THIS IS WHY STAN VAN IS DA MAN!!! THIS IS HOW YOU INSPIRE A TEAM TO STOMP THE ATLANTA HAWKS aka 1017 Bricksquad LAST NIGHT!!!
WE DWIGHT HOWARD YA!!!!!!!!!!!!By PAUL KENNEDY
Orlando Magic Courtside Reporter
So sunny and warm on this Mother's Day in Atlanta that Stan Van Gundy and his coaches walked back to the team hotel following Sunday afternoon's Philips Arena practice rather than boarding the team bus for the mile ride. But it was not all butterflies and sunbeams for those who thought Stan and staff might have floated back to their downtown home-away-from-home given the manner in which the Magic Carpet has soared over the Hawks in this series.
Van Gundy channeled his inner-Don Shula during a 30 minute video session prior to practice, showing his club nearly 80 clips of busts, breakdowns, slips, and errors Orlando committed in Saturday's Game Three. That's 80 out of approximately 200 offensive and defensive sets. Do the math. More than a third of the game was unacceptable to the bench boss.
Let the record show the Magic won by 30 points--it wasn't that close--and seek a four game series sweep Monday. But despite being just one win away from a return to the Eastern Conference Finals don't expect any attaboys.
"When I went back and looked at the game our defense was not nearly as good as I thought it had been," Stan told a cluster of cameras. "Inconsistent…they had 23 second chance points."
If the Hawks weren't embarrassed before they are now. Faster than you can say "Time Out Atlanta," Orlando has outscored Mike Woodson's team by 87 combined points and made All-Star Joe Johnson magically disappear. And a demanding Van Gundy remains less than impressed. Hit the play button.
"There were a lot of clips," a smiling Vince Carter nodded.
"And I thought we'd won the game," Magic defensive ace Matt Barnes cracked. Tell it to Nick Buoniconti.
Open the door, let's get on the floor.
Orlando's extensive video work and the rapidity of these three contests has also exposed Atlanta's offensive simplicity. Having collided four times in the regular season and thrice this week, SVG has lotsa DVD's on this foe. He's seen this movie and he knows how it ends. Based nearly exclusively on isolation plays geared to their leading scorer as well as predictable out-of-timeout inbounds schemes, the Hawks are discovering the likes of Rashard Lewis, Michael Pietrus, and Jameer Nelson standing in the way. As Dr. James Naismith once pointed out, that's not conducive to putting the ball in the basket. Johnson is shooting only 28 percent from the floor. Add the presence of the two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and interior cornerstone Dwight Howard living large near the rim and Atlanta fans can count on one hand the number of field goals Al Horford converted in nearly 37 minutes Saturday in The House At Boo Corner. He took 13.
Boasting the largest collection of shooters this side of Staples Center, Orlando effects enormous pressure on every opponent--not just the Hawks--to match the Magic's scoring. Eight of Van Gundy's guards and forwards launched three's in Saturday's landslide. A total of 29 shots showered by all except centers Howard and Marcin Gortat. Stan's plan has produced a record of 16-1 since Orlando's last visit to this town in March. Included in the surge is only the second playoff series sweep of Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown in his NBA career. Win Monday and the Magic will have packed a second straight best-of-seven knockout into just seven nights.
Wonder what Cleveland's Mike Brown and Boston's Doc Rivers are thinking right now in sizing up Orlando. Clearly a series with either will not be a relaxing walk in the Mother's Day sun. But Stan's video collection includes plenty of clips on the Cavs and Celtics, too.
Dim the lights. Point the remote.
Game 4 Highlights
My little joke... Atlanta needs to take inspiration from the local rappers and change there name and logo to this :)
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