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I'm not sure how many people read this, but Tyler Sherkin wrote a breakdown of game one vs. the Raps.

This is absolutely the most praise I've heard all year from a writer, and it was all very tounge in cheek in the sense that he was critcizing the Raps more than praising the Magic.

Still did the heart good to hear phrases like "smothering defense", "dropped the Hammer", and "blazed away from downtown" in the same sentence as Magic! LOL

If you haven't read it check it out -
http://www.realgm.com/src_showtime/4/20080422/breaking_down_tor_orl_game_1/


Go Magic! Let's now finish this series in 2 on the road!

Daww, thanks...

Wow... didn't expect that!

Good article man (Especially from a Magic fan's perspective)!

Great analysis tsherkin!

I wondered where the hell you got your user name from for a while.

j-ragg wrote:Great analysis tsherkin!

I wondered where the hell you got your user name from for a while.

Heh, it's a cunning play on... yeah, I'm lying, it's just my first initial and my last name.



Thanks, guys. I try to be impartial. I like the Raptors and stuff but I like Stan and Dwight, too and I've kind of been watching and paying attention to Orlando on and off since they came into existence. It's nice to see them on the rebound and probably en route to their first second round appearance since the Shaq era. Actually, their first 2nd round appearance since they made the ECFs the year after they made the Finals... Hmm...

Well-deserved. Dwight's a total monster.

I think maybe the biggest surprise for me has been Lewis' defense and Hedo's random explosion. I guess not so random, really, he's neither rebounding nor scoring at a rate at which he has not previously posted, he's just finally getting the shots. I suppose the increase in passing comes from more touches, Dwight's presence and Shard's presence. He's also had a season where he had a like number of OWS before and he just had his second-best season in DWS. Interesting stuff; it's nice to see another team rising, the same old teams get boring after a while, especially if they're Detroit. I'm all for tight execution and stuff but I really want Rasheed Wallace to choke on his rear left molar and die sometimes, you know?

Anyway, thanks for the kind words guys, and good luck.

tsherkin wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


Thanks, guys. I try to be impartial. I like the Raptors and stuff but I like Stan and Dwight, too and I've kind of been watching and paying attention to Orlando on and off since they came into existence. It's nice to see them on the rebound and probably en route to their first second round appearance since the Shaq era. Actually, their first 2nd round appearance since they made the ECFs the year after they made the Finals... Hmm...

Well-deserved. Dwight's a total monster.

wow even more praise!

Interesting stuff; it's nice to see another team rising, the same old teams get boring after a while, especially if they're Detroit. I'm all for tight execution and stuff but I really want Rasheed Wallace to choke on his rear left molar and die sometimes, you know?

I almost spit water out my nose on that! (but ooh so true about Detroit). I'd also throw San Antonio to that and say that if I see Detroit and San An in the finals I'll throw up a little in my mouth and might turn to synchronized swimming!

sChOlaRlY_Magi wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I almost spit water out my nose on that! (but ooh so true about Detroit). I'd also throw San Antonio to that and say that if I see Detroit and San An in the finals I'll throw up a little in my mouth and might turn to synchronized swimming!

Nah, I love the Spurs. I'd love to see Shaq win a 5th ring but I really enjoy watching Tim Duncan play and Tony Parker and Manu are both growing on me whenever they go 15 seconds without flopping. The Spurs are an absolute pleasure to watch for me. Then again, I used to like Riley's Knicks, the Bad Boy Pistons and the Old Bulls grinding it out for their second three-peat. I like transition teams too but I love watching a system around a great big.

raps fan making fun of us because we have dwight, hedo, turk, and nelson making 41mill next year..but they have bosh, ford, nesterovic, kapono and bargnani making the same and 2 are mostly off the bench..

^ That's understandable and admirable, but at the same token there are so many great teams East and West that don't flop, don't have Bowen and are just plain more marketable. Besides I still feel they totally robbed the Suns last year by playing dirty, and that to me is not cool. It pretty much destroyed one of the most fun teams to watch in the game. I know Marion was on the outs there, but a ring might have shut him up, and during that time they WERE the team to beat after the Spurs IMO.

From a viewers perspective I'd rather see Lakers-Celtics, Suns-Pistons, or (My fav) Hornets - Magic(I know I may be dreaming)...

sChOlaRlY_Magi wrote:^ That's understandable and admirable, but at the same token there are so many great teams East and West that don't flop, don't have Bowen and are just plain more marketable. Besides I still feel they totally robbed the Suns last year by playing dirty, and that to me is not cool. It pretty much destroyed one of the most fun teams to watch in the game. I know Marion was on the outs there, but a ring might have shut him up, and during that time they WERE the team to beat after the Spurs IMO.

Mind that I don't really follow a team, I pretty much follow the league. I would be just fine if Boston won it or if LA won it or if Utah won it or it... You get the picture.

Last year, people make a big deal about the Suns series but really, I don't think Phoenix would have won whether they lost Amare for that game or not and I mean, dirty play isn't anything new. Did you like Jordan in the 90s? You think Cartwright or Pippen or Rodman played cleanly?

You think Ewing played a purely clean game, or Oakley, or Anthony Mason or Xavier McDaniel? Or Gary Payton? Hell, Magic and Bird were dirty tricksters themselves, Bird moreso but Magic wasn't above doing what he could when the ref wasn't looking. Most great teams are willing to do what they can get away with in order to win.

You two should really get a room.

Yeah. No Raptor/Magic love round these parts. Bad thangs be happenin.

Well, he did seem to give the Magic some credit as opposed to the normal Raptors fans. Doesn't matter anyway. Why do we need love from Raptors fans? Who cares? Barely anyone other than Raps fans thought they were going to win the series. They even lied and said Charles Barkley had the Raps in 6, and then before Game 1 Charles said Raptors have no chance.

Solid Snake wrote:Well, he did seem to give the Magic some credit as opposed to the normal Raptors fans. Doesn't matter anyway. Why do we need love from Raptors fans? Who cares? Barely anyone other than Raps fans thought they were going to win the series. They even lied and said Charles Barkley had the Raps in 6, and then before Game 1 Charles said Raptors have no chance.

The only person I saw who had the Raptors winning was Mark Stein. EVERYONE else has had Orlando winning. In case you're wondering, I was looking at the ESPN TOR/ORL series page and it has a list of what their guys think. Sheridan, Thorpe, Broussard, Adande, Ford, Hollinger, all of them but Stein had Orlando winning, most in 6 games. Henry Abbott (TrueHoop), Chad Ford, Chris Sheridan and David Thorpe had Orlando winning in 5. AccuScore has Orlando winning 52% of the time.

The only reason I can fathom for Stein's prediction is that Bosh averaged over 30 ppg against Orlando in the regular season and maybe they presumed that Bargs wouldn't start because they thought Mitchell wasn't crazy.

Anyway, it was pretty much clear consensus that Orlando had this series in 5 or 6 games.

tsherkin wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



The only person I saw who had the Raptors winning was Mark Stein. EVERYONE else has had Orlando winning. In case you're wondering, I was looking at the ESPN TOR/ORL series page and it has a list of what their guys think. Sheridan, Thorpe, Broussard, Adande, Ford, Hollinger, all of them but Stein had Orlando winning, most in 6 games. Henry Abbott (TrueHoop), Chad Ford, Chris Sheridan and David Thorpe had Orlando winning in 5. AccuScore has Orlando winning 52% of the time.

The only reason I can fathom for Stein's prediction is that Bosh averaged over 30 ppg against Orlando in the regular season and maybe they presumed that Bargs wouldn't start because they thought Mitchell wasn't crazy.

Anyway, it was pretty much clear consensus that Orlando had this series in 5 or 6 games.

I know, this is why I don't think we should worry about what the Raptors think of us. They were the only ones who thought they would win. And I don't blame them, you should believe in your team. I believed the Magic could upset the Pistons last season, although I gave up on them after game 1

Solid Snake wrote:
I know, this is why I don't think we should worry about what the Raptors think of us. They were the only ones who thought they would win. And I don't blame them, you should believe in your team. I believed the Magic could upset the Pistons last season, although I gave up on them after game 1

I think of more critical importance than what Raptors fans think is what Orlando is actually doing... *shudders* It'll be demoralizing if/when Dwight puts another monster game on us and does it on our home court.

tsherkin, you are probably the classiest with most common sense Raps fan I have seen in this forum.

What I have a problem is the Raps fans discounting the Magic. I was actually told yesterday that we have no one except Dwight. I mean are they truly that blinded to see we have won 52 games and have consistently made history time and time again this season.

When we played the Pistons last year, I knew full heartedly that we had no chance and a sweep was in order even though I loved my team.

AdamTheGreek wrote:You two should really get a room.

LOL


No, but I understand what your saying Tsherkin about Jordan... I thought that last push off on the Utah guard (Byron Russell?) was the ultimate summation of Jordans game. I know I may get flamed for this, but that was a foul... It was just so pretty the way he did it that nobody except the guy on the floor (and maybe his coach/team) cared. That's how Jordan rolled. I was at the '95 conference finals where Jordan had just came back (my first time seeing him live). He was talking so much sh*t that I was like, "Is this the same guy that kids all over the world idolized for years now". Then I heard him start yapping at Anderson (who was my favorite player on our team), and he said to Nick, and I quote " Watch this boy, I'll even tell you what I'm going to do because you can't stop me, BOY. I'm gonna fake right, spin left and dunk all over your @ss" And I started to think to myself, "what an arrogant son of a..." and that's as far as I got because by then Jordan had faked right, spun left, lost Nick and flew over 2 other defenders for a monstor one handed dunk!

At that point I said, "Well I guess he can say whatever the hell he wants"!


Needless to say Bowen doesn't have the charisma or skill set to be listed with Jordan, or any of the others you mentioned. He is a dirty player and the only way you can like him is if he is on your team and not hurting your players. I'll give him this. He is one of the slyest dirty players I've ever seen, especially for a wing player... Nonetheless, he's a total douche and between him, Horry and all the flopping from Ginobli and Parker I think it diminishes the game, that series between the Suns last year, and the legacy of Tim Duncan. Who IMHO is one of the greatest players this game has seen as well as a stand up guy.

Okay I'll get off my soapbox now