The Preseason Cometh! Magic vs Hawks!
Pardon the belatedness of this post, but the internet is garbage. On the upside, I should only have to wait until Wednesday for the high speed cable to be put in. I feel like I'm on a deserted island until then.
Let's turn to the subject at hand: Rarely does a game featuring Sheldon Williams generate any sort of interest, but this is the first game of the preseason! The Magic take on the Hawks and we finally get to check out some of the new players Orlando will roll out.
Here is a quick guide to what could be the starting lineups:
Probable Lineups:
Orlando:
C- Dwight Howard: We get to see our man-child grow another year. Sigh...they grow so fast!
PF- Rashard Lewis: 8 billion dollar contracts and hype motivate people...right?
SF- Hedo Turkoglu: Flip a coin and let's see if he is red hot or ice cold tonight!
SG- Keith Bogans: Flex position should see a lot of changes, but Bogans has been working hard.
PG- Jameer Nelson: Want that extension? How bad? (Dangles it above his head)
Atlanta:
C- Al Horford: Time to earn your stripes, rook. You get to play an All-Star in your first game.
PF- Josh Smith: Looks like the monster from Young Frankenstein, but super talented.
SF- Marvin Williams: Alright, he may never reach the lofty expectations, but he's improving.
SG- Joe Johnson: The guy everyone will be looking at for scoring on the Hawks this season.
PG- Speedy Claxton: Shifty guard who really has bizarre/wonderful team photo headshots.
Key Thingamajigs To Watch:
-JJ Redick's defense is the only thing keeping him out of being a starter. Will that improve, or will he just be one crappy DUI mugshot?
-How will the combo of Dwight and Rashard (Or Dwashard for short) work in an actual game situation?
-Who the F will rebound besides Dwight?
-Will Carlos Arroyo or Keyon Dooling actually challenge for the starting PG spot? Jameer's agent might kill them with a shovel.
-Hopefully all of our guys stay healthy, we see some promise out of our young guys (Gortat, Auggie), and some insight into who deserves that SG spot.
Go Magic!
3 comments:
Good to see Dwight can go for 30 and 11 and the rest of the team can't hold onto a 10 point lead with 7 minutes to go. Also very reasuring to see that we paid (give or take about 10 million) 112 million dollars to Rashard 'Second best player on his old team' Lewis to shoot 30% from the field for a wooping 8 points in 22 minutes. That's my problem with the Rashard signing. A great scorer (like a Kobe, Carter, TMac, Garnett. exc) can put up double digits even when they are having a bad game. Rashard on the other hand couldnt break 8 against the Hawks(!!!). You give max money to a guy whos gonna be your star. Rashard is simply a compliment to Dwight's skill set, not perential star on his own like Kobe was with Shaq.
and yes i know its the first game of the preseason and yes i know your gonna say they had to dish out the cash to get him, but it be great if he would have lit a fire under his own ass knowing all the doubters coming into the season and no we didnt have to pay that much to get him. he wanted to go to the magic all offseason and the only other team seriously interested were the sonics who were maxing out at 60-80 million. The magic gave him 40 million more for shits and giggles.
I completely agree that it was a rather unspectacular showing. My biggest concern with Rashard is his penchant for injuries, especially now that he will be playing PF. This game was not a good start to ease those concerns.
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