Orlando Magic win 90-86, go up 3-0 on the Charlotte Bobcats

The refs affected the outcome of this game.

You can rebut me however you like : “But Dwight fouled out! But Orlando had 3 technical fouls!”

Ok, sure. NOT. The Bobcats had 27 fouls to Orlando’s 25. Some of the Bobcats were desperation fouls at the end of the game. So that comes out to about an even number of calls. The Bobcats style of play usually leads to them getting more fouls called in their favor because they take it inside so much. However, there were so many times where Jackson or someone else would take the ball inside and proceed to get mugged with no call. This game was the perfect blatant example of a game’s outcome affected by the refs.

Towards the end of the game, I actually did think about verbally assaulting David Stern and Joey Crawford had they walked by me, as they did before the half in front of my friend who sat lower down.

David (Stern, not Arnott): you’re jewish, and I’m jewish. I like that. But you’re the biggest douchebag in the sports business and I would beat you up for helping make my favorite sport great and then turning it to crap.

Winning game 4 just delays the inevitable… Go ahead and put us out of our misery. It was a good run. If we weren’t so green and had some shooters, then maybe we could have made this a series. But we are out matched… need more pieces.

I say trade Diaw (he’s been a let down in the playoffs) for a perimeter shooter. Tyrus should start at power forward anyways. Maybe trade Hendo for a shooter also. Find a more dominant center if possible, if not, Chandler & Mohammad + a couple off the bench shooters should be enough to get us over this hump.

It’s a what if scenario : What if my W’s drafted Cousins or Favors and Biedrins became available would you guys be interested and what would be fair value?

It’s a what if scenario : What if my W’s drafted Cousins or Favors and Biedrins became available would you guys be interested and what would be fair value?

saw you outside by the light rail

But now not so much. Trading Diaw is a brilliant idea as much as I love him. We free up some SERIOUS cap space but I don’t know if I would want Biedrins for him like you guys are talking about. Sadly I don’t have the energy (the game took it all, and my voice is gone) to come up with a better trade scenario so I will do a fan post or something when I think of one. Thankksss

BTW great game tonight the arena was bumpin. I thought about taking Nelly a copy of my music but decided otherwise on the fact that I might be mauled by security.

I haven’t read the game thread for y’alls “in the moment” thoughts because I wanted my own to be fresh. I’ll head on in there in a minute. I have to brag and show my ass just a little, so I apologize in advance. I don’t do it very often so I beg y’all’s indulgence just this once.

The experience:
We were given our shirts, prowl towels, and lanyards and whisked through the executive entrance where we were met by 3 of the Lady Cats. (sorry, don’t know them all by name. Two were brunette – not the incredible looking brunette from the still of the dance tourney thread – and one was the young lady with the brightly dyed red hair.)

We were swept into the elevator (complete with an elevator operator! I haven’t seen an elevator operator since I was a little kid!) and taken behind closed doors to our “suite.” I’ll be honest. Our seats sucked compared to where we usually sit and the only thing “executive” about it was that they served trail mix and Bojangles. To be fair, the reason for the suckage was my wheelchair. The seats themselves offer an awesome view of the court and are set up like stadium seating in a good movie theater. Unfortuantely, although the room BEHIND the seats is handicapped accessible, the seats themselves are not. I had to sit behind everyone and stare between heads to watch the game. I had an awesome view of the jumbotron though!

Then something happened that made the inconvenient seating worth all that and a bag of fries. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. A little inside info for you. Yes, Mugsy, Chief Parrish, and David Thompson were at the game, but they weren’t seated where they were shown to the public on the Jumbotron. They spent the first half seated with their family members RIGHT NEXT TO ME. As it came time for their “moment” they left and were guided downstairs. David was the first to leave, but I not only got autographs, but I got to talk with them quite a bit and Mugsy was kind enough to pose for pics with me! I’ll post one in a day or so, once I figure out how to upload pictures to the blog. I grew up watching Parrish in green and then watched him end his career in teal. He and Mugsy are my two favorite players of all time and I was more than a little star struck. You’re right Andrew, Mugsy is way-cool and down to earth.

I also saw one of the ROF faithful on the Jumbotron when they FINALLY got around to showing him holding his “Our Team Our Town” sign. My wife got a picture of you too!

The game itself was a heartbreaker:

I’ll keep it brief since I didn’t have the greatest view. The biggest surprise was that Larry Hughes actually showed up and played well for only the second time since coming to the Bobcats. A pity he only has a few games left before we chuck him into the back alley. I will confirm what others have said. The refs WERE a factor, but not because of what they did. It’s what they didn’t do. There were a large number of no-calls and several were bad enough that they should have drawn flagrants. It was NOT one-sided. Tyson Chandler almost caved in Reddick’s ribcage at one point. The worst infraction was a forearm to Wallace’s face where a shooting sleeve was raked across his eyes. It got called a jump ball.

The refs were a factor. But they weren’t THAT big a factor. They allowed the Magic to make a run when the Bobcats opened their largest lead, but that was all it amounted to. The Orlando Magic defeated the Charlotte Bobcats today fair and square. We had a third quarter lapse where we resorted to settling for jumpers. Sound familiar anyone? It was far more brief than we’re accustomed to, lasting just a couple of minutes instead of most of the quarter, but that’s all it really took against a real playoff team. Once that happened it kept the score close until the end and then the better and more experienced team did just enough to win it.

We can’t come back against this team. Not from 3-0. So to all Magic fans that have come to visit us, congratulations and good luck in your next series. I hope that in the 1 or 2 games that remain you are as tested as you were this afternoon so you will be in top shape when you move on. Oh, one more thing….

We’ll getcha next year!

Charlotte scored 32 points off 17 turnovers, while Orlando scored just 13 points off 13 turnovers.

Everyone had a great time at the game. Wish I could have been there.

This was a good game, really until the 4th where for some reason we decided to stop driving to the basket and instead toss up a bunch of missed 3s. Sigh. Alas.

Really good game by Hughes though, as much as I dislike.

Chuck Norris.

There, I said it. Still, I would like to see our A game at least once before we bow out (I’d say tonight was a solid B).

That is the position i’m taking after game 3. To lose is one thing, but not bring your “A game” in 3 tries is completely unacceptable.

The Magic have been leaving the door open every night, but the ‘Cats won’t walk through it.

 Yes, the refs suck. Yes the Magic have been draining threes. Yes Nelson is playing the best basketball of his life (ridiculous). But the Bobcats just can’t put it together for 48 and that is more than disappointing.

The problem is, with no cap room and no draft pick (in one of the deepest drafts ever. Oy), there’s very little that can be done to improve the team. Hopefully they let Felton walk, perhaps get creative with a trade to clear cap space for the future and try to find a gem in the UDFA market. There will be a glut of talent with everyone afraid of the lockout and so many people declaring. Now is the time to be targeting guys who might slip through the cracks.