Fultz4thewin 2,464 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 quote: Originally posted by ball junkie:I agree...Keith is 6'5...Joe Johnson is 6'8...it certainly would have been good to at least try Pietrus on him after he got hot. But...anybody that can explain to me why J.J. Redick got all those minutes and please point out just one good thing he did besides hitting two free throws I'm all ears... If he can't make shots he is absolutely worthless...as I've been saying the whole pre-season...he looks no different in his ability this year than last. yeah its pretty bad when our instant offense goies 0-4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skywise316 211 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 Stock Up: Mickael Pietrus. (Wow. I'm not sure if I ever saw him play this well in Golden State, even when he started at the 4 for them in their small lineup. 20 points on 7 of 16 shooting which is awesome shooting for him, 3 boards, an assist, and a block. Good defense throughout... defense that was so solid that it leads to a Stock Down for someone else. Read on.) Dwight Howard. (22 points. 15 boards. 5 blocks. 5 steals. WOW. Again his good game comes with a "But.." though. 6 of 13 from the line and 4 turnovers. But he did all this against some pretty p**s poor officiating and tough play (hacking) inside. I'm not worried about Dwight. Well, other than the free throw shooting.) Rashard Lewis. (The negative was he fouled out far too early, but a couple of those fouls were phantom calls to say the least so I won't hold it against him too much. He only had 11 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, and a block. But he kept sparking runs in the first 3 quarters and at times single-handedly kept the Magic connected and within striking distance of the Hawks. This Stock Up is for aggression and taking over the game on both ends, now we just need more of it.) Stock Down: Hedo Turkoglu. (Instead of "Where's Waldo," it should be "Where's Hedo?" I mean seriously? 5 of 17 shooting, just refused to take control of the game until the Magic made their last run in the 4th quarter. He was the unquestioned leader in lack of energy tonight. Let the Turkaflu murmurs commence after a non-performance like this. Blech.) Jameer Nelson. (Okay, I'll give him credit for at least caring in the second half and sticking his nose in there with some aggressiveness! That's more than I can say for Turk. But he shot 4 of 12, and much worse than that... 2 assists. 3 turnovers. Now, the lack of assists were also due to him throwing good passes and the resulting shots were missed, but still. Just totally ineffective AGAIN against ATL.. 3 games in a row of that, 2 in the preseason. Problem is, Anthony Johnson didn't pick him up tonight like the other nights.) 3 Point Shooting. (4 of 25 isn't gonna get it done. The 5 3 pointers-a-game streak is done, by the way.) The Bench. (All of them. From Redick, to A.J., to Bogans, to Battie, to Gortat. Gortat had a few nice defensive moments, and A.J. had a few good offensive moments... other than that they flat out sucked. The winner of the SG battle tonight was... C-Lee, by not playing at all. Redick's shot was off and Bogans couldn't stop Joe Johnson to save his life.) Stan Van Gundy. (When this many players come out this flat, while the other team outworks them by this much, it has to fall on the coach to at least some degree. And to get more specific... 4th quarter. Bogans is defending Joe Johnson. Pietrus is defending Mo Evans. That's just plain boneheaded. In the words of Marc Jackson, you're betta than that.) I would give a SD for turnovers, except at least we forced some on the Hawks, so it kind of evened out in that regard. Another one into the vault that is the curse of ATL. They're just our kryptonite, bottom line. Of course, just to make things worse, the Rays bullpen go down in flames to the Phillies to lose the World Series. Brilliant. I'm a pretty happy Dwight Howard/Joe Johnson/Josh Smith fantasy owner but its not a good night to be a Floridian sports fan. Except if you hate any Florida teams, in which case it might be good! I'm referring to the Knicks spanking the Miami Heat, that'll bring a smile to your face every time. Well that's it, hopefully the Magic players not named Dwight, Mickael, or Rashard decide to come play Friday night against Memphis. I'm gonna go watch some Chris Paul on League Pass to cheer myself up. Good night and good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaguarMagic 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 It was just sloppy basketball all around. There was too much horrible passing and Josh Smith should not have been able to have shot down Howard like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtdan 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 We got our collective butts kicked plain and simple. Atlanta out worked our boys from start to finish. It really disappoints me to see our supposedly focused team mail in the 1st game that way. I think it's completely inexcusable. Our team leaders need to grow up some, because the just opened the season in front of their home crowd and got SPANKED....!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThisIsTheYear 241 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 If we ever played the Hawks in a best-of-seven playoff series, we'd lose 3-0. Yeah....that bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Penny Hardaway's Ghost 260 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 what a horrible season opener...i came close to throwing my pretzel up several times...we were so out of sync...well, its only one game...hopefully we can build and move forward... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KillingInTheNameOf 63 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 Atl is a poor fundamental team with great athleticism & we played right into their strengths. Far too much individual play, poor shooting night, & totally outhustled. Bench looked absolutely useless to a man. Pietrus looked very good but the night was a huge disappointment other than that. Dwight has got to improve handling the double teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zollman1 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 Just got home from the game, and I am disgusted. Here are some misc points: The whole team played like SHEEEOOT in general JJ got SUB of the Game for 2 pts and 1 rebound! That is SAD Pietrus may of had a decent offensive night, but I didn't see a defensive stopper. Oh yeah, and Rashard was going OFF on Pietrus at one point on a defensive breakdown. I didn't figure out what it was that got Rashard fired up, but it was good to see him vocalizing and getting on a team mate. Oh yeah, did I mention the Refs SUCK! Every time there was a loose ball the Hawks were all over it, and the Magic standing around with their thubs in their arses. SVG took some blame for not having the team prepared offensively, but I am sure this will be a learning experience and we can only go up from here... Hopefully we will redeem ourselves against Memphis! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Murphy13 185 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 i had no lagging problems on league pass...must be a local problem. redick was no worse than anyone else bj, get over your obsession. atl came to play, we didnt. plain and simple. i said this before but too many fouls called. regardless, we were outplayed from the opening tip we deserved to lose this game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtdan 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 quote: Originally posted by KillingInTheNameOf:Atl is a poor fundamental team with great athleticism & we played right into their strengths. Far too much individual play, poor shooting night, & totally outhustled. Bench looked absolutely useless to a man. Pietrus looked very good but the night was a huge disappointment other than that. Dwight has got to improve handling the double teams. You must have watched the same game I did. We were pretty **** awful tonight. I just don understand our collective lack of urgency and effort when we play at home. Our desire just wasn't there from the opening whistle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fultz4thewin 2,464 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 quote: Originally posted by murphy13:i had no lagging problems on league pass...must be a local problem. redick was no worse than anyone else bj, get over your obsession. atl came to play, we didnt. plain and simple. i said this before but too many fouls called. regardless, we were outplayed from the opening tip we deserved to lose this game. he kinda was going 0-4. 0% with one reb and 1 TO was statisticly the worst on the team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dirtdan 0 Report post Posted October 29, 2008 quote: Originally posted by Dirtdan: quote: Originally posted by KillingInTheNameOf:Atl is a poor fundamental team with great athleticism & we played right into their strengths. Far too much individual play, poor shooting night, & totally outhustled. Bench looked absolutely useless to a man. Pietrus looked very good but the night was a huge disappointment other than that. Dwight has got to improve handling the double teams. You must have watched the same game I did. We were pretty **** awful tonight. I just don't understand our collective lack of urgency and effort when we play at home. Our desire just wasn't there from the opening whistle. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
