Another loss and the Magic have now tied their longest losing streak in franchise history. First half was a great half of basketball. The Magic played very well and Tracy McGrady took control. I think he knew it was up to him to pull them through the funk and have a good second quarter to finish the half strong. Drew Gooden is beginning to look like the Gooden of last year. He is all over the boards and causing problems for the opposing team. You don't have to get every rebound but at least make the other team work for it.
Andrew DeClercq finally started in place of Steven Hunter and there was a huge difference in energy in this team. With Big 'Z' coming of the bench, the energy continued. Both centers played very well. Hunter played a few minutes in between. His overall effort was poor and the defense was worse. The faster we can get rid of this guy the better.
Third quarter, both teams came out flat. I really thought McGrady would come out shooting and pull the Magic through the quarter like he had in the second. Overall, a much better effort until the last 3 minutes of the game. The team just shutdown and gave up. The lead went from 3 to 15 by the end of the game. Really, no matter how tired you are, there is no excuse for that kind of performance in the last minutes of the game.
Since obviously someone is listening to me in the Magic circle, how about an honorary assistant coach for a night? =).
Amen… and while I mostly agree, there are entirely too many 'jumpers' being taken with plenty of time remaining on the shot clock; why the rush guys, the game won’t be over any sooner; and if you are going to take a shot before your teammates are set, then take the ball into the paint, and get the basket or draw a foul! Mistakes - how many miscues and turnovers are allowed; regardless of player egos or someone’s perceived leadership status – more about that later? On the subject of defense, there are far too many opponents getting to the basket unopposed, it’s almost as if we can’t see the floor and where the other guys are in front of us at the same time; and guess what, when you’re dribbling the ball and you don’t see four or five opponent’s jerseys in front of you; one might surmise there may be someone coming up the floor behind them – your guess! After the recent addition to the coaching staff; and while management is thinking in those terms, maybe a passing coach and another experienced in ‘motivational’ skills could be found at a bargain basement price; since we now know after hearing from John Weisbrod, “that Orlando is a small dollar market and he isn’t concerned with public perception”, then maybe we’ll see an even further hemorrhaging of fan support - wow, just a little over 12,000 fans at the last home game; I’m curious as at how many of those were ‘paid’ attendance fans – gee, maybe we can get in the record book in that area also! That Freudian slip of the tongue quote by Wesbrod will haunt the organization for some time to come in one fashion or another – and I for one won’t forget! I hear that Tracy McGrady is currently playing at about the same tempo as he did in Toronto; where’s the consistency with his playing this season as compared to last season, and is he so disillusioned and distracted with his current teammate’s performances that he cannot rise to the media-hyped level of ‘superstardom’ using his own talents! Put him on the bench until he can demonstrate his ‘leadership’ abilities in practice by directing the ‘traffic’ on the floor and getting down to the basics of basketball; after all, at any given time, there are a few people on the floor, including members of the opposing team, that know as much or a heck of a lot more about the game than he does – end of story!
It's official... The Magic suck!
Ok, any particular reason for making such a comment? Or do you just run around making a comment like that for no reason? You will probably come back in 3 months and post that T-Mac rocks come All-Star time.