Magic will be lucky to get out of the first round

[Butterfly 3]

It is possible that the Magic could get out of the first round. It is ridiculous to underestimate the Hawks. The Magic gave them confidence the could win. It is also unrealistic to think the Magic can just turn in on, as SVG said the only teams that can turn it on at will are Boston, Lakers and Spurs. I really don't see how Dwight can pull 48 minutes all the time. Even though Dwight is young, he does get tired. Even if we would get past the Hawks, I just don't see us winning a series against th Bulls, they are just better defensively, and their coach was on a winning team. He knows how to play the Magic.

[GhostAnime 50]

As far as that prediction thing goes on nba.com... I'm really split on 50/50. Yeah, I'm sorry to say it, but I truly do feel like that series is going to be the closest of the East's first round.

 

No, this isn't another Bobcats thing; I actually feel like this is a legit thing to worry about. That series SOLELY depends on a few things:

 

1) Dwight's time on the floor.

2) The efficiency of the frontline (Bass, Anderson, Clark, and Malik..)

 

And considering that the Hawks are doing the EXACT thing Boston did last year in the ECF... how can I not see this being a close series?

 

If Dwight gets frustrated in this series, it's over. The Magic clearly need Dwight on the floor to play any amount of defense, and Bass/Anderson/Clark/ Malik are no match for Horford/Smith in a 7 game series (but.... then again it's the Hawks).

 

Even if Dwight is on the floor, he's going to really require much more minutes in the playoffs. I'm not so sure on what his stamina is, but he will tire out the longer we go into it.. he shoots free throws worse when he's tired.

 

Bass/Anderson/Clark/Malik still have to contribute some bench scoring even with Dwight in there as well. Also, better hope Redick is healthy by then because he pretty much was the bench at this point.

 

On the perimeter side of things, that's more of a wash I suppose, but Jameer could be a huge x-factor. I don't exactly know his numbers vs Hinrich, but he has the ability to turn this into an easy first round win or a first round disaster.

 

Overall, regardless of how many points Howard scores or how many minutes he has, he will require help from somebody in this series in some form.

[BMP 424]

And considering that the Hawks are doing the EXACT thing Boston did last year in the ECF... how can I not see this being a close series?

 

 

Because the Hawks aren't anywhere near as good defensively as Boston and can't afford to have their few bigs in foul trouble.

[Babir_9 91]

I can't believe this thread has already so many pages...Stop the panic please, we'll definitely beat Hawks in the first round!

[Babir_9 91]

Just remember that Josh Smith will not shoot well from the perimeter in the playoffs and by starting Collins, Hawks lose offensively, Dwight can leave him and help his team mates on defense. By starting Collins, they are limiting Marvin Williams and Crawford minutes. Hawks are not stable, check how many blowout losses thay had at home this season.

[~O~ 565]

It's all a toss up for me.

[GhostAnime 50]

Because the Hawks aren't anywhere near as good defensively as Boston and can't afford to have their few bigs in foul trouble.

They have plenty of bigs they can recycle on Howard. Collins, Puchilia (or however the hell it's spelled), Powell, and Thomas. That's 24 fouls.

 

And sure, they aren't as good defensively as Boston overall, but when you only look at how the Magic have scored against them in four games, they have the lowest ppg against them. Now you can account for this by different teams, the time they played, and lack of Nelson; fair enough. The potential is at least there.

 

Just remember that Josh Smith will not shoot well from the perimeter in the playoffs and by starting Collins, Hawks lose offensively, Dwight can leave him and help his team mates on defense. By starting Collins, they are limiting Marvin Williams and Crawford minutes. Hawks are not stable, check how many blowout losses thay had at home this season.

Good point. This would explain why all of the games are so low scoring and down to the wire.

 

I truly do think it'll come down to role player performances.

[BMP 424]

They have plenty of bigs they can recycle on Howard. Collins, Puchilia (or however the hell it's spelled), Powell, and Thomas. That's 24 fouls.

They still need Horford to play at PF and pickup some C minutes and I'm sure JSmith doesn't look forward to solely playing at SF for most of the game.

 

If Howard can get Zaza and Collins in foul trouble (which for him is an easy task), it slides Horford to the C which means an extremely easy matchup and also means Hawks have to double. If they decide to play Thomas instead, let them. . . he's terrible.

 

They can try the Bobcats approach all they want but the Bobcats had their perimeter guys drawing fouls on Howard every single game. The Hawks are one of the worst foul drawing teams in the league (currently in the bottom 5, in comparison the Bobcats last year were in the top 3).

[Miller4Prez66 545]

It's no slam dunk we beat Atlanta, and it won't be easy. But I'm not going to jump on the panic bandwagon because we lost three close regular season games to them. We are a more talented team and I think we'll prove it in the playoffs.

[Air Gordon 156]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nThMOZLRLAw

[GhostAnime 50]

They still need Horford to play at PF and pickup some C minutes and I'm sure JSmith doesn't look forward to solely playing at SF for most of the game.

 

If Howard can get Zaza and Collins in foul trouble (which for him is an easy task), it slides Horford to the C which means an extremely easy matchup and also means Hawks have to double. If they decide to play Thomas instead, let them. . . he's terrible.

 

They can try the Bobcats approach all they want but the Bobcats had their perimeter guys drawing fouls on Howard every single game. The Hawks are one of the worst foul drawing teams in the league (currently in the bottom 5, in comparison the Bobcats last year were in the top 3).

What about Powell?

 

Well anyway fair point about the Hawks not drawing enough fouls on Howard, but in a 7 game series and tons of film, they have a lot of room for error this time around.Also, I don't think they necessarily need to draw fouls on Howard to actually limit the Magic in points. I just think the idea of having a bunch of bigs to throw at him compared to other teams has been the key in Magic only averaging 80 points a game and Howard having "okay" numbers.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

We can't beat the Hawks.

 

Even if we do, we can't beat Chicago.

 

Even if we do, we can't beat Miami or Boston.

 

Even if we do, we can't beat the Lakers or San Antonio.

 

 

 

 

Am I doing this right?