Game 47: Bucks/Magic
by Alex Boeder on Feb 2, 2010 7:35 AM CST
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| 2009/2010 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
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| 32-16 (18-4 home) | vs. | 21-25 (6-18 road) |
| February 2, 2010 | ||
| Amway Arena |
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| 6:00 PM | ||
| Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin HD |
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| Probable starters: | ||
| Jameer Nelson |
PG | Brandon Jennings |
| Vince Carter |
SG | Charlie Bell |
| Matt Barnes |
SF | Carlos Delfino |
| Rashard Lewis |
PF | Luc Mbah a Moute |
| Dwight Howard |
C | Andrew Bogut |
| (11th) 108.4 - OFFENSE - 104.1 (23rd) |
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| (5th) 103.0 - DEFENSE - 104.0 (7th) |
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| (19th) 92.8 - PACE - 93.2 (10th) |
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Linkage
Orlando Pinstriped Post / Orlando Sentinel / Orlando Magic Daily
Same state, different world. The road win over Miami is a nice start, though the loss dropped them to an even .500 this season at 23-23. So while they are in the same state, Orlando is in a completely different world than Miami. The Magic are 18-4 at home after going 32-9 at Amway last year. They are 50-13 over the past season and a half at home.
After a poor start to January, The Magic closed the month with three straight wins (including against Boston and Atlanta) and they have won six of seven. So very top-notch.
This would be a signature road win, to say the least.
Secondly. The Bucks have played the Magic twice already, and twice they have outplayed the Magic in the first half. In the first matchup, at the BC, Milwaukee carried a 56-47 lead into halftime. And they even led 49-41 after two quarters in Orlando.
Unfortunately, that combined 17-point first-half advantage pales in comparison to Orlando winning the second halves by a combined 44 points. That resulted in a 100-98 loss for the Bucks at home and a 117-92 loss in Orlando.
Even in the home-and-home sweep over Miami, the Bucks lost the second halves by a combined seven points.
Life and times of Vince Carter, Vol. 13. Carter was supposed to take the Magic to the next level, and their level already was on top of the East. And I was compelled to believe that he would do so.
But it's been the roughest of times for Carter, at least since injuries gnawed into his prime seven, eight years ago.
A career 44.4 % shooter, Carter is hitting just 38.0 % from the field on the best team he's ever played with. He also is making just 30.3 % from deep, the lowest number since his rookie season. Oddly, he is making a career-best 85.1 % from the line, but that is about the only area he is excelling in, relative to his career numbers.
Hard to figure out. Especially after watching him play more like the classic Carter in the two games against Milwaukee.
Vince was dunking and hitting threes and leading the Magic to a comeback win with 25 points in Milwaukee, and he did the same in Orlando, leading everyone with 25 points. Carter's splits against Milwaukee this year (25.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 51.3 % shooting) are his best against any team he's played more than once this season.
Inside, outside. Andrew Bogut and the Bucks were able to limit the effectiveness of Miami around the basket, but the Magic are very good at the rim (62.0 %), and they prefer to stay inside or outside. The Magic attempt the fewest amount of shots from 16-23 feet per game: 13.1. But they hoist more threes per game (28.6) than any team.
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If the Bucks play as a unit like they did last night they will have a chance.
A body needs to be glued on Howard at all times. I am fine with him gettin post ups and working against Bogut because he isn’t a supremely skilled offensive player when he isn’t cleaning up the garbage. The Bucks need to be competative on the boards.
My game plan for this game would be to stay on their 3-pt shooters and make Howard beat you in the post. I am comfortable with Bogut making Howard shoot over him.
I think we match up with this team as well as you can match up with the Eastern Conference Champs from last year. Our forwards are guys who can extend their defense to the perimeter which helps us again guys like Ryan Andersen and Rashard Lewis.
Atlanta was willing to let Dwight beat them in the post.
Zaza fouled out in 13 minutes; Jason Collins picked up 4 fouls in 5 minutes; Al Horford (their All Star center) had 4 points and 4 rebounds. Atlanta big men 13 fouls, 6 points, 11 rebounds 0 blocks; Dwight 31 points, 19 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 fouls.
I like the way you think!
by NC Magic Fan on Feb 2, 2010 1:00 PM CST up reply actions
Fine.
Hack a Howard is fine with me. Put Gadz in for the sole purpose of boxing out Howard, playing post D, and fouling him hard if he gets beat. Howard isn’t the most skilled offensively. Make him beat us without the 10 garbage points he gets each game.
Realist.
Bogut is on the second end of a back to back. With his tired legs, he picks up two quick fouls in the 1st quarter. Game over.
or...
Bogut is so tired that when Howard goes to dunk over him he just stands there. Howard is called for the offensive foul, gets upset, argues the call, gets a technical which enrages him even more. This causes him to punch every player in sight including his own teamates. Howard is ejected from the game and Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis are injured from the punches to the face. The Bucks coast to victory against an undermanned Magic team.
As a Magic fan, that is probably my greatest fear
Howard is infamous for his violent behavior to innocents. He once ate a little girl’s kitten when she asked him if he was working on his free throw shooting during the summer.
At this point in the season, a punch to Vince Carter’s face that would incapacitate him would probably benefit the Magic more than it would the Bucks. (We’re hoping he is going to get out of his slump in time for the playoffs though)
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
Just pray the Bucks make threes and the Magic don't
Even without Bogut the Bucks had a huge lead in Milwaukee before they let it slip away and lost by two. Weird stuff like that can happen when guys make shots, and whether it’s luck or just the team gelling, it’s happening more often of late: 50%+ shooting in three of the last five after pulling the trick just twice in the first 41 games. Howard is such a factor guarding the rim that a team like the Bucks doesn’t seem to have much hope unless they’re making a lot of jumpers.
On defense I don’t think any single strategy works—you have to give Dwight different looks (one-on-one, double, zone) to keep them at least a little off balance. We’ll see lots of fouling and attempted charges from the Bucks, who knows if it will work.
Rose Out of Rookie Game
Derrick Rose has ducked out of the Rookie game in favor of the much hyped Skills challenge (oh, and the All Star game). That means the Rookies have a great chance at beating the Sophs. Without their best guard, Jennings and Evans should abuse the Sophs all night.
Trade
I know this is kinda off topic, but what do you guys think of the Bucks trading most of the expirings plus Gadz for Dalembert and Iggy? I think it would be a huge push for us this year, as a starting line up of Young Buck, Iggy, Delfino, Dalembert, and Bogut would probably put us up there with at least Atlanta, maybe even the slumping, injury prone Celtics. We’d be taking on a pretty long contract in Iggy, but it expires the same year as Bogut’s, and Jennings will just be reaching his qualifying year, so if the core of those three isn’t working you can blow things up. Plus, you still have only about 30 mil in contracts on the books of the summer of 2011, and will have 4 of your starters (including 3 legit all-star possibilities) still on the squad. I doubt Kohl would want to take on that much money, but if these team gets back to the play-offs (and Redd’s contract is eaten for both this season and next), there’s decent chance it gets done as it will make Bucks basketball incredibly relevant again.
What you guys think?
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