Orlando beginning to slide

[Test of Wills]

They've lost 4 out of their last 5 and there was reason Chuck wasn't sold on this team when he said this during the road trip. I was never sold on this team becuase they always have that late season slide BUT they are much improved from last season and will probably secure that 3rd to 5th seed. I think this is the chance for the Raps to have that mid season surge 7 of the next 9 games are very winnable games with teams like Philly, Sacremento, Portland and Atlanta. If they have some great games before the all star break I think the Raps can secure that 3rd seed.

Orlando's next 10 games:
@ Utah
vs. Chicago
@ Charlotte
vs. Portland
vs. Detroit
@ Memphis
@ Detroit
vs. Boston
vs. Miami
@ Philadelphia

Toronto's next 10 games:
vs. Portland
@ Detroit
vs. Sacremento
vs. Atlanta
@ Philadelphia
@ Boston
vs. Milwaukee
@ Washington
vs. Washington
vs. LA Lakers

Some winnable games for both teams but it's going to about who could win on the road.

[yt_boi]

same thing happened last year. Maybe dwight doesn't have it in his tank to go a whole season. He's still a beast.

[saham]

Orlando's next 10 games:
@ Utah L
vs. Chicago W
@ Charlotte L (Okafor and Wallace shuts down Howard)
vs. Portland W
vs. Detroit L
@ Memphis W
@ Detroit L
vs. Boston L
vs. Miami W
@ Philadelphia W

Orlando will be 5-5

Toronto's next 10 games:
vs. Portland W
@ Detroit L
vs. Sacremento W
vs. Atlanta W
@ Philadelphia W
@ Boston L
vs. Milwaukee W
@ Washington L
vs. Washington W
vs. LA Lakers L

I say we go 6-4

Not much of a difference here, they would still be ahead of us in the east after 10 games.

[ToffKobe]

Orlando's next 10 games:
@ Utah L
vs. Chicago W
@ Charlotte L (Okafor and Wallace shuts down Howard)
vs. Portland W
vs. Detroit L
@ Memphis W
@ Detroit L
vs. Boston L
vs. Miami W
@ Philadelphia W

Orlando will be 5-5

Toronto's next 10 games:
vs. Portland W
@ Detroit L
vs. Sacremento W
vs. Atlanta W
@ Philadelphia W
@ Boston L
vs. Milwaukee W
@ Washington L
vs. Washington W
vs. LA Lakers L

I say we go 6-4

Not much of a difference here, they would still be ahead of us in the east after 10 games.

You're missing the point. Orlando looked like they would be a 2 seed and then Detroit started making a distance between the rest of the pack. Orlando however still looked to be a sure 3 seed by the end of the season. Now they only have a few more wins than us, hence they're starting to slip.

[Hairy Midget]

@ Charlotte L (Okafor and Wallace shuts down Howard)

BWAHAHAHAHA

[raptorscam]

obviously barring injuries the East is a two horse race with Boston and Detroit so the rankings of the rest of the conference don't seem that important.

I like the Magic but I'm not crazy about their point guards and (Shaq's success notwithstanding) I really have concerns about a team whose top scorer is such a dismal free throw shooter. Its also part of the reason why I don't think that, in terms of helping their teams win, the gap between Howard and Bosh is quite as big as people make it out to be (Howard does enough other things extremely well to be the better of the two, but those brick free throws....)

[Pchu]

Orlando actually has a cake walk schedule after Jan. Lots of home games against easy teams. They have done all the travelling and should be able to win 50 games.

[Calderoni_8]

Orlando actually has a cake walk schedule after Jan. Lots of home games against easy teams. They have done all the travelling and should be able to win 50 games.

Agreed

[alysomji]

I think they're just in a slump. They've revamped their team and so one can expect slumps like these.

SVG won't let them fall. The Magic will finish the season strong.

[Trilogy]

I think everyone is underestimating Orlando. Everywhere you go, you hear people talk about this inevitable slide. I doubt it is going to happen.

They played over their heads at the beginning of the year and have now come back down, but they are still a good team.

We can catch up to them, but we need to start taking care of business.

[SpaceJam]

Orlando's next 10 games:
@ Utah L
vs. Chicago W
@ Charlotte W
vs. Portland W
vs. Detroit L
@ Memphis L
@ Detroit L
vs. Boston L
vs. Miami W
@ Philadelphia W

Orlando goes 5-5 for 28-20

Toronto's next 10 games:
vs. Portland W
@ Detroit L
vs. Sacremento W
vs. Atlanta W
@ Philadelphia W
@ Boston L
vs. Milwaukee W
@ Washington L
vs. Washington W
vs. LA Lakers L

Raps go 6-4 for 25-21

[pk00]

even if orlando does fall as you say, there's still cleveland to worry about. they're not going to be .514 forever..

[Jamz18]

This is how the seeding are gonna be in March
1.Pistons (Yaya!)
2.Celtics
3. Raptors (Yaya!!)
4. Washington
5.Orlando

[Schad]

Orlando actually has a cake walk schedule after Jan. Lots of home games against easy teams. They have done all the travelling and should be able to win 50 games.

The same is true for Toronto; it will come down to whichever team discovers a modicum of consistency over the final half of the season. Orlando certainly has the edge, but the Raptors are not out of the race for the third seed.

[ImissBobCostas]

I like how some teams don't have the personnel to guard Bosh.

I think Orlando is one of those teams.

Of course, no team has anyone to guard an interested Howard.

[REM]

Dwight is right now 15-21 vs the Jazz. Game still on.

Very good outlook for the Magic if he can even just get over 65% consistently. I was watching the Nets game vs the Magic a few weeks ago and there was a stat where the Magic are like 3-10 or something like that when Dwight shoots below 50%.

[Kosta]

Even after their torrid start, we're right there with them now and we haven't even begun to make our run yet. They have 16 in the loss column, we have 17, hopefully we'll get a home win tomorrow, go to 20-17, come within 2 games of them.

I had doubts when Orlando started off so hot, but I do believe now we're the better team, and will turn it up when it counts. But I don't see the Magic falling off as far a last season, I expect them to finish around 5-6 in the East.

One team that has bewildered me is the Wizards, I don't know how they're doing this without Arenas. I'm not sure they can keep it up, but I was really wrong about them either way.

I expect the East to shape up something like:

Boston
Detroit
Toronto
Washington
Cleveland
Orlando
New Jersey
Atlanta

If Chicago ever gets it together, they should be able to get in. But they haven't shown any signs.

[Kosta]

-= original quote snipped =-



The same is true for Toronto; it will come down to whichever team discovers a modicum of consistency over the final half of the season. Orlando certainly has the edge, but the Raptors are not out of the race for the third seed.

A win tomorrow and it's only a 2 game edge. I actually think we close the gap within the next 8 games or so. Orlando is struggling right now, they have Chicago, @ Charlotte, @ Memphis (Loss to Mem at home earlier), Miami. The other 4 games, Detroit x2, Boston and Portland. I see them losing 4-5 of 8 during this span bring them down to either 27-20 or 26-21.

Once we make our run, Orlando will be looking in the rear view mirror the rest of the way.

Just hope Colangelo can pull off a move to bolster the team and ignite that run.

[Joker]

if the magic slide again and end up winning 40-45 games, maybe it'll put some of the "Dwight is the next Shaq" talk on hold.

[ansoncarter]

if the magic slide again and end up winning 40-45 games, maybe it'll put some of the "Dwight is the next Shaq" talk on hold.

never understood that comparisson.

not just because dwight is nowhere near as good, he isn't built like shaq

is it because they both started in Orlando? I don't get it.