Tampa Bay Sports Blog

Would someone please call the ASPCA and send them to pick up the carcass resembling the remains of the once proud Orlando Magic that lay still on the Verizon Center court in Washington DC.

Last night’s performance by the Magic against the turmoil filled Washington Wizards was absolutely deplorable. Despite the Magics horrific shooting woes which continue to plague them, they managed to build a ten point lead in the fourth quarter, only to fall victim to a frenetic Wizard rally.

The Magic have now lost four straight games against sub .500 teams, three of which came on the road where Orlando has struggled mightily this season.

Before I begin to dissect the plight of the Orlando Magic following last nights debacle, I would like to clarify that I’m in excellent spirits. I would hate for my rant to be attributed to me possibly waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Which would have been impossible anyway since I slept on the good old couch last night (ah yes, one of the many fringe benefits of living with your girlfriend…lol).

It would be easy to point out once again, the Magics dependence on the 3 point shot (they were 7-27 or .259% for the game against the Wizards), lack of effort, poor execution and defensive intensity. However, I feel the problems go much deeper than that.

Yesterday, I questioned whether the team may be quitting on Coach Stan Van Gundy prematurely. However, after listening to Van Gundy’s post game presser last night, I too may be leaning towards severing ties. Van Gundy had the audacity to state that it was his responsibility to get the most out of his star players(which I can agree with), and that he simply does not know how to at this point. That is simply not the answer you give when your being paid to do a job at the NBA level.

Maybe Pat Riley knew something we are starting to find out about Stan “No Longer The Man” Van Gundy? Even Shaq questioned his mental fortitude and I am starting to agree. When things aren’t going well, Van Gundy always looks out of sorts, unable to maintain composure. How can you expect to lead a group of professional athletes, when you start whining and pouting like a fat kid who had his cake snatched out of his hands.

At least in Miami, Van Gundy had a proven leader and warrior in D Wade, not to mention a strong veteran presence in Shaq, to keep players in line and demand better effort on the court, which they exemplified through their own play.

Unfortunately, the Magic lack a veteran who can command that type of respect. Which leaves the coach to shoulder that burden. This is where I feel Van Gundy has failed, since the majority of his core players are all underachieving this season.

Vince Carter, who up until this point in his career, in best known for dunking over Frederick Weiss in the Olympics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PPhbHMaf7k) and for admitting he quit on the Toronto Raptors by not always competing hard. So I’m not surprised that Vince hasn’t warmed up to the coaching methods used by Van Gundy. This is no excuse for Carter’s recent struggles, however, it may be a part of the reason he is not excelling. If anything, it appears as if he has regressed since joining the Magic.

The Magics other floor general Jameer Nelson has continued to struggle since his return from knee surgery and I would actually prefer seeing him come off the bench for the time being. Let him regain his confidence playing against the oppositions second unit, rather than allow him to be abused further like he was by Derrick Rose earlier in the week in Chicago.

Now for my favorite target, Rashard ” Please Don’t Touch Me” Lewis, who is either the luckiest man on earth or has a world class publicist. How else can you explain a player making that much escarole flying under the radar and not being trashed for his severe lack of production. Lets be honest, aside from his three point shooting ability, there’s not much else to be enamored about with Rashard’s game.

With all that being said, the Magic are still one of the top 5 teams in the league and can definitely salvage this season. In order for that to happen, there will have to be some major changes made. Ever heard the phrase ” drastic times call for drastic measures”? Memo to Otis Smith: We are in Crisis Mode.

If anything can be learned from last nights collapse, it’s how to respond to adverse situations. Here are the Wizard’s faced with all kinds of on and off court distractions, yet, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler showed how consummate professionals are suppose to carry themselves. Hopefully, some of the Magic players took notice.

Technorati Tags: Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Frederick Weiss, Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic, Otis Smith, Pat Riley, Rashard Lewis, Shaq, Stan Van Gundy, Vince Carter, Washington Wizards

The NBA recently gave me some feedback about my blog postings stating that there weren’t many positive stories. This was delivered to me on the heels of the Magics dreadful loss to the Chicago Bulls this past Saturday night, leaving me in a rather precarious position.

Instead of ripping the Magic for losing to the Bulls, who were in the midst of self destructing themselves, I decided to bite my tongue or in this case my fingers and give them a chance to redeem themselves against the Pacers on Tuesday. With the Pacers dealing with injuries to Danny Granger and Troy Murphy, you would think this was an ideal scenario for a team looking to regain their composure on the road.

Much to my dismay, the Magic mailed it in against the Pacers, being severely outplayed by a second rate team and even more surprisingly a second rate big man in Roy Hibbert, who simply embarrassed Dwight Howard.

Hibbert turned in 26 points and 8 rebounds against Dwight “The Coward” Howard, who manages a mere 11 points on 2-7 shooting and 15 boards. I was unaware Roy Hibbert was even on the Pacers until this game, and then to see him play like an All-Star against the Magic front-line was appalling.

After two tough road losses, the Magic returned home on Wednesday night to face the Toronto Raptors who are lead by Chris Bosh.

Once again, the Magic simply didn’t show up to play and were dismantled by Bosh and company.

What troubles me more than anything about the losses, is the lack of effort and intensity by the players. Are they quitting on Stan Van Gundy this early in the season?

Perhaps the criticism Dwight Howard levied against Coach Van Gundy earlier in the year about his negative attitude was a sign of what was to come.

No matter what the reasoning, Dwight Howard is simply not playing near the level he was at last season. His shot attempts are down drastically in recent games, which can be attributed to foul trouble to some degree, or a possible change in the Magics offensive strategy.

I’ve said it repeatedly that Howard is not a number one option on offense and that the Magic need another low post scorer to help balance out their attack. The continued reliance on outside shooting is the exact reason why they are playing inconsistent and not winning games against weaker opponents.

Shots aren’t always going to drop, so you have to have another scoring option. Otherwise, teams will pack it in and make you beat them from the outside.

All teams go through peaks and valleys during a long regular season. However, you rarely see a championship caliber team drop three games in a row. Especially, against teams with losing records who are dealing with injuries and internal strife in the case of the Chicago Bulls who were rumored to be on the verge of firing their Head Coach.

Since the NBA wants a glass half full story, I will try and put a positive spin on things. Yes, the season is long, so there is plenty of time for the Magic to right the ship. Secondly, Orlando is still loaded with talent and in my opinion lead by an excellent head coach.

So if in fact Orlando chooses to stand pat and move forward with the current roster, there are changes they can make such as; moving Rashard Lewis to the small forward position and inserting Brandon Bass in at the power forward. Or, go retro and bring back the “Twin Towers” with Gortat and Howard featured up front.

On the other hand, if Otis Smith does decide to tinker with the roster, their is a wealth of talent for him to deal, giving him plenty of leverage.

It’s too soon to give up on what could still turn out to be a great season, so let’s stay positive for the time being.

There is a silver lining here, as the Magic head up north tonight to face the Washington Wizards who are in complete disarray.

The Wizards have given new meaning to the phrase “Strap em up” and get ready to play. Sorry I couldn’t resist the temptation

Technorati Tags: Chicago Bulls, Dwight Howard, Indiana Pacers, Marcin Gortat, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Roy Hibbert, Stan Van Gundy, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

Rafer Alston came over to the Orlando Magic last week in their big trade deadline deal and looks like he’s going to fit in nicely. He has played two games, starting one, and helped the Magic get victories against the Heat and Bobcats. Alston is a true point guard and increase scoring opportunities for everyone else. The deal came shortly after the Tyronn Lue deal and that’s what leaves me scratching my head. It’s obvious at this point that the Magic threw everything they had into the Alston deal and are counting on him to lead them to the promised land.

Prioritizing these things, I like the Alston deal. It will help the team this year and should help in the next season or two, assuming that Alston takes the back seat to Nelson next year with a good attitude. The Lue deal still irks me and is one of the dumbest moves the team has made to date. Lue already played here and didn’t work out. He is younger than Anthony Johnson yet looks less athletic. He wasn’t an upgrade over Johnson and dealing away Keith Bogans for him was completely stupid and was a knee jerk reaction to Jameer Nelson going down that shouldn’t have happened.

All that being said, every team makes dumb decisions sometime and the Magic at least made the deal for Alston to attempt to fix things. I would still rather see Bogans coming off the bench in playoff time, but that doesn’t matter now. The one thing we all need to see is how well Alston plays against Boston, Cleveland and Detroit. Those are the teams that matter and that is the only thing that will show us how well this deal will work out.

The Magic head to Chicago tonight and I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna see another big game from Dwight so tune in and see if I’m right.

Technorati Tags: Boston Celtics, Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Rafer Alston, Tyronn Lue

The idiots on the four letter network keep driving me insane with their doubting of the Magic because of their schedule. It’s not college football you assholes! They don’t get to pick who they play, they play the schedule they’re dealt and all they can do is win. Guess what dumbasses, they’re winning! It’s not like they’re playing St. Mary’s high school or a pickup game in the back yard. They’ve won on the road against the Western Conference and they’ve beaten good teams at home. They beat up on San Antonio and New Orleans at home and won tough games on the road. They’re doing this all without really having the entire team clicking on all cylinders. It took Lewis a while to get his offense going and Dwight Howard hasn’t exactly been lighting things up lately while he nurses an injury. They won while Nelson and Pietrus were out and nothing seems to be slowing them down at this point. Since their tough loss in Boston earlier this month the Magic are 13-1, with the only loss being on a last second shot by Grant Hill in Phoenix.

I’m sick of hearing people doubt this team because they want to hang all over LeBron James’ sack. Get over yourselves idiots. The Magic are in Detroit tonight for a big game and follow that up with another tough one in Chicago on Wednesday. Next month they will get Boston at home and have to play the Spurs, Kings, Lakers and Nuggets in a brutal West Coast trip. If they bomb out there then you can get on them, but if they win these games now, you need to get on board with the rest of those that think they’re finally reaching elite type status. I can’t wait to see what this team can do with everyone healthy and playing well and everyone out there should be looking forward to it as well. We’re seeing Jameer Nelson mature into a very good player and could be on the verge of something really great with Courtney Lee. If Rashard Lewis’ sudden newfound toughness isn’t temporary we could really being seeing something special out of these guys. I hope they keep winning and the four letter network retards keep overlooking it until they’re holding up some hardware.

Technorati Tags: Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Courtney Lee, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Grant Hill, Jameer Nelson, LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Mickael Pietrus, New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Rashard Lewis, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio spurs

   The Orlando Magic have looked pretty good so far this year. A 9-3 record is good enough for first place in the Southeast. Quality wins over the Sixers, Mavericks and Bulls help build some confidence toward the long road ahead. The real season starts for the boys in blue next month though. That’s when we’re going to find out how much progress they’re making as a team this year. They start off on the road in Boston to face the defending champs. Then, after two games at home, they head out on a very tough West Coast swing that includes the Clippers, Blazers, Suns, Jazz and Warriors. They then come home to face the Spurs and Lakers among others and finish off the month on the road again to face the Pistons and Bulls. It’s gonna be a tough month however it winds up and we should know a lot more about this team before New Year’s Day. The key matchups are obviously the Celtics and Pistons. Both are away games and both teams are the elite of the Eastern Conference. The Celtics returned most of their team and have looked like they haven’t taken any steps backwards so far. The Pistons have struggled a little, especially since the Iverson/Billups deal, but are still among the best. They carry the intimidation factor as well when they face the Magic. Teyshawn Prince has been sick so far this year and Rip Hamilton still poses nightmares for the Magic. We’ll have to see how big a difference Mickael Pietrus can make. Pietrus was brought in with Hamilton in mind. The Magic have had no answer for Hamilton in playoffs past and now have to contend with Iverson as well. I don’t want to pass judgment on anything until we see, but it’s hard to see Magic containing the Hamilton/Iverson/Prince trio come playoff time. There’s no need to break down the Celtics big three, we already know what they can do. Jameer Nelson looks to be improving the way we had hoped (finally) and Mickael Pietrus has been a little better than expected so far. What’s troubling to me is the fact that Pietrus and Howard have been getting in early foul trouble a lot. What happens when they deal with the tougher matchups that are really gonna beat up on them? It’s also been a rough offensive start for Turk and Lewis. We know my opinion on Lewis already so I’ll leave it be, but the Magic need Turkoglu to maintain his presence on the offensive end. He’s uhh, how you say, the straw that stirs the drink. It’s going to be an interesting month for these guys and I personally can’t wait to see it.

Technorati Tags: Allen Iverson, Boston Celtics, Chauncey Billups, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Golden State Warriors, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, Rashard Lewis, Richard Hamilton, San Antonio spurs, Teyshawn Prince, Utah Jazz

   The Orlando Magic have gotten off to a 2-2 start after their close win against the Bulls last night. They beat the Bulls 96-93 behind Dwight Howard’s 22 pt/15 rb and five others scoring in double digits. Howard has stated that he intends to get a double double in every game this season, an achievable yet somewhat lofty goal, and has backed up that statement thus far. The Magic are going through a small transition after losing Keyon Dooling to the Nets in free-agency and are giving JJ Reddick his shot to prove himself in the aftermath. Reddick has no more excuses and needs to perform better than he’s shown, two points on free throws and no field goals in four games. Courtney Lee got his first action last night and looked like a rookie is supposed to. He should develop this year off the bench and there isn’t too much pressure being put on him to make any impact. The keys for this team’s success this year hinge on Rashard Lewis becoming tougher defensively and being more consistent offensively, Hedo maintaining his presence as a scoring threat and Mickael Pietrus becoming the big time two guard the Magic so desperately need. Pietrus doesn’t need to become Kobe Bryant, but he needs to at least be more aggressive from that spot. His defense and his perimeter shooting are the reasons the Magic signed him, but his athleticism is what can make this team a power in the East. The bench also needs to step up. Reddick, Bogans and company have looked below average so far and that’s not going to get it done. Bogans finally had a decent game off the bench last night with 13 pt/5 rb, yet had struggled before that. With Pietrus developing, Nelson and Lewis’ inconsistency and Howard being the defensive focus of other teams, Bogans/Anthony Johnson/Reddick need to give this team points off the bench. I believe these are just early season transgressions and think Bogans and Johnson will contribute as expected, Reddick I’ve always doubted, so we’ll just wait and see.

Technorati Tags: Anthony Johnson, Chicago Bulls, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Keyon Dooling, Mickael Pietrus, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis