Magic search for answers

[FENDI 4]

ORLANDO - Frustrated at how a post-practice drill was going Tuesday, Dwight Howard kicked a basketball some 30 feet in the air where it hit window blinds and sent a large chunk crashing to the court below.

 

It was a fitting metaphor for an Orlando Magic season that might soon be, um, curtains. In the wake of another dispirited loss to a sub-.500 team, it's as though the walls are collapsing around the free-falling Magic.

 

The Magic had a tense pre-practice meeting Tuesday to hash out the troubles that come with a team losing three consecutive games, 10 of 12 since the All-Star break and 22 of 29 since mid-January. Veterans Grant Hill and Tony Battie spoke up during the meeting, as did coach Brian Hill, who had the game film from Monday's 119-108 loss to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats.

 

But it was general manager Otis Smith who had the loudest say Tuesday, admitting that he was "more than just a little bit embarrassed" at how the Magic have crumbled at a time when they put together a spirited run last season. A clearly frustrated Smith pulled no punches, citing disappointment with everything from the Magic's lack of leadership to their callous attitude toward losing.

 

"I'm not sure right now that we have a whole lot of leadership on this team," Smith said. "Is it coming from the point guard (Jameer Nelson), Grant (Hill) or Tony (Battie)? That was one of the problem areas heading into this season and another was does this team like each other too much? When that's the case, you're not honest and you don't always hold each other accountable."

 

And Smith didn't stop there. Unlike most NBA general managers, Smith travels with the Magic on all road games and witnessing the fragile psyche of his 29-36 team firsthand unnerves him.

 

"I'm disappointed in the effort, I'm disappointed in the way we lose and the way we put our heads down when things are going bad," he said. "I'm disappointed in the way we react to losing. I don't take too kindly to guys smiling when we're down 20. At that point, there's not too much to smile about."

 

There certainly isn't too much to smile about these days around the Magic headquarters considering how the team has collapsed after starting the season 13-4 and leading the Southeast Division for 42 consecutive days. But Orlando finds itself out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference again, meaning if the playoffs started today the Magic would miss the postseason for a fourth consecutive year.

 

Heading into tonight's home game against Utah, the Magic sit at 10th in the East, a full game behind New Jersey, Indiana and New York.

 

"Everybody in here is mad, frustrated, mad and embarrassed and now it's just a matter of figuring out how to get out of this situation," Grant Hill said. "(Tuesday) was about figuring out how we can still make this a productive season and a playoff season."

 

Orlando's defense was but a rumor Monday night as Charlotte shot 56 percent, hit 14 3-pointers, handed out a franchise record 39 assists and had three scorers top the 20-point mark.

 

Not only did the Magic lose to Charlotte without Emeka Okafor, they fell to the Bobcats for a third time this season. They also lost three games to the lowly Atlanta Hawks. And Orlando now has dropped games to Memphis without Pau Gasol, Toronto without Chris Bosh, Milwaukee without Michael Redd, New Orleans/Oklahoma City without Chris Paul and David West and Charlotte without Okafor.

 

As he has for weeks, Smith said he still has faith in the job that Brian Hill is doing as the Magic's head coach. Owner Bob Vander Weide said last week that he is confident Hill is the man for the job, and Smith echoed those sentiments Tuesday.

 

"I'm still behind him, but that doesn't mean we can't do better," Smith said. "At the end of the year, we'll all be evaluated and the decisions made will all be in the best interest of the Orlando Magic."

 

Howard, the Magic's franchise center, said it would take more than some player's meeting to turn around what has become another sour season. Instead, he said it will take the Magic playing better defense and limiting their turnovers to turn around their latest slide.

 

"We've had plenty of meetings. It's not about having meetings; it's about when we step on the court playing as a team rather than just talking about it," Howard huffed. "Losing streaks tend to mess up your chemistry, but we have to stay together.

 

"We have the right leaders, but we have to look at ourselves and not point the fingers. We have to look at ourselves and see what we've done to help us win. Look in the mirror and don't point fingers."

 

Contact Denton at jd41898@aol.com

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/...03140349/1002/SPORTS

[FENDI 4]

ORLANDO - Frustrated at how a post-practice drill was going Tuesday, Dwight Howard kicked a basketball some 30 feet in the air where it hit window blinds and sent a large chunk crashing to the court below.

 

It was a fitting metaphor for an Orlando Magic season that might soon be, um, curtains. In the wake of another dispirited loss to a sub-.500 team, it's as though the walls are collapsing around the free-falling Magic.

 

The Magic had a tense pre-practice meeting Tuesday to hash out the troubles that come with a team losing three consecutive games, 10 of 12 since the All-Star break and 22 of 29 since mid-January. Veterans Grant Hill and Tony Battie spoke up during the meeting, as did coach Brian Hill, who had the game film from Monday's 119-108 loss to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats.

 

But it was general manager Otis Smith who had the loudest say Tuesday, admitting that he was "more than just a little bit embarrassed" at how the Magic have crumbled at a time when they put together a spirited run last season. A clearly frustrated Smith pulled no punches, citing disappointment with everything from the Magic's lack of leadership to their callous attitude toward losing.

 

"I'm not sure right now that we have a whole lot of leadership on this team," Smith said. "Is it coming from the point guard (Jameer Nelson), Grant (Hill) or Tony (Battie)? That was one of the problem areas heading into this season and another was does this team like each other too much? When that's the case, you're not honest and you don't always hold each other accountable."

 

And Smith didn't stop there. Unlike most NBA general managers, Smith travels with the Magic on all road games and witnessing the fragile psyche of his 29-36 team firsthand unnerves him.

 

"I'm disappointed in the effort, I'm disappointed in the way we lose and the way we put our heads down when things are going bad," he said. "I'm disappointed in the way we react to losing. I don't take too kindly to guys smiling when we're down 20. At that point, there's not too much to smile about."

 

There certainly isn't too much to smile about these days around the Magic headquarters considering how the team has collapsed after starting the season 13-4 and leading the Southeast Division for 42 consecutive days. But Orlando finds itself out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference again, meaning if the playoffs started today the Magic would miss the postseason for a fourth consecutive year.

 

Heading into tonight's home game against Utah, the Magic sit at 10th in the East, a full game behind New Jersey, Indiana and New York.

 

"Everybody in here is mad, frustrated, mad and embarrassed and now it's just a matter of figuring out how to get out of this situation," Grant Hill said. "(Tuesday) was about figuring out how we can still make this a productive season and a playoff season."

 

Orlando's defense was but a rumor Monday night as Charlotte shot 56 percent, hit 14 3-pointers, handed out a franchise record 39 assists and had three scorers top the 20-point mark.

 

Not only did the Magic lose to Charlotte without Emeka Okafor, they fell to the Bobcats for a third time this season. They also lost three games to the lowly Atlanta Hawks. And Orlando now has dropped games to Memphis without Pau Gasol, Toronto without Chris Bosh, Milwaukee without Michael Redd, New Orleans/Oklahoma City without Chris Paul and David West and Charlotte without Okafor.

 

As he has for weeks, Smith said he still has faith in the job that Brian Hill is doing as the Magic's head coach. Owner Bob Vander Weide said last week that he is confident Hill is the man for the job, and Smith echoed those sentiments Tuesday.

 

"I'm still behind him, but that doesn't mean we can't do better," Smith said. "At the end of the year, we'll all be evaluated and the decisions made will all be in the best interest of the Orlando Magic."

 

Howard, the Magic's franchise center, said it would take more than some player's meeting to turn around what has become another sour season. Instead, he said it will take the Magic playing better defense and limiting their turnovers to turn around their latest slide.

 

"We've had plenty of meetings. It's not about having meetings; it's about when we step on the court playing as a team rather than just talking about it," Howard huffed. "Losing streaks tend to mess up your chemistry, but we have to stay together.

 

"We have the right leaders, but we have to look at ourselves and not point the fingers. We have to look at ourselves and see what we've done to help us win. Look in the mirror and don't point fingers."

 

Contact Denton at jd41898@aol.com

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/...03140349/1002/SPORTS

[Nyce_1 311]

quote:

"I'm still behind him, but that doesn't mean we can't do better," Smith said. "At the end of the year, we'll all be evaluated and the decisions made will all be in the best interest of the Orlando Magic."

 

Bye-bye Brian Hill.

 

What gets me is, why the hell does all this frustration/anger/humiliation begin to surface NOW, when it's possibly too late? This all should've been the concern and focus a month ago. To me, this is all talk and I'll believe it when I see it. Magic are now 1 game behind NJ, Indiana, and NY for the last two playoff spots with 17 games remaining. If they're serious about this debacle (probably not) then they've got to show some life for the next 4 weeks (ha!)

[MagicmaninMiami 0]

Its not really too late for the season, Indiana is free falling as well and New York has some significant injuries dealing with.

[JC Aponte 0]

Its kinf of funny when Howard talks about turn overs, when actually he is accounted for the most turn overs in the Magic team.Maybe we should call him 'Dwight the TO machine" cause this kids does not seems to stop making TO !!

[Berto 338]

quote:

Originally posted by FENDI:

"I'm disappointed in the effort, I'm disappointed in the way we lose and the way we put our heads down when things are going bad," he said. "I'm disappointed in the way we react to losing. I don't take too kindly to guys smiling when we're down 20. At that point, there's not too much to smile about."

 

I'm glad he finally said that. I've been complaining about the smiling and the "it's ok to lose" attitude the entire year. At this point I rather see us lose just so we don't have to go through another year of this crap with Brain Hill.

[SmackDaddy 30]

I think it's interesting that B Hill, G HIll and Battie are the individuals that stood up and spoke during this meeting. I don't care what the numbskull coach and aging vets have to say. I'm curious about what our young players think. Were they even allowed to vent? Were they given the opportunity to contribute? I've read 3-4 aqticles about this team meeting so far and not one article mentions JJ, Diener, Ariza, Darko, etc. Battie and Grant might be good locker room guys but they are not leaders on the court. Who's going to lead thie team in years to come? That's who should be standing on their soapbox during these team meetings.

[CaseyMullen928 0]

quote:

Originally posted by JC Aponte:

Its kinf of funny when Howard talks about turn overs, when actually he is accounted for the most turn overs in the Magic team.Maybe we should call him 'Dwight the TO machine" cause this kids does not seems to stop making TO !!

 

you cannot fault dwight for half of his turnovers... they dump it inside to him and all 4 other guys on the court stand around with their heads up their butts. no one tries to cut to the basket for the pass, and when dwights doubled or tripled, they expect him just to throw it to them way out on the perimeter, no one comes to help. while dwight makes his share of mistakes, the team does nothing to help his numbers. someone just cut to the basket and let dwight make that little flip pass.

[Mr Charisma 0]

quote:

Originally posted by SmackDaddy:

I think it's interesting that B Hill, G HIll and Battie are the individuals that stood up and spoke during this meeting. I don't care what the numbskull coach and aging vets have to say. I'm curious about what our young players think. Were they even allowed to vent? Were they given the opportunity to contribute? I've read 3-4 aqticles about this team meeting so far and not one article mentions JJ, Diener, Ariza, Darko, etc. Battie and Grant might be good locker room guys but they are not leaders on the court. Who's going to lead thie team in years to come? That's who should be standing on their soapbox during these team meetings.

So very true. But that is how Brian Hill runs his locker room. Only opinions of those over the age of 30 matter to him.

 

Of interest to me in the article is that Dwight lost his temper after practice, yet the meeting was before practice. It sounds to me like he was venting his anger over the meeting. Especially when he quips later that "we don't need more meetings".

 

It sounds to me like he wasn't impressed with what took place in the meeting.

 

D12 will do his talking at the contract table.

[SmackDaddy 30]

quote:

Of interest to me in the article is that Dwight lost his temper after practice, yet the meeting was before practice. It sounds to me like he was venting his anger over the meeting. Especially when he quips later that "we don't need more meetings".

 

It sounds to me like he wasn't impressed with what took place in the meeting.

 

D12 will do his talking at the contract table.

 

Wow! I didn't even pick up on that. Nice catch.

 

Dwight was probably envisioning that basketball was B Hill's head.

[chosen12 75]

quote:

Originally posted by SmackDaddy:

Of interest to me in the article is that Dwight lost his temper after practice, yet the meeting was before practice. It sounds to me like he was venting his anger over the meeting. Especially when he quips later that "we don't need more meetings".

 

It sounds to me like he wasn't impressed with what took place in the meeting.

 

D12 will do his talking at the contract table.

 

It would be so nice for Dwight to say, him or me, one of us must go!!!!! AAAHHHHHH you could only dream.........

[magicfreak#1 0]

Everything that Smith, the GM is saying in this article is everything that the coach should be saying, If a coach has a job it is to lead the team and then to take action, and do something about it. But no we see the same crappy effort, or lack there of, If no player is leading the team, which I think Grant was doing a pretty fair job of early on, then the coach should make one, or take someone under his wing, and get the job done. If players like each other too much, that is not a bad thing, then the coach should get on the players arses!! that is the coach's job if he has one, not the player's job, it can be an added perk to a coach if a player decides to help out in that area, but not in the job description, and the lack of any player stepping up and doing this to help the coach out says something to me about what might be going on in the heads of the players. What's worse is you don't even hear the coach address the issue, and take responsibility for himself, when the GM is calling out his boys, (D12, jameer,G.hill, T battie,) again it is the coach's job to protect his boys, and what do we get 100% pure COWARD!!! It can't be good for B. Hill when Otis has to do his job, as well as his own. Every one keep up the good work and let's get rid of the Freaking Coward Idiot!!!

If we keep asking for it eventually someone who is important will hear us, !!!!