?
- Respect due: Jameer Nelson's great leap forward - Ball Don't Lie - NBA Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Dan Devine of Ball Don't Lie highlights Jameer Nelson's strong performance during these playoffs.
- 2010 NBA Playoffs: Most Valuable Players - ESPN
... as do some of the experts in this ESPN roundtable. John Hollinger and David Thorpe rank him as the MVP of the entire playoffs, while Marc Stein, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Arnovitz also give him a shoutout. J.A. Adande, Henry Abbott, and Chris Sheridan were the only panelists not to include him. Here's Thorpe:
From Game 1 of the playoffs, he has been "the guy" for Orlando. His shooting, passing and scoring have all been at the elite level. More importantly, he's been the driving force in the locker room and on the court, as the "owner" of all that is good in Orlando.
- Basketball-Reference.com Blog " Blog Archive " The Most Lopsided Series Sweeps of All-Time
Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference uses a series of metrics to determine where the Magic's sweep of the Hawks ranks among history's all-time sweeps. "By any measure," he concludes, "the 2010 Magic's victory over the Hawks was one of the absolute most dominating single-series performances in the history of the NBA."
- NBA Playoffs: Magic decimate Hawks again, get second straight sweep - ProBasketballTalk
Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk writes that the Magic "have a very good chance of winning the first championship in Magic history" if Dwight Howard can avoid foul trouble in the Eastern Conference Finals.
- Basketball Prospectus | Articles | Playoff Prospectus: Fo-Fo-Fo
Bradford Doolittle of Basketball Prospectus says Orlando "should be considered the odds-on favorite to win it all" after its sweep of the Hawks.
- Bill Simmons: NBA playoffs, Round 2 awards - ESPN
Bill Simmons discusses the Magic a bit in his second-round playoff awards column. He gives five reasons why the Magic won't win a title. Only one--that they are incredibly similar to the 2002 Sacramento Kings--has any remote relation to the actual sport. The fact that Matt Barnes "had a crucial dinner scene in 'Basketball Wives' two weekends ago" means he can't guard Kobe Bryant, if I'm reading reason no. 2 correctly.
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Bill Simmons HATES the Magic
Then again, he’s a 40 year old who still watches MTV.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Bill Simmons = Idiot.
Twitter.com/Blacktigra
by Blacktigra on May 11, 2010 2:35 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
bill simmons Is A Tool
I wanted the Celtics to win anyway, but now I want them to win just so Vince can go off on them & make Simmons cry.
that would be great. simmons just rubs me the wrong way. he pretends to not like the lakers and kobe but deep down inside he wishes he grew up in la and could cheer for the lakers. additionally, the whole fact he is a clippers fans shows you that he tries to be different cause its cool. vince going off on the Cs would be epic and should shut up simmons for a bit. one thing he is good at is recognizing the moronic things he writes. he does hate the magic.
"Where do you go from here, Dion?" "I go to Toronto."
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
I would LOVE to read the column that would follow that
He would spend about 1/3 of it giving credit to the Magic, while still admitting that they will struggle against LA, then spend the other 2/3 talking about the ways that Boston lost the series and that this is the end of the Big Three. He would wrap it up with a Rondo love-fest: talking about how he’s the future of the franchise, and how he’s firmly cemented himself as one of the greatest Celtics ever, one of the top 2 point guards in the league (the other being CP3, who he has a raging hard-on for), and a legitimate MVP contender.
Go Titans! Go Magic!
"I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, and wear Reebok." - Shaq
I took great satisfaction a few months ago when Olberman made him his bitch in their little verbal feud.
Never trust a fart
by AB's triple double on May 11, 2010 2:50 PM EDT reply actions
What was this? I never heard of it.
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
Overview of it here, although it’s sympathetic towards Simmons.
One of the highlights:
If you’d like to read the most poorly-informed conclusion I’ve come across in sports media this year, you have your link…In the interim I am again left to marvel how somebody can rise to a fairly prominent media position with no discernible insight or talent, save for an apparent ability to mix up a vast bowl of word salad very quickly.
Honor is no substitute for victory.
Ah, thanks.
I enjoy reading Simmons’ columns, but he seems to be exaggerating his importance lately. He definitely came off as a schmuck during the Dante & Galante interview, but I guess it took balls to belittle (relatively speaking) a team while they are walking behind you.
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
Second, if that had happened to Vince Carter, he would have been on the ground for 20 minutes, they would have had to carry him out on one of those neck-stabilizing NFL stretchers….
Hmmmm… Kinda like when Paul Pierce went off in a wheelchair and was crying, only to reenter the game five minutes later.
I used to enjoy reading Bill Simmons’ material but recently he has convinced me that he is no more than a fat HACK!!!
"I just Rashard'ed my pants!!!!"
by Wally Balls 407 on May 11, 2010 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
“Hmmmm… Kinda like when Paul Pierce went off in a wheelchair and was crying, only to reenter the game five minutes later.”
Got ’em!
Go Titans! Go Magic!
"I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, and wear Reebok." - Shaq
What does Simmons have against Carter? It’s like Simmons is some closet Raptors fan or something. Very strange.
"Where do you go from here, Dion?" "I go to Toronto."
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
Yeah, he hates how he tanked in Toronto to get traded.
And also the way he falls down like he’s been shot every time he gets hit. I can’t say I blame him on the second one, that’s been frustrating to watch throughout the year.
I hate Varejao.
guys..
come on. bill simmons is so witty and clever!
and now that he is so self-aware of his wittiness and cleverness, his writing has reach new levels!
yay bill simmons!!
"what's the opposite of a master of panic?"
This is a great line. Love it.
(I only made this comment because BQR’s twitter wanted someone to comment on something other than Simmons)
Quoting from Simmons
On the same night I attended my first Orlando Magic home game, my least favorite NBA player (Vince Carter) randomly decided to try in the second half and annihilated Atlanta. This was old-school Vince: cuffing one-handed rebounds over the rim, exploding through traffic for dunks, playing some (gasp) intense defense, even swishing 25-footers and skipping the other way with a front-running scowl. I immediately tweeted, “Should ‘Vince Carter is trying’ get a BREAKING NEWS spot on the ESPN ticker? I can’t decide.” In retrospect, yes. The world needs to know when Vince Carter tries.
The bad news for the other playoff teams? Nobody will beat the 2010 Magic in a seven-game series if Vince plays like that four times.
And to continue...
The good news for the other playoff teams? He’s still Vince Carter. A real playoff team (namely, Los Angeles or Cleveland) will notice him gaining confidence like that, then just clobber him the next time he drives to the basket. That’s the book on Vince: Knock him down once and he’ll roll around on the floor for a few seconds, get up grimacing and never be the same. Hey, Atlanta? You know your backup center with the giant noggin and bacne? Clumsy, rugged, a little hot-tempered? Pachulia? Um, I’m pretty sure God made him a basketball player so he could someday clothesline Vince Carter in a playoff series. It’s the best possible explanation. You should have told Zaza to knock Vince’s ass down. Assuming you wanted to compete. And actually …
And sadly, I have to agree with him on that one
Unless Vince actually plays different after being fouled hard… like he did when he was flagrant fouled by Tyson Chandler.
Simmons needs to be bitched slapped by Vince Carter and the whole Magic team for his comments today. I really think this guy is still bitter we beat his Celtics down in the 1995 playoffs.
"Where do you go from here, Dion?" "I go to Toronto."
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
He got his legs cut out from under him and fell about 5 feet onto his back last night and still had a hell of a game.
"I'm not saying this is a blowout, but updated NBA schedule has ' * - if necessary' next to Games 3 and 4." John Hollinger
While I agree that Simmons is mostly an idiot
and most of his comments are aimed at getting a laugh rather then adding any real basketball insight…some of his points about Vince are valid. There’s a reason the guy has so many critics, Simmons is far from the only one. I’ve come to think while watching him night in and night out this season that Vince might quite possibly have the lowest tolerance for pain in human history.
When in some point in your life, you went on and jumped over 7-foot-2 guy,
you know you have done many things that have punished your body and you know that sooner or later your body
will hurt you back.
Time to get that finger bling-bling
Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.
No Paul Pierce has the lowest pain threshold in the world
It is a common act in the NBA to pretend you are hurt just to get a few extra seconds of rest. It is called acting and is a useful tool.
"There are two ways to argue with a woman, and neither of them work."; Carlos Boozer
I'll tell ya about the Magic It'll free your soul but it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock n roll
The only way to stop LeBron is Smith and Wesson, but even that's a double team.
by NC Magic Fan on May 11, 2010 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Sometimes I wish the officials would take this approach to the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DCJXYbBB7w
"I just Rashard'ed my pants!!!!"
by Wally Balls 407 on May 11, 2010 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Didn't he actually get knocked unconscious for a little bit?
I remember seeing that live… it was so strange
Go Titans! Go Magic!
"I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, and wear Reebok." - Shaq
The difference is
That Paul Pierce has won a title being a moany fragile bitch, whereas Vince Carter has quit on a team being a moany fragile bitch.
If Carter keeps his head in the game the way Pierce has done previously, despite all his little flops and owies, the Magic will win a title and Carter will shut his critics up.
Until next season starts, anyway.
by eltharion_doa on May 12, 2010 5:09 AM EDT up reply actions
While it's splitting hairs...
Had we ended that series in 3 games we would have been number one. We would have held them to 23 less points in the series and had a higher MOV. Not by much, but I’m just saying. Game 4 in enemy territory when we let off the gas in the last 3 minutes of the game skewed these numbers slightly. Again, just splitting hairs and I’ll take it.
I think we probably cost Woodson his job.
"I'm not saying this is a blowout, but updated NBA schedule has ' * - if necessary' next to Games 3 and 4." John Hollinger
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