So nice to see Rashard playing well......

[magicorlando]

It makes all the difference when he is knocking them down, dosent it?
:clap:

[aleZ]

Yeah, plus he can do some other stuff beyond spot up and shoot threes, and he's showing that against one of the better defenses in the L. So much for the guy (*cough* richboy *cough*) who said he's just Kapono part II.

[KoolMikeSkii]

YUP! Hes been looking like the number one scoring option we brought him here to be. While Turks 3 looks very off Rashards 3 looks better then it did in the regular season and thats what we want him stepping it up in the playoffs.

[mfishy]

Lewis has created the biggest mismatch in this series. If Wallace continues to guard him, he will continue to walk by him whenever he feels like it.

Of course, the Pistons have their fair share of advantages on offense as well, but Barkley was the only TV guy I heard point out how tough a match up Lewis is for the Pistons. If they go small at all, he posts up and has to get doubled or he scores. Wallace cannot defend Lewis. That is not a knock on Wallace - he is an EXCELLENT post defender, but he is not built to cover small forwards at all.

But yes, when Lewis shoots well, as he did the entire year, things are a lot easier for him and the Magic. When Hedo and Lewis are hot at the same time, the Magic are an elite team. When one is not shooting well we are good, when both are not we are barely average.

But why open this thread when you know it is going to be 2 guys spewing venom about Otis and Shard? Or perhaps they are too upset the Magic won to post....

[spinedoc]

Or perhaps they are too upset the Magic won to post....

Ha, I'm going with this one. Pretend fans suck.

[Typhoon20]

I think both Hedo and shard have been horrible, shooting the long ball.
Shard AND Hedo did shoot the ball great at game 3, Shard shot it way better like 6 for 7 on 3's if i'm not mistaken, Hedo 3 for 5.

So both Hedo and Shard have been shooting horrible in the playoffs compared to the regular season averages, especially on the long ball.

But I love Shards effort in the playoffs, that's the difference maker, that and the fact that he shot the ball great in game 3, cause his effort was there in game 2 but he shot 6 for 21 and 2 for 8 on 3's with 6 TO's....so we need him to shoot well, if he doesn't shoot well it's not going to help much.

But I also think it's the advantage Shard has, he's assigned to defend (he tries) the opposing 4's, bosh sheed etc. but on O he also has an exceptional advantage, he can slide around them take them off the dribble and go for the layup or take the open 3 when the pf doesn't come out. That makes life much easier for Shard. Had he been guarded by Prince, things would look worse.

[theTHIEF]

it does feel great to see him take over and play non-stop offense on all levels...i dont know about you guys but once he sliced through the box and got that rebound and put back shot, i said "game" he was just doing everything...it would be nice to see him play like that or close to that in every game, obviously this probably wont happen...still nice to see him just take over...

[mfishy]

but on O he also has an exceptional advantage, he can slide around them take them off the dribble and go for the layup or take the open 3 when the pf doesn't come out. That makes life much easier for Shard. Had he been guarded by Prince, things would look worse.

Prince is basically the exception - he is so long and a very good defender.

If you watched Shard play the 3 at all you would know he has a massive advantage offensively there too. He is a great post player and there are barely any SF's that can deal with him on the blocks. You will notice he gets doubled quicker than Dwight if he gets the ball with his back to the basket against 90% of the SF's in the league.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

People seem to forget that this guy dropped fitty in a game before. It's not like 'Shard doesn't have the skillset to go for 30 or 40. He does, but often times (or most of the time), he just played within the offense and didn't try to do too much.

He was beastin last night.

[Superman]

^^^ totally agree.
The 1st 2 quarters he was just unconscious and played like this was his team. 3rd qtr he started hesitating again and looking to get the ball in to Dwight but fortunately he started to just play again in the 4th.
I hope he'd just stop thinking too much and be as agressive offensively as the defense would allow him, often times he's the one limiting himself.
Hopefully yesterday's game has opened his eyes and made him realilize that he can and should take over games from time to time.

[whocares]

1. both toronto and detroit so far concentrated on dwight and hedo.
2. this third game might cause a shift in emphasis.
3. probably, they think that stopping hedo prevents the magic from getting wide open threes or dunks for dwight.
4. if rashard has another solid half in the next game, expect prince to switch on him, the rest of the game.
5. then, the onus will be on hedo as it will be his turn to take advantage of bigger yet slower defenders.

[maginno]

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Ha, I'm going with this one.

And so as always you consistently go with the losing logic (Nothing surprising there). Very much here and posting in the game thread as well. Picked the Magic to win in 6. Silly Rabbit tricks are for kids. Might hate the signing but that doesn't mean I would go with Detroit.

as for the premise - get real. We are well into the playoffs and Rashard has had two great games. theres no traction there yet but we'll see. Billups is banged up now so there is a great opportunity. IF Shard can become more consistent then an ECF is not out of the question. I would have rather taken out a totally healthy Detroit but injuries are a part of the game and I'll take it.

Got to love the schizophrenia on this board though. One game ago Rashard was chopped liver most complaining he was shooting bricks now he's the superstar. Well if you can have a part time lover I guess you can have a part time superstar. Got to get me one of those part time jobs - Ka-ching!

[Last Guardian]

One difference I could see was that he didn't start the game off shooting 3's. He got a couple fast break layups and mid-range jumpshots along with some free throws, then started firing the 3's. Perhaps by then the basket looked so big he couldn't miss.

[Optimus_Steel]

Lewis has created the biggest mismatch in this series. If Wallace continues to guard him, he will continue to walk by him whenever he feels like it.

Of course, the Pistons have their fair share of advantages on offense as well, but Barkley was the only TV guy I heard point out how tough a match up Lewis is for the Pistons. If they go small at all, he posts up and has to get doubled or he scores. Wallace cannot defend Lewis. That is not a knock on Wallace - he is an EXCELLENT post defender, but he is not built to cover small forwards at all.

But yes, when Lewis shoots well, as he did the entire year, things are a lot easier for him and the Magic. When Hedo and Lewis are hot at the same time, the Magic are an elite team. When one is not shooting well we are good, when both are not we are barely average.

But why open this thread when you know it is going to be 2 guys spewing venom about Otis and Shard? Or perhaps they are too upset the Magic won to post....

Barkely called it when the series started. He said they have no one that can guard Lewis and he was gonna go off.

And like bay areas finest said, Lewis has the ability to go off and put up huge numbers, but he has been a total team player through out the season.

[maginno]

it would be nice to see him play like that or close to that in every game, obviously this probably wont happen...still nice to see him just take over...

Thats the problem. I don't see why if he is this alleged superstar he can't take the advantage given him consistently not every third or fourth game. The speed disadvantage has been there even in the regular season and he rarely utilized going to the basket.

[eyriq]

If you look at guys who score in the upper 20's on a consistent basis it is usually due to a high volume of shot attempts. In the offense that Stan has established we just don't see guys getting that dominate a role. I have no doubt that if given 20-25 shots a game we would see a lot more 30+ games from Shard.

[mhectorgato]

Thats the problem. I don't see why if he is this alleged superstar he can't take the advantage given him consistently not every third or fourth game. The speed disadvantage has been there even in the regular season and he rarely utilized going to the basket.

Because of the design and the way our offense runs. No one player gets a vast majority of the shots.

We're like a Gatling gun. Dwight usually gets the ball early in the game and then is largely ignored by the ball handlers. Hedo runs the offense in the 4th and when he's running 2nd team. Jameer comes out firing a lot of times, and then plays off ball plays in the 4th.

Rashard gets what is left over usually, as he plays within the flow of the offense.

[theTHIEF]

not to mention Rashard going off for 33 vs the #1 defensive team in the league, IN THE PLAYOFFS game in game out might be a stretch...

[maginno]

Rashard gets what is left over usually, as he plays within the flow of the offense.

Really? Do tell. Game 2 22 shots and 6 makes was just what was left over in the flow of the offense eh? Through three games he has had more shots than anyone else. hardly just what is left over. Its really simple if you want to trump his good games then fine but you are going to have to balance that off with his bad games without making all kinds of excuses.

Granted he isn't likely to get that kind of percentage again but he has to take the ball to the hole more than he has the regular season.

[Hairy Midget]

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Really? Do tell. Game 2 22 shots and 6 makes was just what was left over in the flow of the offense eh? Through three games he has had more shots than anyone else. hardly just what is left over. Its really simple if you want to trump his good games then fine but you are going to have to balance that off with his bad games without making all kinds of excuses.

Granted he isn't likely to get that kind of percentage again but he has to take the ball to the hole more than he has the regular season.

Richboy part douche