TrueMagicFan07

I'm sorry AddiFB. But I have to leave my home on emergency. Go ahead and delete it . . . NO problem.

MAGIC TEAM REPORT Yahoo! Sports - 7 hours, 34 minutes ago In case there still were any question, the Magic learned a very important lesson on the recent road trip: Brandon Bass will help the team win games this season. Bass may have been forgotten -- and underappreciated -- last season after signing as a free agent, but things are changing rapidly through the first six weeks of his second season. Bass played in just 50 games and averaged only 5.8 points last season, when he had trouble getting off the bench. But in the last three games, victories over Chicago and Detroit and a loss at Milwaukee, Bass has scored 17, 27 and 12 points. "Brandon has shown some tremendous improvement in a lot of areas," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "He's earned his playing time." In the last two games, the Magic needed him more because of the absence of Dwight Howard, who was out with the flu. But even with Howard coming back Monday when Atlanta plays at Orlando, Bass still will figure prominently in reserve. "It's just a matter of getting opportunities," Bass said. The Magic (15-5) are hoping that the emergence of Bass will change things at playoff times, giving them more help for Howard around the basket. Bass has been able to hit mid-range jumpers at one end, then defend post players on the other. BUCKS 96, MAGIC 85: With Dwight Howard resting back in Orlando due to the flu, Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut exploded for one of the best games of his career, getting 31 points and 18 rebounds, mostly against backup Marcin Gortat. The Bucks also got 27 points from Brandon Jennings. The Magic got 20 points from Vince Carter, but they looked tired while playing their fourth game in five nights. Playing against the Bucks on Saturday night was like playing the Magic of old. Four Milwaukee players—Corey Maggette, Keyon Dooling, Drew Gooden and Early Boykins—formerly played with the Magic. Bucks coach Scott Skiles remains one of the popular Magic players ever. His assistant coach, Joe Wolf, also played for the Magic. The flu bug really hit the Magic on this road trip, with Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick missing the past two games. Orlando also was without Ryan Anderson on Saturday after he sprained his right foot Friday night.

AddiFB, I posted in the Game Thread Signup Thread that I am prepared to fill in.

Ryan The Magic Fan signed up to do the game thread for tonight's game against the Hawks. If Ryan can't do it, I have prepared one to fill in.

As I said in a post yesterday . . ."Not to worry, the Magic would rain 3's tonight and get the win." They may have come late (in the 4th quarter), but boy did it rain.

Not to worry. The Detroit Pistons will get "pissed_on" in our house. ________________________________________________________________________ Just like the song title "It's Raining Men" . . .It WILL be RAINING 3'S in the Amway Center tomorrow night. ____________________________________________________________________________

I did not sign up for this game thread LeBrick. . .just filling in. Please check the Game Thread Sign Up sheet for the name of the volunteer who is missing in action.

MAGIC TEAM REPORT Yahoo Sports - 11 Hours, 38 Mins. Ago This next one will count for more than just one win -- or one loss -- for the Orlando Magic. Although they still remain atop the Southeast Division, the Magic (9-4) will be putting considerably more emphasis than usual on Wednesday's matchup with the Miami Heat (8-6). The Magic, who have championship aspirations, were embarrassed by the Heat early this season in Miami, falling 96-70, which put a damper on many of their wins that followed. The Magic are hoping for some serious revenge Wednesday, which could legitimize their quest to be viewed as equal to or better than Miami. Another loss to the Heat, and it won't matter what they do against everyone else because no one will believe they can win in the playoffs. "They (Heat) are the best defensive team we've faced," said coach Stan Van Gundy Monday night after losing in San Antonio. "It will be another good test for us. We need to play well to play with them." The Magic weren't bad defensively against the Heat, but they were smothered by the Heat's defense, which allowed them to shoot just 30 percent from the field in the first meeting. The Magic should play Miami considerably better because both Rashard Lewis and J.J. Redick look like they've broken out of their early-season slumps. And Dwight Howard has rarely been better offensively than he is now.

And what did the Thunder do to give themselves a chance to win (in addition to making shots . . .except in the 4th quarter when they went cold), they ran the Celtics ragged (uptempo). In the 4th quarter, did anyone see Garnett on the bench during a timeout breathing heavily? He had run out of gas and looked as though he was going to pass out. The Magic are not going to beat the Celtics playing a slowed down, half court style of play, which is what the Celtics do best.

Click on the following link : http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/wwsBn1sTsrJ932MMY6RB _________________________ ************************************************* ___________________(Option): To View Movie in Full Screen Mode

NEW JERSEY NETS STARTERS SG Anthony Morrow - Center Brook Lopez - PG Devin Harris - PF Chris Humphries SF Travis Outlaw (Picture of Nets Starters) Nets Bench: Guard Jordan Farmar Forward Derrick Favors Forward Quinton Ross Center Johan Petro Forward Joe Smith MAGIC STARTERS SG Vince Carter - Center Dwight Howard - PG Jameer Nelson - PF Rashard Lewis SF Quentin Richardson (Picture of Magic Starters) Magic Bench: Guard J.J. Redick Guard Chris Duhon Forward Brandon Bass Forward Mickael Pietrus Center Marcin Gortat Guard Jason Williams Magic Team Report Yahoo! Sports - 14 hours, 18 minutes ago A team that once thought they could rely on their defense to contend for an NBA title suddenly doesn't have a clue how to play NBA defense. The Magic look clueless defensively. The Magic (5-3) go to New Jersey Saturday night, riding a two-game losing streak that can be traced directly to their inability to defend. They lost at home to Utah, 104-94, then lost at home to Toronto, 110-106, Friday night. Opponents shot 50 percent in each of the two losses. In the previous two games, both victories, the Magic allowed Charlotte to shoot 48 percent and Atlanta to shoot 47 percent. This is from a team that held opponents last season to 43.8 percent shooting. "I thought the one thing we could count on when we came out of training camp was our defense. Now it looks like we can't guard anyone," said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. "It's disturbing." The Raptors came into Orlando having won just one of their first eight games, but they out-hustled and out-defended the Magic on their home court. The Raptors scored 59 points in the first half. "I thought after we lost to Utah, we'd come out better (Friday)," concurred Magic center Dwight Howard. "But we just have to play harder." RAPTORS 110, MAGIC 106: Andrea Bargnani scored a game-high 27 points -- including 21 in the first half -- to lead the Raptors to a surprising upset. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 25 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots, but he hurt his team by making only seven of 17 free throws. The Magic struggled defensively again, allowing the Raptors to shoot 50 percent from the field. Jameer Nelson had 23 points and eight assists.

I thought we needed a separate thread to discuss tonight's game against the Nets. Mods, if this is inappropriate, please close this thread.

But Echo, we have a lot of games to be played. Can't we mix it up a little. With the long season there is enough time for the Magic to practice half court play and throw in a few uptempo games. It seems that because the Magic uses a system of "spreading the floor", more and more teams are playing what appears to me as zone defense against the Magic. So when the 3's are not falling, there is nothing else to go to. Jameer and sometimes Vince are able to cut to the basket for layups, but they do not play an entire 42 mins. in a game. The Magic needs to find ways for other players to get involved and to be able to score other than 3 pointers. Btw, I've seen a few of the Celtics games, and although they are known for their half court play, some of their games have been uptempo.

The part about the Magic should run fast breaks almost every time . . .well, I posted in the game thread last night that the point guards slowed the game down by walking the ball up the court, allowing the opposing team to position themselves on defense. What I was alluding to was that the Magic should run a lot of fast breaks. They were successful with that last season. Buttermilk Pancakes said that playing half court is the key to the Magic's system of play. In my opinion, running fast breaks allow for better chances of scoring by layups, ally oops to Dwight, and it lessens or holds the double teaming of Dwight at a minimum. Also, Dwight can outrun most, if not all, centers in the league.

And why are the point guards walking the ball up the court, allowing the other team time to set up on defense? Why are they playing half court. Everyone knows the Magic routine. They need to push the ball up court as often as possible. Also, in crunch time, there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency (again, walking the ball up the court).

The thing that troubles me is. . . why does the Magic double or triple team (sometimes 4 on 1), leaving a player from the opposite team open for a wide open shot? Then the Magic men look lost and starts scrambling to get to the open man.

The Magic better be glad that Utah is getting tired because Orlando is getting sloppy.

That was just beautiful basketball because Dwight was down too low to get to the ball. So Bass came up from behind and said "I got it!

I agree with you 100% Captain Slammit. Like it or not, I have in the past pm'd mods and complained about this small group who are pretty much running this message board. It is a clique consisting of people who are bullying those who do not agree with them or you don't represent them and their mentality. I designed game thread starters for about 2 seasons and many times I was openly criticized for my game threads by members of this group. A group that called themselves the "Rally Caps". They called me a game thread hog when in reality, I jumped in to cover for people who had signed up to do the game threads and either a no show 3 hrs before the start of a game or the person announced that they couldn't do it. I designed logos and screensavers long before Addifb started designing and posting signatures. Two members of this board made fun of my Dwight Howard Superman Screensaver and my "Scuff" dragon wearing a pinstriped black Magic jersey. It's interesting that I accidentally ran across the 2 images I designed in 2 web sites not owned by the Magic. My creations were displayed along with other images being offered for free download. There was the time when a Magic message board member started a thread where he posted some artwork he designed using an image of Dwight Howard. He invited other members of this board to post their artwork in his thread. I took him up on his invite and was yelled at by the same message board member who made fun of my Dwight Superman Screensaver. This person told me that I had no right to post my artwork in the above mentioned thread. There was another time when I used the Magic's alternate logo (the swoosh/with the trailing flame) and made it look humanlike. Jareth yelled at me and told me to "GET RID OF THAT BIG BLUE THING!" Yet, Jareth continues to post large pictures to poke fun at other contributors comments. Twice, after posting comments on this board, Jareth sarcastically responded by posting his reply (to my post) in large pink colored fonts. Of course, we know what the pink represents. I have posted basketball related comments, and seriously, these comments were no big deal. Yet someone keeps giving me a negative reputation. Yes, there is cyber bullying going on on this message board, and it needs to stop! I'M DONE.

Link: http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/69847/20101030/heat_may_try_to_trade_for_point_guard/

You nailed it Barnettej. And to think that balljunkie said pretty much the same thing the other day in another thread, but some of these posters jumped all over him. Barnettej, I agree with you now, and I agreed with balljunkie then. I warned everybody after the Magic blew out the Wizards that the Miami game was not going to be that easy. I saw how Miami's team started to gel in their game against the 76er's. I could see a little bit of a swagger. In my post the other day, I stopped short of predicting a loss against Miami. But in the back of my mind I felt strongly it was going to happen. As Barnette, junkie and a few others have said. . .this team, as it is constructed, the end results will be the same as last season. . .maybe even taking a small step backward. Some of the posters who disagree with these assessments of our team are in denial. Btw, the backup point guard position is going to be a problem for the Magic the remainder of the season. Duhon is not the answer (and neither is jwill).

Boys and girls, it's not going to be this easy tomorrow night. I know it was the 76ers that Miami beat last night. But they have some good shooters other than Wade and James, like that Jones guy who was on fire behind the 3 pt. line. So now that they have a win under their belts they seem to gain a little confiidence. Miami is going to throw everything at the Magic except the kitchen sink. LeBron wants this game real bad.

Duhon reminds me of Keyon Dooling. He dribbles too much.

Michael Jordon and Spike Lee [1991] Nike "It's The Shoes" commercial.