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Hill's future with Magic sparks much speculation

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Hill's future with Magic sparks much speculation

Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer

May 9, 2007

 

Even the most staunch supporters are frustrated now.

 

C.J. Roberts, a longtime Magic season-ticket holder, was outside the Orange County administration building Monday night distributing fliers and lobbying in favor of the $1 billion sports-and-arts facilities package that would include a new downtown arena for his team.

 

 

His allegiance to the Magic was obvious, but he was shaking his head over the situation involving Coach Brian Hill, whose future has teetered precariously since the season ended.

 

It has been a public relations nightmare.

 

"It [brian Hill situation] has been handled poorly," Roberts said. "It's another black eye for the franchise. But you know what, today's news will be in tomorrow's trash. By next season, it's forgotten."

 

Hill just completed the second season of a four-year contract paying an estimated $3 million annually. The Magic finished 40-42 (a four-win improvement) and reached the playoffs for the first time in four years, but they were swept by the Detroit Pistons. Team President Bob Vander Weide then touched off a flurry of speculation when he said he was unsure if Hill would return for next season.

 

Hill has declined comment. Otis Smith, Magic general manager, also has declined any comment. Fans, meanwhile, are debating Hill's future. Last week in an OrlandoSentinel.com poll, 53.8 percent of the 14,001 respondents voted in favor of a coaching change. The betting at Bodog, an on-line sports betting service, is running 2-1 on Hill not being the coach of the Magic next season.

 

Speculation is increasing that he will be fired soon, fueled by the belief that it would be impossible for him to coach the Magic after being told that his job was in jeopardy.

 

"I think this just makes them [Magic] look more helter-skelter than they have in awhile," said Jim Stafford, a season-ticket holder from Polk County. "I hate the way they've just left him hanging out there."

 

Although offseason coaching changes in professional sports are commonplace, the process usually isn't open to such debate, leaving him to publicly dangle before a decision is made. It happened last summer in New York, where the Knicks spent a month deciding that Larry Brown would not return, leading to an embarrassing situation.

 

"I often advise my clients that a lot of people may like the taste of sausage, but they don't necessarily want to see how it's made. That's how it is sometimes in sports," said Todd Persons, vice chairman of MPB Communications, an independent public relations firm in Central Florida. "When they announced the other day in the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium that Roger Clemens was coming back, the fans loved it. All they saw was the completed package. If the contract talks had been public, half the people would have thought it was a bad idea. The Yankees handled it the right way."

 

Despite the frustration with the Magic and some of their recent struggles and decisions, it hasn't translated into a problem at the ticket window.

 

They had 25 sellouts last season (compared to just 10 the year before), increasing attendance by a league-best 9.9 percent. They also have sold close to 700 new season tickets for next season.

 

And despite local criticism over the handling of Hill, the national perception of the franchise remains surprisingly good, despite the recent struggles. No one expects the internal problem to negatively effect the decision of free agents to come here this summer.

 

"Absolutely not," said Keith Glass, a veteran player agent from New York who has had more than 100 clients in the NBA. "The perception of Orlando is not a bad one at all. People still think it's is a great place to play, and to live. Something like this in the offseason gets forgotten quickly."

 

The Magic are expected to announce the decision on Hill's job status late next week. The Magic management team has been spending much of its time working on the new arena issue.

 

"I think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens there," said Steve Kerr, former NBA player and current national television analyst with Turner Sports. "I don't know all the dynamics, but he [Hill] still could be back. It might be a little uncomfortable, but there is some precedent."

 

Kerr likened the situation to what happened in Toronto last summer. The Raptors hired General Manager Bryan Colangelo, which immediately touched off speculation that he would fire Coach Sam Mitchell, who was going into the last year of his contract. A slow start didn't help, either. Mitchell, though, made some adjustments to his coaching style and the Raptors flourished.

 

"Whatever happened in the past isn't going to matter to free agents this summer," Kerr said. "The Magic don't have a stigma [of years of losing] like the Clippers had all those years. Players just want a nice city with warm weather, and if you get that new arena, you'll have the facility, too."

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/

...............................................................................................................

 

I believe during the player interviews it became clear that the Magic would need to change their style of play with a new coach. The eventual announcement obviously needed to be made sometime after the player interviews and after important meetings on the Arena issue so that the subject of Brian's dismissal has the appearance of thoughtful consideration and and not of another player revolt.

 

Yes people may be frustrated with the delay of the forthcoming announcement but I don't believe that Bob Vander Weide or Otis Smith needed this time to make the decision.

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Hill's future with Magic sparks much speculation

Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer

May 9, 2007

 

Even the most staunch supporters are frustrated now.

 

C.J. Roberts, a longtime Magic season-ticket holder, was outside the Orange County administration building Monday night distributing fliers and lobbying in favor of the $1 billion sports-and-arts facilities package that would include a new downtown arena for his team.

 

 

His allegiance to the Magic was obvious, but he was shaking his head over the situation involving Coach Brian Hill, whose future has teetered precariously since the season ended.

 

It has been a public relations nightmare.

 

"It [brian Hill situation] has been handled poorly," Roberts said. "It's another black eye for the franchise. But you know what, today's news will be in tomorrow's trash. By next season, it's forgotten."

 

Hill just completed the second season of a four-year contract paying an estimated $3 million annually. The Magic finished 40-42 (a four-win improvement) and reached the playoffs for the first time in four years, but they were swept by the Detroit Pistons. Team President Bob Vander Weide then touched off a flurry of speculation when he said he was unsure if Hill would return for next season.

 

Hill has declined comment. Otis Smith, Magic general manager, also has declined any comment. Fans, meanwhile, are debating Hill's future. Last week in an OrlandoSentinel.com poll, 53.8 percent of the 14,001 respondents voted in favor of a coaching change. The betting at Bodog, an on-line sports betting service, is running 2-1 on Hill not being the coach of the Magic next season.

 

Speculation is increasing that he will be fired soon, fueled by the belief that it would be impossible for him to coach the Magic after being told that his job was in jeopardy.

 

"I think this just makes them [Magic] look more helter-skelter than they have in awhile," said Jim Stafford, a season-ticket holder from Polk County. "I hate the way they've just left him hanging out there."

 

Although offseason coaching changes in professional sports are commonplace, the process usually isn't open to such debate, leaving him to publicly dangle before a decision is made. It happened last summer in New York, where the Knicks spent a month deciding that Larry Brown would not return, leading to an embarrassing situation.

 

"I often advise my clients that a lot of people may like the taste of sausage, but they don't necessarily want to see how it's made. That's how it is sometimes in sports," said Todd Persons, vice chairman of MPB Communications, an independent public relations firm in Central Florida. "When they announced the other day in the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium that Roger Clemens was coming back, the fans loved it. All they saw was the completed package. If the contract talks had been public, half the people would have thought it was a bad idea. The Yankees handled it the right way."

 

Despite the frustration with the Magic and some of their recent struggles and decisions, it hasn't translated into a problem at the ticket window.

 

They had 25 sellouts last season (compared to just 10 the year before), increasing attendance by a league-best 9.9 percent. They also have sold close to 700 new season tickets for next season.

 

And despite local criticism over the handling of Hill, the national perception of the franchise remains surprisingly good, despite the recent struggles. No one expects the internal problem to negatively effect the decision of free agents to come here this summer.

 

"Absolutely not," said Keith Glass, a veteran player agent from New York who has had more than 100 clients in the NBA. "The perception of Orlando is not a bad one at all. People still think it's is a great place to play, and to live. Something like this in the offseason gets forgotten quickly."

 

The Magic are expected to announce the decision on Hill's job status late next week. The Magic management team has been spending much of its time working on the new arena issue.

 

"I think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens there," said Steve Kerr, former NBA player and current national television analyst with Turner Sports. "I don't know all the dynamics, but he [Hill] still could be back. It might be a little uncomfortable, but there is some precedent."

 

Kerr likened the situation to what happened in Toronto last summer. The Raptors hired General Manager Bryan Colangelo, which immediately touched off speculation that he would fire Coach Sam Mitchell, who was going into the last year of his contract. A slow start didn't help, either. Mitchell, though, made some adjustments to his coaching style and the Raptors flourished.

 

"Whatever happened in the past isn't going to matter to free agents this summer," Kerr said. "The Magic don't have a stigma [of years of losing] like the Clippers had all those years. Players just want a nice city with warm weather, and if you get that new arena, you'll have the facility, too."

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/

...............................................................................................................

 

I believe during the player interviews it became clear that the Magic would need to change their style of play with a new coach. The eventual announcement obviously needed to be made sometime after the player interviews and after important meetings on the Arena issue so that the subject of Brian's dismissal has the appearance of thoughtful consideration and and not of another player revolt.

 

Yes people may be frustrated with the delay of the forthcoming announcement but I don't believe that Bob Vander Weide or Otis Smith needed this time to make the decision.

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quote:
Hill's future with Magic sparks much speculation

Tim Povtak | Sentinel Staff Writer

May 9, 2007

 

Hill has declined comment. Otis Smith, Magic general manager, also has declined any comment. Fans, meanwhile, are debating Hill's future. Last week in an OrlandoSentinel.com poll, 53.8 percent of the 14,001 respondents voted in favor of a coaching change. The betting at Bodog, an on-line sports betting service, is running 2-1 on Hill not being the coach of the Magic next season.

 

Would The Orlando Sentinel have preferred their early poll numbers showing the majority of fans preferring no coaching change be made - I think so.

 

The actual numbers should be nearly 70% wanted a coaching change with approximately 9,000 respondents.

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Interesting points made by Steve Kerr here.

 

quote:

"I think a lot of people are waiting to see what happens there," said Steve Kerr, former NBA player and current national television analyst with Turner Sports. "I don't know all the dynamics, but he [Hill] still could be back. It might be a little uncomfortable, but there is some precedent."

 

Kerr likened the situation to what happened in Toronto last summer. The Raptors hired General Manager Bryan Colangelo, which immediately touched off speculation that he would fire Coach Sam Mitchell, who was going into the last year of his contract. A slow start didn't help, either. Mitchell, though, made some adjustments to his coaching style and the Raptors flourished.

 

 

I'm going to tell you this because I know a lot of you have respect for Tim Povtak.

 

I've been e-mailing with him quite frequently. I'm not going to divulge everything we spoke of but I can garantee you he is completely on the Brian Hill bandwagon and he doesn't like it one bit the way they are handling him now.

 

Definitely makes me feel better.

 

As I've said before, most of the venom towards Brian is just right here on these boards.

 

He might be coming back? Who knows.

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All of these stories are just the result of the media gone amuk. They want the gratification of a paper sell, and will say whatever they think will get their names in ink.

 

This is just sports. Every team makes changes to improve themselves.

 

Thank goodness Steinbrenner doesn't own the Magic. The people in this town would all be suffering heart attacks.

 

From what I have heard, the Magic will announce in a week or so. So lets have fun speculating, and be patient as we wait.

 

The sky is not falling.

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quote:
Originally posted by ball junkie:

As I've said before, most of the venom towards Brian is just right here on these boards.

 

Sorry Junkie, Every blog site I have looked at and the vast majority of respondents on the Sentinel blog sites all say the same thing.

 

How are the reporters going to treat Otis and the new coach when this is all over and they want free food, free tickets, and a seat on the plane? Right, Hill will be forgotten.

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Junkie the sentinel reporters flip flop opinions more than you do.....The reports right now are just dumb....Most of them don't want to say anything bad about the franchise or the coaches, so they try to stay in the middle. Also they skew and change or just interview some people that will give them what they want to hear.

 

Think about it here. Out of 1000+ members. There's only 2 or 3 that are with the coach. The rest want him gone, yet most reports or people they interview want the coach to stay...uhmmm is like they interview 1000 people until they find one that agrees with them and then quote that one person and not the rest.

 

The poll was rigged, and our crowd still won...

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When are the Slantinel reporters going to write about the fact that the coach didn't maximize the use of the players talents?

 

While their at it, write why the players don't trust the reporters with their real feelings about coach BHill.

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I actually agree with all the opinion's of the "Fire the Coach" people and their crticism's of his rotations, substitution's(etc.)

 

Here's what has irritasted me "ALL" year long. And maybe I'm a little more sensitive to it since I still do some coaching.

 

After every game we lost this season the board was bombarded with insults to the coach. Personal insults to his intelligence. I don't need to elaborate cause I know everyone knows exactly what I'm talking about.

 

Does everyone understand? I agree with your coach crticism's. I wish it would just stop at that but it doesn't. A lot of people make it personal with their insults to his intelligence.

 

I know Brian doesn't read here and most likely none of you know him. That still doesn't make it right. I still don't like it and it makes me want to defend him. I don't conduct myself like that anywhere. I may disagree but I'm not gonna insult your intelligence. Besides, there are rules on this forum for flaming and fowl language that are clearly stated at the top of the page.

 

I hope I am clear on my feelings and people can understand where I'm coming from.

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Once again BJ, no one in this thread has insulted Hill. I'm sure Solution would if you asked him nicely but still. It seems like you are trying to pick fights and then come to Hill's defense after you instigated it. I'm really not sure what your motive is.

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