Game Thread: Wizards @ Warlocks [1/6/08] 7:00 P.M. An Epic confrontation of MAGIC

[AddiFB 429]

quote:

Originally posted by ThisIsTheYear:

quote:

Originally posted by Kberto:

 

The ET game on Atari was pretty god awful.

 

True, but you know what? There was one game that indeed rivals the suckiness of the Zelda CDI's, and that my friend, is Superman 64. I've never in my life seen a game stray so far away from a successful formula. One word: Rings.

 

On a basketball note, great win by the Bobcats. I guess they felt they didn't get their just deserts for that Ray Allen buzzer-beater last season.

 

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Kberto:

quote:

Originally posted by ThisIsTheYear:

quote:

Originally posted by Kberto:

 

The ET game on Atari was pretty god awful.

 

True, but you know what? There was one game that indeed rivals the suckiness of the Zelda CDI's, and that my friend, is Superman 64. I've never in my life seen a game stray so far away from a successful formula. One word: Rings.

 

On a basketball note, great win by the Bobcats. I guess they felt they didn't get their just deserts for that Ray Allen buzzer-beater last season.

 

We'd be doing a disservice to bad games everywhere if we failed to mention Shaq Fu.

 

Bad games all, but the Atari ET game has the distinction of completely killing a system. That easily makes it the worst game ever.

 

Seanbaby wrote an article about the 20 worst games ever way back when. It was a pretty good list. Kris Kross: Make My Video is up there as well.

[ThisIsTheYear 241]

Can someone give me a link of that ET atari game I'm hearing so much about?

[Waltfeld 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Skywise316:

quote:

Originally posted by Tough Break There:

This is the worst O-rena crowd I've ever seen. Can we at least get some clapping. It's like a crypt in there.

 

You can't even fathom just how bad the lower bowl is until you go yourself.

 

You hit the nail on the head Sky. Just got back from the game and was in the lower bowl, the people to my left and right did not cheer that much, Me I was hollering at the top of my lungs till it hurt and kept cheering. I am glad that Battie, Gortat and JJ played well because if they did not come out and at least hold their own or we would have must likely have lost this game.

[Skywise316 211]

The butler did it. Well, almost.

 

This was just one of those weird games. But much like I predicted, Washington would give a better accounting of themselves tonight than they have most of the season, and the Magic would win a close game. I think you gotta be much happier with the Magic at least occasionally showing effort on one end or the other tonight, as opposed to them leaving their defense back in a Canadian hotel before facing the Raptors.

 

In other words, we won! Cheer up. We can always deal with how the Magic need to improve tomorrow. Or, right in this next little section here if you're impatient.

 

Stock Up:

 

Hedo Turkoglu. (Plastic Man bounces back. How could he not after Toronto? Easily, he went from Stock Diver to Highest Riser. 50 percent shooting, 2 of 5 from Three Land, 22 points and 5 boards. Then 3 great stats. 3 steals, 7 assists against NO turnovers, and 8 of 10 in free throws. I can't remember the last time he had more than one steal in a game, that may be his best assist-to-turnover ratio of the season, and the taking (and making) of that many free throws showed he was aggressive but more under control than usual. Well, plus the Wiz hack a lot compared to your average NBA team. Finally, give Hedo some slack for one of those missed free throws, considering he had been clocked in the eye just before that.

 

But bigger than all those fantasy goodies, Hedo scored, I believe, 13 points in the 3rd quarter. Which was huge, because that helped offset some of Caron Butler's explosion in the 3rd.)

 

Free Throw Shooting. (This was nearly the Highest Riser. There weren't a lot of fouls in this game, but when the Magic went to the charity stripe, they made Washington pay. Orlando shot 17 of 20 for 85 percent, and even Dwight was 5 of 6 from the line!)

 

Team Rebounding. (One bad rebounding game and then right back on the saddle. Orlando outrebounds Washington 49 to 39. Washington only had 8 offensive rebounds.)

 

Three Point Defense. (Washington only shot 3 of 11 from downtown. As I watched I wondered why Butler didn't shoot more threes, he kept shooting 22 footers. Thanks for not doing it though.)

 

Opponent Field Goal Shooting. (Uh, nowhere to go up but here after Toronto torches your [bleep] for 54 percent. Despite Butler going El Fuego, Washington only shot 39.5 percent from the field, and thanks to C-Lee's good defensive performance in the first half, Butler.. somehow.. only shot 50 percent from the field. LOL, "only," but you get my point.)

 

Dwight Howard. (Considering his teammates were mostly incapable of getting him the rock... c'mon, it wasn't ALL Etan Thomas... Dwight still scored 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting and 5 of 6 from the FT line, 16 boards, an assist, a steal, and a block. However I'm not standing for the 5 turnovers, that's a bit ridiculous. Not redickulous, flat ridiculous. It almost got him a STIM, but other than that it's all good, most of all the free throw shooting. Especially the last two that really sealed the game by pushing the lead from 5 back out to 7.

 

Plus he literally knocked out Darius Songalia, which lead to the Wizards offense falling apart in the second quarter. Okay I'm exaggerating, but it didn't help matters for the Wiz for sure.

 

D12. +1 kill.)

 

Courtney Lee. (Ok, I think SVG is just being extra hard on him. He had 8 points on 3 of 7 shooting, he hit 2 of 5 from deep, had 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block (on Antwan Jamison!), and 2 turnovers. Butler gave him some Anthony Parker treatment in the 3rd quarter. Sometimes, especially 2 guards, just flat out get on fire. Also, just like Bogans had some problems earlier in the year, Butler just flat out shot over C-Lee once he got hot because Butler's really a SF and shot right over the shorter player. But Butler didn't get a lot of open shots, Lee, Redick, and Hedo did good defensive jobs staying in front of him and putting a hand in his face.

 

But Lee played well, better than SVG would admit to him or publically, and certainly better than he played in Toronto, for sure.)

 

J.J. Redick. (Has he played a better game this season? 18 minutes played, 8 points on 3 of 4 shooting, 2 of 3 from deep, 3 boards, a steal, and a turnover. Stunningly he had no assists, but his passing was off the hook tonight.

 

I made the point earlier in the thread, Redick looks most comfortable playing alongside Anthony Johnson, while A.J. seems to be more effective playing with J.J. than any other shooting guard, and not just tonight.

 

We don't know how long Bogans will be out, but the Lee-Redick rotation at SG passed their first test. ATL will be a much stiffer one.)

 

Anthony Johnson. (He had no points, but had 1 board, 3 assists against no turnovers. Most importantly he did a MUCH better job defensively against the Mike James and Jarvaris Crittentons of the world, mostly with stopping dribble penetration. So for defense and assist-to-turnover, Stock Up.)

 

Marcin Gortat. (In only 10 minutes, he had 2 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks, and 2 kills. I thought he outplayed Battie by being steadier tonight, and should of had more minutes in the 4th quarter over Battie. I think that was one of the few things wrong SVG did tonight.)

 

Charlotte Hornets. I Mean Bobcats. (Thank you!)

 

Stock In The Middle:

 

Tony Battie. (For anyone who watched this game and kept half an eye on Battie, you know that this performance had SITM written all over it. Up one play, down the next. 27 and a half minutes played. 8 points on 4 of 9 shooting, only 2 boards? A steal, and a turnover. He needs to get to more looses balls, there were 2 times he had an easy chance at them and failed miserably. Decent jump shooting though.)

 

Stock Down:

 

No mercy.

 

Jameer Nelson. (5 of 17 shooting. 2 of 5 from deep. Only 2 free throws made and taken. 14 points. 4 boards. A block. 2 assists against 2 turnovers.

 

It's like I said in the last Stock Meeting. Jameer, put the pedal to the metal! And sooner than the last two minutes of the game.)

 

Rashard Lewis. (This time it was Lewis that disappeared in the second half. Only 4 of 12 shooting, 2 of 7 from deep, 2 free throws made and taken, 12 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, a steal, a block, and 4 turnovers. I like the boards and the D, but not enough points, not enough assists/passing to excuse a low scoring total, and the TOs are gross.

 

Jameer. Rashard. B! E! Aggressive!)

 

By hook or by crook, the Orlando Magic are 27-8 and have won 10 games straight at home. Thanks to another loss by Boston tonight, Cleveland is now first in the East by percentage points. Orlando is 1 game back of Cleveland, and only 1.5 back of Boston. (Boston playing 3 more games than Cleveland to this point is what's throwing it off)

 

Meanwhile, Orlando leads ATL in the division and for 3rd in the East by 4 games. For now. After Friday it could be 2, 4, or 6 games.

 

Until tomorrow night, after ATL finishes their 3rd day of rest....

 

Good night and good luck.

[ma 6]

Good job JJ, Warlock, Hedo, AJ, Courtney and Dwight. Tough win against Caron Butler who tried to pull a Kobe/Wade on us.

 

I state my hypothesis again:

 

When Dwight focuses on defense, he tends to get a more balanced stat sheet (15-16), and we win. If he focuses on offense he gets an unbalanced stat sheet (35-8), misses a lot of free throws, and we loose.

[Kramer 0]

quote:

Originally posted by ma:

Good job JJ, Warlock, Hedo, AJ, Courtney and Dwight. Tough win against Caron Butler who tried to pull a Kobe/Wade on us.

 

I state my hypothesis again:

 

When Dwight focuses on defense, he tends to get a more balanced stat sheet (15-16), and we win. If he focuses on offense he gets an unbalanced stat sheet (35-8), misses a lot of free throws, and we loose.

 

And I again remind you that Dwight doesn't lose focus on defense and rebounding because he doesn't get his points, it's Jameer, Hedo and Rashard that have that habit. Dwight needs to be the captain and leader and get his points off of offensive rebounds and lobs but not because he gets lazy but because other players will if they don't get to shoot it. The reason Dwight had 39 points against Toronto is because they tried to make him beat them single handedly. They weren't going to collapse defensively and it proved ineffective because our team scored a lot of points. Trouble is the Raptors put on a fluke offensive performance. Also you act as if Dwight wasn't relevent offensively tonight. Think about this roster; there isn't a single player outside of Rashard who before playing with Dwight was anything special offensively. The reason Hedo, Jameer, and everyone else is as effective as they are is because of Dwight's offense.

[Magic Turk 0]

I believe Orlando will finish 1 st on the east division at the end of the season.

 

Hopefully with better and though team defense.

[KillingInTheNameOf 63]

Granted, it was the Wiz, but tonight the Magic thrived in the 3 area's we typical parrish. Bench, Free Throw Shooting, & Rebounding.

 

Tonight was another great example of why Pietrus is vital to this teams success this season. His combination of size & athleticism is needed to disrupt the timing of elite scorers. As we've seen time and time again this season, Bogans & Lee just don't have the length to effect these guys when they get on a roll.

 

I haven't even looked at the box score, but I thought Gortat & JJ were very effective tonight.

 

As Sky noted, the back-2-back with Atl is going to have a playoff atmosphere to them. We're going to get Atl's best effort, it will be very interesting to see how we meet the challenge.

 

Let's hope Gortat uses the fact Za Za destroyed him on opening night and sent him to the bench for 10 games as motivation. And, lets hope we can keep Joe Johnson from killing us without Pietrus.

[ma 6]

Wasn't it Dwight that Stan benched last year becuase of this very reason? Isn't it Dwight that gets frustrated when he doesn't get the foul calls in the offensive end? Didn't Stan yell at him in front of ESPN cameras in NO game two weeks ago? Dwight does lose focus, he is not close to the level of Tim Duncan and Garnett. I wish Dwight would get 40 points and still take care of business on the defensive end, but he is not there yet.

 

I don't know other players habits, I seem to notice Dwight the most since the others do not bring a dominant defensive presence that is easy to notice when it is not there. Raptors could not put as much performance if Dwight was there to stop numerous uncontested dunks and layups.

 

Hedo had always played well with great big guys: Divac, Duncan, and now Dwight. He always was a good/clutch role player. The bigger reason why he is performing much better is because he is given more responsibility. Not to mention that in the Magic squad, Hedo has played the most number of playoff games/minutes.

 

I don't believe Jameer had a big guy in his college team, he had Delonte West. So I give you that Dwight contributed to Jameer's development.

 

I stand by my hypothesis until proven otherwise.

 

quote:

Originally posted by Kramer:

And I again remind you that Dwight doesn't lose focus on defense and rebounding because he doesn't get his points, it's Jameer, Hedo and Rashard that have that habit. Dwight needs to be the captain and leader and get his points off of offensive rebounds and lobs but not because he gets lazy but because other players will if they don't get to shoot it. The reason Dwight had 39 points against Toronto is because they tried to make him beat them single handedly. They weren't going to collapse defensively and it proved ineffective because our team scored a lot of points. Trouble is the Raptors put on a fluke offensive performance. Also you act as if Dwight wasn't relevent offensively tonight. Think about this roster; there isn't a single player outside of Rashard who before playing with Dwight was anything special offensively. The reason Hedo, Jameer, and everyone else is as effective as they are is because of Dwight's offense.

[magic berto 0]

quote:

Originally posted by ma:

Raptors could not put as much performance if Dwight was there to stop numerous uncontested dunks and layups.

 

So it's all Dwight's fault that the Raptors got open dunks and layups? This is a five-man game, no matter what Turk tells you. Everybody needs to defend somebody, not just watch Dwight in awe.

[PEC 0]

quote:

Originally posted by magic berto:

quote:

Originally posted by ma:

Raptors could not put as much performance if Dwight was there to stop numerous uncontested dunks and layups.

 

So it's all Dwight's fault that the Raptors got open dunks and layups? This is a five-man game, no matter what Turk tells you. Everybody needs to defend somebody, not just watch Dwight in awe.

 

Quoting a post out of context can lead to believing something else.

Reading the entire post answers many questions like what the person had in mind with their post so here is the complete post:

 

Wasn't it Dwight that Stan benched last year becuase of this very reason? Isn't it Dwight that gets frustrated when he doesn't get the foul calls in the offensive end? Didn't Stan yell at him in front of ESPN cameras in NO game two weeks ago? Dwight does lose focus, he is not close to the level of Tim Duncan and Garnett. I wish Dwight would get 40 points and still take care of business on the defensive end, but he is not there yet.

 

I don't know other players habits, I seem to notice Dwight the most since the others do not bring a dominant defensive presence that is easy to notice when it is not there. Raptors could not put as much performance if Dwight was there to stop numerous uncontested dunks and layups.

 

Hedo had always played well with great big guys: Divac, Duncan, and now Dwight. He always was a good/clutch role player. The bigger reason why he is performing much better is because he is given more responsibility. Not to mention that in the Magic squad, Hedo has played the most number of playoff games/minutes.

 

I don't believe Jameer had a big guy in his college team, he had Delonte West. So I give you that Dwight contributed to Jameer's development.

 

I stand by my hypothesis until proven otherwise.