When does the Communication Start?
Another loss to a struggling team without their top scorer makes it hard to believe that the coach has any influence on the players. After an embarrassing loss in LA, one may think that the coach would prepare the team to come out with vengence. That did not happen to be the case. In fact, the team was flat and listless until the fight between Dooling and Allen started. With Allen gone, it was expected that the Magic will play on an even keel with Sonics, but the Magic could stop no one. One of the main charactristics of a good coach is the art of communicating with the players in a manner that makes them to respond to his commands. It seems to me that the line of communication has broken down between coach Hill and many of the players who are playing in an autonomous state of mind. I do not intend to go into more details, but I think it is time to focus our attention to the coaching issues with the Magic. Let us have an exchange and see where it leads us.
posted by Matt @ 8:58 AM
6 Comments:
At 10:40 AM,
Anonymous said…
I don't believe for a second Artest is coming to Orlando, I don't even think it would be a good move.
Anyway, about the game...At least there's a little spirit. But apart from the Dooling rumble, I don't think anything changed from the Clippers game. Brian Hill still struggles, Steve-O is nowhere, and Jameer scores. And by the way, I thought we were a defensive minded team this year? How do you give up 113 points if your mind is on defense? How can Lewis get 45 (forty five!) against a defensive team?
Right now, I'm afraid we're nothing, really.
And yet, for some reason I feel good about the game against Portland. But maybe that's just me being stupid.
At 11:27 AM,
WeRDevos said…
I've been on record before. I think a duo of Artest and Francis would be fascinating.
At 11:58 AM,
Matt said…
I welcome Omar, as well. I think WeRDevos would support any attempt to bring Magic out of its vegeterian status regardless of long term consequences!!!. As for Dooling's situation, unless I have seen it differently than anybody else, Allen elbowed Dooling and Keyon chased him off the screen and pushed him, and that started Allen to go after him. I doubt what Dooling did was even a flagrunt foul to start with. I have seen the initial part only once, and I could be mistaken.
At 12:39 PM,
OVERWADED said…
I think everyone on here has said it well. With the talent we have, how we've played against some of the better teams in the league, and how we've lost to some of the worst, I really think the blame has to fall on the coach right now. It still might be a little early to pass judgment, but we'll know by the end of the year. Cato played well for us last year before he was injured, and yes, the responsibility falls on him to get into game shape. But a good coach would help. Hedo isn't exactly playing good basketball either. Francis looks more lost than ever, and in the past weeks he has been playing some of the worst basketball of his career. Everyone has their points and they are all valid. At some point or another, it stops being a quencidence. Until something changes I think there is a good chance this "up and down" confused team will continue to take the floor.
With all that said. I think a healthy Grant Hill (and that’s a big question itself) really helps balance this team. His basketball IQ, the respect other players have for him, and his example, he gets more respect than the coach. He’s basically the floor coach and that is why when he’s been healthy this year, the Magic have looked like a different team. He’s probably the only one that will help Brian Hill keeping his job longer.
At 1:19 PM,
Matt said…
As it stands, in my view, coach Hill has to engage in lengthy one-on-one conversations with all the players. He needs to ask for any problems they may have, whether personally or related to the game. He needs to define the role of each player and what is expected of him. It might be neccessary to explain the generic issues with some players. He needs to go back to when the team was playing defense well as a team. By example, when a player like Hedo is not able to stop Rashard Lewis, he should insert a better densive player like Morris in the game. Garrity has been horrid, lately. If he cannot shoot, since that is his only purpose of being in the game, he should be placed on inactive list in favor of a player like Diener, who could at least shoot when we go small.
At 3:29 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I'm traveling and didn't see the last two games. Was it a good fight?
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