Orlando could be up 3-1 right now
I know that I have complained about officiating on several occasions this post season, but only one time did it affect the outcome of the game, and that was Game 2 of the Magic-Pistons series, when a blown call on a stalled clock, along with multiple questionable calls, helped the Pistons down Orlando. During Game 4, Orlando was in a perfect position to tie the series against Detroit and steal some momentum, but the experienced Pistons were able to overcome Orlando, who looked lackluster at times in the final half. I closed my mouth and said nothing about officiating, because I didn’t think there were any calls bad enough that affected the outcome of the game. Upon further review however, I’m now under the impression that there was one crucial play that certainly changed the game’s outcome.
With eight seconds left, down by one, Hedo Turkoglu took the ball at the top of the arc, waited until three ticks left and drove the ball to the basket, where he was met by Jason Maxiell. Initially, I thought it was a good no-call, because you don’t want a free-throw to decide a game, and it wasn’t clear whether Maxiell was moving or not. Turkoglu’s shot fizzled in the air, Dwight Howard couldn’t get his hand on the ball, again, and Orlando felt defeat in what was the most crucial game of the series. Now looking at it, perhaps a foul should have been called.
Before I have a barrage of angry Detroit fans jump on me, I’m not the only one. Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy feels that there should have been a whistle blown at the end of Game 4.
“[T]he other night (in Game 4), Turk went on a drive and there was a huge collision with a guy (Jason Maxiell) in the restricted area.”
“It’s a block any other time of the season,” Van Gundy said.
“(Official) Mike Callahan raises his hand and you can see it on the tape — his hands up and his hands down and I can’t explain it. It doesn’t matter. In their normal sense they’ll call back and justify it somehow.”
Well, Van Gundy is one of the best minds in basketball and isn’t afraid to call someone out if they deserve it (just ask Dwight Howard), so are SVG’s comments valid? Yes, of course they are.
I certainly understand that foul is not how you want to end a game, but if it affects the shot, the outcome of the game, and possibly the series, shouldn’t you get it right? It would be one thing if the officials weren’t calling it tight towards the end of the game on the other end, but that is not the case. Not only did Rip Hamilton go to the free throw line seven more times than Dwight Howard (I’m still waiting on someone to explain that to me) but he went to the line five times in the final two and a half minutes of the game, including a technical foul which he missed. Apparently Keyon Dooling said worse things in Game 4 than Rasheed Wallce or any of the other Pistons did through the game, but I digress. My point is, Turkoglu was fouled on the final possession that could have changed the outcome of the game and possibly the series.
And yes, it was a foul. Looking at it on instant replay, I couldn’t quite tell, but after watching it a few times on my computer today, you can clearly see Maxiell’s foot is in the restricted arc, thus by NBA rule, it should be a foul on the defender, but that wasn’t the case.
Coach Van Gundy has censored himself several other times this series in fear of being fined money by the NBA. Like I said, Van Gundy isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and usually isn’t wrong. So when he shouts “f*ck*ng b*llsh*t” to an official at the end of Game 2, and now says that there should have been a whistle at the end of Game 4, I tend to side with him.
I have seen some people ramble off statistics, claiming that Orlando goes to the line more than most teams in the NBA and that Dwight Howard leads the league in free-throw attempts, thus there is no way Orlando can be receiving the raw end of officiating. Maybe, maybe not, you can certainly bend numbers any way you want, and that’s what I’ll do here. Aside from seeing Hamilton flopping left and right, Chauncey Billups throwing his shoulder into people (that’s how he got hurt, and the foul was called on Jameer) and Howard getting massacred on nearly every possession without a call, I will provide some telling numbers.
Orlando is attempting only 20.5 free-throws a game this series, while Detroit is going to the line 22.25 times per game. Orlando’s drop is from 29 attempts per game in the regular season, while the Pistons are only attempting .75 less free-throws. Aside from that major discrepancy, how about Dwight Howard, who supposedly gets the benefits of a lot of calls, going to the line just an average of six times per game this series, which is down from his 10.9 regular season average. This is an NBA All-First Team player; shouldn’t his attempts go up in the post season, not down? And it isn’t like the Pistons haven’t played him aggressively or physically. In the post-game show on the radio after Game four, when Dwight went to the line just twice, Orlando radio host and former Detroit Pistons head coach, Richie Adubato, said that Dwight was fouled on the last three touches he had, but he didn’t go to the line once.
This may not be just a Magic-Detroit thing either. Kobe’s FT attempts are up by nearly five a game, James’ have also gone up, but Rip Hamilton has gone up as well, from 3 attempts per game in the regular season, to 5.75 per game against Orlando. That means Hamilton, a jump-shooter, is averaging just .25 less free-throw attempts per game than the game’s best center.
Now, some will say “Orlando is a three-point shooting team”, and I would have to agree, but they also have driven a lot this post season. Aside from Howard down low, Orlando has also seen Turkolgu, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis drive to the rack more this post season than during the regular season. Throw in Mo Evans, who does a lot of damage on cuts and streaks into the paint, and you can make the argument that Orlando is attacking the rim more than ever. Detroit on the other hand primarily does their damage on mid-range jumpers, at least they take more jump shots than Orlando does treys, and Orlando has certainly gone into the paint to score more than Detroit has, so what gives?
The Bottom line is, despite what any fan of any team thinks, the numbers do not lie here, and neither does watching the game with your eyes. Detroit has gotten the benefit of nearly every call that has been on the fence, and I will gawk at anyone who claims differently. Game 2 went Detroit’s way; officials refused to call flops, Howard set “offensive fouls” that really weren’t and three point were added on to a game that was a one-possession ball game through the fourth quarter. Did officiating make a difference there? Game 4, Orlando drives to the hole with just seconds left, and their player is fouled, but at last, no call. Did officiating make a difference there?
Granted, Orlando has to blame themselves on some poor basketball at untimely moments this season, but the fact remains; Detroit is getting the most of the controversial calls there way, and in close games, that is certainly making a difference.
You might label me a baby, you might call me a sore loser, but at the end of the day, the numbers are telling in this series and the way games have folded say it all as well. As I said, Orlando has blown leads on their own accord, but if you really look at it, and I mean without blue and red or blue and white glasses on, Detroit, the better more experienced team, is getting the advantage of the whistle. Too bad for Orlando, because despite poor play at times, they could easily be up 3-1 in this series.
Now tonight could likely spell the end for Orlando. Nelson guaranteed a Magic win, which I’m fine with. Tayshaun Prince said it best when he claimed Jameer has nothing to lose. I don’t think Orlando wins this game tonight, there’s just too much to overcome. If they can put it all together and get things to go their way and pull off the upset and win Game 5, then I will have to say Orlando wins Game 6 as well, which will then put us at seven.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 9:48 am and is filed under Orlando Magic.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
THE AUTHOR
RECENT ARTICLES BY DIVISION RIVALS
ARCHIVE
SPONSORS
18 Responses to “Orlando could be up 3-1 right now”
May 13th, 2008 at 10:17 am
I am disappointed in detroit because they are getting weaker or they’re just getting old. They are an elite team now, but I think it’s going downhill. If they’re gonna win another championship, this is the year to do it. And they have a good chance because boston is flawed. They were great in the regular season, but they have yet to win on the road in the playoffs. And also this is the first time that this particular celtics roster is playing together in the post season, so that may play a factor.
Orlando, on the other hand, is on the uprise. Even if they lose this series it’s only making them a better team. Most teams ( if not all) that win championships, have a lot of experience. That is what orlando is getting here, experience. So if they lose, they don’t necessarily walk away with nothing. A couple tweaks in the roster and they’ll be ready.
May 13th, 2008 at 11:18 am
A baby and a sore loser, you summed it up. The sorest loser I’ve ever seen and I’m one myself.
Van Gundy a great mind? Yeah, teams were beating his door down after he got the axe from the Heat. Money talks, if someone wanted his “great mind”, they would have made an offer he couldn’t refuse. His brother has better success.
Because his guy misses the shot, its a block? How does he know what the ref was going to call? It could have just as easily been a charge. Its been called both ways in the series, especially in the restricted area under the hoop.
Look at the average age of the Pistons and Magic, they differ by a year.
Funny how I bombarded you with numbers over foul calls and other stats and you had a little convenient answer for that. You have claimed “you have done the same thing Mick did in his article”, but have yet to back that up with some facts. I asked for links to your other works for papers and such when you said columnists in papers weren’t “objective”.
Someday, you have to get over the officiating. All of your posts reek of the same BS. Some NBA history, the Pistons have never gotten the benefit of the whistle and that was long before Rasheed Wallace ever got there. Different crews of officials have different methods. Its like umps in baseball and officials in hockey as well.
You think because you have Howard that they should be handed the series. His own team didn’t feed him the ball. HE shot 3-12. HE missed the tap at the end of the game and Hunter grabbed the rebound.
Ifs, ands, and buts … woulda, coulda, shoulda …
They are a team on the rise and when they tweak the roster like Evan said, they are at least a couple players away, they will be very tough and vie for the championship, without question.
Shouldn’t they earn it without the benefit of the officials like the Pistons did in their three titles?
They had to go through Bird, then Jordan. Believe me, you’ve never seen anything like that.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Actually Jordan went through the Pistons, not the other way around. The Pistons, did go through Shaq and Kobe and that was impressive (and I rooted for them, even being an Orlando fan who watched them come back from 3-1.
Here’s my perspective:
Detroit fans do not want to think it was because of officiating that might have won them the last 2 games. Who would? But the facts show, as explained above, that even though Detroit has been the most physical I’ve seen this year with Howard, Dwight is not going to the line. He led the league this year in foul shots. The last play of game 4 was a foul and game 2 was a joke.
But the Magic shouldn’t have been in those situations. They had game 4 won, then they lost it with terrible play. Game 2, well they got hosed and then they went down the tubes from that point on.
If you read the comments in the paper, the not so mad fans have said that the Pistons have been the best team so far. But the officiating has still been uneven. I should be used to it, because it’s been like this all year, but it still made me mad after game 4.
May 13th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Let’s face the truth: officiating is and will always be a problem. It is not perfect. We just have to accept the fact that it’s part of the game. Fans argue over it. Coaches get technicals for it. Players get booted from the game because of it. Calls can go against and/or for your team. That’s the way it is. Your team will always get bad calls, but they can get some good ones as well. Many teams in the past have won and lost because of officiating. That’s just how it is. Period.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Boo-hoo.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Well said Brendan.
“Orlando has to blame themselves on some poor basketball at untimely moments this season, but the fact remains; Detroit is getting the most of the controversial calls there way, and in close games, that is certainly making a difference.”
In this series two games were blow outs and two games went to the final possession. Obviously Detroit won the two that went to the final possession. Of course the Magic made some mistakes in those losses, but didn’t the Pistons also make mistakes? I get it, I know the Magic have had some costly turnovers and what not. But that still doesn’t mean that some questionable calls couldn’t or didn’t have an impact on the outcome of those games. And apparently that is easy for some to understand, and impossible for some others.
I have a question. I know Sheed is supposedly “public enemy #1″. Why is this dude aloud to bitch, throw his arms, stomp around like a total hoe, and show up the officials constantly?
And then a guy like Mehmet Okur can’t throw his arm in the opposite direction, while not saying a word without getting a T?
Or how about the Keyon Dooling’s technical? That was an aggressive play, on BOTH players part. There was under a minute to go in a pivotal game 4 in the 2nd round of the playoffs, and you’re going to give him a technical for that? I know RIP missed that free throw, but he did get 2 others after that. There is no way in hell that technical should have been called.
The fact of the matter is, RIP was selling bull$hit the entire game. I know it’s not his fault the refs were buying it. It makes him smart player. But it makes me question.
I have always questioned the NBA and its officiating. They always seem to cater to a team or player. It doesn’t always affect the outcome, but sometimes it does. Oh, and I know, the Magic have a “poster boy” of this NBA right? If that’s the case, someone show me where he’s getting “the love”, because I sure haven’t seen it.
The Pistons are playing Dwight Howard as physical as any team ever has. The only time I’ve seen him played as physical was against the Celtics during the regular season. The difference is the officials are letting it go. Adam Morrison…I mean Mick Miller says that Howard shot 3-12 from the field, and the officiating can’t be blamed for that. Why not?
How many of those missed shots were there contact on, with no call made? How many times has Howard shot that poorly from the field…ever? It just must be the awesome Detroit defense, and not the officials swallowing their whistles. Right. Or maybe, just maybe it’s the fact that Howard is bigger and stronger than everyone on the floor, so for “whatever reason” they let players get away with contact. It just went to a new level in this series.
Again, it’s been said, with the game getting more physical in the playoffs, why is everyone’s free throw attempts going up, except Dwight Howard’s? Must be because he’s a “superstar” and he’s getting all the calls right? Oh wait, that doesn’t make sense. Neither does that fact that the Pistons continually have jump shooters getting to the line more than Howard every game.
Of course my bitching will only comeback on me in the same fashion it has came back on Brendan. People are going to see and believe what they want, period. Have the Magic had their chances, yes. Have they made mistakes, yes. But have the Magic been on the raw end of the deal with some crucial calls, that could have changed the outcome of a game? Now if you can’t answer “yes” to that, you’re just lying to yourself.
Mick, as always, great job of “selective reading”. You’re the classic example of “tunnel vision”. You’re going to see and believe what you want. Even when a valid argument is presented before you, you’ll pretend you missed that point, or respond with some generic answer:
“Ifs, ands, and buts … woulda, coulda, shoulda …”
Awesome rebuttal! You’ve really made some great arguments for us questioning Magic fans. I think you’re starting to convince me!
You know I get it; you’ve thrown some responses out there. All of it is in the past, and who knows what would have happened if this or that called was made differently. However that past is effecting the present and that’s the point. If you were sitting on the other side of things, I’m sure you’d have a bitter taste in your mouth wondering what might have been.
Of course I know you’ll say you wouldn’t, but you’re not on that side of things are you?
Oh, and I know, Bad Boys, Jordan, Bird, blah-blah-BLAH. I really don’t care.
Nice cheap shot at Van Gundy by the way. You’re not actually saying that you like Flip Saunders are you? If I had to bet on it, Van Gundy will be here in Orlando long after Saunders is out of Detroit. As for my thoughts on Orlando’s coach, I honestly couldn’t be happier. He’s the best coach this franchise has ever had.
Steve, I think you summed it up really nice:
“Detroit fans do not want to think it was because of officiating that might have won them the last 2 games. Who would? But the facts show, as explained above, that even though Detroit has been the most physical I’ve seen this year with Howard, Dwight is not going to the line. He led the league this year in foul shots. The last play of game 4 was a foul and game 2 was a joke.”
“But the Magic shouldn’t have been in those situations. They had game 4 won, then they lost it with terrible play. Game 2, well they got hosed and then they went down the tubes from that point on.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Rick, very true statement, and I think we realize this. I honestly do agree with you. It just happens to be that the Magic were on the losing side because of this. “That’s just how it is.” “Period”. Right?
Carl K, let me guess, you’re buddies with Mick? Did you think of that “response” all yourself? At least Mick actually throws down a few paragraphs.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Believe me, I have no idea who Carl K is and would much rather he had some substance beyond what he posted.
You cannot blame all Piston fans on me.
You may not care about Bird, Jordan, and the Bad Boys, but its all very, very relevant. Well put, you don’t care about blatant, cold hard facts.
I do not like Flip Saunders simply because he has never commanded the respect of his players and have ripped him time and time again in my blog.
Detroit has been a defensive club for a long, long time and the stats prove it.
LMAO, yeah, I have tunnel vision. Those who want to completely blame the officiating for the Magic’s shortcomings couldn’t possibly be.
Howard shot 3-12, did you see how many bricks he laid up there, absolutely no touch at all. He is a mess at the foul line and needs a jump shot as well. All this talk about Ewing working with him, and Patrick had a jumper.
You can say the same things about the Magic fans as you do the Piston fans.
And at least none of the Detroit writers were happy and wished injury upon Magic players like Schmitz did, real class. I’ve scoured the Orlando papers, I’ve what was written both good and bad and fan comments the same.
I’m far from selective. All Brendan does is cry about the officials and wonder “what if”. Fact is, the Magic need to shore up some things or they will “never be”.
Believe it or not, the Pistons have something to do with them losing, not the officiating.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Evan-I think you’re right on. Detroit has a year or two left before they start going down the tubes. Granted, they have some talented young guys on the roster, but will Stuckey, Maxiell and Affalo be as good as Billups, Hamilton or Wallace? I’d have to say not, but who knows, they could exceed their potential.
Boston has had a difficult time this post season on the road, and have shown that they are susceptible to very athletic and big players like LeBron James and Josh Smith, as well as deep big man play. Bringing in P.J Brown and Sam Cassel hurt chemistry for a team that was already trying to develop it with two new stars on the team. They are doing fine at home, and seeing as they have home court advantage, I like them the rest of the way.
I agree with you here too Evan, Orlando has a ways to go but they are developing chemistry and experience which will help them down the road. They have to learn to close teams out, and once they do that, they will be a very dangerous team. Rashard Lewis is 28, Dwight is 22, so they have some good years ahead of them.
Mick- For whatever reason, you thought I questioned your credibility, I’m sorry if you interpreted it that way, but I never did. You said I didn’t know what a foul was, I then retorted that if you think Orlando wasn’t getting fouled and Detroit was, perhaps you haven’t played enough basketball to know what a foul is or isn’t…then you went into a rant about all the sites you write for. You want my resume, Google my name, I have absolutely no reason at all to lie.
I never said that columnist weren’t biased or opinionated, or at least that’s not what I intended to say. All I am saying is that as bloggers, we have more freedom because we don’t have to see or interview certain organization members…we only answer to ourselves. Columnists might be biased, but we can write in first person as much as we want and it’s ok.
You are taking this too personally. You bogged down your arguments with stats, now here is mine, and mine show that there is certainly a discrepancy in officiating for Orlando and Detroit in the post season.
There is no need for name calling, it only hurts your ethos. I tried arguing with you and I realized you were only taking it personally and were seeing exactly what you wanted in the argument, and cant admit that maybe your team is getting the benefit of the whistle, despite the jump-shooting offense they run. As Damien said, “tunnel vision”. I tried ignoring you because you were again taking things too personally, but you continue to try to call me out despite solid facts that others, who aren’t calling people names like your Detroit clones did, agree with. Again, I am sorry if I ever said something that you construed as a personal attack, but I never meant it, I was only defending myself and I will ask that you keep an open mind while commenting here and please, no more name calling, we are adults here. By the way, I wasn’t alive during the Bad Boy Days, and while I’m sure those were exciting times, please stop referencing them, it was decades ago.
Steve- Fantastic points, please come and post here more often. As I said and as you said, Orlando shouldn’t have been in those situations, but their key players are inexperienced and despite some big slumps, they were in a position to win late in the game, but they didn’t get the benefit of late calls, which has killed them now in two games. Again, they shouldn’t have put themselves in the position they were in in Game 4. As you said, “the Pistons have been the best team so far. But the officiating has still been uneven.” Great stuff Steve.
Rick B- I understand where you are coming from, but the numbers show that Orlando has not gotten the benefit of the whistle they perhaps deserve this post season. True, there will always be problems with officiating but this has been a difficult series to watch if you are a Magic fan, and it’s a combination because 1.) Orlando is the lesser team and 2.) they are hanging in there despite that, but can’t overcome their own inexperience and bad officiating.
Clark- Knoc, Knock… “who’s there?” Shut up, you’re team isn’t getting the raw end of the deal.
Damien- As always, fantastic post, and I agree with everything you said and I certainly couldn’t have said it better myself.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Mick,
Oh I care about Bird, Jordan, and the Bad Boys. I was fortunate to see each of them live, and I have a lot of great memories relating to each of them. I just don’t care about you mentioning them right now; it’s 2008, not 1988, 89, 90, or even 91. So I’m ignoring “blatant, cold hard facts” relating to what in this series? The game is totally different today (even though I wish it wasn’t). So once again, you gave an answer, without answering anything. Way to defer and avoid the real topic at hand once again.
I never “completely blamed” the officiating, neither did Brendan. We’ve both said that, over and over. All we ever said is it factors in, and plays a part; and I think you know that, after all, you’ve been on the other side of things before.
Howard 3-12 FG, 2-2 FT:
Sounds like his typical stats? Howard averaged fewer than 12 FGA’s during the regular season, so nothing changed there. The only thing that changed is that he didn’t make .599% of those shots, and he didn’t get his regular 11 FTA’s. It is what it is, but it’s not typical Dwight Howard. Why did it happen, I’m not sure. If I was a Piston fan, I’d call it defense, but I’m not a Pistons fan.
I agree with you here; the Pistons do have something to do with the Magic losing, but so do the officials.
You talk about both teams like they’re at the same stage or something. Orlando’s core players are young, and the team is on the rise. I don’t see that in Detroit. I think Detroit won a single title (personally I loved it), and they should have won two. But since then, they’ve just been a stepping stool to lesser teams in the East. They relax, and believe they can turn it on whenever they, and eventually, it always catches up to them. It won’t be this round, but it usually happens in time.
Tonight’s game,
I’m optimistic about tonight’s game.
The Magic really have nothing to lose at this point. We’re proven to be a very resilient team, and we usually bounce back.
Speaking of, Howard is due for a major bounce back type of game. It’ll also be interesting to see how much the officials let Detroit beat on Howard. I know he didn’t play well last game, but he didn’t go 3 for 12 all by himself. In other words, I’d like to see him shoot more than 2 free throws tonight, especially when his defenders are hanging and swinging around on him like he’s a jungle gym.
Detroit is due for a letdown. I know they’re a great team, but they’ve also shown to be the type of team to let a game go, especially being up 3-1. If the Magic come out and play, balls to the wall, Detroit might let this one slip away.
Orlando needs some solid play out of our backcourt tonight. Nelson has been great, but everyone else in the backcourt hasn’t done their part.
We also need both Lewis and Turk to play well, and for at least one of them to play big down the stretch.
But in the end, it’ll come down to 3 things.
-Limit Turnovers
-Defense
-Rebounding
If we do those 3 things, we’ll win tonight. If we don’t win, it’s okay, it was a solid season. But I do think it’d be a great thing for Orlando to see a game 6 in the 2nd round of the playoffs, even if we don’t win this series.
Tonight’s game is a long shot for the Magic. Everyone expects the Pistons to closeout. Why, I’m not quit sure, considering that this series has been a lot closer than 3-1 indicates. But I get it; the Magic could be really disheartened from the game 4 loss. Still, I’m going to “believe in Magic”, and say that they’ll pull tonight’s game out.
My DVR is already recording, time to go.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Well right now we look flat Damien, nervous perhaps. 18-12 and we are missing free-throws and Detroit has 12 points off of turnovers.
Tunnel Vision refers to exactly what Damien mentioned; we both have said that Orlando has done thnigs to shoot themselves in the foot and that Detroit has been clutch when they’ve needed to. That being said, Orlando has been close in two games and could have won each one easily if they got the benefit of questionable calls or no calls.
We;ve both said tha, over and over again.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Orlando is up 68-65 at half…wow. They are playing very bad basketball. Detroit isn’t shooting well and is beating Orlando to loose balls, and that’s about it. The Magic are missing free throws and are turning the ball over like crazy, yet they are winning? Nuts. Detroit has had Orlando’s number in the 4th lately, and while I still cant believe Orlando is up, I’m awfuly nervous about the next 12 minutes….let’s see what happens.
May 13th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Orlando continues to play awful basketball and now they are down by 6 after a big Prince trey….where has Dwight Howard gone? Yes, Detroit is doing a good job on him, but he looks intimidated, his hand might be bothering because he can not hold the ball, and this should be a valuable lesson for him for next year. Is Deight getting fouled and not getting some calls? Yes, but he is playing soft ball and isnt warranting a lot of those calls. I said it earlier…he needs to grow up.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Thank you both Brendan and Damien as both of those posts directed at me made a lot of sense and were a lot more “debate friendly”.
Heat of battle you might say.
Brendan, not that I didn’t believe you, just wanted you to throw them out there and stand behind them.
The Magic have some personnel decisions to make and I think they should make the most of them. As Long as they have Nelson, Lewis, Howard, and Turkoglu, they will be set.
May 14th, 2008 at 2:07 am
In the end, I always seem to end up cheering for the Pistons…as long as the Magic are out of the picture. One of my best friends is a long time Pistons fan, so we relate, and shoot the $hit all the time. He now lives in Orlando, and cheers for the Magic, only behind the Pistons of course.
As for the Pistons, most fans seem to hate them (and the Spurs), as they are never the “favorite”. And as of now I’d still put the Magic in their category, even lower. The Pistons make for a far more interesting series against the Celtics or Cavs.
As for tonight’s game, what did I say?
-Limit Turnovers (21-3; Magic lose)
-Defense (Are we defending D-Wade, or RIP? 7-20 from the field, 16-16 from the FT line; my guess would be Wade.)
-Rebounding (The Magic out rebounded the Pistons, but the Pistons had way to many crucial offensive boards.)
Besides the obvious, my only complaint about tonight’s game was how it felt like the Magic were not aloud to play defense. Once again both teams were aggressive in the end. Yet, Orlando was not aloud to d-up without the whistle blowing, while Detroit was aloud to defend like Spartan soldiers. The Pistons were in the penalty with almost 7 minutes to go in the game (once again), and that was the story. Magic made plays, the Pistons made free throws. Turk took it very hard, and I guess Prince got all ball.
In a twisted way I’m glad it’s over. I just couldn’t handle much more the way this series was going.
Two blow outs, three games determined in the final seconds. The Magic didn’t get the benefit of the whistle in any of those 3 close loses. Do I feel cheated? No. I just wish they could have gotten a break.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:04 am
listen man, i’ve really tried to hold my breath and view your opinions in a positive way. but you just complain too much. there is not one article on this damn site that doesn’t have anything to do with whining about officiating and such.
svg…….svg……great coach doesn’t pop up in my mind when i hear the name stan van gundy. heck, he wasn’t even the first option as orlando coach. remmeber, if billy donovan didn’t pussy out of a job with the magic, svg would be out a job probably as of now. him yelling out f*cking b*ullshi*….real classy stan.
players make plays in this game. you can’t live and die by the 3, thats common nba knowledge.
damien, you GUESS tayshaun got all ball? man, we can slow mo that play over and over again, and its clear as day prince made one hell of a block on “turk”.
as for the magic, they can be a great team, BUT, we all thought chicago was going to be a great team this year after learning to lose to the pistons, and we all know what happened there. don’t automatically assume that the orlando magic will be there next year. an injury here and there could do some major damage if not careful.
you keep saying the orlando magic could be up 3-1 right now if it wasn’t for officiating……the spurs could have beaten the lakers in 2004 if the shotclock guy would have started the clock right on the dot when derek fisher hit that gamewinner….theres a million more instances i can come up with that would have played out for different teams.
a year or two before detroit starts going down the tubes…..sure. i love how year after year people keep discounting the pistons and putting teams like milwaukee and chicago and new jersey and indiana ahead of them, and yet year after year the pistons keep finding ways to finish with the best of them. ive said this before brendan, for whatever reason, you have this deep passion of hate for the detroit pistons. i don’t know if theres some background history there or not, but these articles are based off you just not liking the detroit pistons. i wonder how the articles would look if a team such as the sixers or hawks would be beating up the magic….certainly they haven’t earned the respect of the refs yet…
if you guys have to pick apart every single game with calls going one way and not the other, then…..”in a twisted way”….go find something else to occupy yourself with.
i guess you guys in florida are bitter….i dont know what for. maybe bad sunburn or something. i hope to god you’re done covering the nba playoffs for right now brendan. you should cover golf for the rest of the summer…..can’t see you complaining too much with that sport
May 15th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Good to see that Andrew got the response he deserved for his comments.
None…
Now I’ll take my shot.
Stan Van Gundy. He is a good coach, period. You can’t question that. The hiring of Billy Hoe was a PR move made in regards to the team landing a new arena. I’m happy he bailed, and I’m happy with Van Gundy, and I couldn’t always say that about past Magic coaches. My question for you is, what coach hasn’t yelled “f*cking bull$hit”? You can add players to that list if you want. I guess the league is full of a bunch of “classless” bastards.
Magic next Bulls; cute. I’ll accept your apology next year; although, I don’t care about what you think to begin with.
The Pistons are a great team, six consecutive conference finals appearances, yet only one title. When are they going to realize that they need to make a real change to get it done in the end? They’re not getting any younger, and as much as I’d like to see them win another, it’s not going to happen this year.
You mention the Spurs and Lakers of 2004. That’s good that you realize that “errors” can completely change the outcome of the record books. Now if you realize that, why bitch about what we’re complaining about? Just because it’s happened before doesn’t mean its right.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:05 am
He thinks we are bitching because it hasnt happend to his team…turn the tables, and all the Detroit fans who were nothing but classy would be singing a different song.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
you guys keep pulling excuses out of your guys asses……its reptitive. you don’t want to look past anything but your own opinion, and both of you aren’t open-minded at all.
damien….just because you have one good season doesn’t mean you can harp on next season even better. i was just giving an example, and instead, you took it personal. i said that you can never assume your team will be better in the years to come. theres alot of teams this year that had a major dropoff from last year….i.e the warriors, raptors, bulls, suns, and so on. dwight plays mostly on athleticism, and if happens to have a freak injury, say goodbye to next season. stop getting on the attack mode. if you didn’t care what i think, then why do you keep referencing my opinions and “taking a shot” at me….
did i ever say detroit fans were classy? actually, i prefer pistons fans, because the majority of us don’t live in that shithole called detroit. there is no team that has “classy” fans. so stop thinking im this big egotistical bastard that points out how disgraceful and narrow-minded the orlando magic franchise is. i never liked SVG, and i never will. i’m quite sure when billy donovan was hired to be the orlando coach, you both were creaming your pants. the guy is a good coach, its just too bad he pussied out in taking a job in the NBA.
i keep reading the orlando magic players talking about how they thought they were the better team, and how they made some bad choices down the stretch.even the genius of a GM that is otis smith (paying $110 million to a MAYBE second option on a team is always a genius move) felt that his team was better. well, the magic did get one more win against the pistons this year then they did last year, so otis now has the balls to speak.
i guess the nba just doesn’t like orlando magic. thats probably the easiest and comforting excuse i can come up with to help soothe your guys anger.
hope to see another shot taken at me, damien. i enjoy reading your feisty attacks on my blog
Leave a comment