# Game Thread: Magic v. Rockets (2/26)



## Hairy Midget

The game will be silent and have enhanced on-court microphones. I don't know if T-Mac is playing or not, but we have our second sold out crowd in a row.


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## JNice

..

I'm really looking forward to watching this game. The recent trades have really got me excited about watching this team now and watching the development of some of these young guys. I hope Ariza gets some burn.


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## Yao Mania

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/3686042.html



> Magic changes
> The seven-player trade that brought Tracy McGrady to the Rockets triggered widespread changes in the Rockets, but the Magic have not stopped changing.
> 
> With the Rockets' addition of Keith Bogans, the Rockets have as many players off the last Orlando team before the trade as Orlando does. The Rockets still have McGrady and Juwan Howard from that deal. The Magic have since dealt away Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato, replacing them with Trevor Ariza, Carlos Arroyo and Darko Milicic.


I say all you guys should just convert to Rockets fans :biggrin:


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## JT3000

Because you have as many players as we do from one of our worst seasons ever? I don't think so... And...

Howard > Yao


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## jskudera

Unfortunately I have to work today while the game is on. I REALLY want to watch it for the silent reason. Anyone have a DVD recorder that can record it? I'll pay ya some cash for it. Let me know


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## JNice

jskudera said:


> Unfortunately I have to work today while the game is on. I REALLY want to watch it for the silent reason. Anyone have a DVD recorder that can record it? I'll pay ya some cash for it. Let me know



I've got a DVR from Brighthouse that I can record it on. Unfortunately I'd have to ship you the DVR for you to be able to watch it.  That's not gonna happen. lol ..


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## Hairy Midget

I love watching the Magic now with these young guys. Arroyo really brought some ball movement, and he can pass to Dwight better than anyone.


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## jskudera

JNice said:


> I've got a DVR from Brighthouse that I can record it on. Unfortunately I'd have to ship you the DVR for you to be able to watch it.  That's not gonna happen. lol ..


I'll pay you money to record it, and you can put the shipping charges to my Fedex account. Could you do that?


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## dominikan_balla1

jskudera said:


> I'll pay you money to record it, and you can put the shipping charges to my Fedex account. Could you do that?


wow.. you must really really wanna watch the game


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## dominikan_balla1

im excited bout this game.. i just wanna see howard, darko, arroyo, ariza, hell even garrity. i predict the magic win this one in a very exciting close game..96-92


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## Duck

lol.. I don't think he understood. In order for you to watch it, JNICE would have to ship his entire recorder to your house..

but on another note.. whats our predicted starting lineup going to be? If Brian Hill were smart he'd give Arroyo the nod, and he just might. What about the Hedo/Grant or Darko/Battie situations?

I think that we're going to see a beginning lineup that looks something like this:

Arroyo
Stevenson
Turkoglu
Howard
Battie


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## dominikan_balla1

Duck34234 said:


> lol.. I don't think he understood. In order for you to watch it, JNICE would have to ship his entire recorder to your house..
> 
> but on another note.. whats our predicted starting lineup going to be? If Brian Hill were smart he'd give Arroyo the nod, and he just might. What about the Hedo/Grant or Darko/Battie situations?
> 
> I think that we're going to see a beginning lineup that looks something like this:
> 
> Arroyo
> Stevenson
> Turkoglu
> Howard
> Battie


I would love it if we started arroyo


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## jskudera

Duck34234 said:


> lol.. I don't think he understood. In order for you to watch it, JNICE would have to ship his entire recorder to your house..


Haha ahhhh now i get it  Whatever, I just though it'd be cool to watch. I'll just watch yahoo scoreboard at work


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## X-Factor

Duck34234 said:


> lol.. I don't think he understood. In order for you to watch it, JNICE would have to ship his entire recorder to your house..
> 
> but on another note.. whats our predicted starting lineup going to be? If Brian Hill were smart he'd give Arroyo the nod, and he just might. What about the Hedo/Grant or Darko/Battie situations?
> 
> I think that we're going to see a beginning lineup that looks something like this:
> 
> Arroyo
> Stevenson
> Turkoglu
> Howard
> Battie


Turkoglu is questionable, but will still most likely play.

According to NBA.com the projected starting lineups are:

*G: Keyon Dooling vs. Rafer Alston
G: DeShawn Stevenson vs. David Wesley
F: Dwight Howard vs. Juwan Howard
F: Stacey Augmon vs. Tracy McGrady
C: Tony Battie vs. Yao Ming*

I don't care how long Darko has been on the team, if Augmon starts over him I'm going to be pissed.


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## JNice

..

From what i've read sounds like Tmac won't play.

With what he's been through it would be nice to see him start and get a nice ovation from the Orlando crowd. That won't happen but it would be nice.


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## X-Factor

LINK


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## hobojoe

Augmon better not be starting, but it's not like he's starting over Darko. Battie is starting over Darko. I don't see why Hill wouldn't be starting, I didn't hear anything about an injury between Friday and today.


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## JNice

X-Factor said:


> Turkoglu is questionable, but will still most likely play.
> 
> According to NBA.com the projected starting lineups are:
> 
> *G: Keyon Dooling vs. Rafer Alston
> G: DeShawn Stevenson vs. David Wesley
> F: Dwight Howard vs. Juwan Howard
> F: Stacey Augmon vs. Tracy McGrady
> C: Tony Battie vs. Yao Ming*
> 
> I don't care how long Darko has been on the team, if Augmon starts over him I'm going to be pissed.


Is Hill out again? He started the last game ... it'll probably be Dooling/Stevenson/Hill/Battie/Howard ... I don't think we'll see Darko starting at all this year.


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## X-Factor

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> From what i've read sounds like Tmac won't play.
> 
> With what he's been through it would be nice to see him start and get a nice ovation from the Orlando crowd. That won't happen but it would be nice.


I think he would get an ovation from the majority of the fans. Maybe not the bitter ones, but I think he would get recognized.


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## hobojoe

JNice said:


> Is Hill out again? He started the last game ... it'll probably be Dooling/Stevenson/Hill/Battie/Howard ... I don't think we'll see Darko starting at all this year.



Neither do I, unless Battie goes down with an injury or something.


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## X-Factor

JNice said:


> Is Hill out again? He started the last game ... it'll probably be Dooling/Stevenson/Hill/Battie/Howard ... I don't think we'll see Darko starting at all this year.


That's just the lineup I found on NBA.com. I don't know how true it is though.


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## hobojoe

X-Factor said:


> That's just the lineup I found on NBA.com. I don't know how true it is though.


You just said according to NBA.com Augmon is starting. I don't see any reason why he would be, or why NBA.com or any other site would think he would be starting today.


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## JNice

X-Factor said:


> That's just the lineup I found on NBA.com. I don't know how true it is though.



I guess with Hill lately, who knows. I was really suprised he started the last game ... I didn't even know he'd be playing. Then he comes out playing like an All-Star ... too bad we can't get that every night.


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## dominikan_balla1

JNice said:


> I guess with Hill lately, who knows. I was really suprised he started the last game ... I didn't even know he'd be playing. Then he comes out playing like an All-Star ... too bad we can't get that every night.


yeah i was pretty shocked.. theirs no way augmon starts specially at power forward..i think hedo will play tonight and hill which will take away time for ariza to even play


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## JNice

dominikan_balla1 said:


> yeah i was pretty shocked.. theirs no way augmon starts specially at power forward..i think hedo will play tonight and hill which will take away time for ariza to even play



Ariza might be able to play some minutes at SG. We don't really have a backup SG and I'd much rather see Ariza play there than Plastic Man. Frankly I can't beleive Augmon is even still playing.


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## JNice

WHERE: TD Waterhouse Centre.

RECORDS: Magic 20-34, Rockets 24-31.

BROADCASTS: TV -- Sun Sports. Radio -- 580 AM (WDBO); Spanish-language radio -- 1030 AM (WONQ).

MAGIC UPDATE: Orlando broke an eight-game losing streak Friday, beating Seattle. PG Carlos Arroyo and F Darko Milicic made their Magic home debuts after arriving in a trade with the Detroit Pistons. Arroyo had 18 points and four assists, and Milicic added eight points and five rebounds. . . . F Hedo Turkoglu should play after missing two games with a sprained left ankle. . . . Today's game will be "silent,'' void of the blaring music normally accompanying possessions.

ROCKETS UPDATE: On Friday, the Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors in Houston, their first victory in 14 games this season without former Magic G Tracy McGrady. According to the Houston Chronicle, McGrady was out of town after the death of his fiancee's mother. . Keith Bogans, another former Magic guard, is expected to start if McGrady is not with the team today. . . . Against the Warriors, C Yao Ming had 22 points and 21 rebounds.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Dwight Howard's matchup with Yao. Big men tend to bother him. Orlando had better ball movement and no turnovers Friday with Arroyo on the floor.

Courtesy or OrlandoSentinel.com


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## hobojoe

Yea, Ariza better be taking all of the minutes Augmon's been playing lately.


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## Hairy Midget

Let's go Magic, it's so great to watch games now with the new players and a huge crowd.


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## JNice

..

I hope the Ricans pack the building and make it as loud a the last game.


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## Hairy Midget

I bet they will. It is sold out again.


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## dominikan_balla1

Hairy Midget said:


> Let's go Magic, it's so great to watch games now with the new players and a huge crowd.


..Its like a new life..a month ago i barely kept up with any magic games.. now that the magic acquired these new players its like im counting down for the games.... what an incredible difference its been since we got rid of steve and cato


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## JNice

..

Hmm, big dilemma ... watch the game on Sunshine with announcers or watch it on NBA TV without them ...


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## dominikan_balla1

T-mac!! will be playing.. i wonder how magic fans greet him..hmm.. this game just got really really interesting


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## hobojoe

double post...


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## hobojoe

T-Mac is officially in the starting lineup for Houston today, which is bad news for us. The Rockets are 17-8 when McGrady and Yao both play. 

By the way, if you want to watch the game with announcers it's also being shown on Sun Sports with David Steele and Matt Guokas.


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## JNice

hobojoe said:


> T-Mac is officially in the starting lineup for Houston today, which is bad news for us. The Rockets are 17-8 when McGrady and Yao both play.
> 
> By the way, if you want to watch the game with announcers it's also being shown on Sun Sports with David Steele and Matt Guokas.



Yeah, good thing too, looks like NBA TV is blacked out for me. Man I'd be pissed if it wasn't on Sunshine now.


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## Hairy Midget

**** it's blacked out


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## hobojoe

Did NBATV just stop working for anyone else, or is it just me?

I was watching the pregame and the screen just froze, so I switched over to Sun Sports for a couple minutes and I'd tried going back to NBATV but it's just a blank screen. 

Not really a big deal, I'll just watch it on Sun Sports, but is this a problem for anyone else?


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## JNice

Hairy Midget said:


> **** it's blacked out



If you're in Orlando you should have it on Sunshine. I was interested to see the NBA TV version though. I've never understood blackouts. Stupid stuff.


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## X-Factor

JNice said:


> If you're in Orlando you should have it on Sunshine. I was interested to see the NBA TV version though. I've never understood blackouts. Stupid stuff.


OT: Congrats on getting back in red. We really need to have a mod in this forum.


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## X-Factor

:laugh: Stevenson packs Yao.


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## X-Factor

I'm a little upset that the fans at the arena are booing T-Mac every time he touches the ball.


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## X-Factor

Ming picks up two quick ones.


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## hobojoe

Yao out of the game with two quick fouls.


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## hobojoe

Darko the destroyer!


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## X-Factor

Darko Milicic= Beast. Man, he was showing some great defensive skills towards the end of the quarter.


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## Stefan Nellemoes

Yahoo has Darko with 3 blocks already..- error, or does he really has 3 blocks??


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## JNice

..

Call me crazy but Darko reminds me of Hakeem defensively.


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## JNice

Stefan Nellemoes said:


> Yahoo has Darko with 3 blocks already..- error, or does he really has 3 blocks??



He does .. 4 pts, 3 blocks, 1 reb in just a few minutes.


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## JNice

..

Ah terrible foul call on Darko ... then no-call on Yao ... come on


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## Stefan Nellemoes

Daaaaaaarkooooooooo :clap:


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## JNice

..

Darko is going to be good ... pretty damned good... his only real weakness I see is rebounding but with Dwight around, who cares.


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## MagicPhilly

Grant Hill wakes up 5 point


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## X-Factor

The fact that Yao Ming still has two fouls is a travesty... as Kasun picks up his fourth.


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## X-Factor

Where the heck are Battie and Howard? They've sat this entire quarter practically.


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## JNice

X-Factor said:


> Where the heck are Milicic and Howard? They've sat this entire quarter practically.



Saving fouls I assume ... the refs are trying to foul out our frontcourt.


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## MagicPhilly

Yao 3 fouls


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## JNice

..

Yao picks up his 3rd foul as Dwight tries to posterize him ...

With as terrible as our offense has been and our whole frontcourt in foul trouble I'm surprised we are only down 5.


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## JNice

..

lol... Jeff Turner sitting up in the nosebleeds ... and his daughter wearing an old Horace Grant uni .. :laugh:


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## X-Factor

Magic head into the locker room with only a 5 point deficit, which is a lot better then it could have been.


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## X-Factor

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> lol... Jeff Turner sitting up in the nosebleeds ... and his daughter wearing an old Horace Grant uni .. :laugh:


You would figure he could afford better seats then that, since the game didn't even sell out.


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## hobojoe

MagicPhilly said:


> Yao 3 fouls


Yao finally picked up his 3rd foul on about the 4th or 5th time they could've/should've. Officiating was horrific in the first half, the Magic got no calls. We're lucky to be within 5 points though, nothing's come easy on offense at all so far.


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## JNice

X-Factor said:


> You would figure he could afford better seats then that, since the game didn't even sell out.



I'm sure he could get better seats easily being the Orlando Magic legend that he is. 

His daughter actually won the tickets at some kind of contest at school .. so that is why they are up there.


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## JNice

..

Darko needs more PT in the 2nd half.


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## magicfan187

my sunshine network got blacked out and nbatv didnt...i personally would rather hear the announcers than nothin at all...blah


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## hobojoe

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> Darko needs more PT in the 2nd half.


So does Dwight. And he needs to start finishing some plays and stop being scared of a guy twice his age, as well as Yao.


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## Hairy Midget

You'd think a veteran like Hill would at least get a little respect from the refs. And Yao Ming should have like 5 fouls by now.


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## JNice

hobojoe said:


> So does Dwight. And he needs to start finishing some plays and stop being scared of a guy twice his age, as well as Yao.



Dwight did try to dunk on Mutombo 3 times and got free throws out of it twice.


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## JNice

..

Our offense is really struggling to do anything against the Rockets defense. I'm surprised we aren't being blown out right now. We need to get Yao out of the game.


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## JNice

..

Our lack of shooters is killing us right now. The entire Rockets D is just sagging into the paint.


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## dominikan_balla1

DARKO!!! i hope dwight starts playin better..


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## rainman

has to be a bit of a dilemma for the coaches, on the one hand you try to win and figure you have to go with veterans like battie and hill on the other hand you know(or at least you should know) that they arent the future. can fans trust coach hill to make the right moves.


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## JNice

..

Gonna be tough to pull this one out the way the Rockets are playing D and with Yao killing on the post.


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## dominikan_balla1

rockets playin terrefic defense.. well if we get blown out at least milicic will play more minutes and we can hopefully get to see ariza


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## YoYoYoWasup

Worst game of Dwight's career. Awful performance.


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## JNice

..

Yao is on auto-pilot right now.


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## The_Franchise

When you don't double Yao off the ball he IS the best center in the league. Brian Hill needs to make the Wesley's and the Howard's beat the Magic, challenging Yao won't get you anything. First time in a while a team hasn't doubled Yao for the majority of the game.


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## dominikan_balla1

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> When you don't double Yao off the ball he IS the best center in the league. Brian Hill needs to make the Wesley's and the Howard's beat the Magic, challenging Yao won't get you anything. First time in a while a team hasn't doubled Yao for the majority of the game.


majority of time.. t-mac is not playing with yao which gives teams a reason to double team him.. boy dwight is having a nightmare out their


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## JNice

..

Seems like whenever Dwight gets into that really early foul trouble he really struggles.


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## OneBadLT123

JT3000 said:


> Howard > Yao


bwahahahahahaha! 

Yao with 24pts 2reb, 2 blks

D Howard- 4pts, 5 rebs


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## JNice

..

Hedo is having a nightmare out there too ...


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## JNice

..

Arroyo taking over! 

Yao Ming right back in.


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## OneBadLT123

Yao just isnt getting the pressure he is used to. Right now hes just sailing by the looks of it...


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## JNice

..

Geez, Darko with 3 20 footers this game that went in and out.


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## OneBadLT123

Im glad darko was traded to you guys. I can see him becoming a good player in orlando


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## JNice

..

Orlando not completely out of this. They need a mini-run right now.

Orlando's best lineup right now includes both Arroyo and Darko.


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## JNice

..

Darko with the block and a beautiful pass to Dwight! Damn this kid has skills.


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## The_Franchise

Dwight has been too physical for his own good tonight. You know he's going to be a top 5 big man in the league, the question is when. But a big basket there, with a little help from Rafer.


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## hobojoe

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> Darko needs more PT in the 2nd half.


So does Dwight. And he needs to start finishing some plays and stop being scared of a guy twice his age, as well as Yao.


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## hobojoe

Wow, what a play on both ends by Darko. Great defense and block, beautiful touch pass to Howard for the assist.


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## JNice

hobojoe said:


> So does Dwight. And he needs to start finishing some plays and stop being scared of a guy twice his age, as well as Yao.



lol... didn't you already say that?


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## OneBadLT123

i just hope houston can keep it above 10 pts the rest of the way...


(or sorry for intruding, but the houston board is pretty slow right now...)


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## hobojoe

How long before Arroyo starts and Dooling is burried on the bench where he belongs?


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## JNice

..

Dooling and Battie should be worrying about their starting jobs.


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## hobojoe

JNice said:


> lol... didn't you already say that?


:laugh: I was wondering how that got there. My computer was frozen for like the past hour and I pressed reload, I guess it posted that again.


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## JNice

..

Darko with 5 blocks tonight ...


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## froggyvk

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> Darko with 5 blocks tonight ...


What have you been more impressed with, his defensive/blocking ability or passing? I told you all he was great at both!

Add in his shooting range and nice touch down low, well most of us Pistons fans knew you were getting a player, eventually the rest of the league will know it.


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## JNice

..

the power of Darko ... :laugh: ... when was the last time we had 20 users in the Orlando forum? :eek8:


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## hobojoe

Is that unofficially 5 blocks for Darko tonight?


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## JNice

froggyvk said:


> What have you been more impressed with, his defensive/blocking ability or passing? I told you all he was great at both!
> 
> Add in his shooting range and nice touch down low, well most of us Pistons fans knew you were getting a player, eventually the rest of the league will know it.



His defense, agility, and passing have been most impressive. His shooting too. He was unlucky tonight. He's missed 3 shots but all 3 of those shots we in and out.


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## hobojoe

I think this is Howard's worst game as a pro. Just all around awful today...


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## JNice

hobojoe said:


> I think this is Howard's worst game as a pro. Just all around awful today...



He's still playing hard though .. and grabbing a few important rebounds late ...

Down only 4 right now ... I want some OT!


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## froggyvk

Crowd must be going crazy, this is quite a run by Orlando.


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## OneBadLT123

damn, nice comeback...


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## JNice

..

Hedo dropping hot fire from deep


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## JNice

..

Hill should have tried to use Darko more this game and used him to double Yao with Dwight.


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## hobojoe

So close, but yet so far.

Good effort by the guys though, they very nearly pulled off an amazing comeback.


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## OneBadLT123

damn got me worried... lol


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## JNice

..

Not a bad effort considering the Rockets are one of the better teams in the league when both Tmac and Yao are playing.


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## JNice

..

Darko closing out yet another game ...


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## JNice

..

Man, that should have been an offensive foul on Yao.


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## OneBadLT123

damn you guys made it close, good game.

Howard had a horrible off night
Yao dominated once again


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## Hairy Midget

Offensive Foul!!!!! Wtf We Should Have The Ball Down 3. Mother****er.


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## JNice

..

Oh yeah, that really should have been an offensive foul ... especially since it gave Wesley a wide open layup.


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## The_Franchise

Yao's feet were planted but his shoulders were moving. It's an offensive foul technically, but something refs don't call because in most situations Arroyo would go around him. Just a case of Arroyo not knowing where Yao was and trying to stay right on Wesley.


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## dominikan_balla1

great night for arroyo ..both arroyo and milicic should really be starting for us


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## JNice

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> Yao's feet were planted but his shoulders were moving. It's an offensive foul technically, but something refs don't call because in most situations Arroyo would go around him. Just a case of Arroyo not knowing where Yao was and trying to stay right on Wesley.



Nah ... there really is no argument .. they don't usually call those late but Yao wasn't planted .. he moved right into Arroyo. It might not have made a difference but they really should have called it.


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## Ballscientist

Darko - 5 shot attempts
D Howard - 5 shot attempts

Magic can't pass the ball to big men.


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## JNice

Ballscientist said:


> Darko - 5 shot attempts
> D Howard - 5 shot attempts
> 
> Magic can't pass the ball to big men.



Ballscientist? What are you doing in here? :laugh:


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## Hairy Midget

Ballscientist said:


> Darko - 5 shot attempts
> D Howard - 5 shot attempts
> 
> Magic can't pass the ball to big men.


That is partially true, but Dwight played like ****, and the few times he did get the ball, he was fouled.


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## JNice

..

Darko with 6 pts, 4 blocks (official, should've been 5), 3 rebs, 2 stls, 1 ast in 19 mins.


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## hobojoe

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> Darko with 6 pts, 4 blocks (official, should've been 5), 3 rebs, 2 stls, 1 ast in 19 mins.


 I think 4 is right, I think that "4th" one was actually tipped by Grant Hill, not Darko.


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## dominikan_balla1

darko played a nice game does jumpers sooner or later will start being swishes... look for howard to have a monster game against L.A on tuesday.. i hope we get to see ariza tuesday too.. too bad the games are going to start late for the next 5 or 6


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## JNice

> On the play of Dwight Howard: “He’s a really good. I tell you what, the Magic are so long. Every shot it was like going over two guys. Between he, and Milicic and Battie, it gives them great length up front. I really liked how hard Milicic played tonight in tandem with Howard. That’s hard to score on as we found out in the fourth quarter. It was really difficult.”


 - Van Gumby


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## Hairy Midget

I'm just kinda mad that Dwight played one of the worst games of his career in front of so many people. And still mad at that no-call at the end.


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## rainman

JNice said:


> Ballscientist? What are you doing in here? :laugh:


from the looks of things with all these posts there are a lot of 1st timers in here. i think people like the idea of a team building with some excitement. look how popular the draft is and it rarely leads directly to a team winning. getting arroyo was a good move, getting darko potentially a great move. the kid at his age is like a sophomore or a junior in college. i've said this before but i'll repeat,if you put him in this years draft he goes top 5 and now that i've seen him on the court more i say he may go #1, how ironic, dont you think.


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## Duck

I just got home from the game, and really the game can be summed up in three words.

The.Refs.Sucked.


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## JNice

rainman said:


> from the looks of things with all these posts there are a lot of 1st timers in here. i think people like the idea of a team building with some excitement. look how popular the draft is and it rarely leads directly to a team winning. getting arroyo was a good move, getting darko potentially a great move. the kid at his age is like a sophomore or a junior in college. i've said this before but i'll repeat,if you put him in this years draft he goes top 5 and now that i've seen him on the court more i say he may go #1, how ironic, dont you think.



I agree ... I think, especially in this year's draft, he'd be no worse than a top 5 pick. If not number 1.

Orlando may have really found something here. I've supported Darko even when he was languishing in Detroit. And in the first real playing time of his career so far I think he has definitely shown that he has got serious skills. He moves as good as any 7 footer i've seen just about. The only thing I've seen so far is he doesn't seem like much of a rebounder ... but that shouldn't be much of an issue.


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## rainman

JNice said:


> I agree ... I think, especially in this year's draft, he'd be no worse than a top 5 pick. If not number 1.
> 
> Orlando may have really found something here. I've supported Darko even when he was languishing in Detroit. And in the first real playing time of his career so far I think he has definitely shown that he has got serious skills. He moves as good as any 7 footer i've seen just about. The only thing I've seen so far is he doesn't seem like much of a rebounder ... but that shouldn't be much of an issue.


i dont think he's going to rebound on the level of a dwight howard. he will get better and when i watched him friday against my dreadful sonics i thought his hands looked good. lets keep in mind he hasnt played much since early last fall and he is going to have to get used to new teammates. i wouldnt be too optimistic for the rest of the season as far as big numbers go, the main thing is he's part of the future there and he needs to play above anything else. i would start playing him 30mpg but the coaches know more than i do(dont they).


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## JNice

..

I think they definitely need to get him at least 20-25 mpg a game for the rest of the year. I don't know if he'll get 30 mpg but I'd like to see it. We're not going anywhere. Put Battie on the bench.

But I can't wait to see what Darko can do next year with a summer of work and training camp with this team.

At times even though Dwight was struggling tonight they looked pretty good out there together. Once they learn how to defend the paint together and back each other up ... wowza. And both are going to get much stronger over the next 3-4 yrs ... another scary thought.


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## JoeD

I'm really interested in Arroyo's performances. Is it the warm weather??? Why did he suddenly regain his shooting ability? If he played this way for us I think we would of gotten more in a trade, but maybe this won't last.


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## JNice

JoeD said:


> I'm really interested in Arroyo's performances. Is it the warm weather??? Why did he suddenly regain his shooting ability? If he played this way for us I think we would of gotten more in a trade, but maybe this won't last.



I don't think Arroyo has ever made it a secret he always wanted to play in Orlando. I remember reading that a few years ago. This is like home for him and he's got huge support from the home crowd. The place blows up whenever he does anything. I'm sure that has something to do with it.


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## dominikan_balla1

JoeD said:


> I'm really interested in Arroyo's performances. Is it the warm weather??? Why did he suddenly regain his shooting ability? If he played this way for us I think we would of gotten more in a trade, but maybe this won't last.


playing in orlando is like playing in puerto rico for him... lots of spanish people, beautiful warm weather, and the beach is like 45 min. from here.. ITS HOME!!


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## rainman

dominikan_balla1 said:


> playing in orlando is like playing in puerto rico for him... lots of spanish people, beautiful warm weather, and the beach is like 45 min. from here.. ITS HOME!!



i think the big thing is he's playing there and feels welcome. jerry sloan didnt like him and the detroit fans and media used him as a big part of the reason their bench wasnt all that productive.


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## X-Factor

This is the most excitment I've ever seen in this forum since I came to this site. I'm really liking the moves we've made recently. We put up a great effort today, that with our old squad, would not have been even close to possible.


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## JNice

X-Factor said:


> This is the most excitment I've ever seen in this forum since I came to this site. I'm really liking the moves we've made recently. We put up a great effort today, that with our old squad, would not have been even close to possible.



Definitely a good sign. The whole aura of the team has changed with Francis and Cato getting move. And we nearly made a comeback against one of the best teams in the league (when healthy) and that was with Dwight having a terrible game, our whole frontcourt in foul trouble, DeShawn having a slow game, and Hedo sucking it up until late in the 4th.


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## Yao Mania

JNice said:


> Ballscientist? What are you doing in here? :laugh:


Ballscientist actually follows Houston closer than any other team :biggrin:


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## Hairy Midget

I am extremely excited about Darko. Each game so far he has surprised me more and more. Those 3 straight blocks on Howard were just nasty.


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## The_Franchise

JNice said:


> Nah ... there really is no argument .. they don't usually call those late but Yao wasn't planted .. he moved right into Arroyo. It might not have made a difference but they really should have called it.


You could be right, I didn't tape today's game (afternoon games always catch me by surprise) so I can't look back on the footage.

However Yao really doesn't need to be moving his feet to cripple a player like that. I would say that he was relatively planted, Wesley just did a 'nice' job of using him to sandwich Arroyo.





















































Couldn't find earlier images:


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## orlmagicmnvikings

This just proves my point that Yao is a SOFT defender. He flops around live "Floppy" Divac out there on defense yet he can take colisions like these. SOFT DEFENDER!


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## JNice

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> You could be right, I didn't tape today's game (afternoon games always catch me by surprise) so I can't look back on the footage.
> 
> However Yao really doesn't need to be moving his feet to cripple a player like that. I would say that he was relatively planted, Wesley just did a 'nice' job of using him to sandwich Arroyo.



Well, I don't want to get into an argument because it might not have mattered anyway. I've got a DVR so I went back and watched it a few times. Yao definitely moved right into him. Nothing against Yao ... everyone does it and it is one of my biggest pet peeves with officiating. When you set a screen you aren't supposed to just be able to step in and pick guys off ... but the refs allow it all the damned time. Detroit gets away with it *really* badly with the screens they set for Rip.

In most cases ok, let it go ... but in this case not only was it at the end of the game but it caused Wesley to get a wide open layup. Should have been called ...


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