Dwight Howard was interviewed immediately following the Magic's win over the Clippers last night. When the question of facing the Sixers tonight came up, he basically laughed it off. It wasn't a guaranteed victory, or even a direct shot at the Sixers, it was more of a "We don't worry about teams like that," sort of comment. If the last game these teams played against each other is any indication, Dwight should be worried.
The game plan was simple back in
game 2 against the Magic, foul Dwight Howard early and foul him often. No easy dunks, no easy post opportunities. If Howard was going to touch the ball in position to score, he was going to have to earn his points at the line. The results were more than you could hope for. Howard shot 10/22 from the line, only attempted 5 field goals, turner the ball over 4 times and fouled out in 31 minutes of action.
The game plan should be just as simple tonight. Fight Howard for position on the blocks, if he gets the ball down there, double him. If he makes a strong move, hack the hell out of him. Be physical, foul him hard, no and-ones. If he's hitting his freebies, so be it. If he isn't, his frustration will mount and he'll start to lash out. Stan Van Gundy's patience will wear thin and he'll probably be hesitant to go to Howard. If you can take Howard out of the equation on the offensive side of the ball, Orlando doesn't have much you really need to worry about. Iguodala can lock down Hedo. Jrue on Jameer is a tougher matchup, but it's not a mismatch. The big concern is the three-point shooting from Richardson, Redick and Ryan Anderson. Typically, I like to double with a big on Howard, but that might not be an option if Anderson is camped out in three-point land. If that's the case, the nearest guy needs to go for the double and the rest of the defense needs to react quickly.
On the offensive end, I'm expecting Howard to be on Brand. This is bad for Brand, but good for the Sixers. Brand has been unconscious from about 10 to 18 feet for a long time now, Howard will have to come out and take that shot away from him, which leaves the middle of the floor wide open. Howard has been playing really heavy minutes in important, or close games, recently. He played all 48 in a game against the Heat last week. There's a reason for that. The Heat have absolutely no inside presence if he isn't on the floor. He played 37 minutes against the Clippers last night, so I can't imagine he'll be out there for 40 minutes tonight.
The Sixers can absolutely win this game based solely on the time Howard spends on the bench. When he's out, I don't want to see a single jump shot from the Sixers. They need to attack the rim mercilessly. No one on the Magic will even put up a fight. Play even when Howard is on the floor and build a lead when he sits. If Howard finds himself in foul trouble and only plays 30-35 minutes, this could easily be a 10-15 point win.
Prediction: PHI 105, ORL 97
The tip is at 7pm, game thread will land 90 minutes prior.
I think it really was more of a guaranteed win type comment. He said "there's no chance that happens again" (in reference to the Sixers taking them to overtime last game). But yes, underlying the statement that there is no chance they will lose tonight, is the sentiment that we are a joke to them.
This is the kind of game that will show what the Sixers are made of. Second night of a back-to-back, at home against a contender (at least in the media) who is somewhat struggling of late. A good team has to find a way to win this one.
The good thing about the matchup with the Magic is believe it or not the chance to go small. As ridiculous as it sounds, you are better of with 4 smaller guys chasing the other 4 Magic players off the three point line because they can quickly double Howard and get back to their man.
Yep, I'd definitely go small against them. Besides doubling quickly, the other guys can also drop down to foul Howard to keep Brand out of foul trouble. Hawes better give hard fouls tonight, I don't want to see any and-ones.
As far as the media is concerned, I think Orlando is now 'fourth' in the east behind even Chicago.
To most it's miami/boston
Chicago MAYBE if they're healthy but they dont' really have the experience yet
And then Orlando - and there's some distance between Chicago and Orlando.
Miami Boston will probably end up 1-2 and I don't think anyone believes Orlando can take either of em in a 7 game series - but they could take atlanta
Two tidbits:
* Sixers are up to 10th in Hollinger's Power Rankings (a 34-point road win does wonders for that), and Hollinger's program gives them a 4.7% chance of making the NBA Finals -- which is probably 4.6% higher than the most optimistic of us gives them :-)
* Sixers are 1-point underdogs to the Magic tonight (line opened at 2)
Wow, they're only +1? I would've expected the line to move in the other direction.
It's amazing the way that Vegas has started respecting the Sixers. I guess for good reason though, I would love to see the updated numbers but about a month ago we had the best ATS record in the NBA.
http://www.vegasinsider.com/nba/against-the-spread/
Best overall percentage but memphis has more covers?
I think I"m reading that right
Yep, thanks for the link. Best W % ATS. Pretty awesome. And of course the 2 games I bet the most on were this past weekends knicks games....both losses (ATS).
Makes sense though. That Knicks game on Sunday was the first one in awhile they weren't really competitive in, and that was due to an incredible shooting performance. They come to play every night, makes every game worth watching.
This season has a very 2008/9 feel to it. That was the year before they got Brand. They started slowly (3-9 and 5-13.) Young was a rookie, and really stepped up the second half of the year after only getting token minutes prior to the New Year. They started with KK, and then moved him in favor of a more athletic lineup.
That year they lost close early in early going, but "played hard." Then they started consistently beating bad teams. Then they closed the year out as one of the best teams after the All Star break- having an 18-5 stretch where they beat a ton of quality teams and rose above .500. Thad got dinged, and they wilted a bit heading into the playoffs(40-42), then made it interesting taking the first 2 of 3 from a good Pistons team.
By contrast, they turned the corner much earlier this year. They were 18-30 as late as Feb 5th, and then made their improbably run for .500.
Both teams were led by Iguodala (who emerged that year in Jan after a slow start) and a rejuvenated vet (Miller.) This year they also started with a poor facsimile of KK ( Kapono and then Noce) before going to a more athletic roster. Young has been a key for each roster. And hopefully Turner emerges late in the season much as Young stepped up.
That year turned out to be a bit of Fool's Gold- but partly because Brand did not turn out to be the right addition. The similarities don't by themselves make this year Fool's Gold... but the possibility is there.
You mean 2007/2008...
Actually i was looking at a lot of stats from the two playoff seasons today and this years team is better in everything so far except rebounding. They are better both offensively and defensively. And one would expect they will even get better.
I think you might be mixing your years. 07-08 was the year before they got Brand. They did play the Pistons in the playoffs in 07-08, but Thad got dinged the following year, in 08-09 (before they played the Magic). Iguodala was the one who got dinged in 07-08, if I'm remembering correctly (otherwise he probably would have averaged 20 PPG that year). Both years had in common that they started slowly and came on strongly, then finished the regular season poorly, then shocked everyone by taking of 2 of 3 from a higher seed, then shocked no one by eventually losing the series (with home blowout losses in both Game 6's).
Sorry, I was looking at 2007/8. Sorry for the typo. The records I referred to were from 2007/8:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHI/2008_games.html
And you are right about Young. he was playing starters minutes down the stretch that season. So I'm not sure why they struggled so badly their final 7 games.
Orlando really weakened themselves defensively in the trades and guys like Iggy [Turkaglu] and Lou [Arenas] really have to take it to their defenders. Is Meeks playing closer to a Redick level in the past 2 weeks?
Reddick has better handles and is a slightly better defender.
Ball handling is kind of an overrated asset for guys who are spot up shooters on offense. That's not really a big deal.
Redick has basically turned himself into an average defender, which is quite a feat.
Meeks is a very, very flawed player. I cringe every time he attacks the rim in the open floor. He also is really limited on defense.
That being said, he's been a part of that gangbusters 5 man unit, and I don't think you can say it's a fluke any more. His shooting is a very valuable asset, and he's a guy that this team sorely needs when he's a threat like he's been more most of this year. A 40 percent three point shooter who spaces the floor has had a huge part in making this team a playoff team.
Over the past week or so, I've started to think "Make" when Jodie shoots a three. That's a good sign.
He seemed to get his hand on the ball defensively a lot last night helping the team to run. The issue will be not giving him a Willie contract this summer.
Yep, I'm hoping this is just him and not another hot streak. If he can just consistently hit threes, then teams need to worry about him on a nightly basis. I'd much prefer that to having him shoot 60% from three for five games then, 20% for the next ten. But I guess that goes w/out saying.
Still in shock that he had 8 rebounds in the last game.
Far from me to be an expert, but I think he'll be a little more consistent. His shots are much more within the flow of the offense. In the past, he either was:
a. Hot and they were running him off crazy screens and he made really high degree of difficulty shots. That's because he was on fire.
b. Cold and he was standing in the corner as a last option.
Now I see him flowing to the open spot on the three point line and the ball movement is crisp as it gets to him. It's like when EB draws 2 defenders he passes it out, and boom-boom (two passes) and Jodie's got an open three in rhythm.
Shooters are streaky though, it's kind of a mind game.
I like Howard but fuck Him hopefully the sixers players got word of this and we will show these dudes why that trade they made was horrible.
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