Bleacher Report - Articles by Jess Ramirez

Orlando Magic Show Maturity in What Was More than a Comeback

Jess Ramirez — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:04:38 -0400

This win is huge for the Orlando Magic. That's obvious.

They were known as the team who makes a hobby out of blowing 15 point leads.

Cleveland has been known for turning 15 point leads into 30 point leads.

But, last night, Orlando turned the tables. For once, they were the team coming back, and now all the questions are going to be toward Mike Brown instead of coach Stan Van Gundy.

The country now knows that the Magic are for real.

Anyone can say, "It's just one game," but thinking about how exactly the game was won and in what circumstances makes it so much bigger.

The Magic were down 16 at the Q. No one wins at the Q, let alone comes back from 16 point deficits. Cleveland was rolling in the first half. LeBron was nailing jumpers like Kobe; Mo was hitting 70 ft shots. The Magic just had no answer for anything.

Yet, the Magic did not run away with their tails between their legs like any other team would have. They fought back and did the unthinkable.

Cleveland is now on their heels. All that "playoffs is a different season" bologna is just that: a bunch of bologna. Didn't you guys hear? Apparently, the favorable matchups that Orlando has only matters in the regular season; they're thrown out the window in the playoffs

I don't think Orlando got the memo.

Orlando is now going to win the series because they know they can win at the Q and they know they can fight back.

This series is Orlando's for the taking. Here's to hoping they do just that.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Beneath the Surface

Jess Ramirez — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:48:34 -0400

Cleveland Cavaliers.

Entering Tuesday, they stand with a 62-15 record, easily on pace to tie the 2007-08 Celtics' 66-16 mark.

It's a good looking record on the outside because very few teams hit the 60-win mark in a given season. Heck, there have been seasons where no team cracks 60.

But beneath the surface, there is something that could be a little alarming to Cavalier fans:

2-6.

That is their record against the other three teams that are inevitably bound for 60 wins this year. Now these are not postseason games, but you have to agree that these are as close to postseason games as you can get.

Now, having a 60-9 record against the other 27 teams in the league is very impressive, no matter what league you're playing in. But those other 27 teams are not going to be the teams that LeBron and Co. are going to be seeing past the semifinals.

They're going to be seeing the likes of the Boston Celtics, who the Cavs are 1-2 against. Or the Orlando Magic, who have given the Cavs the most trouble out of anyone in the East. Cleveland is 1-2 against the Magic, and both losses have been by wide margins (11, 29), with the most recent one including Orlando building a 41-point lead in the second half.

And in the Finals, a possible matchup for Cleveland is the Los Angeles Lakers, who—you guessed it—are a perfect 2-0 versus the Cavs. Not only did they give Cleveland their only home loss this season, but they did it convincingly, with a 101-91 victory.

Five of the six losses against the big three have been by double digits. Now throw in the 0-5 road record and, well, let the doubts begin.

I've heard how it's just the regular season and the postseason is completely different, so their past postseason experience will carry them through it.

Well why don't you try telling that to the 2007 Mavericks who were upset in first round, after coming within two wins of the championship the season before! What makes the Cavs any different? Dallas had 67 wins that season and had the NBA MVP (LeBron will deservingly get the MVP).

And my personal favorite: How they're overachievers in the playoffs. Well, aside from being swept out of the Finals a couple years ago, they haven't even been out of the second round in the LeBron era.

But they are a talented enough team to get out of the East and maybe win it all, but if they play like a 2-6 team against the big boys of the NBA, they won't even come close.

Rafer Alston to the Orlando Magic: There's Too Many I'd Like to Thank

Jess Ramirez — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:30:30 -0500

Just when we thought the loss of All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson was also the lost of the season.

Just when the 33-8 start (not to mention a season sweep of the Lakers and Spurs) looked to be nothing but a cute, early-season, feel-good story that was about to end (like everyone outside of Orlando assumed it would), there is hope.

The Orlando Magic acquired Rafer Alston (yes Mr. Skip To My Lou himself) in a three-way trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets. Not to mention dumping Brian Cook's salary and giving the Magic $10 million in cap space.

Now I know I’m a few days late with this article, but it’s never too late to give some thanks:

I’d like to thank Tracy McGrady for giving up on this season forcing the Rockets front office to give up as well and look to the future.

I’d like to thank Brian Cook for going 3-of-5 from the floor last night and raising his trade value just enough at the last possible minute to get this to work.

More importantly, I’d like to thank the schedule makers for (although randomly) having Orlando play the New Orleans Hornets the night before the trade deadline. Which leads me to thanking the man who made this all possible: Chris Paul.

I’d like to thank you, CP3, for torching Orlando with 36 points and showing Otis and the entire front office that the Magic were not going to be able to hide their point guard woes when it comes to dealing with teams with elite point guards.

If it weren’t for you making A.J. and Lue look like a couple of Division II college players, Orlando may not have been able to recognize just how bad the team is without a legit guard until it was too late.

And finally, I’d like to thank YOU, Otis Smith and Stan Van Gundy, for not throwing the season away and for giving this Orlando Magic team the chance to make some noise in this year's playoffs.

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Dwight Howard and The Orlando Magic Leaving The NBA Black and Blue

Jess Ramirez — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:46:40 -0500

The Orlando freakin Magic.

They started the season 0-2, and since then have been playing out of their minds and have piled up a record of 32-6 since that 0-2 start. They’re 17-4 against the west as well as 7-3 against the wests top 9 teams.

Guarantee you that a casual NBA fan would not even consider this team a contender in the NBA. Reasons: because it’s all about Kobe and the Lakers, It’s all about LeBron and the Cavs, and it’s all about those defending champion Celtics.

But the Magic? No, no, don’t be crazy.

All that's known about this team is that they have the double-double king of the NBA

But it’s hard to understand how a team in this league can get very little respect when a) They currently have the best record in the NBA through 40 games [32-8] b) have the best road record in the NBA [16-5] c) just set a record for most 3’s in a game when they hit what seemed like 56 from downtown, and oh yeah, d) they just swept the season series with the Los Angeles Lakers AND the San Antonio Spurs.

I mean, who does that? I don’t think you can find very many teams who are going to be capable of doing that.

Orlando’s defense is a quiet reason on their success. They’re top 5 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, hold their opponents to the mid 90's, and are top 5 in the categories such as opponents field goal, and blocked shots.

One dangerous aspect is that this team lives by the jump shot and dies by the jump shot. Courtney Lee, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Keith Bogans, Jameer Nelson, and that long-forgotten JJ Redick are all capable of going 5-5 from beyond the arc. The Sacremento game is definitely an example of what they are capable of.

Throw in the fact that you have Superman himself down low in the post, it’s going to leave a lot of defenders to have to sag down to try to defend him, and you know what that is going to leave?

You guessed it, plenty of wide open jumpers, especially with the kind of unselfish ball movement they show.

But I guess I’ll end this with what Stan Van Gundy said to ESPN earlier in the week: "If you don't think we're good, that's fine."

But Guess What? They ARE!

Why the Philadelphia Eagles Are STILL Going to Win Super Bowl 43

Jess Ramirez — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:59:46 -0500

The Philadelphia Eagles did it again. They showed that their win in Week 14 at Giants Stadium was no fluke, and they overcame the odds of being the underdog and won another huge game.

How did they do it this time? The way they've been doing it since Late November: Defense

Faced with fourth and inches and then fourth and two, it seemed like there would be very little doubt that the Giants would convert because of the way Jacobs and Ward were pounding the ball earlier in those two drives. But both times the Philly D came up and had little trouble clogging up the middle to give the ball back to the Eagles

Now Philly's run defense could have played better, as the Giants had 4.3 yards per carry and a total of 138 yards, but the pass D held Eli to only 169 yards and two interceptions but kept the Giants out of the endzone for the full 60 minutes.

Asante Samuel was the difference maker of the 1st half and possibly the game when he intercepted a Manning pass and took it to the 1 to set up Philly's first touchdown of the game.

Possibly the most important stat of all could be how New York was only able to convert 3-13 third downs. The last meeting between these two teams saw the Eagles hold the Giants on third down three of 11 times.

Now McNabb didn't exactly put on a passing clinic, but once again he managed the game well and made the big play when it he had to. He converted huge third downs when it mattered, including a third and 20 play that he kept alive in typical McNabb fashion by scrambling around the pocket and breaking tackles in order to give his receivers the time the get open which led to the Eagles second touchdown of the game.

Now next week Philly has to go west to meet up with the Cardinals, a team that the Eagles wiped the floor with on Turkey Day. Now-a-days in the NFL, previous matchups between teams earlier in the season isn't really relevant to what's going to happen the second time around, but just know that the Eagles are the hottest team in the NFL right now (winning six of seven) so they will not lack any confidence whatsoever.

And just know that Jimmy Johnson is going to have a special sceme while dealing with Kurt Warner and the pass-happy Cardinals and if it worked then, there's no reason why it can't work now.

Fly Eagles, Fly.

Why the Philadelphia Eagles Will Win the Super Bowl

Jess Ramirez — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:54:26 -0500

The Philadelphia Eagles were considered dead just a week ago. Now they're on their way to yet another divisional playoff game.

The odds of making the playoffs were against them. A week ago, they had to hope and pray that one of the worst teams in all the AFC (the Raiders) would take down a potential playoff contender (Tampa Bay) ON THE ROAD. It happened.

Then they had to hope and pray that the lowly Texans would be able to put up enough points on the potentially playoff bound Bears for a win. It happened.

Then they had to take on the preseason Super Bowl favorite Dallas Cowboys. A team that has owned Philly the last few games, and nothing short of a win would get them in. Guess what? It happened.

The Eagles will win the Super Bowl and here's why: The defense will continue to come up big. The last two weeks, they have been matched up against two of the NFC's top offenses.

They forced five fumbles en route to completely shutting down the Dallas Cowboys' notoriously high powered offense and keeping them under 10 points for the first time all season. Two of those fumbles were forced by Brian Dawkins who is the heart and soul and the Eagle Defense and means as much to them as Bob Sanders means to the Colts.

Then in the opening round of the playoffs at Minnesota, they have to go against regular season rushing champ, Adrian Peterson. They kept AP to only one big run all game, and completely shut him down in the second half.

He wasn't able to get a rush longer than 10 yards all game, with the exception being the 40 yd TD. Next week they play a New York Giants offense that just hasn't been the same ever since Plaxico Burress was arrested earlier in the season.

Reason No. 2: Donovan McNabb. Since he was benched against the Ravens in week 12, he has played like the quarterback Eagle fans want him to be. He has thrown for 10 TDs and only two INTs since the Baltimore game, and is playing with the same energy and excitement as he did in the 2004-05 Super Bowl season.

His ability to get everyone in the offense involved is his strength. The Eagles have no outright No. 1 receiver. The leading receiver this year has been rookie DeSean Jackson, and today against the Vikings he got everyone going as Brent Celek, Jason Avant, and Kevin Curtis all had at least five receptions for 45 yards.

Not to mention the fact that running game had been non-existent today so he was forced to step up and make big throws, especially when they he had to pass from his own end-zone twice in the second half.

With that said, the Eagles will win the Super Bowl because they aren't supposed to. Just like they weren't supposed even make it this far. But they will define all odds if #20 and #5 have anything to say about it.

Lakers-Celtics: Lakers End C's 19-game Win Streak

Jess Ramirez — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 19:33:09 -0500

Hold on just ONE second Celtics’ fans and players, you haven’t won the 2008-09 NBA crown just yet.

(At least not according to a few guys wearing the white, purple, and gold.)

With the spotlight on this game as one of the most anticipated regular season NBA Finals rematches in recent memory, there was very little disappointment.

This game was circled on the calendars of every NBA fan. There is no way that anyone can believe that the Celtics didn’t want to win this game just a little bit more than, say, a November matchup with the Nets.

The Boston players could sit there and say that this was just another game that was just as important as the other 82, but human nature isn’t letting me believe that.

Derek Fisher didn’t front about it. Neither did Sasha Vujacic. Both said that this game means something personal. Sasha took it one step further to even say that he straight out doesn’t like the Celtics. Gotta love the honesty, it’d be hard to find anyone willing to say that straight out even though you know they’re all thinking it.

The C’s were just outplayed by the Los Angeles Lakers, plain and simple.

Not only was a 19-game win streak on the line for Boston, but the reputation of the Los Angeles Lakers. They were being called perhaps the most shaky 24-5 team in NBA history, having lost a few questionable games this season, as well as barely scraping by a few teams at the bottom of the NBA food chain.

But not only did LA snap the 4^th longest winning streak in NBA history, they proved that weren’t as soft as once thought. They played hard defensively, holding the C’s to 16 points in the fourth quarter, as well as forcing 18 turnovers throughout the game.

The Celtics did what LA couldn’t do in last year’s NBA Finals which was to come through in the clutch. A pretty good stat for you is the Lakers ending the game on a 13-2 scoring run. Leading the way with three huge assists in the finals half of the fourth quarter was Kobe Bryant dishing to Gasol.

We’ll be waiting for the next chapter in this rivalry to come Feb. 5^th, not to mention the big one in June.