More Information on Brian Cook and Maurice Evans... but mostly Cook

• Brian Cook and Maurice Evans, the Magic's two newest players, combined to shoot 13-of-49 (.265) from the field and 3-of-17 (.176) from three-point range so far in this young NBA season. On the plus side, they're a combined 16-of-19 (.842) from the foul line. Hooray!
• The only time I saw the two players in person, they were solid, yet unspectacular. I'm 87% sure that Brian Cook's lone three-pointer in that game so disgusted Magic PA Announcer Paul Porter that he spat Cook's name into the microphone. Don't you love it when he does that? And would it kill us to trade for somebody with a fun name? Paul has a great voice, and it's a shame that he's been forced to think of ways to make "Grant Hill" sound exciting in 30% of the Magic's games over the last seven years.
• The two new guys will join their teammates at RDV Sportsplex today for a light workout, says Brian Schmitz.
• Cook was active for last night's loss at San Antonio, but never got to take his warmup shirt off, earning a DNP-CD. The Magic's official team roster lists him as wearing #43, the same number he wore in L.A. I figured he'd want to switch to 34, his college number, which was unavailable in L.A. (presumably) because it was Shaq's number, and will be retired fairly soon.
• The last Magic player to wear #43 was Geert Hammink.
• On his official website, Cook tells us that his nickname is "Cookie."
• Orlando is Evans' fifth team in five NBA seasons.
• Because he was inactive for last night's game -- Stan the Man had both Pat Garrity and Brian Cook active, in a move from the Department of Redundancy Department -- I have no idea which uniform number Evans will wear here. He wore #5 in college, in Sacramento, and in Detroit; that number is unavailable because Keyon Dooling already has it. Evans wore #6 in Los Angeles, but it won't be available here because it's retired for The Fans. We made an exception by letting Patrick Ewing wear it, but that's because he's Patrick Ewing.
  • Rant Aside: Why is it that the Magic organization is okay with retiring a number for The Fans, which is a silly PR move at best, but not with retiring a number for a former player? Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, Jeff Turner, and Scott Skiles have all been honored with banners at Amway Arena... banners hung in the concourse. Clearly, the best way to pay tribute to great figures in the franchise's history is to put a banner bearing their visage over the burger stand or the merchandise booth. The Magic need to hurry up and retire Anderson's #25, at least.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.