OPENING NIGHT

Wednesday night I will be at T.D. Waterhouse center for the opening night festivities. I am going to try to be very optimistic and supportive of our Magic team, even though I am highly skeptical of our chances this season. Many of our opponents have made great strides in improving their teams, while we have basically decided to pretty much take our chances with the players that finished last season. Couple that fact with our screwed up first round draft selection,and you get a recipe for a mediocre season. I'm still hopeful that we can pick up a power forward to grow with Dwight. We also need to clarify our guard rotation. I will let you know my thoughts after we take on a very good team in the Pacers.

DO IT NOW!

A recent report had us turning down a deal for Jamaal Magloire for Hedo and an unconditional #1 next year. Even though I have called for Orlando to explore dealing for him as well as Nene, Miles and Ratliff, the above deal would have been a hard deal to swallow, but one I would have countered on. It would have been nice to set our frontcourt for years to come. Anyway, the Bucks hit paydirt on that one. Lets go after Nene Hillario with as much zest and cunning as we can muster. He playing alongside Dwight would be the next best thing to hope for. With a move like this, we can exorcise the ghost of Fran Vasquez, and stop counting so much on Grant, who is an extremely nice guy and a very good player when healthy, but certainly not the FUTURE of our team.

1 DOWN- 3 TO GO

Within hours of my last post,the Bucks picked up Jamaal Magloire.That still leaves Nene, Theo, and Darius still to be had.The Magic could have realy used Magloire last night against the Heat.Next pick should be Nene, who would look quite good playing alongside Dwight, but I wonder if our management team has the kahunas to pull off such a bold,aggressive move. Hey guys, if last nights game is any indication of what this season is going to look like [ And I believe it may very well be] we need to make a move N-O-W!

Magic should make move now

With Grant Hill looking very tenuous and the ultimate inevibility of moving the growing [ 7'-270 lb.] Dwight Howard to the center position where his style of play is better suited, why not make a move now? Kelvin Cato is in his contract year and will probably have a pretty good season, but does anyone really think the Magic are going to invest somewhere between 7 to 9 million a year to re-sign him? With mario around and improving, no way Jose! Word on the street has it that Nene, Jamaal Magloire, Darius Miles and Theo Ratliff could all be available via trade. Why not shoot for a stud like one of the above to insert at power forward and move D-12 over now! We probably are going to be shooting for a 6th thru 8th Eastern conference playoff spot this season anyway, so why not plan for the future right now? If the Magic were to become a little more creative, they could have a legitimate shot at doing this by moving Catos' expiring contract and throwing in a Garrity and or a draft pick. If we would stike a deal like this now, we could have the pleasure of watching someone like Nene, or D.Miles developing along with Dwight!

A win is a win

The Magic Squeeked by Memphis last night 67-65, in a horrendous shooting exhibition by both teams. Pat Garrity hit the game winner with time running out on the game clock. Not much else needs to be said, other than sometimes you win ugly and sometimes you lose ugly. Winning is better.

Magic win by five- missing five

Our guys bested the Hawks last night 100-95. Dwight scored 18 points in the first half in a very nice effort. That's the good news. Currently there are at least five players who are nursing assorted injuries, and it's unclear when they will return to action. Grant Hill, Deshawn Stevenson, Mario Kasun, Steve Francis and Hedo are all hurting. That's the flip side and with the season opener looming on Nov.2nd, lets hope these guys will be back and ready to contribute.

Right place- Right time

As I predicted in an earlier post, small forward Terrance Morris has made the opening night roster of the Magic. Morris was in the fortunate position of playing well at the right time, and will be good replacement for Stacey Augmon, who is recuperating from surgery. With any luck, he should prove to be a younger,more dynamic and less costly alternative to a player who is well past his prime.

One and one

O.k. So the Magic lost to the Heat in Miami, and defeated Macabbi Tel Aviv at home. Does that tell us anything? Well, our boys have looked pretty competitive thus far in the pre-season. Defensive intensity and overall hustle seems to be improving too. Brian Hill appears to have them heading in the right direction. Dwight has made progress, Stevenson looks more directed, Keyon has looked good, and Bo and the bench guys are playing well. I just wish the team had decided to draft a Granger, May, or Warrick instead of wasting it on Fran. For instance, picking Granger or Warrick might have allowed a shift of Dwight to the center position where I believe he will eventually will feel most comfortable. As good as he seems to be becoming, I just feel his more natural spot to be at center, like Amare in Phoenix. Having said that, I still like what i'm seeing so far, and i'm starting to get excited about the start of the season.

Next Two Games

Tonights' game against the Heat will have the star power but tomorrow nights game against Maccabi Tel Aviv is more significant. Both the Magic and the Heat are using the pre-season games the right way by getting their players in game shape, working on execution, and evaluating the players. Wins and losses in pre-season don't mean squat. The Israeli team is a horse of another color and may provide the Magic with the best overall test. International teams play a different style of basketball, concentrating more on defense and basic fundamentals than most N.B.A. teams do. This test should be important because for the Magic to have success this year they will need to play better defense and be more fundamentally sound. Winning the game means a whole lot to the Israeli team, and will give the fans a good indicator on where we stand.

MAGIC SWAT HORNETS

The Magic beat the Hornets 101-93 last night in Tampa. D-12 led the scoring with 19 points. Jameer,keyon,Hedo,Stevenson & Bo also made significant contributions. As alluded to in my last post, Bo has shown enough for the Magic to keep him for at least this season. Two on the bubble at this stage are Boom Boom & T. Morris. It will be interesting to see how we hold up against Miami next week.

MAGIC WAIVE TWO

The Magic made their first two training camp cuts by waiving Felipe Lopez and Matt Freije. Neither player had much of a chance to make the final squad.Deiner and Bo look solid and should stick. All of the other training camp pick-ups are in jeapordy with Boom-Boom and Terrance Morris the final players to keep an eye on.

A LOSS IN HOUSTON

The Houston Rockets beat us last night 84-80. Back to back away games,even in pre season are tough. Keyon Doolings play at the point should give coach Hill the ability of starting either Keyon at point guard and Steve-o at shooting guard, or Stevie at the point with Stevenson at the 2 spot. Loosing to the Rockets,a team with superior personnel, at their home arena,by four points is nothing to be ashamed of. This game also gave the coach the opportunity to look at some of the newer guys. Other than Dooling, no one distinguished themselves. The main problem so far would seem to be a lack of concentration at the free throw line.

FIRST PRE-SEASON GAME

The Magic won their opening pre-season game last night besting the Atlanta Hawks 104-93. Six players scored in double figures in a nice effort. The Hawks,one of the leagues worst teams, appear to be a little more dangerous with the addition of free agent Joe Johnson. All in all it is a nice way to start off. Look for our guys to have a much better test tonight against the Houston Rockets with T-Mac & Yao.

DRESS CODE NONSENSE

Surely the N.B.A. must have more important things to do than institute and enforce their silly new dress code! During the numerous games I have either attended or watched on television, the players out of uniform that were anywhere near the bench always seem to be very well dressed. These guys make a lot of money and do not appear to be hesident to spend a good deal of it on their attire.

NEW SEASON OUTLOOK

Kelvin Cato will be in his contract year and if he can stay reasonably healthy he should have a decent season. Grant Hill, baring any ankle problems, will be at least as good and possibly a little better than last season.Dwight Howard should and will be more assertive in getting his touches this year.He could blossom into a star this season.Stevie Francis will find a way to score his twenty to thirty points and will be pressed by coach hill to cut down his turnovers.The good will always far outweigh the bad with Steve as he is the Magic's true warrior on the court.The other Guard spot will be decided in training camp competition between Keyon Dooling and Jameer Nelson. The looser in this battle, along with deshawn Stevenson and Travis Deiner will make pretty good back ups.Hedo is an excellent sixth man off the bench.Looking down the bench is difficult at this time. Garrity,Battie,Kasun will probably stick. Bo has a decent chance to stick. The other guys,who knows?