The Orlando Magic are overlooked because they aren't that good

[CelticG1]

When I read Stan Van Gundy's comment's about his team not getting any respect or his latest comment's about teams (us) using injuries as an excuse I really can't help but think that his team is not as good as their record indicates and his team does not scare me in the playoffs AT ALL.....Does anybody else agree with this? I just see the Magic being a very dissapointing team in the playoffs again and them continuing to have their same reputation good regualr season team bad playoff team...i would love this too

[Roy Hobbs]

I see a ton of people who discount the Magic.  From my perspective, they're fooling themselves.

The Magic won the season series against us last year, and tied it this year.  They have a better record than us at the moment.  Yes, we've had injuries, but so have they; they're missing their all-star point guard, and have managed to pull their team together.  They've got the best big man in the NBA, two other all-star caliber players, and a number of decent role players.

Statistically, the Magic are #2 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, #3 in defensive FG%, and #7 in offensive efficiency.  They're an outstanding team, and I don't look  forward to playing them in the playoffs, especially if they have home court.

[Jon]

Maybe with a healthy Jameer Nelson, but that's not happening.  If KG plays 35 minutes, we win last game by at least 10 points.  And I can't see it happening any differently in the playoffs. 

[Brendan]

They rely heavily on three point shooting, if the shooting goes cold they'll find things hard all around. If Miki Moore is going to be a center piece of the rotation against them, we are in trouble. However with KG playing 35 minutes and Powe back, I don't fear them.

[crownsy]

I see a ton of people who discount the Magic.  From my perspective, they're fooling themselves.

The Magic won the season series against us last year, and tied it this year.  They have a better record than us at the moment.  Yes, we've had injuries, but so have they; they're missing their all-star point guard, and have managed to pull their team together.  They've got the best big man in the NBA, two other all-star caliber players, and a number of decent role players.

Statistically, the Magic are #2 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, #3 in defensive FG%, and #7 in offensive efficiency.  They're an outstanding team, and I don't look  forward to playing them in the playoffs, especially if they have home court.

much as i often think mike felger is an idiot, im with him on this.


"show me one team that relied on a big man down low and 4 guys just hanging out around the three point line that ever won anything in the playoffs. If they had a good slashing wing or played great defense, that would be another story, but as long as they just play howard and four shooters....living and dying by the three wotn get them far when teams like boston and cleveland and heck, even detroit tightin up the defense and make them shoot contested 3's all game."

or at least, thats the jist of his qoute from last night's sports tonight.

[CoachBo]

I see a ton of people who discount the Magic.  From my perspective, they're fooling themselves.

The Magic won the season series against us last year, and tied it this year.  They have a better record than us at the moment.  Yes, we've had injuries, but so have they; they're missing their all-star point guard, and have managed to pull their team together.  They've got the best big man in the NBA, two other all-star caliber players, and a number of decent role players.

Statistically, the Magic are #2 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, #3 in defensive FG%, and #7 in offensive efficiency.  They're an outstanding team, and I don't look  forward to playing them in the playoffs, especially if they have home court.

Excellent points all across. Orlando's a talented club which will be a tough, tough out in the playoffs for anyone.

Including us. I'd caution anyone who thinks we're just going to flip a switch and start playing championship basketball. It's not that simple.

[Roy Hobbs]

I see a ton of people who discount the Magic.  From my perspective, they're fooling themselves.

The Magic won the season series against us last year, and tied it this year.  They have a better record than us at the moment.  Yes, we've had injuries, but so have they; they're missing their all-star point guard, and have managed to pull their team together.  They've got the best big man in the NBA, two other all-star caliber players, and a number of decent role players.

Statistically, the Magic are #2 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, #3 in defensive FG%, and #7 in offensive efficiency.  They're an outstanding team, and I don't look  forward to playing them in the playoffs, especially if they have home court.

much as i often think mike felger is an idiot, im with him on this.


"show me one team that relied on a big man down low and 4 guys just hanging out around the three point line that ever won anything in the playoffs. If they had a good slashing wing or played great defense, that would be another story, but as long as they just play howard and four shooters....living and dying by the three wotn get them far when teams like boston and cleveland and heck, even detroit tightin up the defense and make them shoot contested 3's all game."

I wouldn't be so quick to adopt Felger's reasoning.

"If they had a good slashing wing or played great defense, that would be another story".

The Magic are, by the two most important defensive metrics, a top-three defensive team, possibly top two.

The Magic aren't strictly a perimeter-oriented team, either.  They're #4 in the NBA in free throws attempted.  Turkuglu shoots the same percentage of his shots from inside as Pierce does, and Lewis gets inside slightly more than Ray Allen.   Courtney Lee gets to the hoop at a pretty good clip, too. Rondo gets to the hoop on about 15% more of his shots than Alston does, but I'm not sure that that makes up the disparity between Howard (82% of shots from inside) and KG (28% of shots from inside). 

[crownsy]

I see a ton of people who discount the Magic.  From my perspective, they're fooling themselves.

The Magic won the season series against us last year, and tied it this year.  They have a better record than us at the moment.  Yes, we've had injuries, but so have they; they're missing their all-star point guard, and have managed to pull their team together.  They've got the best big man in the NBA, two other all-star caliber players, and a number of decent role players.

Statistically, the Magic are #2 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, #3 in defensive FG%, and #7 in offensive efficiency.  They're an outstanding team, and I don't look  forward to playing them in the playoffs, especially if they have home court.

much as i often think mike felger is an idiot, im with him on this.


"show me one team that relied on a big man down low and 4 guys just hanging out around the three point line that ever won anything in the playoffs. If they had a good slashing wing or played great defense, that would be another story, but as long as they just play howard and four shooters....living and dying by the three wotn get them far when teams like boston and cleveland and heck, even detroit tightin up the defense and make them shoot contested 3's all game."

I wouldn't be so quick to adopt Felger's reasoning.

"If they had a good slashing wing or played great defense, that would be another story".

The Magic are, by the two most important defensive metrics, a top-three defensive team, possibly top two.

The Magic aren't strictly a perimeter-oriented team, either.  They're #4 in the NBA in free throws attempted.  Turkuglu shoots the same percentage of his shots from inside as Pierce does, and Lewis gets inside slightly more than Ray Allen.   Courtney Lee gets to the hoop at a pretty good clip, too. Rondo gets to the hoop on about 15% more of his shots than Alston does, but I'm not sure that that makes up the disparity between Howard (82% of shots from inside) and KG (28% of shots from inside). 

I dunno roy, i still think they can win a game or two, and if we are banged up, which seems likely at this point, then were in trouble, but as a playoff team, i think they rely on the three ball far, far to much.

I'd be shocked to see them get out of the second round, and if they somehow get by us to the ECF, clevland will murder them.

[Roy Hobbs]

I still expect the Celtics to beat the Magic if healthy, but I don't think they'll be a push over.  It's one thing to argue that the Celtics are better; it's another to say that the Magic aren't a very good team, after they've won the majority of the games over the past two seasons, have the same record as us this year, and are a top-3 defensive team.

[moiso]

The Magic do have a good slashing wing player- Turkoglu, who hasn't had a great year but could get it going in the playoffs.  The Magic could win any given game in the playoffs because they have the most dominant beast in the paint and the best 3 pt shooting team in the league.  If Howard dominates and the shooters get hot in the same game, the Magic will be very tough to beat.  I would expect the C's to win a series with them but it may not be as easy as many people think.
Many people's mindstate seems to be that we play Cleveland then go directly to the finals.  Thats not the case- there are more rounds to be played and more challenges to overcome.  And Orlando could be a tough one.

[crownsy]

The Magic do have a good slashing wing player- Turkoglu, who hasn't had a great year but could get it going in the playoffs.  The Magic could win any given game in the playoffs because they have the most dominant beast in the paint and the best 3 pt shooting team in the league.  If Howard dominates and the shooters get hot in the same game, the Magic will be very tough to beat.  I would expect the C's to win a series with them but it may not be as easy as many people think.
Many people's mindstate seems to be that we play Cleveland then go directly to the finals.  Thats not the case- there are more rounds to be played and more challenges to overcome.  And Orlando could be a tough one.

I dont consider hedo a good slasher, he can do it, but not well. He has average footwork at best. If the refs arent calling his eggarated "throw your hands up, i got fouled" call on his out of control drives, he's pretty easy to ignore.

if were banged up, i can see them beating us. if were close to healthy, we beat them in 6.

[Celtics17]

When the Magic are hitting 3's they are a really good team. The problem is, as the playoffs progress and legs get tired they will not hit as many of them. This will allow defenses to collapse on Howard more and when this happens they cease to be a really good team. They will take our current team to 6 games. If we are healthy, it's over in 5.

[Who]

Low post scorers do not beat Boston. Sure, it happens once in a blue moon, but not with any regularity. The C's defend the low post, and the paint, better than any other team in the league. It's near impossible for a player like Dwight Howard to dominate a game offensively against Boston.

Orlando do not have the perimeter based talent required to beat a Boston squad in the playoffs. The loss of Jameer Nelson kills Orlando's playoff aspirations. If they were healthy? Yeah, I'd absolutely respect that team. They have (just about) enough talent (small margin for error) to beat a team like Boston in a 7 game series.

Congratulations to Orlando for playing well through the loss of Jameer Nelson, but there is simply no way in hell this team has enough to beat top quality opponents in the playoffs without him. They're too predictable and too easy to stifle.

[ManUp]

They can't beat us if we have Perk, BBD, KG, and Powe healthy. If we have to rely on Sir Fouls-a-lot(Mikki), then we're done for. Perk, and BBD can cover Howard straight up, while Garnett, and Powe can help limit his offensive boards. If we have all 4 we win a series against them pretty convincingly. It's more of a matchup thing between the two of us.

I think they could beat the Lakers, and Cavs in a series though. Howard would abuse Pau, and Ilguaskas. The Lakers I think they could beat convincingly(six), and the Cavs would be a tough one, but I still like them