Did a Bad Attitude Harm the Orlando Magic in Game 1 against the Boston Celtics?
by Evan Dunlap on May 17, 2010 6:00 PM EDT
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An emerging consensus in the blogosphere today is that the Orlando Magic need to change their offensive approach a bit if they hope to keep pace with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Some recent updates from Tania Ganguli also indicate their attitude heading into the series let them down, and that they have adjusted it as well.
Here's the money quote from Matt Barnes (emphasis mine):
"Being 8-0 in the playoffs – I can’t speak for everyone – but we may have been feeling ourselves too much," Matt Barnes said. "They kicked our (butts) last night, and now we have to get back to work.’’
And then there's this from Dwight Howard, who had a horrid day on the offensive end. Via Ganguli's Twitter:
If these self-diagnoses are true, then Orlando indeed had the wrong mindset before taking the court yesterday. That's the bad news. The goods news is that there's still time to shape up, both mentally and on the court, in time to stem the tide in this series.
Take them to task if you'd like. Just don't use the poor performance as an excuse to push some bogus narrative about the Magic needing an "enforcer," as one major basketball publication has tried to do today.
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i expect boston gets orlando's best shot tomorrow night. What gives me hope as a Celtics fan
is I think Boston can still play better. Boston missed some easy lay ups yesterday and had about 3 charges. They went into their 4th quarter stall ball too which they cannot do. Rondo and KG combined for 16 points. I think they both need to have about 15 plus tomorrow for boston to win.
The 3 point shot has to be defended also. I think Orlando is going to bring it tomorrow. I am hoping Boston can match it and not be satisfied with just a split. They need to take both from the Magic.
Anyway…good luck tomorrow. Hope it is another good game between these 2 teams.
by celticinorlando on May 17, 2010 6:23 PM EDT reply actions
quit drinking the Kool Aid man…you aren’t winning this series. good luck tomorrow to you as well.
"Where do you go from here, Dion?" "I go to Toronto."
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
The only one i've seen drinking coolaid is
you man…your post are really about only 3 subjects:
1) Kobe hating
2) Hating on media/Journalists
3) Claiming the refs cheated
Forget about the coolaid, just come up with some original material. I dare you to say that Kobe had an “ok” night tonight with his 40 points 5 rebs and 5 assists. I’m not asking for proper adjectives like GREAT, INCREDIBLE, AWE-INSPIRING —-rather, just say “ok.” No way those words can come out of your mouth, no freakin way!
Wrong, mate.
I love reading King’s posts, they are informative and nice.
As far as the KB thing goes, we can go over to other blogs and check (IE) comments on Howard’s games vs. Atlanta. Wanna bet it’s not his good play (according to them) that makes him dominant? You know what I mean, I’m sure.
Also, I don’t see point of bringing up Kobe here. Gratz on win, and he had a huge night again. But, you have to agree that East has a decent shot at it this year, right?
While last year LAL was dominant, I say this year it’s 50/50, either ORL or BOS.
Stay classy.
1) Kobe is the most hated player around (if you’re not a LA fan)
2) Most journalists/analysts are jerks (look at JB talking about Hedo again)
3) Refs do favorite players with their calls and even change results
Only problem is none of the 3 things above will ever change.
Time to get that finger bling-bling
Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.
Um . . . why would we talk about Kobe's here again?
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
by funny80sguy on May 18, 2010 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Kobe's night, rather
sentence fail
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
by funny80sguy on May 18, 2010 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions
funny...Cav fan said the same thing....
by celticinorlando on May 18, 2010 7:18 AM EDT up reply actions
Note the difference, pls
Cavs were dependant on 1 man, while we needed only 1 guy to produce out of 4 (Lewis, Howard, Pietrus, Barnes) to beat you.
If only one of those had a good game, it’d be 1-0 now, instead of 0-1.
I won’t miss to give your D the credit – it was some excellent D out there.
Also, I want to congratulate your team on better performance and focus, and a deserved victory in 1st game. However, this is 7 game series rather than 1.
See you tonight.
Stay classy.
I think the Celtics got pretty luck for quite some plays
Rasheed had, what, 2 buzzer beating threes? Orlando had 18 turnover (that were the result of both poor Orlando execution and good Boston D) and Orlando just played bad at both ends of the floor. Ah, forgot about those three free throws Paul Pierce has… um… “earned”.
Will these events occur again? I don’t know. But they were an abberation (unless they happen again in the 2nd game)
That's Paul Pierce's career, dude
He’s been scoring 25 on 18 free throws with w few field goals thrown in for about ten years.
And the defense of the Celtics ain’t going anywhere either. They’re not going to suddenly stop being able to play Dwight 1-on-1, they’re not going to suddenly fall asleep at the three point line, they’re not going to suddenly stop moving the hands and feet.
That game wasn’t an aberration. That was the Celtics.
by eltharion_doa on May 18, 2010 5:08 AM EDT up reply actions
I bet you wasn't expecting Rashit to hit two buzzer beating three pointers...
…and Pierce to get flopping free throws.
I’m not sure about the second part though.
Paul Pierce was flopping
Long before it was fashionable. He’s basically made an career out of sharp shooting and drawing soft fouls.
Take the timing out of the equation and there’s nothing unusual about Wallace hitting threes. He hit 2/5 from downtown, which is above his season average but not abnormally so.
by eltharion_doa on May 18, 2010 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions
Congratulations on a deserved win.
As I am frustrated I won’t go deeper, but here’s the fact:
Gratz on well deserved victories. You had experience, depth and will to do it, and you did it right.
Stay classy.
The Magic have always played better with a chip on their shoulder and from behind.
When people started to jump on our bandwagon, that’s when I got worried. Hopefully the loss will correct any overconfidence issues. Although it’s disrespectful to Boston to think that if we correct our problems from game 1 we will win hands down. The best team will win the series in the end.
I just happen to think that team is the Magic. Let’s hope they prove me right.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
They're not the best team if they can't get the mental aspect in check.
If they can, then yes, they should win this series because they’re more talented than Boston and have a better overall team scheme. But many of the Boston players are about as mentally tough as they come, so it should be interesting to see.
I love LeBron. No really, I love Jameer.
IF they can. Because Boston is in Dwight's head. No doubt about it.
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by ben_gleicher on May 17, 2010 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, I'd wait with 'mental' comments.
It’s wrong to make that statements after just 1 loss.
Let’s see wjat this night will bring to us, and how have we adjusted.
Stay classy.
No, it's a fair point.
Going into the game, it was widely believed that Boston had the “intangibles” advantage, having won a championship already and all. This is where the Magic need to show what they really got.
I love LeBron. No really, I love Jameer.
Lets try and help Dwight out
maybe if we distract Perk during the game his focus won’t be as strong on guarding Dwight. http://www.twitter.com/@O_Rena_Chants follow on Twitter and submit your ideas for what to chant during the game. Lets help our team out guys!
This is copying Simmons' Celtics chants idea
It will fail lol
"To my Hustlers, heres some motivation: He who has begun is half done, why you waiting?"-NaS
Certified Kristin Kreuk obsessive.
by Wasabi Steak on May 18, 2010 4:01 AM EDT up reply actions
Speaking of Simmons,
Did anybody listen to his latest podcast with JJ Redick? It was very interesting. JJ is a candid interviewee.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
The definition of stupidity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Dwight played stupid basketball for most of Sunday afternoon.
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Alas you are correct.
The real "Masters of Panic" are commenting on this blog.
by ben_gleicher on May 18, 2010 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions
True.
But I’ll stand in his D here, it’s hard to keep your head cool after all beating and switching bodies on you.
Yes, if you want to be the man you got to handle it, but still.
Stay classy.
Agreed
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by ben_gleicher on May 18, 2010 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I was saying this exact thing in the game thread!
It was obvious to me that the team had gotten too wrapped up in their own hype and thought they were going to steam roll the C’s. What they failed to reailise is that, as a team, Boston has PHENOMENAL SWAG and they truly believe they can beat anyone regardless of how poorly they may play or badly they may lose a game.
I still believe we are a better team and if we play SMARTER and make the appropriate adjustments, we’ll take this series. It all starts with game 2 though!
Sigh . . . Now I need new AVATAR!
Yea
They did come in with the wrong mind set. The way the magic have won is with movement and making the extra pass. The ball was stuck in carters hands way to much. Dwight need to not try to go through perkins he needs to go over. he needs to develop a counter that involves the fake in the mindle with a spin back base line for a bank shot. Easy enough to teach and learn and very effective. Me at 6’5-6 going against bigger guys that i could not move i had to learn it and works beautiful.
VC went to work on Sunday against the C's.
With the refs letting the players play, Vince took it back to the streets.
"I just Rashard'ed my pants!!!!"
by Wally Balls 407 on May 18, 2010 2:48 AM EDT up reply actions
True
But we’ve largely had that ball movement because there are open guys around the three point line because most teams have to double up on Dwight.
It’s impossible to overstate how important Dwight getting double teamed is to the smooth running of our offense. Just saying that there needs to be more ball movement is incredibly superficial because the ball movement comes off the spare man, and with the double team on Dwight, the spare man isn’t there.
That’s why Jameer and Vince started going iso – because they realised the standard, dump it to Dwight for the double team then kick it out and pass it around the arc offense wasn’t going to work.
There are other ways to create mis-matches which will lead to open guys and passing, such as the pick and roll, but just throwing the ball around isn’t the point.
by eltharion_doa on May 18, 2010 3:11 AM EDT up reply actions
yea
Because the magic were not moving the ball. Im not saying its his fault. I am saying that the magic are better when he takes between 10-12 shots and plays 30-35 minutes. The magic dont have one player that can win a game for them. It is a family of players that play off of each other. When the rhythm is no there the shots dont seem to go.
Vince can win a game by himself in the regular season
I don’t know about that in the playoffs vs. a championship contender.
Ask New Orleans about that
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by ben_gleicher on May 18, 2010 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Philadelphia*
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by ben_gleicher on May 18, 2010 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions
By the way
We lose because we don’t have Turkoglu.
Or so Jon Barry says: http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/columns/story?columnist=forsberg_chris&id=5193902
I mentioned this after the game
Its annoying that its brought up, because clearly they have been playing better ball without. However, he was somewhat of a Celtic killer because of Length and ball handling which made it easier to go one on one with Boston (a weakness they tend to have).
"To my Hustlers, heres some motivation: He who has begun is half done, why you waiting?"-NaS
Certified Kristin Kreuk obsessive.
by Wasabi Steak on May 18, 2010 4:03 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah he was a mismatch
And I agree that he would be a positive in this series, but to say we lost because of that while having 18 turnovers and 0 production from Howard and Lewis is a quite a bit overstated.
and Elvis shot JFK.
C’mon guys, JB just proves once more that most nba journalists and analysts are lazy jerks who repeate the same thing over and over again. Who cares how a team would do with a player that is not in its roster !!!! If you gonna talk about a game at least talk about the people that were on the court.
Time to get that finger bling-bling
Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.
He's just saying that because he's been saying it alllll year.
He needs validation, and he’s still probably pissed off that he kept on saying how the Magic were pretenders last year because they “lived and died by the 3”. Hedo had 3 good games out of 7 against Boston last year in the playoffs. We won 2 of them, lost 1. His worst game? 3-13 FG, 3 assists and 1 rebound in 37 minutes, and we won by 8. He’s freaking completely clueless.
I love LeBron. No really, I love Jameer.
For my part I don't really know if Dwight will be a big offensive factor in the series.
When he posts up, Perkins has the size and power to get him away from the basket or even do smart things like back out of him to throw him out of balance (sorry for my english donno the word for that). Sure Dwight would do better with PnRs but what I expect first is for him to take better care of the ball so it wont get striped and pass bettter. I sure hope we’ll get his offense going but Magic controlling more the pace and having a better ball mouvement is as important. If Lewis and MP had more shots falling Magic could have won even with this preformance by D12 (look at reg season). I’m not trying to put down Dwight’s importance for the team besides he’ll continue to be great in D and if he proves me wrong, things will be even better for the Magic.
Time to get that finger bling-bling
Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.
I believe its called "pull the chair" move.
Dwight should really use what he talked about before the series. Use his smarts and speed advantage. This is the series for Dwight to prove he has the “smarts” to adjust his game. He is just to prone to “go macho” and take himself out of the game.
High screens
Hard rolls.
Gortat showed the Celtic’s weakness is speed. If we try to beat them with Dwight’s strength, we’re screwed. Dwight needs to get his motor running and outmove them.
by eltharion_doa on May 18, 2010 5:10 AM EDT up reply actions
I'll answer that for you: No
I think we just need to accept that until he goes into the offseason and has a drive and gets with a coach who gives him real post moves (Hakeem?), he’s gonna struggle one on one in the paint against semi competent bigs.
The fact that Boston has 3 guys who have historically troubled him means if hes out there on his own hes a non-factor.
Personally I say we pair him up with Gortart in the front-court, have Vince on 3 penetrating and Redick and Nelson small in the backcourt to guard Rondo and Allen and be quick to get into the lanes and hit the outside shot.
I say Bass get some minutes to scrap and see how Barnes does but balance his minutes at the 3 with Carter and balance Redick with Pietrus.
Rashard and Ryan Anderson are only gonna shoot 3s which Boston will gladly let them take.
But that’s just me.
"To my Hustlers, heres some motivation: He who has begun is half done, why you waiting?"-NaS
Certified Kristin Kreuk obsessive.
I don't remember any up and under move in the post by Dwight in recent memory
Really, if Kobe (A FUCKING GUARD) got in with Hakeem to learn post moves, why is it hard for Dwight to do it?
I'm not sure Ewing is even that great of a big man coach.
Even in practice footage I see him mostly talking to him at the free throw line (granted its just random footage but still)
Didn’t Yao start developing his moves after he dumped Ewing for Hakeem down in Houston?
"To my Hustlers, heres some motivation: He who has begun is half done, why you waiting?"-NaS
Certified Kristin Kreuk obsessive.
by Wasabi Steak on May 18, 2010 4:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Hakeem just rulez
Heck, I’d go with Kevin McHale to learn moves if Hakeem wouldn’t be available (although I have no idea why he wouldn’t be available).
But I guess if you’re young, rich, and not that win-driven (you just say you are so people don’t judge you like back when Vince was sincere and said he didn’t give his 100% to Toronto) then you don’t really give a rat’s ass to stuff like this.
Wasting potential…
He did one up and under move against perkins on sunday...............i was shocked to see it
he missed though, or got fouled
Never trust a fart
by AB's triple double on May 18, 2010 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I hope Vince doesn't have to do this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFIPqJTpt8&feature=related
In the 2nd game of this series… really, like someone said : only 4 points and 4 rebounds away from a 50-20-10… I mean really…
That missed 3 and put back flush at 0:54 is something I would die to see nowadays from him.
And YES, I would PRAY Vince feels the need to have a game like this in tonights game. Maybe wake these guys up a little bit.
Offensive boards not exactly emphasized by SVG
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by ben_gleicher on May 18, 2010 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions
WIN. I was at that game.
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by ben_gleicher on May 18, 2010 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Haven't seen this mentioned on here yet
Sorry if it has but…
Magic just looked down right SLOW in Game 1. They all seemed to be moving (except for Carter) at a practice, or scrimmage like pace. Dwight somehow found a time machine and reverted his game back to the Detriot series that we were swept in under Brian Hill.
Now, Rashard will not go 0-fer from the 3 line again, and MP will be back too… but we also need a dose of Bass to get in there and bang with some guys. I think the twin tower set up has hurt us just as much as it has benefitted us. Why not let Bass get down there like 6-7 minutes tonight and cause some havoc?
Go Magic!
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