THE MAGIC PROBLEM IS PSYCHOLOGICAL

by dkrib on Feb 1, 2010 8:11 AM EST

I have a feeling that the problem the Hawks are having with the magic is not tactical but psychology. Dwight Howard dominates 90% of the centers in the league but the Magic does not blowout 90% of the teams in the league on a consistent basis.

The Magic have lost to Detroit, Miami( multiple times),Phoenix,Utah and Oklahoma. All these teams have "small" centers that Dwight can dominate easily so Dwight dominating Horford is not the problem.

The problem is :

1. After multiple blowouts, the Hawks play tight against the magic.

2. When magic makes 3's, you can feel the Hawks players getting deflated.

3. When Dwight blocks a shot, the player do not take it to the basket but settle or adjust their shot to avoid being blocked. The best way to play a shot blocker is to take it to him .

4. The 2 games in Orlando were back to backs after emotional wins over the Celtics.

The Hawks have the same problem with Boston over the last 2 years( the Hawks were swept by the Celtics over the last 2 years in the regular season). The Hawks beat the Magic last year in Orlando so we can do it again. We just need to be more focused and loose.Despite the blowouts, I would prefer to see the Magic in the second round of the playoffs instead of the Cavaliers.

A FanPost expresses the opinion of the community member who wrote it and not that of the blog management.

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true true

Their confidence decreases after dwight blocks a shot. going at dwight would be better to get him in foul trouble and open three point shooters. hawks have to take it to them like they did Celtics except it doesn’t have to take 2 years and a playoff lost. they have grown and can compete with almost the whole league, we need to Suprise them and take it to them directly. jamal is the one I have seen do it against almost every team. jj needs to do it! why is he afraid of contact? is it his old injury wit suns

by Hawksgirl on Feb 1, 2010 9:35 AM EST via mobile reply actions

yeah

i think it is bc of his injury because you rarely see him go up for a dunk anymore or drive to the whole aggressively. it’s all psychological and he may not even realize. his dunks are like just over the rim dunks but i’m pretty sure he can dunk better than that.

by Djseoh on Feb 1, 2010 11:23 PM EST up reply actions

So you're saying the Magic

Are all smoke and mirrors?

by Bronn on Feb 1, 2010 12:55 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

when you think about it they are smoke and mirrors in a sense

Because there is always a way to beat a team and they just have to figure out what it is. they were doing well in the first half, what worked then? and capitalize on it.

by Hawksgirl on Feb 1, 2010 1:40 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I was jumping on a terribly obvious pun, too.

by Bronn on Feb 1, 2010 7:13 PM EST up reply actions

"Hawks claim Magic not for real"

by rbubp on Feb 1, 2010 10:44 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Get Dwight in foul trouble

Like force him to foul twice in the first quarter. If he doesn’t have 2 by then, it’s over.

This may entail switching since Dwight tends to have Al’s number. Josh can draw fouls better.

Also, let VC take jumpers all day. But don’t give their whities confidence. Ryan Anderson loves playing the Hawks.

by coachkcastellon on Feb 1, 2010 1:06 PM EST reply actions

I think

it comes down to the back-to-back games. The schedulers put our back against the wall with against the Magic on those two games. It’s already tough to win back to back games against any team in the NBA but back to back against two of the best teams in the East is improbable.
I also believe Joe plays apprehensive against the Magic. He is afraid to drive and he doesn’t get to the line enough. These other players like Wade, James, and Bryant get to the line a lot. This is something Joe needs to learn how to do.
I think it will be a different story when they come to Atlanta in March. But Dwight also has motivation to play great in ATL as well since all is family and friends from Atlanta are there. But I think we’ll pull out the W.

by BravesFanScout on Feb 1, 2010 1:48 PM EST reply actions