# Orlando Magic @ Charlotte Bobcats Game Thread



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Orlando Magic at Charlotte Bobcats, 7 p.m. ET









Orlando Magic
Coached by: Johnny Davis 

Projected Starting Lineup:




































S. Francis  | C. Mobley  | Grant Hill  | D. Howard  | K. Cato  

Key Reserves:






















T. Battie | H. Turkoglu | P. Garrity 












Charlotte Bobcats
Coached by: Bernie Bickerstaff 

Projected Starting Lineup:




































B. Knight | J. Kapono | G. Wallace | E. Okafor | P. Brezec

Key Reserves:






















S. Smith | Jason Hart |M. Ely 


Key Matchup:
Battle of the Top 2 Draft Picks-















Dwight Howard vs. Emeka Okafor


My Prediction: The Magic start out a little sluggishly playing back-to-back games on the road, and coming off of two emotional victories, but they recover soon enough to beat the expansion Bobcats pretty easily, 103-89.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Scouting Report from OrlandoSentinel.com
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Magic at Bobcats, 7

WHERE: Charlotte (N.C.) Coliseum.

BROADCASTS: TV -- WRBW-Ch. 65. Radio -- 580 AM (WDBO); Spanish-language, 1030 AM (WONQ).

MAGIC UPDATE: After facing the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night, the Orlando Magic will play their first back-to-back of the season. SF Grant Hill will play his first back-to-back since December 2002. . . . Sidelight of the game: Magic PF Dwight Howard, the No.1 pick in the draft, plays against PF Emeka Okafor, the No. 2 selection. . . . Although it is common for players on the injured list to travel with teams, PF Brandon Hunter, C/PF Mario Kasun and C/PF Andrew DeClercq did not make the trip.

BOBCATS UPDATE: Charlotte lost its inaugural game as an expansion franchise Thursday night, falling to the Washington Wizards 103-96. . . . G Keith Bogans, traded from Orlando to Charlotte last week, is on the Bobcats' injured list. . . . .The debuting double-doubles by Howard and Okafor were the first by No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks since 1981 when Isiah Thomas and Mark Aquirre recorded double-doubles in their first games.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Howard vs. Okafor. It looks to be a matchup to watch for years.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Sweet. Looks like I am going to get this game here in Tampa. I guess some of the games will be on here like last year on Channel WXPX Pax 66, some really crappy local channel that I never even knew I had. :laugh: Nice.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

NBA.com's Preview of Tonight's Game 

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- After starting the 2003-04 season with a 1-19 record, the Orlando Magic look for their first 3-0 start since the 1993-94 campaign when they visit the expansion Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday. 

Steve Francis, who was acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets for two-time scoring champ Tracy McGrady during the offseason, scored 26 points in Orlando's season-opening victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, including the go-ahead layup with 0.2 seconds left. 

On Friday, Francis came through with another clutch performance. He scored 19 points and hit a follow shot with 2.7 seconds remaining to lift the new-look Magic to a 90-89 triumph over the New Orleans Hornets. 

It was the first consecutive one-point victories in franchise history for Orlando, which returned just four players from last year's team. 

Free-agent acquisition Hedo Turkoglu scored 21 points in Friday's victory after managing just four points in his Magic debut. 

Saturday's contest marks the first meeting between Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor - the top two picks in the 2004 Draft.


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

I'm hoping that Dwight gets some more touches in tonights game. Considering that last night he only had 2 field goal attempts I really think we should be getting the ball to him more often, even if he misses *all* of the shots, he needs the experience of at least knowing how to get his shot up. Even though we won last night in New Orleans, I was somewhat shocked to see Dwight only attempt 2 shots.
I believe that we should dominate this game and win by double digits, especially with our experienced backcourt against Knight and Kapono.
I'm hoping to see Dwight score a bit tonight, and actually get some opportunities considering that Okafor and Brezec is a weak frontline. This game is ours to lose, 98-83 Magic.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Lachlanwood32</b>!
> I'm hoping that Dwight gets some more touches in tonights game. Considering that last night he only had 2 field goal attempts I really think we should be getting the ball to him more often, even if he misses *all* of the shots, he needs the experience of at least knowing how to get his shot up. Even though we won last night in New Orleans, I was somewhat shocked to see Dwight only attempt 2 shots.
> I believe that we should dominate this game and win by double digits, especially with our experienced backcourt against Knight and Kapono.
> I'm hoping to see Dwight score a bit tonight, and actually get some opportunities considering that Okafor and Brezec is a weak frontline. This game is ours to lose, 98-83 Magic.


I agree, last night was an ugly game. A lot of negatives if you look at it, but the one huge positive is that our team didn't play well but somehow found a way to win. That's a great sign. Tonight I'd like to see Mobley get on track, he has no excuses going up against Jason Kapono. I'm also looking for Dwight to have a better game, and get a few touches down low or at least get involved in the fast break. Which brings me to my next point of the Magic needing to get out and run more like they did against Milwaukee. That's a great way to get Howard involved in the game, as well as to create easy buckets and get to the line.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

11-6 Bobcats, Howard on the bench with 2 early fouls. :sigh:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

20-14 Bobcats, Grant Hill to the line for 2. The Magic's halfcourt offense is way out of tune, and they're playing sloppy once again.


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## adomis82 (Aug 30, 2004)

Did I just see Hedo posterize Okafor??


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

HEDO TURKOGLU!!!

Nice finish to the quarter by the Magic, end up taking a 22-20 lead after one. But damn, what a dunk by Turkoglu. Almost like Francis' dunk over Erick Strickland.


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## Half-aMAziNg (Oct 16, 2004)

Charlotte looks great out there....:shy:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Holy ****, what a horrible finish to the half. Bobcats up 7 at the break, 49-42. Francis didn't do much in the first half, Garrity sucks and keeps throwing up bricks, Battie is throwing up a bunch of bricks too, the only reason we're still in the game is because we're at least getting to the free throw line. Hill had 12 points in the half, which is a good sign considering the Magic played last night too. Let's hope we can have a better second half and pull this one out. :upset:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Assists
Magic: 5
Jason Hart: 9

3-Pointers
Magic: 0-4
Bobcats: 3-3

Field Goal Percentage
Magic: 28.2%
Bobcats: 42.0%

:upset:


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Good thing nobody's watching this game...


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## Dark Praetor (Mar 20, 2004)

They're channelling last years' team... minus T-Mac.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

What an awful game. Not much more to say than that. Awful, awful performence by the Magic tonight. :no:


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## Charlotte_______ (May 18, 2003)

Oh my goodness Bobcats win. This wil go down in the history books for sure. Great game by Okafor, Brezec, Hart, and Wallace.


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## Idunkonyou (Feb 23, 2003)

Horrible defensive effort.


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## BallStateCards (Oct 14, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> Assists
> Magic: 5
> Jason Hart: 9
> ...


That reminds me of the Lakers game the other night...


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## PartisanRanger (Oct 24, 2004)

Damn, ya'll got owned by the Bobcats... Not a good sign for the franchise (no, I'm not talking about the player).


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>PartisanRanger</b>!
> Damn, ya'll got owned by the Bobcats... Not a good sign for the franchise (no, I'm not talking about the player).


It's embarrassing for now, but in the long run it's not too big of a deal. Especially if we can bounce back and steal the game from Dallas on Tuesday, it'd erase a lot of the harm from this loss. While losing to Charlotte sucks and is embarrassing, it's not the end of the world. Step back and take a look at the grande scheme of things, and the Magic are 2-1 and tied for 2nd in the division. We're fine.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>PartisanRanger</b>!
> Damn, ya'll got owned by the Bobcats... Not a good sign for the franchise (no, I'm not talking about the player).


:laugh: - Not a good sign for the franchise. Somebody was going to lose to them eventually ... at least we got it out of the way early.

Part of me expected this after the two big wins previously. A letdown was almost inevitable in this game. And this game was a combination of Charlotte playing some pretty good ball and the Magic playing pretty downright crappy. 

Good thing a loss to the Bobcats counts the same in the loss column as a loss to the Spurs or Wolves or whoever.

This game doesn't really worry me. If anything, I think this loss gives us a better chance to beat Dallas in the next game.

Good sign Hill playing without a problem. I watched the game off and on while playing poker. Looks like Grant is slowly starting to move better, quicker, and handle the ball better. And eventually Garrity is going to start hitting some shots ... I swear he will.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> :laugh: - Not a good sign for the franchise. Somebody was going to lose to them eventually ... at least we got it out of the way early.
> ...


God, Garrity was dreadful. :no:


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## magicfan187 (Jun 28, 2003)

was it just me or was the first 3 fouls on howard really cheap? and i personally dont think okafur looked that great out there, did you see him trie to shoot over howard and howard stuffed him? funny stuff


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>magicfan187</b>!
> was it just me or was the first 3 fouls on howard really cheap? and i personally dont think okafur looked that great out there, did you see him trie to shoot over howard and howard stuffed him? funny stuff


lets not blame it on the refs unless its a meaningful game like in the playoffs


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

Terrible. Disgusted. These are the words that best describe my feelings towards last nights game. To think that we let Charlotte score 111 points makes me wonder what the hell we were doing out there. Sure, we can have an off night shooting, but if anyone (not even us) scores 100 points against the Bobcats it should be an automatic win. To let a team full of bench players and Okafor score 111 points is disgraceful. It's not as if they shot the lights out to either.
I hope none of the supporters of the Bobcats takes this the wrong way, congratulations on being the better team on the night.


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Lachlanwood32</b>!
> Terrible. Disgusted. These are the words that best describe my feelings towards last nights game. To think that we let Charlotte score 111 points makes me wonder what the hell we were doing out there. Sure, we can have an off night shooting, but if anyone (not even us) scores 100 points against the Bobcats it should be an automatic win. To let a team full of bench players and Okafor score 111 points is disgraceful. It's not as if they shot the lights out to either.
> I hope none of the supporters of the Bobcats takes this the wrong way, congratulations on being the better team on the night.


I'd lose 1 game to the bobcats than lose 19 games in a row. :yes:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Lachlanwood32</b>!
> Terrible. Disgusted. These are the words that best describe my feelings towards last nights game. To think that we let Charlotte score 111 points makes me wonder what the hell we were doing out there. Sure, we can have an off night shooting, but if anyone (not even us) scores 100 points against the Bobcats it should be an automatic win. To let a team full of bench players and Okafor score 111 points is disgraceful. It's not as if they shot the lights out to either.
> I hope none of the supporters of the Bobcats takes this the wrong way, congratulations on being the better team on the night.


Agreed. The defensive effort out there was horrible. What made me really mad though was how stupid the Magic played yesterday, on both ends of the court. Stupid, stupid decisions left and right.


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## lw32 (May 24, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>BallBiologist</b>!
> I'd lose 1 game to the bobcats than lose 19 games in a row. :yes:


I'd consider both horribly embarrassing. Of course, 19 games is a lot worse for the standings. But can there be anything worse than letting a bunch of players that wouldn't start on any other team in the league (besides Okafor) score 111 points in 48 minutes at 46% shooting. I'd consider that just as demoralizing, but you're right 19 loses is horrible too.


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Lachlanwood32</b>!
> 
> I'd consider both horribly embarrassing. Of course, 19 games is a lot worse for the standings. But can there be anything worse than letting a bunch of players that wouldn't start on any other team in the league (besides Okafor) score 111 points in 48 minutes at 46% shooting. I'd consider that just as demoralizing, but you're right 19 loses is horrible too.


we were having a bad night... 3 of our players fouled out..


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## JT3000 (Nov 3, 2004)

Bad night doesn't even begin to describe it. That was easily one of the most horrible games I've ever watched by any team.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)




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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!


 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


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## cheepseats (Nov 3, 2004)

Looking back this could be a good loss. It tests the “Weisbrod Character Theory” that he used to build this team. I am sure it was also a date Okafor checked-off on his calendar. His setbacks since the NCAAs include the Olympics (which he was not a factor) and his drop to second choice in the draft (which pundits are now saying was good choice by Orl). 



> Originally posted by JNice!
> Good thing a loss to the Bobcats counts the same in the loss column as a loss to the Spurs or Wolves or whoever.
> 
> This game doesn't really worry me. If anything, I think this loss gives us a better chance to beat Dallas in the next game.


I’m of a similar opinion! It may temper some of the expectations the Mavericks had coming into tonight’s game. With Dallas coming off an OT game last night (similar to the Magic’s situation going into Charlotte), it may not be a good game for the Mavericks…or, as a WeisGM once said: pucker-up.


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