Orlando Magic

1:05:34 AM EDT
The season is fast approaching. Training camp opens Tuesday in Orlando and I have some big plans to revamp the blog for next season. When I have the time, I will do it.

But on September 26, 1994, the Magic hired Richie Adubato as an assistant coach and Tom Sterner as pro scout and assistant coach.

Adubato joined Brian Hill's staff and became his replacement after the player revolt in 1997. Adubato went 21-12 to end the season and with the help of Anfernee Hardaway forced the second-seeded Miami Heat to a decisive fifth game in the NBA Playoffs.

He was replaced by Chuck Daly. But after a brief stint with the WNBA's Washington Mystics, Adubato returned to the Magic as their color analyst on the Magic Radio Network.

Tom Sterner was a long-time Magic man. He was an assistant coach with the team until the end of the 2001-02 season. He returned the Orlando bench in 2005 until Hill was fired a second time after the 2007 season.

Sterner's scouting techniques were a regular feature on Magic television broadcasts and he was a pretty good scout from all accounts I have.


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1:52:12 AM EDT
The Orlando Magic unveiled their new jersey design amidst much fanfare at Church Street Station downtown.

Yes the pinstripes are back. The Magic advertised the jerseys as a combination of the old and the new and that is exactly what they are. I like the black going down the side and I like the return of the pinstripes.

But as Orlando trotted out Nick Anderson, Bo Outlaw and Rashard Lewis in the previous three incarnations of the jerseys before modeling the new jerseys (which look great in blue, and we all look forward to the black alternate in two years) with Dwight Howard, it is clear there is a problem.

In 20 seasons of basketball, the Magic have had four different jersey designs. A lot has happened in the short history of the franchise. But this is a team insecure with its place in history and looking to make splashes where they matter least.

More than that, Orlando is still trying to find a way to recapture the (ahem) magic of the Shaquille O'Neal days. The return to the pinstripes definitely says that.

Shaq is arguably the reason why the Magic went away from the classy pinstripe design. It was time to move on and re-brand.

But four re-brandings in 20 years? That means the jersey changes every five years. The now old jerseys of last year lasted exactly that long, the incarnation before them made it only four.

A good jersey is good because it lasts. The Los Angeles Lakers have changed little with the basic design of their jersey in nearly 50 years in LA. The Boston Celtics have not changed their jersey at all outside of those atrocious alternate jerseys that have Red Auerbach rolling in his grave I am sure.

The Magic do not have the history of those franchises. But the team needs to settle in and find an identity on the court before trying to generate one by associating a jersey design with an imagined era.

The new jerseys are certainly an improvement over the bland ones that the team has worn the past five seasons.

But those are the jerseys we were all getting used to. Those were the jerseys that we wore when the Magic made it to the second round of the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. Those were the uniforms we saw Howard grow up in.

I guess now, all we have to do is shell out $50-plus for a new image.


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12:50:44 AM EDT
Interesting nugget of information on this date five years ago.

In a move that perhaps foreshadowed the team's future acquisition of Carlos Arroyo, Orlando signed Puerto Rico native Rick Apodoca to a preseason contract. Apodoca did not make it through training camp and was cut on October 9.

That not good enough for you?

On this date in 1991, the DeVos family bought the franchise. And in 1995, Horace Grant signed the largest contract of his career and completed what would become an Eastern Conference Championship team.

But Apodoca drove ticket sales -- don't you see all those Apodoca jerseys at the Amway Arena? -- so he got the love today.


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4:00:12 PM EDT
Long-time power forward Pat Garrity officially announced his retirement today, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting. The three point specialist was the longest tenured player on the Magic after coming to Orlando in the Anfernee Hardaway trade in 1999.

Garrity had some big moments with Orlando including a few game-winning three point shots (the first that come to memory was one against the Washington Wizards when he hit a basket from above the free throw line, but he seemed to have many more).

The Notre Dame graduate contributed greatly to the Orlando community winning the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Service Award once. He also served as the NBA Players' Union treasurer.

Garrity's career tailed off after he tore his ACL in 2003. But he finished his Magic career averaging 7.4 points per game and was third in team history in games played.

Even though he was not producing a whole lot at the end of his career, his presence will be missed on the team.


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11:25:46 PM EDT
The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the Magic are close to signing point guards Eddie Gill or Mike Wilks. Orlando has been looking for a third point guard to help them replace the Carlos Arroyo/Keyon Dooling tandem that has left the team during the summer.

No tandem is really going to work as well. But the potential signing of one of these two guards is not exciting me or making me think either one will see the court.

Otis Smith, do you want to make a signing that will make waves with fans, get people excited for the next season and get a player who will contribute to the team in a positive manner?

Sign Darrell Armstrong.

Flash is a free agent from New Jersey and has not caught on with any team and is not likely to. But despite his age -- the only advantage those two point guards have over him -- Armstrong can still be a big part of any team.

Armstrong averaged only 2.5 points per game but still had his big impact moments. He scored 13 points in the Nets' one point win over the Magic in early January. He clearly still has some get up and go in his old body.

This is the team's 20th anniversary. Orlando should not be thinking in such nostalgic and cushy terms when the team is as close as it is to making something happen in the Eastern Conference.

But in need of an effective third point guard, Armstrong is the perfect choice. He is a veteran leader for a relatively young team and he has plenty of experience.

It is unbelievable to me that this idea has not been thrown around more. Armstrong would fit in with this team and he would be happy (as would the fans) to retire in Orlando blue.


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12:25:06 AM EDT
A whopper on this date 11 years ago.

The Magic signed Bo Outlaw. The energetic undersized power forward quickly became a fan favorite and played in Orlando for five seasons. But despite that short time with the Magic, his impact with the team was much bigger.

Outlaw had meager stats on the court -- only 6.3 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game with Orlando. His career high came when he averaged 9.5 points per game his first season.

The Magic also signed second round pick Jason Lawson. Unlike Outlaw, he did not stick in Orlando.


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9:57:46 PM EDT
Now that the Olympics have ended it is time to start looking forward to another season. And October 10's date with CSKA Moscow cannot come soon enough.

ESPN already has some predictions out (I keep mine hidden in my room until October).

The Magic have not changed much. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are still the main focal points. Orlando got deeper by adding Tony Battie from the injured list. And maybe got better defensively by adding Mickael Pietrus and rookie Courtney Lee.

But really, what have the Magic done this summer?

The Southeast Division gets stronger based soley on the fact that Dwyane Wade will be healthy and in a Miami Heat uniform. Let alone the return of Gilbert Arenas to Washington.

Defending the division title will not be easy. But the Magic still look like the best team in the division if Howard continues to improve on offense and continue his consistent defense.

The division championship is one of the team's goal. The other, get to the conference finals (or have a better showing in the conference semifinals).

For that second goal, it does not seem the Magic have made that next step. It seems that -- taking last year's roster and how the players played last year -- that Orlando has only taken a step to the side rather than a step forward.

It is not a horrible thing, but there is not drastic improvement on this team from a roster standpoint.

Rather the Magic are going to depend on individual player improvements to improve and reach the next level of the postseason.

They will rely on Howard becoming more of a force on offense and more refined in his post game. They will rely on Turkoglu continuing his solid play after a career season. They will rely on Lewis to continue to improve at his role as a small power forward in Stan Van Gundy's offense.

The unknown is how much will these young players improve. Their improvement will be key to Orlando reaching and surpassing last year's success.

This team is not constructed much differently from last year's team. Pietrus is a defensive-minded shooting guard who can hit the outside three when given the time like Maurice Evans. Lee can man the point a little and be a combo guard to help spell Nelson at the helm like Keyon Dooling did.

The only added bonus is the addition of another post player in Tony Battie. But as much as I want to believe he will be back 100 percent healthy, will he? Having him to help give Howard a break and space the floor for him will be key to any Orlando push through the postseason.

But without him, Orlando is still the same as it was last year.

The improvements will come from within this roster. But will it be enough?


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10:02:38 PM EDT
Dwight Howard and the United States basketball team took its first step to winning a gold medal in Beijing by taking advancing to what would become a bronze medal in the quarterfinal round of the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

The U.S. defeated Germany by pulling away early in the third quarter behind 19 points from Carmelo Anthony. The Americans outscored the Germans 27-13 in the third quarter to spark the 85-65 win and a trip to the semifinals where they lost to Greece.

The U.S. struggled shooting from the field (shooting 37.6 percent) and struggled from beyond the arc, going 10 of 40 from beyond the arc. A far cry from the more efficient and less shot-happy offense the Americans featured in the Olympics this past summer.

Howard had eight points -- including four of five from the foul line -- and five rebounds in 11 minutes.

Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points for the Germans, who would get trounced by 49 points in group play at the 2008 Olympic games.


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12:11:56 PM EDT
The United States got its redemption for the failures of the past four years in winning the gold medal. The Americans showed they can become a team during the three year commitment to return the Olympic gold.

With that accomplished, the question becomes: can the U.S. do it again? Can Jerry Colangelo get the NBA's superstars to commit another three years to bringing home gold in 2012 with the same passion they showed in 2008?

It is going to be a tough task to keep everyone focused on a return trip. The team will be slightly different (do not expect Jason Kidd or Kobe Bryant to return). And the selection committee will learn from the weaknesses this roster had.

But one thing is for sure. The U.S. has found a style of play that it knows can be successful. The fast break, pressure defense applied by the Americans bothered even the best teams.

The half court offense and versatility of the big men on the perimeter continues to be a weakness for the team that should be looked to improved the next time around.

FIBA rules are designed to take away many of the advantages American players have. The trapezoidal lane pushes the dominant low post players out of the paint and forces them to play on the perimeter. The shorter three-point line emphasizes three point shooting and an outside game rather than aggressive attacks to the hoop.

But those rules will change as the lane becomes a rectangle and the three point line gets pushed back.

This makes me believe a perfect storm is coming for the U.S. in 2012. The Americans will win the gold medal easily as long as players are committed to playing in London.

Argentina is on the decline and getting older. Lithuania and Greece face the same problems. Spain's team is young, but it is hard to see Pau Gasol returning for the London games. Add in the factor that a very weak English team will be given a spot and the Olympic field of 2012 is not looking very strong.

Unlike this year, the U.S. team should be a very experienced Olympic squad. Expect a lot of holdovers from this year's team looking to bring back gold.

Expect LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Tayshaun Prince to return to the 2012 roster. Expect Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant and Greg Oden to be added to the roster (and who knows who else might be added. Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose are very much in the running too).

It will be another stacked roster for the Americans. But more importantly it is an experienced roster. That will be the big difference in London. These guys will know how to play an Olympic tournament.

All they have to do is get the same commitment from these superstars to make the gold happen again.


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11:49:35 AM EDT
We are a little more than 24 hours from the conclusion of one of the best basketball games in recent memory. The United States and Spain played perhaps the best basketball game in Olympic history (it certainly beat the 1972 final where the Soviet Union got three chances to win the game).

I am having a hard time coming up with better games that I have seen. I am not that old and have missed a lot of the great games from the past. But I am thinking of only three or four games that topped Sunday's final.

So what makes a great game. A great finish helps. Competitiveness throughout the game truly makes a game great. 20-point comebacks are fun. But a great game stays close throughout.

The U.S.-Spain final met this criteria. The difference in the game was a two minute stretch in the second quarter where the Americans turned a five point deficit into a seven point lead. It was the only point in the game where they got some steals and got out on the break for some fastbreak points.

And in a game where the U.S. looked like it would pull away, Spain continued to find a way back. This back and forth made it a great game.

As I said, I could not think of many games that rivaled this one. Here are a few:

2008 NCAA Championship Game- Kansas defeats Memphis in overtime:  usually the NCAA Tournament final is a letdown. But this game was close throughout, included a last second shot and a great finish. As writers from Kansas newspapers wrote, Mario Chalmers' shot is going to be replayed on playgrounds for generations.

1998 NBA Finals, Game 6- Michael Jordan's "last" shot beats the Jazz: got to love five point comebacks in the final minute and a half of a game culminating in an exciting last second shot. Never good when you can point to some bad officiating as a reason a team lost though (and I am not talking about the push off of Bryon Russell, I am talking about the little-known 24-second shot clock violation that waived off a Howard Eisley three that replays showed should have counted, but still no excuses for blowing a five point lead that late in the game).

1995 NBA Finals, Game 1- Nick Anderson misses four free throws gives Houston chance to steal first game of series: Orlando was in way over its head in this series. The young Magic team raced out to a big lead and barely held on until Anderson missed four free throws. He is still one of the most beloved players in team history.

1995 Conference Semifinals, Game 1- "Nick Anderson stole the ball": To redeem our good friend Nick Anderson I present this game. Anderson dramatically steals the ball from Michael Jordan with the Magic up one. Penny Hardaway takes the ball feds it to Horace Grant for a jam. Then Jordan rims out a three as time expires to give Orlando the win.

Some lesser known games, I like to remember.

-2003 Florida Class 2A District Semifinals: I was the team manager for Lake Highland my freshman year and was with this team as it devised a master plan to defeat the heavily favored Florida Air Academy -- that featured Kansas recruit Sasha Kaun.

The plan was devised a few weeks before the game when the Highlanders found out they would play the Falcons after a loss to the Hustlers of Melbourne Central Catholic. The Falcons with their talent were a high scoring team and thrived on beating the pressure other teams put on them in their normal offense.

The strategy was simple to slow the offensive juggernaut. Stall the ball. Through a series of picks, Lake Highland would not score unless a layup presented itself. Defensively the team would sit back in a 2-3 zone and not pressure the ballhandler.

It was risky. It was brilliant.

The final score to the game was 25-21, Florida Air Academy won. There must have been only 10 total points scored in the final quarter. The Falcons held the ball for the first six minutes of the quarter just standing in front of the packed in zone before the Highlanders had to start pressuring to make a mountainous four point comeback.

I still consider this the greatest basketball game I have ever attended.

-2004 Regional Championship: Dr. Phillips vs. Edgewater- this was the classic battle between Jason Rich (who attended Florida State) and Darius Washington (who played for the San Antonio Spurs last year). The game was much like the Spain-U.S. game. There was a three minute stretch where Dr. Phillips went scoreless and Edgewater scored six points. The Eagles won by eight.


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