- Ball Don't Lie correspondent Nick Friedell is an Orlando Magic season ticket-holder. He writes that his tickets arrived today, and a number of prominent former Magic players were omitted from the ticket designs: Tracy McGrady, Darrell Armstrong, Dennis Scott, and Grant Hill. Yet the Magic had room to include Patrick Ewing (twice), the Dunking Dancer Dads, the JetBlue Crew, and other assorted people and groups only tangentially relevant to the franchise's history. Friedell's post is spot-on, so I won't say much more than simply the following: it's shameful that the Magic believe that people like the Dunking Dancer Dads and the JetBlue Crew are more important to the franchise than players I just listed. And while it's nice that the team recognized Scott Skiles and Shaquille O'Neal (I'm surprised at that one too), that doesn't mean it's off the hook for trying to undermine the contributions McGrady, Anderson, Armstrong, Scott, and Hill made. I'm very disappointed. We all should be.
- ESPN rumormonger Chad Ford says that trade talk is heating up. Not much about the Magic, although he mentions Orlando as one of six teams that might be interested in Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom. You don't say.
- A trio of updates from Brian Schmitz:
- Anthony Johnson might not play in tomorrow morning's exhibition game against the Charlotte Bobcats due to a scratched left eye (ow!). Tony Battie and his fractured ring finger are also sidelined.
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Keith Bogans has only taken three shots this preseason and the coaching staff is less-than-thrilled. Here's Stan Van Gundy on Keith:
"For some reason, he has been trying to show us other things, trying to drive the ball. I don't think it was his game. But the last three days, he's looked more like he did last year. That's what we need to see."
- Hedo Turkoglu and his wife, Banu Turkoglu, are expecting their first child, a girl. Mrs. Turkoglu is four months pregnant. Our congratulations to Hedo and Banu.
The "some reason" is the fact that, like Shakespeare, KeBo got to get paid, son. It's a contract year and he's out to prove he can do more than just shoot threes and play defense. In the exhibition against Moscow he made several unsuccessful, out-of-controlled forays into the lane. Hopefully he'll return to form soon.
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Finally, John Denton reports that the Magic want Rashard Lewis to be more selfish. Lewis, who deferred to Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson frequently last season, seems O.K. with that:
"It's just my nature to play the right way. When I'm double teamed I'm going to look for the open man. But at some points in the game I do have to be more selfish to score more points when we need baskets. I'm more comfortable with the system, with the guys and now I'm more ready to be a little more selfish."
Rashard will do just fine. He knows what's up, and we'd certainly like him to stay aggressive. Is there any other Magic player besides Dwight Howard and possibly Hedo Turkoglu who is more deserving of shot attempts?
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Orlando Magic News for October 15th: Key Players in Franchise History Omitted From 20th-Anniversary Ticket Designs
By
Evan Dunlap