Magic at Pistons & Wiz at Cavs
Orlando v Detroit – I really don’t know how much in depth I should go with this series because I’m sure everyone knows it’s going to be a blitzkrieg. Just like when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. Anyway, to the numbers.
Both teams play stellar defense; The Pistons finished 6th overall in opponents field goal percentage (44.49%) and the Magic 3rd (44.24%). Amazingly enough, Orlando also has the edge in rebound differential. The Magic ended up 5th overall (+3.12) and Detroit 18th (-.65).
What really favors the Pistons though are free throw shooting (7th, 77.4%), fouls committed (5th, 20.39 pfpg) and turnovers committed (1st, 12.20 topg). Orlando was 28th (70.2%), 21st (23.22 pfpg) and 29th (16.97 topg) respectively. That doesn’t bode well for the Magic.
Orlando is actually built to play the same way as Detroit. Defense first, grind it out offense and so on. The problem for the Magic is that the Pistons are better in every facet of the game right now. That’s not meant to be a knock on Orlando because they are a young club getting their first taste of the post season (for the most part). It just so happens that Detroit is the grizzled-veteran-five-years-down-the-road version of the same squad.
An interesting (to me) side note to this series is that Darko Milicic looked poised for one of those fantastic playoff runs that ends with him getting wildly overpaid. Then he sprained his right ankle in the second to last game of the season. I bet he wishes he had played hard all year…or maybe he doesn’t...with him you never can tell.
Key Match Up – The Pistons D & Dwight Howard. Welcome to the big time kid. D Hiddy was 3rd in the league in turnovers per game (3.9) and had major trouble dealing with double teams. Again, I’m not criticizing him. Many young bigs in the NBA suffer from the same thing, and remember that Howard is still just 21 years old. That said, Detroit is going to relentlessly double him from all angles with every player on the court. How Dwight handles this “learning experience” will tell us a lot about what kind of player he’s really going to be.
Prediction – I expect most of these games to be close because the Pistons will undoubtedly still be in “coast mode”. But they’ll do what they always do and make a play or two at the end of each game to secure the victory. Detroit in 4.
Washington v Cleveland – In retrospect it turned out to be a good thing that I soldiered on through the tough previews yesterday. These two series’ are complete dogs and today is 4/20, so I’ve got imminent business to attend to.
The Cavaliers finished 8th in defensive field goal percentage (44.79%) and 4th in rebound differential (+3.65). Those are high quality numbers any way you slice them. The Wizards ended up 27th (47.25%) and 23rd (-1.79) respectively, and those stats have nothing to do with Gilbert Arenas (left knee) and Caron Butler’s (right hand) injuries.
While Cleveland was a rather unimpressive 9-7 over the last month of the season, Washington was an atrocious 5-13. Of course that record can be blamed on the loss of GA and “Tough Juice”. What team wouldn’t suffer after losing arguably their two best players and 47.5 points, 14.9 free throw attempts, 12 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 4.01 steals & 3.1 threes of production? Ouch babe!
Key Match Up – The Cavs D & Antawn Jamison. Obviously Tawn has to do the heavy lifting on offense for the Wiz to have any chance at all. I’m talking in the vicinity of 35 points a night…if not more. The plan for Cleveland should be simple, harass Jamison everywhere he goes on the court. Don’t ever let him get an open look, keep a fresh guy on him at all times and hammer him any time he goes to the hole.
Prediction – Here’s what Washington needs to do to be competitive; Become a good defensive team overnight and milk the shot clock on every single solitary offensive possession. Being that both of those things are the exact opposite of their normal tendencies, they are cooked. Cavs in 4.
Both teams play stellar defense; The Pistons finished 6th overall in opponents field goal percentage (44.49%) and the Magic 3rd (44.24%). Amazingly enough, Orlando also has the edge in rebound differential. The Magic ended up 5th overall (+3.12) and Detroit 18th (-.65).
What really favors the Pistons though are free throw shooting (7th, 77.4%), fouls committed (5th, 20.39 pfpg) and turnovers committed (1st, 12.20 topg). Orlando was 28th (70.2%), 21st (23.22 pfpg) and 29th (16.97 topg) respectively. That doesn’t bode well for the Magic.
Orlando is actually built to play the same way as Detroit. Defense first, grind it out offense and so on. The problem for the Magic is that the Pistons are better in every facet of the game right now. That’s not meant to be a knock on Orlando because they are a young club getting their first taste of the post season (for the most part). It just so happens that Detroit is the grizzled-veteran-five-years-down-the-road version of the same squad.
An interesting (to me) side note to this series is that Darko Milicic looked poised for one of those fantastic playoff runs that ends with him getting wildly overpaid. Then he sprained his right ankle in the second to last game of the season. I bet he wishes he had played hard all year…or maybe he doesn’t...with him you never can tell.
Key Match Up – The Pistons D & Dwight Howard. Welcome to the big time kid. D Hiddy was 3rd in the league in turnovers per game (3.9) and had major trouble dealing with double teams. Again, I’m not criticizing him. Many young bigs in the NBA suffer from the same thing, and remember that Howard is still just 21 years old. That said, Detroit is going to relentlessly double him from all angles with every player on the court. How Dwight handles this “learning experience” will tell us a lot about what kind of player he’s really going to be.
Prediction – I expect most of these games to be close because the Pistons will undoubtedly still be in “coast mode”. But they’ll do what they always do and make a play or two at the end of each game to secure the victory. Detroit in 4.
Washington v Cleveland – In retrospect it turned out to be a good thing that I soldiered on through the tough previews yesterday. These two series’ are complete dogs and today is 4/20, so I’ve got imminent business to attend to.
The Cavaliers finished 8th in defensive field goal percentage (44.79%) and 4th in rebound differential (+3.65). Those are high quality numbers any way you slice them. The Wizards ended up 27th (47.25%) and 23rd (-1.79) respectively, and those stats have nothing to do with Gilbert Arenas (left knee) and Caron Butler’s (right hand) injuries.
While Cleveland was a rather unimpressive 9-7 over the last month of the season, Washington was an atrocious 5-13. Of course that record can be blamed on the loss of GA and “Tough Juice”. What team wouldn’t suffer after losing arguably their two best players and 47.5 points, 14.9 free throw attempts, 12 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 4.01 steals & 3.1 threes of production? Ouch babe!
Key Match Up – The Cavs D & Antawn Jamison. Obviously Tawn has to do the heavy lifting on offense for the Wiz to have any chance at all. I’m talking in the vicinity of 35 points a night…if not more. The plan for Cleveland should be simple, harass Jamison everywhere he goes on the court. Don’t ever let him get an open look, keep a fresh guy on him at all times and hammer him any time he goes to the hole.
Prediction – Here’s what Washington needs to do to be competitive; Become a good defensive team overnight and milk the shot clock on every single solitary offensive possession. Being that both of those things are the exact opposite of their normal tendencies, they are cooked. Cavs in 4.
posted by D$ at 7:11 PM
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