Yesteday at 5pm, the Orlando Magic introduced Stan Van Gundy as their new head coach. The press conference was exactly as I said before, pretty low key with only the major news outlets showing up. But that's fine with us. Van Gundy brings something to the table that no one is talking about. The one thing that is probably more important than the X's and O's any coach will ever teach. Van Gundy has personality. Listening to the press conference, it was obvious he has more personality than our last 4 coaches combined. I think that will be a huge difference in how the team reacts to him later on in the season.
After some late night rumors of Van Gundy spending the day in Sacramento and speculation that he might sign with the Kings, the news now is that Van Gundy will become the head coach of the Orlando Magic. I think pretty much everyone can now breathe a sigh of relief. I'm sure plenty would argue that he's the perfect fit and others might argue he's not. But I think everyone can agree with the choice considering the options. So, I hope everyone will welcome Stan Van Gundy to the Orlando Magic and let's get ready for the season!
I know a little about the NBA. I like to watch the Orlando Magic a lot. I'd like to see them in action a little more. I think I would be a good fit for the head coaching position. I'll bring donuts every Friday. Worst case scenario, I'm sure my employer would allow me to split in order to take the job. Hell, I'm pretty sure just about anyone could get this team to .500 ball next year. It'd take, and I might eat my words here, a pretty stupid individual to not be at .500 by end of next year.
Magic have officially released Billy Donovan from his head coaching contract so that he can return to Florida. However, in another twist, some rumors are flying that Stan Van Gundy has possibly accepted the Sacramento job. Apparently, Van Gundy had a third interview and was seen traveling the area. This could spell trouble Magic fans. While I won't go out there and say that Van Gundy was the best possible head coach available - I'm truly worried what the knucklenuts in the blue room might end up with. I had zero emotion on the head coaching position until now. Now, I just feel sick thinking we might end up with Johnny Davis.
Well, almost. Reports circulating the net state the Magic have offered the head coaching position to Stan Van Gundy. However, Van Gundy is waiting for the Donovan mess to shake out AND the Heat organization might ask for future draft picks in order to let Van Gundy out of his contract. What a freaking mess?!? Anyhow, this really isn't news to most fans - rumors broke out on Monday of the Magic offering the job to Van Gundy verbally. I guess we'll all sit around and wait until the "official" word comes out. Meanwhile, I'm willing to purchase season tickets for the upcoming year in exchange for lifetime free beer at each game and future cash considerations.
According to various reports around the web today, the Orlando Magic are forcing Billy Donovan to break his contract. Not only are the Magic holding Donovan to his contract, but they reportedly would welcome him back if he made that decision. The latest glitch over the termination appears to be a condition that Donovan not coach in the NBA for a period of time. Now while that condition is fair to both parties, the Magic cannot exactly waste much time negotiating terms with a punk college coach. The Sacramento Bee is reporting that Van Gundy is the Kings top choice and one of only two candidates who received a second interview. The other candidate was Kurt Rambis. All signs point to Van Gundy being their primary choice. Unless the Magic already have a verbal committment from Van Gundy, playing legal games with Donovan could prove to be costly. After Van Gundy, the available head coaching candidates begin to thin out. The longer this mess drags out, the worse the situation potentially becomes for the Magic. The Magic being stubborn and not moving quickly to resolve an issue, that's the Magic I know.
Why do all the newspapers continue to refer to the Orlando Magic problems as bad luck? Luck doesn't make good business. Good business skills make good business. The reason the Magic have these kind of problems is due to the management that the ownership continues to put in charge of its operations. What I would give to hear Mark Cuban's thoughts on this whole mess. If they keep this up, Shaq will be able to afford buying the Magic outright without the need of any investment partners.
I don't know about you, but I'd hate to be that "next guy". You know the one. The guy who gets introduced as the next head coach of the Orlando Magic. There won't be statewide TV coverage of the press conference. There will be only 10 people at the press conference instead of 100. And there won't be any assurances of an arena deal. There will be a new head coach announced and it probably won't even crack the front page of ESPN. That is unless, the news is very slow and they just want to poke fun. It's Orlando. Home of Disney. Everything is make believe here.
Now, I've said publicly that I will not renewing or purchasing any season tickets until the ownership of this team changes. The ownership of the Magic team has consistenly put weak management in place that has practically ruined every year since, ahem, you know who. Until that changes, my feelings towards funding the mess won't either. So, it was funny that calls from the ticket reps started flying around after the announced hiring of Billy Donovan. Me? I didn't even bother to return the emails and phone calls. But apparently, several people (I think the number I recall was 200) bought new season ticket packages on Friday. I wonder if the Magic will be understanding to the new season ticket holders that are now unsure of their decision, much like Donovan is in his. My guess, is that there will be 200 more empty (paid) seats next year. Another day, another sucker.
According to several reports in the media, it appears as if Billy Donovan will be returing to the Gators after all. Reports state that Donovan has had a possible change of heart, was forced into the decision by the Magic. Since the rumors have been going on for several months, I'm not quite sure how he could be forced into a decision. Anyhow, normally I would be pretty upset or happy - depending on whether I wanted him with the Magic in the first place. But I have to tell you, I'm still numb over the whole team. I have practically zero emotion towards the team lately. Maybe it's just because I have other stuff to do and my mind is not thinking about what could be. Let's just hope the Magic can replace Donovan with a good fit and not another Johnny Davis bailout.
I've seen a total of 5 playoff games this year. Four of them were the Magic. The last, well, I picked just the right one I guess. Lebron James is good. He's never exactly impressed me or done anything to say he's great. If I had to pick between him and Dwayne Wade, I'd take Wade. But tonight, NBA fans saw something that doesn't come along every year. Tonight, Lebron was more than good, he was great. I've only seen two other players in my lifetime play the way he did tonight. The other two have done it time and time again. We'll see if Lebron has any more performances like the one he put on tonight. But at the very least, I'm glad I was able to see greatness - no matter how long it lasts.
