Game notes - Feb 20, 2008
Magic @ Raptors
I know it’s a little late, but I kept reading how Bosh “destroyed” Dwight Howard and I had to see that myself to believe it. So here goes:
- Bosh did most of his damage against other Magic defenders. Well, maybe defenders isn’t the right word to describe them, they looked more like traffic cones dressed in Magic uniforms
- Bosh did score some buckets when defended by Howard. One of them was a nasty dunk after a pump fake and a baseline dribble. The rest were really long 2s, some contested. Bosh just made shots that most players usually wouldn’t.
- Bosh took advantage of his superior speed. Howard was reluctant to come too close fearing Bosh would beat him off the dribble, so Bosh had enough space to take jump shots.
- Bosh ot 40 points, 5 reb and 5 ast, but statistically Howard was arguably better with 37 points of his own and 15 reb.
- Orlando has absolutely no idea how to defend a pick and roll. They often looked as if it was the first time they ever saw a pick and roll. The Raptors, and especially Calderon, took advantage of it.
- Calderon is one evil mother fucker. As Denzel Washington said in Training Day, he’s surgical with that bitch. He shot 8-10 from the field (and he often had a hand in his face) and had 13 assists with just 1 TO. As I said, SUR-GI-CAL. Let me be the 1st one to say that he should be the most coveted FA this summer. Forget about
- Delfino can shoot the 3p shot if he’s left open. And with Bosh drawing double teams and opponents also having to worry about other good shooters (Calderon, Kapono), Delfino is getting his fair share of open looks. In fact, his percentage from the 3p line (41.1%) is better this season than his FG% (40.7). Turns out bringing him was another good move by Bryan Colangelo.
- Jameer Nelson was a defensive liability. He got abused on defense and seemed unable to stay in front of his man.
- In the end, the Magic had little to no chance of winning the game with Turkoglu and Lewis shooting a combined 10-30 FG (3-12 from 3p).
