Woohoo. We are no longer holding the last spot in the NBA. With the win over Toronto - we are now a half game ahead of Atlanta for last place.
Seriously though, the Magic have played tremendously in the last 3 games. I have said it before and I will say it again, Rod Strickland is providing veteran leadership to a team that was struggling for an identity. The up-tempo pace is beginning to show signs of improvement and the Magic are catching teams offguard with their speed. The defense intensity has picked up - something that the Magic have lacked for a few years. I like having Tyronn Lue off of the bench. With Drew Gooden and Lue coming off the bench, the Magic have instant production that they have not had much of lately. The bench has been playing great, mostly due to Gooden. However, I have noticed that our defensive intensity dies down a bit when players come off the bench. Shammond Williams gave up two easy rebounds simply because he did not box out.
Looking down the road, we are a few trades away from having a really good team. If Grant Hill @ESPN" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=2626" target="_blank">Grant Hill and Pat Garrity @ESPN" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3262" target="_blank">Pat Garrity come back healthy, then we are one good center away from a being a serious contender.
1 Comments on "Game Notes - Toronto"
Here in the east we dont need a good center. This team now without Hill or Garrity is good enough to beat the Pacers, Pistons and Nets who are all kind of struggling now. With those two healthy I think we will easily win the east. Dont underestimate the duo of Mcgrady and Hill. Those two with the magics new size in Gooden and Howard could beat the size of western teams. Last year we beat the Kings, Lakers and Mavs. Against the Kings and Lakers, two teams who are considerably bigger, we beat them because of T-mac and G-Hill. This was before Gooden arrived so our rebounding was lackluster but we still won.