Grant Hill returns to the lineup and help the Magic drill the New York Knicks, 105-90. The Magic played a great game. I would go as far as saying that everyone on the team played within their role. The only exceptions might be the low point totals between Steve Francis and Hill, but we all know they can turn it on anytime. If the Magic keep playing defense and keep the games close, I'll take my chances with Hill and Francis down the stretch. Either of these two are capable of taking over a game.
Grant Hill does more for this team than anyone can even begin to imagine. For one, Hill is the natural leader. The guy commands respect. Hill is a classy person with exceptional basketball knowledge. Rarely do you see hill complaining about a call; he just plays twice as hard on the next play. Second, Hill spreads the floor to create room for players like Francis, Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling. While the guards have plenty of open floor space for penetration, the bigs have a nice, unclogged lane to go to work in. Finally, Hill brings basketball knowledge to floor at all times.
For example, at the end of the second quarter - Grant Hill made a small jesture to Brian Hill about calling a timeout if the Knicks scored. Generally, the Magic would dribble out the last 7 seconds or so and take a wild shot. Instead, Coach Hill relies on Hill's advice and the Magic call timeout to advance the ball. The result you ask? Jameer Nelson fumbling the ball down the court into Hill's hands for a three, with a defender in his face. I said to myself, that three points could be the difference in the game.
Enough about Hill, what about the rest of the team? Well, Coach Hill must have listened to my ramblings about the bench. We've saw a monster in Pat Garrity last night. Hedo Turkoglu stepped up big as well. Mario Kasun saw a few good minutes and I thought that really allowed Tony Battie and Dwight Howard the rest they needed to play a full game.
How about Howard, you ask? Huge game, in so many different ways. Howard finishes with 23 points and 13 rebounds. We saw the full package from Howard tonight. Well, a glimpse of the full package. As good as Howard looked, I just felt that he was cruising throughout the game. In fact, I felt that way about the whole team. They did more than enough to win, but I had the feeling they could turn it up at anytime.
I don't know about you, but I am optimistic about what I saw tonight. Grant Hill has that affect on people. Just standing in the room with the guy puts a pop in your step.
