Orlando Magic News for August 24th: Magic's Conference Championship Chances, J.J. Redick's Desire to Start, and Marcin Gortat's National-Team Play
by Evan Dunlap on Aug 24, 2010 4:00 PM EDT
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Print- NBA Summer Forecast: Eastern Conference champions - ESPN
16 of ESPN's 93--count 'em!--panelists picked the Orlando Magic to win the Eastern Conference this season. J.A. Adande is among those 16, and explains his decision in part by saying, "[t]hey tried playing the 'nobody respects us' card for the past two seasons and maybe it will finally take effect now."
Marc Stein is among the dissenters, picking the Miami Heat instead. "My days on Orlando's bandwagon are a memory," he says, due to their poor playoff performance last year, their unimpressive additions this summer, and the fact that Dwight Howard did not play for Team USA in the FIBA World Championships.
- J.J. Redick Never Thought He’d Last In Orlando | Dime Magazine (dimemag.com)
Jack Jensen of Dime Magazine chats with Magic shooting guard J.J. Redick and tries to catch him saying he wants to start. But Redick, by his own admission, gives the "politically correct" answer. Here it is, in part:
You know, I just want to be a part of a great organization and a winning team, and I have it with the Magic. Whether Vince [Carter] sticks around for two more years or one more year or four more years, I’m not going to complain. I’m happy with my situation.
The whole interview is well worth your time.
- Video Highlights: Marcin Gortat | Magic Basketball
Eddy cut together this highlight reel of Magic center Marcin Gortat's performance as he tries to lead his native Poland during EuroBasket 2011 qualifying. Yes, Gortat is spending another summer with the Polish national team, which could indeed affect his performance for the Magic in the season ahead. Last year, he said fatigue affected him in the early stages of the season.
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Stein
Gotta agree with him to a point. Viewing it as a non-fan , he doesn’t say anything horrible. Nice to see JA Adande go out on a limb and pick the Magic. I think he realizes they play better as underdogs. Maybe some miracle trade comes in as well, you never know. Depending on how it all shakes out i sitll see us as being in the Final Four of the NBA. I think we get Chicago in the second round and will probably dispose of them. Hopefully not via the sweep. Don’t sweep anyone past the first round anymore.
Latest Eastern Conference championship odds
Courtesy of sportsbook.com:
Miami… -190 (wagering $190 to win $100 plus the original wager)
Orlando… +300 (wagering $100 to win $300 plus the original wager)
Boston… +450
Chicago… +1000
Orlando Magic... 2010 Eastern Conference Finalist
Chicago Blackhawks... 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Champions!!
by Mike from Illinois on Aug 24, 2010 4:56 PM EDT reply actions
If Boston can stay injury-free the whole season, they could be a force to be reckoned with
Orlando Magic... 2010 Eastern Conference Finalist
Chicago Blackhawks... 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Champions!!
by Mike from Illinois on Aug 24, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions
On the paper, the Magic's ranking in the East is just about right
Magic will end up in the top three in the East, anyways. In the play-offs, the best scenario for the Magic would be if MIA and BOS clash with each other, so that Magic does not have to go through both of them. That scenario is most probable if Magic secures the top seeding, which is quite possible. BOS worries me more than MIA with strengthening their front-line during summer. With MIA, the lack of depth is their Achilles’ heel in two ways: 1) lack of depth in pure sense; and 2) an extended injury to one of the big 3 makes them an ordinary team.
Agreed, a somewhat healthy Boston team scares me more than the Heat this year.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
I so agree with you.
The NETS is like my own sense of direction..
The MAGIC made me realize that one..
by silenthero07 on Aug 25, 2010 2:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Miami looks pretty deep to me
In a strange way, I think they’re underrated if they find their groove
there is nothing underrated about miami
they are not deep whatsoever, they have 5 players who are decent nba players and then 6 or 7 30+ veterans for the bench.
What the...?
Marc Stein is among the dissenters, picking the Miami Heat instead. “My days on Orlando’s bandwagon are a memory,” he says, due to their poor playoff performance last year, their unimpressive additions this summer, and the fact that Dwight Howard did not play for Team USA in the FIBA World Championships.
Dwight didn’t play for Team USA so the Magic are not going to win a championship?
So you can keep knocking but won't knock me down
No love lost, no love found
I usually think Stein is right on the money.
And I agree that our playoff series against Boston doesn’t do us any favors in terms of being an appealing pick this year. Our offseason moves could turn out great, but there’s no way of knowing that until the season gets into full swing.
But this notion about Dwight really really bothers me. All I heard all last year was that Dwight needed to spend time practicing and meeting with Olajuwon. He’s doing that. All I heard was that he needed to work on his offensive game. He did that and we saw clear improvements last year. Also, Dwight finally got over the hump against some of the guys he’d been struggling with. He had great games against the Cavs, Celts, and Lakers last year when matched up with O’Neal, Perkins and Bynum.
I hate using the “we don’t get any respect” card because it’s cheap. But it is obvious in the case of Dwight Howard. How many records does a person have to break before he is seen as a top tier player?
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
Yeah I agree
Even though I have my beef with Dwight, to say that about him while all the other stars are doing the same is silly.
Gortat is beasting it up back in Europe
Which could be great for his trade stock. He’s showing people out there that give him minutes, he can be a 15-10 guy, who can produce 25-10-3’s when needed. Of course he’s probably playing bully ball with Portugal…
Yeah someone has to explain to me why Dwight Howard playing for Team USA in the World Championships will help him get a ring?
Let’s say he did.. I doubt Coach K will focus the gameplan around him like SVG would with a 4-1 defense. Durant’s talents are all-round, and the team atm don’t really have knock-down shooters. This alpha dog thing is rubbish, since even in the Olympics, there was on alpha dog. So what will he get from it, besides fatigue and dunking on some Europeans?
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