Sunday, January 1, 2012

Orlando Magic Off to HOT Start!

The Orlando Magic are 3-1 to start off the season. It has been a wonderful start for the organization who continues to play with the Dwight Howard scenario looming overhead. Magic fans should be excited! Below will be the good and the bad of this starting record the Magic have earned.

The Bad:
    • Player consistency (outside Ryan Anderson, Dwight Howard, and JJ Redick) is still not being attained.
    • Orlando Magic earned three wins, but still against three non contending teams!
    • Chris BOOOOhon (crowd boos him when announced), continues to make all Magic fan’s cringe when he plays.
    • Hedo still needs to improve shot selection, always seems to prefer harder shots, and passes on the easy ones.
    • Jason Richardson needs to improve in all areas of the game; been a let down thus far in the season.
    • Larry Hughes needs to get familiar with Stan’s system.
    • Jameer Nelson has neck spasms.
    • Hedo and J.Rich need to maintain aggression throughout the game (but also Orlando needs to get them going early!)
The Good:
    • The Orlando Magic are gaining victories over teams they SHOULD be winning against.
    • Turnovers have fallen to about 12 per game after 18 in the OKC game.
    • JJ. Redick has played tremendously off the bench (6TH Man candidate if it continues)
    • Ryan Anderson has responded to the 30 plus minutes of playing times, being the highest scoring player on the team at 19.5 ppg.
    • Dwight Howard continues to dominant the paint offensively and defensively. (Past two games had each 24 rebounds!)
    • Dwight Howard is a much improved PASSER out of the paint, desperately needed for this Magic team to stay productive. (2.5 assist per game thus far).
    • The Bobcats game, Orlando had 44 points in the paint! Surprising site (BUT NEEDED), as Turk, J. Rich, Anderson and Redick attacked the paint.
    • Defense has been good, holding the other clubs to an average of about 87 points per game.
    • Stan “The Man” Van Gundy called the Bobcats win the best one yet!
    • This good start should hopefully influence Dwight Howard’s decision!
    • THE SIXTY GAME WIN DREAM REMAINS ALIVE!
Orlando fans should not be blinded to some aspects of the record. The Magic have played only 1 contending team in the OKC Thunder (who defeated the Magic easily). The other three wins have come against Houston Rockets, NJ Nets, and Charlotte Bobcats. The Magic play tonight against the Toronto Raptors and then tomorrow night against Detroit Pistons. GO MAGIC!!!