Road Report ORL

[mark at 10thumbs.org]

Gene wrote:
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Thanks for the live report, Mark.  Two things.  I've been wondering if
West, for all his late game heroics, has been distracted by off-the-court
issues or needs glasses.  He misses the handle on passes about twice a
game.  Not sure what it is.
-----------------------

I’m no opthamologist, but my guess is that he’s trying to do too much —
the old running before you catch the ball thing...

But how awesome would it be to have Delonte running around out there with
some Kurt Rambis/Horace Grant type glasses?


Gene wrote:
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  Second, I have not been green-eyed in preferring Al over Howard.  Last
night shows why.  Yeah, I know he had a monster game on Sat., but Howard
was shut down by Perkins.  He is the premiere rebounder for several
years; that's major.  But he's not an offensive go-to player by any
means.  He may play better defense than Al, but there's just not that
big of a difference.  At the end of the game, Tommy was explaining (not
surprisingly) why Al was the choice and I agreed--to wit, no one with
Al's moves has come along since Kevin.  That's on the edge of hyperbole,
but it's an arguable comparison.  Al's an offensive prodigy.  No need to
back away from that.  If you would trade for Howard, then you would also
need a center who could score.  Cheers, Gene
---------------------

In fairness to Howard, who is a very good young player, I think he just
had an off game last night (though with the Playoffs on the line that’s
not the time you want that to happen).

It was pointed out by my friend that the C’s were throwing a lot of diff.
Looking double teams at Howard ... It wasn’t JUST Perk, but Perk did a
great individual job on Howard and for the most part avoided DUMB fouls.

The thing that surprised me the most was that when Jefferson and Perkins
went out in the 3rd Q w/ 4 fouls each, the Magic didn’t go to Howard
again-and-again vs. Powe.  For all his grit there really was notihing Powe
could do. We were talking afterwards that it’s unclear if that Monster
game SAT followed by a weak showing vs. BOS  shows Howard’s inconsistency
or is a coaching issue. Brian Hill actually took Howard out vs. Powe when
I would have been force feeding him. (Another poss. Is that the Magic
guards ALWAYS shoot well vs. BOS).

I think it’s also noteworthy that Jefferson pulling even to (and maybe
passing Howard) has happened THIS SEASON. As much as I loved Jefferson
prior to this year, I don’t think you could really make the argument on
more than potential.  It’s a testament to how hard Jefferson has worked.

FWIW — I think Howard might have more of a Pierce-like leadership
mentality, than say an Antoine Walker.  Howard’s the best player on that
team, but he  doesn’t control it like a Shaq or a Jason Kidd.

I’m glad we have the PF we have!

(the other) mark