Hoopsworld: The Magic Will Beat The Pistons

[drsd]

Not to be an anti-homer, but the Magic simply lack the teamwork and starting five talent of the Pistons.

[theTHIEF]

well for a team like the Pistons, it's not really all about quality, but quantity, they are very deep with blue collar hard working SOB's, they play strong defense across the board...if we had more offense off the bench we would stand a much better chance, however we are the 3rd worst bench production team in the league (24ppg i believe) and therefor we will be relying on those starting 5 for the entire series, basically just like we did with Toronto. The reality is, if one of those guys has a bad night, it kills the whole team, because we rarely ever get solid double digit production out of anyone off our bench.

unless we have somehow mastered perimeter defense and man up defense in the last 3 days...

[Devin 1L]

Not a bad feel good read, some decent points. It is a Hoopsworld article so you can expect some homerism, inaccuracies and tons of grammatical errors. He says that the Magic got younger and then forgets that the Pistons actually got younger and Orlando got older, technically.

The Magic Will Beat The Pistons

the only real quote worthy snippet

They better be very serious when the series starts on Saturday. The Magic aren't happy just to be in the playoffs and win a round; they expect to win. So when the Pistons look in the eyes of their opponent they won't see fear, they'll see fire.

nice to get some love, as long as it's not a curse...

I think it's just worded funny.

I'm pretty sure he's just saying that the Pistons are facing a younger team. Not younger than they were last season, but younger than themselves (younger than the Pistons)

Then later he says the Magic are another year older and better.

Like I said, I think he just worded it funny.

well for a team like the Pistons, it's not really all about quality, but quantity, they are very deep with blue collar hard working SOB's, they play strong defense across the board...if we had more offense off the bench we would stand a much better chance, however we are the 3rd worst bench production team in the league (24ppg i believe) and therefor we will be relying on those starting 5 for the entire series, basically just like we did with Toronto. The reality is, if one of those guys has a bad night, it kills the whole team, because we rarely ever get solid double digit production out of anyone off our bench.

unless we have somehow mastered perimeter defense and man up defense in the last 3 days...

Yeah, this is what worries me about facing them.

Like in the other thread, this is why I expect to see more of Adonal this series. He is more in the mold of these players and can match-up better as opposed to trying to throw him in against someone like Bosh.

I think this will be the series, win or lose, that will leave Magic fan clamoring for another bruiser in the off-season.

[surflawyer]

btw..paypa is my new nickname for shard.

If by "paypa" you mean the green kind with little dead presidents on them .... then you nailed it!

I think Im going to call him "Benjamin" Lewis.

[spinedoc]

The Pistons can be beaten, if we can play to our strengths and exploit their weakness. Philly was doing well when they pushed the ball and ran on them. They can't set their defense and bring double teams if you can get into your offense early. Thats one key, the other big thing is to make them pay for their decisions. Meaning, when they do double down on Howard, we need to hit the outside shot, and when they play him man, Dwight needs to dominate. Although they have a deep frontcourt, no one can guard him one on one. They do have a bunch of fouls to give however, free throws will be a factor too. Detroit seems to lull too much, and we are better than Philly. I honestly think we can pull this off.

[ProfX]

We are better at the 5, they are better at the 1. 2,3,4 all pretty much shake out.

I think this series will come down to who can get the other team to play thier style of ball. I also think the first two game are critical to the mindset of both teams. Detroit is coming in now finding thier groove. We have to come out like we were shot out of a cannon and try to dominate both in speed and strength. I think if we can get the game in transition we have a shot of stealing one of the first two games. I think thats the best we can hope for.

[Bensational]

the pistons scare me like no other team. they just seem so business. they bring it selflessly nearly every night. and they don't need one or two guys to be hitting shots to win a game. their D can lock down an opposition so bad that they can't score enough despite the fact that Detroit's shots aren't falling.

i've just got hopes that Dwight shows off how much of a monster he is. Hedo shows off how versatile he is. and Shard just keeps raining 3's. that and some surprise play from the rest of the crew. but those three are the only real saving graces i can find.

[Rasheeed!!!]

Not to rag on the thread but that article is very poor. It doesn't even propose how Orlando will get the job done. I mean, I could write the same kind of optimistic article for the Pistons returning to the Finals.

Anyways, the thing that Miami & Cleveland did really well was stop Billups. I would credit this more so than what LBJ & Wade did. LBJ had only ONE phenomenal game, a very good game and a bunch of good/ok games. If Billups was his reg season self I would equate that to 2 Cavs wins, and the rest of the games in favour of Detroit. But, Billups was nowhere to be seen!

[Devin 1L]

Not to rag on the thread but that article is very poor. It doesn't even propose how Orlando will get the job done. I mean, I could write the same kind of optimistic article for the Pistons returning to the Finals.

Anyways, the thing that Miami & Cleveland did really well was stop Billups. I would credit this more so than what LBJ & Wade did. LBJ had only ONE phenomenal game, a very good game and a bunch of good/ok games. If Billups was his reg season self I would equate that to 2 Cavs wins, and the rest of the games in favour of Detroit. But, Billups was nowhere to be seen!

Honestly, I don't think you'll get much disagreement in these parts.

I think Thief pretty much summed it up in his initial post:

Not a bad feel good read, some decent points. It is a Hoopsworld article so you can expect some homerism, inaccuracies and tons of grammatical errors.

[knappy]

Meh, no need to wake them up.

No need to wake the Pistons up, they know Orlando is a good team and that they have their work cut out for them. They know this will be competitive.