Game #22: Magic @ Portland 10:30 p.m.

[SmiteaDwight]

You do know that Roy has no tissue in his knees and will never be the same player again though, right?

Yeah I know, no cartilage.

sad. He was such an intriguing player, cant think of many more like him in the league now, turner seemed like it at first but he's a got a ways to go before he can get to the level roy was at.

[MickaelPietrus]

It's crazy how bad we have been playing the past 3 games YET WE'RE STILL 2nd in the East.

Officially Jinxed.

We're going to be 4th after the road trip.

I'm down with that, means we can have a tough 1st round series against the 5th seed (most likely Bulls, which would be a good series) and play against Boston in the 2nd round. We didn't have enough adversity last year, so going through the Bulls and Celts would be godly tough

We won't face the Bulls if we are the 4th seed, they'll win their division and they'll be a top 4 garantee.


I'd like the team to make a push at the 8th seed. That way we can face the C's in the first round and we'll surprise them and then it'll be against Chicago in the 2nd round.

Boston,Chicago,Miami

Imagine that.


And obviously we beat the west champs, the T-Wolves.

[mattyBoi]

A win against Utah will make everything go away.

[magicman123]

Vince can't get his own shot?

I must be missing something, Chuck.

he cant, how many times does he get blocked or cut off trying to drive..he has one move and thats driving right..what are you missing?

I thought Carter had no problem creating space for jumpshots.

Now, OTOH, if he would've said he was allergic to the paint...

A. he catches the ball and jacks a shot, no creating his own shot
B. he runs around a pick from dwight and jacks a shot, not really creating anything
C. clear him out with the ball, he will drive right 98% of the time and look foolish trying to do so..
D. its been 2 years and hes not the creator we need

[SmiteaDwight]

We won't face the Bulls if we are the 4th seed, they'll win their division and they'll be a top 4 garantee.


I'd like the team to make a push at the 8th seed. That way we can face the C's in the first round and we'll surprise them and then it'll be against Chicago in the 2nd round.

Boston,Chicago,Miami

Imagine that.


And obviously we beat the west champs, the T-Wolves.

uhhhh

what

[SolidSnake008]

A win against Utah will make everything go away.

not it won't our Basic,Predictable offense will still be there.....Stan needs to go back to the Drawing board or something cause our offense is inept

[FFBlitzace]

Now we don't even get to hear Stan since he's taking so long. I'd like to be in the locker room right now.

[magicman123]

A win against Utah will make everything go away.

no it wont, it will make everyone feel better for the couple of days, but the problems will not go away

[GaNGsTaRr93]

A win against Utah will make everything go away.

No it wont

[gino_giode]

A win against Utah will make everything go away.

not it won't our Basic,Predictable offense will still be there.....Stan needs to go back to the Drawing board or something cause our offense is inept

The only way we win is through insane shooting. Otherwise there's no way a Jerry Sloan team with DWill handling the ball is going to lose at home to US of all teams.

It was the Jazz that broke our swag last season when they seemingly invented the hard close out strategy on our 3pt shooters. And knowing Stan, we'll get a lead and just give it all back with an all bench lineup

[EH15]

So when does the team start tuning out Stan and Otis steps in to coach?

[SolidSnake008]

What i don't understand is Stan was present when Boston handed our asses to us in the playoffs using the same strategy Portland used tonight and that was LAST SEASON!!!! i'm kinda shocked that nothing has changed since then....no backdoor cuts....no V-cuts...barely any screens not involving Dwight...no effective double screens....no Midrange game....and especially no slashers....just a bad offense that only looks good when we are hitting 3's

[warren4prez1]

What i don't understand is Stan was present when Boston handed our asses to us in the playoffs using the same strategy Portland used tonight and that was LAST SEASON!!!! i'm kinda shocked that nothing has changed since then....no backdoor cuts....no V-cuts...barely any screens not involving Dwight...no effective double screens....no Midrange game....and especially no slashers....just a bad offense that only looks good when we are hitting 3's

You hit the nail right on the head. Dwight is in the paint someone cut to the basket (seems as tho JJ is only one who does this) everyone else stands be 3pt line. I'm sure Utah will use the same game play let dwight beat us shut down everyone else. Also I really thought this was a good opportunity for them to use Gortat and Howard we needed rebounds, blazers have a solid bigs we only have 1 big dwight, bass was not the answer tonight. I like the last line up on the floor with VC at pg but it was way too late for that by then.

[MickaelPietrus]

So when does the team start tuning out Stan and Otis steps in to coach?

Great Idea.

Im sure Otis would do what's best.

Go with a 9 man lineup of

Nelson/Williams
Carter/JJ
QRich/Lewis
Lewis/Bass
Howard/Allen

9 man lineup = not once will we see an all-bench lineup, which is always the recipe to blow a lead.


Stan would just coach the Raptors with their 3 point shooters.

[J the Drafter]

I like our scoring best when Vince or Jameer are driving off screens. The Magic just look so fluid when we have that, but it doesn't seem to happen often enough. Also, I'd be happy if Rashard made it his focus to set screens. He can rotate to the corner if he frees the ball-handler and gets open shots that way.

[richboy]

I don't understand why Rashard still starts. If he made 7 million a year I don't think any question he be benched by now. We are getting nothing out of our starting forwards this year. Its time for SVG to pull the plug. IMO our best lineup is Jameer- JJ- Vince-Bass-Howard. Let Rashard come off the bench for Bass.

Why is Duhon getting so much play. He is the worst rotation player I've seen in the NBA this year. SVG comes out and says were playing too slow because we aren't playing Jwill. Then start playing Jwill . Chris Duhon PER is 5. Yet he is getting 20 minutes a game. No player in the league who has played as many minutes as Duhon is as unproductive.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... r_by_asc=Y

What is also sad is Rashard Lewis is the most unproductive forward in the league compared to players playing as many minutes.

Pietrus is garbage. His defense is garbage. He does nothing on offense. The only thing he does is chuck up 3s. He provides almost no other stats. Has anyone realized that Pietrus has went to the free throw line 4 times this season. I REPEAT. MICKAEL PIETRUS has went to the free throw line 4 times this entire year. Add the fact he gets no assist. He gets very little rebounds. Once again one of the most unproductive rotation players in all the NBA.

Now I wish Mickael lack of free throws was an exception on this team. The reality though if you took away Dwight no one on this team gets to the line very often. Which is really sad because we spend as much time in the bonus as any team in the NBA because of all the fouls Dwight takes. It really showcases a problem with this lineup. If you can defend Dwight straight up the rest of the group can't go one on one. They can't create for themselves. They can't take advantage of the fact that they are always in the bonus.

I'm a SVG fan but he has to change some things. Why is he playing unproductive players heavy minutes. This offense is horrible because Duhon, Rashard, Pietrus, and Qrich are some of the least productive rotation players in the league. Yet they play a solid number of minutes.

You have to blame Otis because he brought in this group. Stan has to work with what he has. Time for him to make some changes. Same with Otis. I'm not even thinking of trading for a star player right now. Otis needs to make some moves for some upgrades in the rotation. Pietrus, Duhon, Qrich, and Rashard just are not going to get it done.

[G-Heel]

We does have a bunch of scrubs on this team. Wonder if this team, minus Dwight, will be any better than the Cavs.

[tigerman]

Sad but true

Vince Carter vs. Brandon Roy: A healthy guy who likes to pretend he's injured against an injured guy pretending to be healthy. -John Hollinger

[Magicalltheway]

i saw the last play that Boston drew out of the timeout and it made me wonder Stan could never be that smart or be willing to draw a play like that. Doc recognized that every body on the 76ers switched and he made the easiest play ever.

we look nothing different than last year. we are still very predictable. Blazers did to us what the Cs did last year. no body else besides Dwight and Jameer is capable of getting it going. Would any team please take Shard and vince off our hands.

[magicfan4life05]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/o ... 8572.story

"They threw everything they had at us, and we folded," center Dwight Howard said later, after the locker room opened.

"We shouldn't fold. Nothing should break us and it did. Until everybody steps up on the team and mans up, then teams are going to throw their best punch at us and we're going to fold."