Tampa Bay Sports Blog

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

I’ll have to cover 2 games at once again as I freakin work too much. The game in Phoenix didn’t have the Shaq/Howard crap that I had anticipated, but it turned out to be a great game. The one in Utah amounted to a melodramatic road game without much intrigue. Let’s go.

• The Magic went to Phoenix and played an absolutely great game against a good team that went down to the wire. Turk shot like shit the entire game until hitting another clutch shot to put the Magic ahead with 9 seconds left. The worst part of the whole thing came when Grant freakin’ Hill took a beautiful pass from Amare Soudemire and hit a reverse layup that won the game. Dwight Howard left the game with a sore knee, that will hopefully not keep him out long, after only playing 22 and a half minutes of game time and really wasn’t much of a factor in things. The Magic did a great job of moving the ball and spreading out the scoring, but in the end it wasn’t enough. I take solace in the fact that the Magic were in this game, and almost won it, on the road with their best player hurt and Hedo Turkoglu shooting like crap against a complete Phoenix Suns team. The Suns were minus Shaq and Raja Bell, but Shaq isn’t much of a factor anymore and Bell’s absence is equated by the loss of Mickael Pietrus, so I write that off. With Howard out and Soudemire in and the Magic losing by only one on a final shot in the last 9 seconds, I take the loss in stride and these guys can build from that.
• In the fourth game of the West Coast swing the Magic beat the Jazz 103-94 and have brought their  record to 3-1 out west so far. It was an off night as Dwight Howard sat out along with Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Brewer. Turk and Lewis did most of the damage and the Jazz just couldn’t keep up with Orlando’s offense. I didn’t get to watch the game because it wasn’t on TV here tonight but things appeared to be good on our end from those that started. Nelson dropped 17 as he continued his long due breakout season and Keith Bogans chipped in 10 in essentially split duty with Courtney Lee. Being that I didn’t get to see this game I can’t add anything to my man crush on Lee, but I’m sure he did what he does.

The Magic have gone 1 and 1 since I last talked about them, but they’re now 3 and 1 on this road trip and that’s a great accomplishment. The Western Conference is considered the varsity league in the NBA and the Magic have put up a winning record against them, on the road, with injuries. It shows the fortitude of the team and the ability to overcome arduous situations. Hedo hasn’t shot well, but he’s hit the ones that count, which proves my point regarding his importance to this offense. Rashard Lewis has played very well on both ends of the court during this stretch and has finally stepped up, temporarily, to being the player the Magic thought they were getting. Jameer Nelson is playing at a level we all had hoped for and Courtney Lee is doing major damage off the bench. One guy that played well the last couple nights that I have dogged also is Marcin Gortat. Gortat has stepped up in Howard’s absence and is proving that he belongs in this league. He will never be, and shouldn’t be, a starter in this league but he’s developing into a nice spot player that embraces his role very much. I would prefer Lee get more playing time and Gortat less, but situations dictate that. Lee needs more attention, that post is coming, but things are working and you can’t argue with Stan as they win. One more in Golden State boys,  bring it home right.

Technorati Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Marcin Gortat, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Raja Bell, Rashard Lewis, Ronnie Brewer, Shaquille O'Neal, Stan Van Gundy, Utah Jazz

The Magic beat the T-Wolves on Wednesday (I know it’s late but I’ve been working!) and seem to keep having things fall just right in spite of the injuries that have ravaged them. Wednesday’s game was great in a different way though. Turk, Dwight and Lewis did their usual in combining for 68 of the Magic’s 100 point night, but a new face stepped in and took advantage of his opportunity to show and prove. Introducing Courtney Lee! Lee had yet to play 30 minutes or get double digit points in his glorious 14 game career. That’s over now as Lee stepped up to play 34+ minutes and dropped 19 off the bench to help beat the Wolves 100-89. Now I’m not declaring this guy the next big thing yet, but he looked very good the other night and it’s nice to see this guy get the anti-Reddick treatment in his rookie season. Maybe the Magic are more forced now to play this guy than they were to play JJ in his rookie campaign, but it was in the back of my head coming in that maybe they were going to do the same thing with C-Lee. Nope! Now we need to move forward.

The Magic had the Thunder at home and kept piling up the wins against a bad team by beating them 98-89. Jameer Nelson came back and picked up where he left off with points 15 on 6 of 10 shooting, which included 3 for 3 from the arc. Howard was especially dominant with 21/23 and helped offset bad shooting nights by Lewis and Turkoglu who went 10 of 32 combined. Keith Bogans also made his return and scored 9 points on 3 of 6 shooting, all three pointers by the way, in a balanced effort from the bench. I would’ve liked to see a little more than 10 minutes for Courtney, but it’s hard to argue with another victory. The Magic now sit at 14-5 on top of the Southeast, 2 games ahead of Atlanta, as they head out on an extremely tough 5 game West Coast swing. We could be singing an entirely different tune about things at this point next week, but let’s hope this road trip goes well as it could be a huge confidence boost to an already good team and set things up for an impressive season.

Technorati Tags: Atlanta Hawks, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis

   The Magic have played four games since my last post and had put on a good showing in all but last night’s big one against the Celtics. Now I’m not going to pick on them for losing an away game, in Boston, while down three major contributors in Mickael Pietrus, Keith Bogans and Jameer Nelson. Pietrus hurt himself in the Philly game and is going to miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his right thumb. The Magic have been getting hit hard with injuries and Pietrus is just the latest victim to be sidelined. Orlando had two very good showings on national TV last week against Philly and Washington on the road. The Philly game was the tough one as Rashard Lewis stepped up and hit a big three in the final 5 seconds to give the Magic the win. Lewis has definitely stepped up big lately and may finally be developing into the offensive force the Magic hoped they were getting when they first acquired him. I get on Lewis a lot and it’s playing like he has been that’s going to shut all of us up that pick on him. We all know he’s talented enough to play this way and have been waiting for him to show it consistently. In the other national game the Magic beat up on the hapless Wizards 105-90 who still look awful without Gilbert Arenas. Pietrus scored 17 points in the Washington game while trying to play through his injury, but in the end it was too much. Howard has been consistent and is doing a better job of staying out of foul trouble. Turk is still driving the lane and doing a good job of drawing fouls, though his shots aren’t falling the way we expect. The Indiana game was an awesome display of what this team is capable of. Howard dominated inside with 32/21 and Lewis and Turk dropped bombs from the three point line going 8 of 15 combined. It was a beautiful thing to watch but the Boston game showed once again that the Magic need more to compete with the elite in the Eastern Conference. If the Magic are going to get by Boston they are going to need a complete lineup that includes Pietrus, Nelson and Bogans. This holds true for Detroit as well and we may get to see most of tat lineup by the time the Magic get to Detroit at the end of the month. The Magic big three of Howard, Turk and Lewis should be enough to carry them to that point, but they are going to need more to break the Piston’s hold over them. The Detroit team they will face is not as good without Billups and Iverson seems to be doing more harm than good since his arrival, but it’s more a mental thing with that match up and the Magic need to break through that before they head into the playoffs. I’m calling the Celtics game a wash and looking forward to getting a healthy Magic team on the floor before I pass judgement on them. They should be able to handle the T-Wolves tomorrow night and I’d personally llike to see a lot of Courtney Lee and JJ Reddick in that one. It would be nice to see them take advantage of the injuries and get these guys more time on the floor as it would improve the bench dramatically when the team is healthy.

Technorati Tags: Allen Iverson, Boston Celtics, Chauncey Billups, Courtney Lee, Detroit Pistons, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, Indiana Pacers, Jameer Nelson, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards

   The Magic pulled out a weird win at home against the Milwaukee Bucks 108-101. Dwight Howard led the bunch 24/13 even though he only played 31 minutes because of foul trouble again. This is becoming a disturbing trend and is not going to end well for the Magic if Howard can’t get his foul issues under control. I love him getting blocked shots, he had six more last night, but not if it means he can’t play for long stretches because of fouls. He was 10-20 from the free throw line as well and is looking a little too much like Shaq, and that’s not a good thing to be compared to Shaq at the stripe. Turk was back and had 22/9 which included 8 of 8 from the line. Rashard Lewis also finished  with 22 points, going 10 of 11 from the line, and played 39+ minutes in spite of his injury scare. I dog Lewis a lot for his inconsistency and soft play but we need him on the floor to be successful. The Magic were 38 of 54 from the fre throw line as a team, opposed to Milwaukee’s 17 of 21, and that’s what put them over the top. JJ Reddick contributed 10 points off the bench and will be getting a lot more playing time with Keith Bogans out. Now to the injuries.

   Keith Bogans will be out for at least a month with a fractured thumb and strained ligament in his left hand and that’s gonna be hurt. We should see more of JJ Reddick and Courtney Lee in his absence. Turk came back from the flu and we needed that last night. The biggest concern for the Magic right now has to be Jameer Nelson’s injury.  Nelson left the game in the third quarter with a groin strain and it’s uncertain right now how much time, if any, he could miss. Groin strains are tough, and the Magic absolutely need Nelson right now. He has been playing great this season, showing the ability we all had been hoping to see earlier, and he is becoming a vital cog in the Magic machine right now. Hopefully this will be a game or two type of thing as Anthony Johnson can hold down the fort for that long, if any longer they will have to scour the free agent pool. We’ll see what happens, in the meantime have a national game on ESPN tomorrow night in Philadelphia so tune in.

Technorati Tags: Anthony Johnson, Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Rashard Lewis, Shaquille O'Neal

   It was a strange night in Orlando. The Magic hosted Toronto last night and were without starting twoguard Mickael Pietrus so that means Keith Bogans gets in there to take up the slack, right? Oops, there was a JJ Reddick sighting and he was shockingly in the starting lineup. Reddick hadonly logged 48 plus minutes in the team’s ten games this year and didn’t play at all in 4 of those games. Getting the start tonight Reddick scored 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting in just over 34 minutes tonight. He didn’t turn the ball over and did a decent job defensively against the Raptor’s guards. Not a bad night for JJ I guess. The Magic again had to overcome an off night from Dwight Howard, who found himself in foul trouble again and finished with an 18/9 line. Hope this doesn’t become a trend. Hedo, Lewis and Nelson all stepped up again in scoring 22 a piece and were able to do enough to hold off Toronto 103-90. The game was closer than it appeared and Chris Bosh was abusing anyone who got in his way in getting off for 40 points and 18 boards. Howard and Battie did a good job on Jermain O’Neal and no one else could step up for Toronto, even with the late run in the fourth quarter. It’s good to see Orlando off to an 11-3 start atop the Southeast in spite of really getting any sort of offense to click consistently. The Magic head to Indiana Friday and it’s gonna be a tough one with Danny Granger and TJ Ford to contend with.

Technorati Tags: Chris Bosh, Danny Granger, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Indiana Pacers, Jameer Nelson, Jermaine O'Neal, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, TJ Ford, Tony Battie, Toronto Raptors

   The Orlando Magic have won three straight now on the road after they beat the Charlotte Bobcats 90-85 on Sunday. It was a game that could have been ugly had everyone not stepped up forDwight Howard who was the focus of the Bobcats and ended up fouling out after only playing 7 plus minutes in the second half. Howard only scored four points on 4 of 6 free throws and was 0 for 3 from the field. Tony Battie played well in Howard’s absence with 9/7 and played great defense in helping limit Emeka Okafor to 8/9 who also was in foul trouble all night. Turk ended up with 20/4 despite shooting 6 of 15. Hedo drew fouls driving the lane and ended up 8 of 9 at the free throw line to offset his poor shooting. Rashard Lewis played decent on both ends and finished with 17/6 in spite of his poor shooting, 6 of 16. Lewis hit some big three’s along with Mickael Pietrus, who had a line of 18/4 while shooting 7 of 13. Pietrus has been improving offensively and we can only hope that he continues to do so. Jameer Nelson had 15/5 and Keith Bogans contributed 7 points off the bench. The Magic had to win this one with defense and Howard added five blocked shots to his league lead before fouling out. It wasn’t pretty, but it works.

Technorati Tags: Charlotte Bobcats, Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Tony Battie

   The Magic coundn’t keep things right last night as they dropped theirfirst home game of the season to the Portland Trailblazers 106-99. They took a one point lead into the fourth quarter and couldn’t do enough to hold on. They turned the ball over 14 times, Pietrus was hampered by early foul trouble and Keith Bogans was the only bench player to contribute any points. Bogans finished up playing over 30 minutes and had 12 points filling in for Pietrus. Rashard Lewis is still playing like garbage as he scored 6 on 3 of 11 shooting which included 0 for 5 on three point shots. I’ve never been sold on Lewis and he continues to disappoint as the third scoring option behind Howard and Turk. Howard finished with 29/19 and Hedo had 35/4 in doing their part. The bench needs to do more than this and Lewis has to establish himself as a legitimate scoring threat. It’ll be interesting to see how things develop this year as there are already trade rumors surrounding Bogans and Turkoglu. Turk can opt out of his deal at the end of this year and I gotta think he will unless the Magic renegotiate before so. If they keep up this type of play, it may behoove the Magic to deal both Turk and Bogans and try to get some help with the offense. I like both these guys and would hate to see them go, but the Magic have had bad habits in their history of letting guys walk away without getting anything back. Turk seems happy here too and he could be someone they could trade and re-sign. One things for sure with these guys, there will be plenty to talk about this year.

Technorati Tags: Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Portland Trailblazers, Rashard Lewis

Technorati Tags: Courtney Lee, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards

   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

   The Magic were beat again by Detroit 91-86 and the short run is now over. At least they didn’t get swept again. I didn’t watch the game tonight because the Rays have attracted my full attention but I assume that Rashard Lewis was still a bitch and the rest fell into place. From the stat sheet it looks like Hedo and Keith Bogans showed up to play and the rest were just there. It is disappointing to get knocked out in this type of fashion but there is hope. Dwight Howard will get better and Hedo will continue to be a force. Lewis, regardless of his lack of manly behavior, can shoot and can help. They need help. They need to add some veteran depth on the bench. They need to improve the one and two guard positions. They will improve as they sit but with some smart drafting and a free agent here and there and who knows. Anyway it was a nice season and I shall now root against the Celtics with all my being. Screw you Boston Softics!

Technorati Tags: Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Keith Bogans, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis

   The Magic have moved on to the second round of the playoffs with a convincing victory over the Toronto Raptors 102-92 and won the series 4-1. Dwight Howard had his third 20/20 game of the playoffs and simply proved to be too much for the Raptors to handle. Howard, Turk, Lewis and Nelson all played well throughout and especially down the stretch to get the Magic through a very physical game. Howard had 21 points and 20 rebounds, (10 of which were offensive) and everyone chipped in down the stretch to finish off Toronto. Jameer Nelson and Keith Bogans hit three pointers in the final three minutes and the Magic again had six players in double figures scoring in the series finale. This is hopefully the start of something big here as the Magic await the winner of the Sixers/Pistons series. It will probably end up with Detroit hosting the Magic and that is what this team said they wanted. The Magic were swept out of the first round last year by Detroit and are looking forward to getting some payback. The Magic will be rested since they finished this series off pretty quick and there will be no excuses this time. Go Magic!

Source: Yahoo NBA

Technorati Tags: Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis