Last night was the NBA finals rematch between the Orlando Magic and the L.A. Lakers. After posting a fantastic defensive performance allowing only 12 points in the third quarter, the Magic were stumped by a 34-point Lakers fourth quarter. And, like seven of their last ten games, the Magic lost yet again.
The Magic started off the season 17-4 and since have gone 9-11. They are the number 4 seed in the East and have a five game lead on the next closest Eastern Conference competitor (the Bobcats--surprisingly enough).
Although the Magic are not doing horrendously, let's face it--even if they were, they'd still have a top seed in the East. But there definitely is something that is not together with the Magic. They haven't only been consistently losing to the top teams like the Cavs and the Lakers; they've lost to some poor teams.
This is the sequence of teams they've lost to: Pistons, Thunder, Cavs, Heat, Jazz, Suns, Heat, Celtics, Bulls, Pacers, Raptors, Wizards, Nuggets, Trailblazers, and the Lakers last night.
The Pacers, Pistons and Wizards all share a 14-26 record. None of the other top teams have lost to all three of those squads. The Magic are simply missing something they had last year--the obvious answer would be Hedo. However I think it is a combination of the absence of Hedo and the presence of Carter.
I'm a Vince Carter fan and originally I thought that the Magic would be blowing past every team with that acquisition. Unfortunately, I feel like it hasn't been working too well. Carter averages 16.8 ppg for the Magic but that comes with a .386 fg %, and he does get 4.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game--but he isn't what Hedo was.
Hedo averaged the same amount of points as Carter does for the Magic, except he averaged an extra board and two extra assists. The difference is, Hedo shot better from the field and he was a constant mis-match. Basketball is a game of mis-matches and when you have a 6'10" forward along with a 6'11" beast (Howard) and 6'10" sharp-shooter (Lewis), there are one too many tall shooters for the defense to match up with.
All of a sudden, you substitute the 6'10" go-to guy with a 6'6" highflyer and you don't have that edge. Throughout the playoffs last year, Hedo was highlighted and it bugged me when he self-proclaimed that he was the Turkish Michael Jordan, but he definitely was a presence on the court.
The points one brings to a team is irrelevant to the intangibles one can bring. Monta Ellis can take 39 shots every night (I can't believe he took 39 shots last night) and his team will never win in the playoffs. Paul Pierce used to take every shot in the world when he was with Antoine Walker (remember the shimmy and the 0-18 fg performance he had?) but they never won.
When it comes down to it, the mismatches and diversity in methods of scoring gives a team the championship! Past decade was all about the Spurs and the Pistons because they were the epitome of team-basketball. That's why Jordan was glorified; he was the only player that had complete control of the basketball court. He was able to play a team game and he was able to be the most dominant player in the league.
But I digress, let's go back to how the Magic don't have Hedo's match-up causing problems. Don't get me wrong, the only reason the Magic are still doing well is because they spread the ball--they have eight players who average 9 or more points per game. That is impressive! And the player who scores the most for them (Howard) has a .605 fg%.
The Magic are going to be competitive and make the top 4 seeds in the East no doubt. But they will not make it as deep in the playoffs. Other than Howard and Lewis, they have Ryan Anderson who stands at 6'10" and he is barely able to grab 3.6 boards a game. The Magic all of a sudden lack size.
Which means the Cavs will be able to overpower them this year. With Shaq and big Z, Howard will not be as dominant in the post on them and I really don't see Lewis or Anderson (who only plays 17 mins) getting any boards over either of the Cavs front court.
Other then that, what the Magic should focus on every practice is making a free throw. They have the worst FT% in the game--despicable .712. Probably because Howard takes about half the free throws and shoots .590% from the line; but still, they have to fix that.
With that being said, I hope the Magic pick it up because it would be disappointing to see such a promising team to fall through the ranks.
Sorry Hilu. But the Magic gotta take something else out of their hats, because teams are seeing through the ol' tricks.
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