Related Images
Denton: Keys to Game 2
By John Denton
April 20, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO -- Orlandomagic.com writer John Denton breaks down the three keys for Wednesday night’s Game 2 between the Magic and the Charlotte Bobcats.
1. Keep Dwight Howard out of foul trouble. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year was as dominant as he’s ever been at any point in his six-year NBA career on Sunday, setting Magic playoff records for blocks in a quarter (six) and a half (eight) and tied his own record for a game (nine).
But he did all of that despite playing only 27 minutes because of foul trouble. Two of Howard’s fouls came on Charlotte drives to the hoop, two came in retaliation to hacks from opposing big men and another one came when Howard got switched to Gerald Wallace on the perimeter.
The Magic must do a good job of slowing down dribble penetration to help keep Howard out of foul trouble. If he has to contest 15-20 shots at the rim, more foul trouble could come. And Howard has to keep his cool and not react when he’s hacked by Tyson Chandler, Theo Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed.
2. Get better shots for Vince Carter, especially ones going to the rim. Carter suffered through a miserable first playoff game with the Magic, making just four of 19 shots and missing all five of his 3-point shots. To make matters worse, he was hit with a technical and fouled out before scoring just 12 points.
Some of Carter’s misses were merely bad luck and the ball rattling out, something that hasn’t happened too often the past two months as Carter has shot the ball well. But there were times when Carter forced shots in one-on-one sets and stopped driving to the rim.
Because Charlotte worked to deny Carter the ball, the Magic need to keep the star shooting guard on the move more and set better picks for him. Orlando also needs to take better advantage of the side pick-and-roll plays where Carter gets point guards Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin switched onto him.
3. Go at Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace. Jackson sat out the final nine minutes of Game 1 after badly hyper-extending his left knee when Wallace dove into his leg. He suffered a bone bruise in the knee, but has vowed to play Wednesday night.
Jackson has been guarding Matt Barnes so that he could conserve his energy for the offensive end, but the Magic need Barnes to work Jackson on both ends of the floor. If Jackson can’t hold up physically, Charlotte will have to play Larry Hughes, and that’s a tradeoff the Magic will take any day.
Wallace hurt the Magic on Sunday with 25 points and 17 rebounds. But his most important statistic was his 13 free throw attempts. Most of those fouls were on Carter and Howard, getting them off the floor. At some point the Magic might have to consider trapping Wallace or Jackson and daring others to make 3-pointers.
By John Denton
April 20, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO -- Orlandomagic.com writer John Denton breaks down the three keys for Wednesday night’s Game 2 between the Magic and the Charlotte Bobcats.
1. Keep Dwight Howard out of foul trouble. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year was as dominant as he’s ever been at any point in his six-year NBA career on Sunday, setting Magic playoff records for blocks in a quarter (six) and a half (eight) and tied his own record for a game (nine).
But he did all of that despite playing only 27 minutes because of foul trouble. Two of Howard’s fouls came on Charlotte drives to the hoop, two came in retaliation to hacks from opposing big men and another one came when Howard got switched to Gerald Wallace on the perimeter.
The Magic must do a good job of slowing down dribble penetration to help keep Howard out of foul trouble. If he has to contest 15-20 shots at the rim, more foul trouble could come. And Howard has to keep his cool and not react when he’s hacked by Tyson Chandler, Theo Ratliff and Nazr Mohammed.
2. Get better shots for Vince Carter, especially ones going to the rim. Carter suffered through a miserable first playoff game with the Magic, making just four of 19 shots and missing all five of his 3-point shots. To make matters worse, he was hit with a technical and fouled out before scoring just 12 points.
Some of Carter’s misses were merely bad luck and the ball rattling out, something that hasn’t happened too often the past two months as Carter has shot the ball well. But there were times when Carter forced shots in one-on-one sets and stopped driving to the rim.
Because Charlotte worked to deny Carter the ball, the Magic need to keep the star shooting guard on the move more and set better picks for him. Orlando also needs to take better advantage of the side pick-and-roll plays where Carter gets point guards Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin switched onto him.
3. Go at Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace. Jackson sat out the final nine minutes of Game 1 after badly hyper-extending his left knee when Wallace dove into his leg. He suffered a bone bruise in the knee, but has vowed to play Wednesday night.
Jackson has been guarding Matt Barnes so that he could conserve his energy for the offensive end, but the Magic need Barnes to work Jackson on both ends of the floor. If Jackson can’t hold up physically, Charlotte will have to play Larry Hughes, and that’s a tradeoff the Magic will take any day.
Wallace hurt the Magic on Sunday with 25 points and 17 rebounds. But his most important statistic was his 13 free throw attempts. Most of those fouls were on Carter and Howard, getting them off the floor. At some point the Magic might have to consider trapping Wallace or Jackson and daring others to make 3-pointers.
