Tampa Bay Sports Blog

   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

   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 Magic have kept their momentum going at home with a 98-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a game that gave me a sense of disappointment and excitement at the same time. I was very disappointed to see big Dwight Howard’s double double streak end five games into the season. He had previously stated that he wanted to get a double double every game this year. Well, not this year Dwight. It was early foul trouble that got him last night, which is not uncommon for a big man, and he was limited to 14 and 8 in just over 28 minutes. I’ve always had problems with guys saying things like this. I only dislike it because if you publicly say it it comes off cocky and you pigeon hole yourself. If you just set the goal for yourself and then go out and try to get it, no one but you is disappointed. If you get it then everyone will come looking for more things out of you like that and you end up on that slippery slope everyone talks about. Anyway, I felt good about the game because the rest of the team, especially Turk and Lewis, stepped up in Howard’s absence. That’s always a good thing to see. Lewis and Turk both had 20/8 and Tony Battie filled in admirably for Howard as well. There were a couple other things I took from the game also. Pietrus did a nice job in Andre Iguodala and didn’t turn the ball over. That’s exactly what the Magic want from him, some more offense would be nice but as long as he gives them the ‘D’ we’ll be happy. This game also marked the second straight game JJ Reddick didn’t see the floor. Has he really been that bad? Maybe there’s something else going on here. Any way you slice it, he needs to go. We need to stop torturing the fans and Reddick. Everyone wants to see him play and he can’t seem to find a way off the bench. Trade him for a case of Gatorade already and move on.

Technorati Tags: Andre Iguodala, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Reddick, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Rashard Lewis, Tony Battie