We're clearly superior to this Magic team and should win the next 3 games..

[MVP23]

We played horrendous for the majority of the game, the refs called the game with an agenda, and LD was completely outcoached, and yet we still manged to hang in there on the road in a must win game for them. The thing about the NBA playoffs is that its hard for the weaker team to ever win a 7 game series. They may win one or two, but to win 4 is almost impossible. We're clearly better than them, and I expect us to take this game, and come away from it a lot confident. Personally, I can not wait until Friday..

At least we're not the Knicks guys.

[Bawse]

Agreeing with the thread title. I gotta say that this game was one of the WORST officiated games I have ever seen in recent memory. This was essentially the Atlanta Hawks vs The Orlando Magic/Refs. Honestly. I was pissed beyond belief. This game was ours.

That being said, hopefully we can get some home cooking down in the A-Town the next few games. We can win this series.

[Supporter]

Too bad we are the weaker team in the eyes of the NBA. Orlando has Dwight and ugh we have.....Joshfred (Joe+Josh+Alfred)......sigh

[TheTruth]

I STILL think this series can go either way, but in no way am I scared of ORL with the way both teams are playing.

Unfortunately for our Hawks, we have to beat Orlando AND the refs each night.

[APE]

That one charge on Jamal when Anderson was already falling was so bad I could do nothing but laugh.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Bruin

[GameTime]

We can definitively win this series. The question is if we want to or not.

[CBAreject]

We played horrendous for the majority of the game, the refs called the game with an agenda, and LD was completely outcoached, and yet we still manged to hang in there on the road in a must win game for them. The thing about the NBA playoffs is that its hard for the weaker team to ever win a 7 game series. They may win one or two, but to win 4 is almost impossible. We're clearly better than them, and I expect us to take this game, and come away from it a lot confident. Personally, I can not wait until Friday..

At least we're not the Knicks guys.

When your center can post 35/20 at will, you're tough to beat. I think if we played this series an infinite number of times, we'd win about 40%. That's a guess, but it doesn't really matter, because the point is, we can win it. With a good gameplan and tenacious play, we may even be favorites. I just don't think we're "clearly superior". That 35/20 coming from #12 is a lot to overcome.

[Hawked]

If Dwight gets in early foul trouble we will win. JUST get Dwight out of the freaking game.

[NineOhTheRino]

We played horrendous for the majority of the game, the refs called the game with an agenda, and LD was completely outcoached, and yet we still manged to hang in there on the road in a must win game for them. The thing about the NBA playoffs is that its hard for the weaker team to ever win a 7 game series. They may win one or two, but to win 4 is almost impossible. We're clearly better than them, and I expect us to take this game, and come away from it a lot confident. Personally, I can not wait until Friday..

At least we're not the Knicks guys.

Saying he was outcoached would suggest he actually coached. At one point I swear I saw him fall asleep.

[A31rM]

How are the Hawks better than the magic again?

[Buzzard]

How are the Hawks better than the magic again?

Maybe you should ask your coach this question. He said we were the better team after we took the regular season series. And nothing we have done the last two playoff games points to the Magic being better. We won the 1st handily and despite being woeful from the field and the refs handing you 36fta and 29pts off those we were only down by 2 inside 4 minutes in the 2nd.

I get our bigs dishing out fouls on Howard, but where the refs hamstrung us was with all the ticky tack fouls they called on our guards and forwards that were not guarding Howard. I would hazard a guess that this was the first time this season that our starting PG and backup PG totaled nine fouls between them.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Buzzard

[A31rM]

And nothing we have done the last two playoff games points to the Magic being better. We won the 1st handily and despite being woeful from the field blah blah we lost the 2nd

Hawks won the first one because of ridiculous jumpshooting all around. There was nothing special to the game that made the Hawks look superior. Most of the shots we took were heavily contested jumpshots from isolations but the thing was, they were falling and it made the offense look good. However, this is the playoffs. This kind of shooting does not continue as seen in game 2 (actually thought it was gonna continue with the way those long 3's Jamal and Joe heaved at the end of shotclocks hitting nothing but net) and it was really highlighted that you can't win games consistently with an offense that requires you to make contested shots all the time. The Magic on the other hand, kept getting good looks but their shots were not falling. You cannot say "oh we almost got the win despite shooting terribly", well the magic shot even WORSE considering the (MUCH MUCH BETTER) looks they had.

I get our bigs dishing out fouls on Howard, but where the refs hamstrung us was with all the ticky tack fouls they called on our guards and forwards that were not guarding Howard. I would hazard a guess that this was the first time this season that our starting PG and backup PG totaled nine fouls between them.

You go to a Magic forum and they'll be complaining about the reffing as much as you are. Ticky tack fouls were called both ways and overall the horrible reffing was pretty much equaled out between the teams.

[Buzzard]

Hawks won the first one because of ridiculous jumpshooting all around. There was nothing special to the game that made the Hawks look superior. Most of the shots we took were heavily contested jumpshots from isolations but the thing was, they were falling and it made the offense look good. However, this is the playoffs. This kind of shooting does not continue as seen in game 2 (actually thought it was gonna continue with the way those long 3's Jamal and Joe heaved at the end of shotclocks hitting nothing but net) and it was really highlighted that you can't win games consistently with an offense that requires you to make contested shots all the time. The Magic on the other hand, kept getting good looks but their shots were not falling. You cannot say "oh we almost got the win despite shooting terribly", well the magic shot even WORSE considering the (MUCH MUCH BETTER) looks they had.

You go to a Magic forum and they'll be complaining about the reffing as much as you are. Ticky tack fouls were called both ways and overall the horrible reffing was pretty much equaled out between the teams.

What you are saying is a big negative for the Magic. You can't win with contested jump shots yet they lead the league in 3pt attempts this season. All we have to do to win is contest their jumpers and let Howard try and beat us by himself. That is pretty much what you are saying with that (bold) statement you made. You do know that during the regular season we held the Magic to 41% FG% and now it is below that.

I agree with you 100%. Howard is it and their guards and forwards are getting zero dribble penetration. Smoove , ZaZa, JJ, and Horf had some great looks inside 12ft that did not fall yet you think its horrible that the Magic had some great looks outside 20 that did not fall.

Everyone had some easy looks that they missed, its just the Magic fans and coaches cry a little louder about theirs.

[A31rM]

What you are saying is a big negative for the Magic. You can't win with contested jump shots yet they lead the league in 3pt attempts this season. All we have to do to win is contest their jumpers and let Howard try and beat us by himself. That is pretty much what you are saying with that (bold) statement you made. You do know that during the regular season we held the Magic to 41% FG% and now it is below that.

I agree with you 100%. Howard is it and their guards and forwards are getting zero dribble penetration. Smoove , ZaZa, JJ, and Horf had some great looks inside 12ft that did not fall yet you think its horrible that the Magic had some great looks outside 20 that did not fall.

Everyone had some easy looks that they missed, its just the Magic fans and coaches cry a little louder about theirs.

The magic lead the league in 3pt attempts because the looks they get are open. How many three pointers do you remember seeing the magic take that were heavily contested? Anyway, what I was trying to put forward was that there is a difference in the shot selection between the teams. The Hawks take contested iso jumpers, whereas the shots that the Magic take are either post ups for Dwight, or OPEN jumpshots / OPEN three pointers. The offense that we're playing right now is very very inefficient. The shots were falling in game 1, however that FG% you see in game 2 is a rough estimate of what the Hawks are going to continue to get. You cannot continue to expect a good FG% when all we're doing is pulling up for jumpers. For the magic, it is just a case of making open jumpshots (which they didn't) which means that their percentages ARE going to increase.

Therefore the thread title is awfully wrong. Yeah we may have a decent defensive strategy on them when their shots aren't falling but there is no way that we can outscore them with this offense.

Oh and during the regular season NONE of the games were actually fair for both sides. The magic had a lot of players out due to either sickness, injuries or trades (no practice for the Magic the time we played them). So I don't really count whatever happened during the regular season. I'm looking at what's happening now and drawing my conclusions based upon facts.

[Buzzard]

Therefore the thread title is awfully wrong. Yeah we may have a decent defensive strategy on them when their shots aren't falling but there is no way that we can outscore them with this offense.

Oh and during the regular season NONE of the games were actually fair for both sides. The magic had a lot of players out due to either sickness, injuries or trades (no practice for the Magic the time we played them). So I don't really count whatever happened during the regular season. I'm looking at what's happening now and drawing my conclusions based upon facts.

I have no idea what you are talking about with just facts. Just facts is your guards shot over 50% against us two seasons ago regular and playoffs, just facts is Jameer is shooting .424 and everyone else is shooting below .300 other than Dwight. Just facts is a shooting slump is not the whole damn team, its one or two players. Just facts is when a team is shooting this bad against a team, and not the league, it is due to said teams defense.

Don't you get it, we are holding the Magic well below their season and past playoff FG averages. Maybe you will now claim its a jinx and not our D. But the facts is we held the Magic down, while they did pretty well against other teams in the league. And did really well against us the previous three or more seasons. Your fact is its a team slump, my fact is you did not play this way against other teams. Jameer owned us until this season. Now our D has reduced him to nothing more than a volume scorer.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Buzzard

[A31rM]

I have no idea what you are talking about with just facts. Just facts is your guards shot over 50% against us two seasons ago regular and playoffs, just facts is Jameer is shooting .424 and everyone else is shooting below .300 other than Dwight. Just facts is a shooting slump is not the whole damn team, its one or two players. Just facts is when a team is shooting this bad against a team, and not the league, it is due to said teams defense.

Don't you get it, we are holding the Magic well below their season and past playoff FG averages. Maybe you will now claim its a jinx and not our D. But the facts is we held the Magic down, while they did pretty well against other teams in the league. And did really well against us the previous three or more seasons. Your fact is its a team slump, my fact is you did not play this way against other teams. Jameer owned us until this season. Now our D has reduced him to nothing more than a volume scorer.

Well when I watched the post game interviews, all the Magic players were talking about how they were able to win a game with great energy and hustle even though their shot is not falling.

If you want to believe that it is the 'smothering' Hawks defense that is causing the Magic players to miss open shots, then go ahead. I have no problem with that and I really do hope that the 'defense' carries on like this. Because right now it is the only thing that is giving us a chance to win in these games (my point being about our offense).

[gutz]

Well when I watched the post game interviews, all the Magic players were talking about how they were able to win a game with great energy and hustle even though their shot is not falling.

If you want to believe that it is the 'smothering' Hawks defense that is causing the Magic players to miss open shots, then go ahead. I have no problem with that and I really do hope that the 'defense' carries on like this. Because right now it is the only thing that is giving us a chance to win in these games (my point being about our offense).

Dude Hawks have a better team than the Magic. Our starting 5 is superior at every position except for Center and equal at PG. Our bench is WAY better with Jamal, Marvin, Zaza etc. Your bench consists of a gimp, overpaid Arenas and JJ Redick who couldn't guard a 3yr old. Give me a break. Jamal Crawford would be the 2nd best player on your team behind Howard.

Hinrich = Jameer

JJ > J-rich

SMoove > Hedo

Horford > Bass

Collins < Howard but we normally start Horford at Center but not this series due to matchup and Marvin usually starts at SF.

[Buzzard]

Well when I watched the post game interviews, all the Magic players were talking about how they were able to win a game with great energy and hustle even though their shot is not falling.

If you want to believe that it is the 'smothering' Hawks defense that is causing the Magic players to miss open shots, then go ahead. I have no problem with that and I really do hope that the 'defense' carries on like this. Because right now it is the only thing that is giving us a chance to win in these games (my point being about our offense).

And the only things that is giving the Magic even a outside shot to stay in this one was 20 off rebounds and 36 ft attempts vs 13 off rebounds and 30 ft attempts the game before. No way Horford sits anymore with just two fouls. We should have been up by 10 or more going into halftime. Got to give the refs credit, they wanted to keep it close and they succeeded.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Buzzard

[Randy]

Everybody is forgetting Orlando's x-factor- the guys in striped shirts.

[A31rM]

And the only things that is giving the Magic even a outside shot to stay in this one was 20 off rebounds and 36 ft attempts vs 13 off rebounds and 30 ft attempts the game before. No way Horford sits anymore with just two fouls. We should have been up by 10 or more going into halftime. Got to give the refs credit, they wanted to keep it close and they succeeded.

Everytime I make a great point, you just start talking about something different, but fine.

It's twice now that the Magic has pounded the Hawks on the boards. Rebounding is a consistant part of playoff basketball and the magic has always been a good rebounding team. The free throws are always going to be called no matter if you think they are not real fouls because Howard averaged 12~ FT attempts per game and all our bigs are doing is fouling him as soon as he gets to the basket.

By the way why is everybody forgetting the horribly lucky shots we made? The three 3 pointers that came WAY beyond the line and some random tip in adds up to 11 points. You're making all these excuses about how blah blah blah next time this will happen blah blah.

Ok ok I'm gonna stop talking as if I'm a hawks fan :)