Magic Searching for Answers
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Feb 28, 2009
ORLANDO -- It was an all too familiar scenario for the Magic.
And unfortunately so was the result.
With Orlando looking to make a statement against Detroit and capitalize on its misfortunes – it had lost eight straight heading into Friday’s contest – the Magic took the court seeking to pay back the Pistons for eliminating them in their last three postseason appearances.
But they were able to do no such thing.
Despite a solid 21-point, 13-rebound effort from Dwight Howard, the Magic could not slow down the Pistons’ backcourt or match them on the glass. And Detroit once again controlled the tempo of the game as it pulled away for a 93-85 road victory.
“We got it going for awhile in the second quarter, but after that, they had control of the tempo of the game,” Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy explained in his postgame press conference. “They play very, very slow; the game is down in the 80s. In two years we have played them 11 times; we’ve won three. All three of the ones we’ve won, we’ve scored over 100.”
The Magic certainly didn’t get any favors on Friday.
Rasheed Wallace was supposed to be suspended for the contest, but after the NBA rescinded two of his technical fouls, he was eligible to play.
And Richard Hamilton, who was silently seething about being reserved to a bench role, finally got the opportunity to start with Allen Iverson sidelined due to a stiff back. He did his best to make a case to his coaching staff about being reinserted into the starting lineup as he fired off 31 points.
“Coach said from the start he was going to come in looking to be aggressive being that he wanted back into the starting lineup and we should have prepared for that,” newly acquired guard Rafer Alston said. “He’s a great player and we can’t allow a guy like that just to get going. And then we’ve got to find a way to slow him down somewhere during the game.”
While it would be easy to write it off as just one of 82 games, the Magic are taking a slightly different approach following this defeat.
They look at it as a wake-up call for what they need to do on the defensive end to limit the amount of points scored by the opposition’s backcourt.
“We have to get back to focusing on team defense,” rookie guard Courtney Lee said. “Instead of everybody worrying about certain people scoring, we all have to focus on locking the team down as a unit. Whether that is help side, weak side, getting rebounds or helping somebody block out and rotating. We have to get back to all that.”
His new teammate agrees.
“I was giving too many driving alleys for (Rodney) Stuckey,” Alston pointed out. “We’ve got to be able to contain them, keep them in front of us and make them take jump shots. A contested jump shot is better than shots at the rim.”
Another aspect to the equation that can’t be overlooked is the lack of continuity in the Magic’s backcourt.
Since the season-ending shoulder injury to Jameer Nelson, Orlando has had Anthony Johnson, Hedo Turkoglu, Lee along with newcomers Tyronn Lue and Alston all run the point. They’ve also had teammate Mickael Pietrus sidelined for various stretches because of injuries.
With Pietrus in and out of the lineup, there are a lot of players who just haven’t spent that much time together.
“Yeah it takes some time,” Pietrus pointed out. “Rafer just got here and Tyronn Lue too. We are looking forward to how well the new guys can fit. They’re getting better at what we do.”
It’s not lost on the Magic that they could again see the Pistons in the playoffs, especially in the first round. And while Orlando’s All-Star center believes some slight improvements have to be made, he thinks a lot of it has to do with the team’s mentality when it comes to Detroit.
“I don’t know what it is but we’ve got to get over that hump,” Howard explained after the game. “It’s more mental than anything. I think it’s the same thing we kind of went through with the Hawks. They just had our number. I think everything was mental, so we’ve just got to do a better job. Just try to block that out and come out and try to win.”
Howard is confident that if given the opportunity Orlando will finally have the answer for Detroit this postseason.
“I’m not worried about it,” Howard said. “I think we want to be playing our best basketball come playoff time. We know what it takes to beat this team. We’ve just got to do it.”
Although Orlando attempts to never give one game more importance than another, don’t be surprised if it has its March 9th date in Detroit circled on its calendar.
