Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Magic play NJ tough but lose 8th in a row

The Magic could not hold a 10 pt halftime lead against the Nets, and scored only 37 second half pts in a 96-93 loss to NJ. It was the 12th loss in the Magic's last 13 games.

I guess Coach Hill lied yesterday when he said that the 3 minutes Darko saw against CLE would be the fewest he would ever see, because he played no minutes at all against NJ. There's no excuse at all for not giving Darko at least 20-25 minutes a game, and gradually build it up as he becomes more familiar with the offense. The kid needs to play, and there's no excuse not to play him. Look how well Carlos Arroyo played... 13 pts, 4 assists in 27 minutes.

The Magic outscored NJ from the field 74-72, while outshooting them 52.9% to 42.3 %. But the Magic struggled from the FT line, as they were outscored 24-19 while shooting only 61.3%, while NJ shot 88.9%. Magic were outrebounded 41-36 (15-8 on the offensive glass) and had 16 TOs to NJ's 12. Like last night, 3 members of the opposing team scored over 20 pts (Kidd 28, Jefferson 23, and Carter 22). Four ORL players scored in double figures, led by KDooling, who had an outstanding game as the starting PG (23 pts 6 assists but 5 TOs). Magic bench scored 28 pts, led by Arroyo's 13.

We should have known that Hill would play a veteran like Augmon for 37 minutes ( 7 pts 6 rebs), and also play Garrity 21 minutes (7 pts), while not playing Darko. Will Darko get meaningful playing time at home on Friday vs Seattle? Knowing how stubborn BHill is... I don't know.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 10:40 PM  

16 Comments:

  • At 10:51 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Boy,if we shoot free throws better,and coach hill gets a clue,we could actually win friday,we could have really used hedo tonight also,but great effort,i'm proud of the guys that played,hell taking hedo and grant from us,is like taking jefferson and carter from the nets,and we still alomst beat them,so i'll take a whole lot more of those efforts,get hedo or grant back and we should be good,ariza should help too,any news on hedo's ankle?

     

  • At 10:58 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I still cant believe we actually traded steve,we wind up getting,christie,darko,arroyo,ariza & hardaway,for T-mac,five players for one,i'll take it! Christie and hardaway,waived,and arroyo,ariza & darko,keepers!

     

  • At 11:10 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Is Brian Hill stupid enough to think he can win games with offense while Grant and Hedo out? Play Garrity and Kasun but give no single minute to Darko? He basically wasted excellent plays of guards by not tightening up the defensive screws in the second half while we were ahead. Why was Brian Hill addressing the management and salary cap issues that are none of his puny mind?

     

  • At 11:13 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    By playing Garrity, Hill made the middle of our defense softer than marshmallow.

     

  • At 1:52 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    I'm so friggin pissed right now. My wife things i've cracked up but I can't help it. How in the hell did this guy called bshill ever get a job with any professional basketball team? He needs to be bitch-slapped immediately! I can over look the poor draft choices, the stupid trades and even the lack of ownership involvement, but keeping this bonehead as a coach is just plain stupid. Sure Francis was a head-case, but Hill totally mishandled the situation to the point of Francis just giving up. I don't remember hearing about another player just giving up everytime their name is mentioned in a trade. If this were the case, half of the players in the NBA would be sleep-walking through games every night. And this thing about playing garrity 30 minutes a night just makes me want to choke the living shit out of that pint sized peckerhead... I mean, you just aquire a 7' PF/C who was a number 2 draft pick, seldom played, and told he would see considerable minutes and a chance to show his stuff. So he plays him for a few minutes his first night against Cle just to get a quick look at him, ok, fine, but on the 2nd night of a back to back, when no doubt the starters are a bit tired, whats he do? keeps him on the bench, WHY? What good excuse excuse could he possible have for doing that? He should have been the one off the bench in the first half when Howard was in foul trouble.. He isn't any more familiar with the plays than Arroyo is so it can't be that, I really really hope that AHoleHill hasn't already developed a hard on about Darko like he had about Deeener. If he has, then he's sunk here in Orlando because AHoleH will bury him so far down the bench he'll never see the light of day... Why go through all this trade process to aquire the parts we need just so this little piss ant coach can keep friggin everthing up.... SCREW BHILL

     

  • At 2:02 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    Now we have Ariza, oh wait, dosn't matter, he probably won't play anyway, AHoleHill will wait and evaluate him this summer, the same time he'll take a look at Darko. Dosn't matter who we aquire, to the Ahole, garrity trumps them all. Keyon goes out? bring in garrity... Dwight goes out? bring in garrity... Stevenson, Arroyo, Battie go out? dosn't matter, garrity will play any position. See where this is headed?

     

  • At 2:06 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    I know I need to let this go, but, damn..... 21 minutes and not 1 stinking rebound, and this guy calls himself a power forward.. thats just plain sad.. I'd bet that in 21 minutes, any one of us could produce at least 1 lousy rebound.

     

  • At 3:27 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Tonight's game pissed me off more than ever! If I knew a sniper, I would have called him and just said "Brian Hill". I honestly can't believe this shit. The Magic better have another trade in the works and have been showcasing someone tonight, otherwise I really don't know what to think. After all that has went down with this team, all that was said, and all that was done, and Darko doesn't play a single minute, I could go Sprewell on Hill's ass.

    As for Arroyo, he is going to take the starting PG spot, unless Hill decides to dick him over.

    Pleaseee fire Brian Hill, and if not, get him on the same page. If I don't see Darko out there Friday night I'm going to flip!

     

  • At 3:49 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    At least we all can vent our frustration here about BHill's obvious incompetence as coach... but Friday's a new day and another game... maybe we'll be able to talk about a Magic win for a change by then.

     

  • At 8:21 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    I praised Otis yesterday. Now I'm upset at him again.

    Why didn't he insist the Knicks take Garrity too!

    Does Hill study game film? Does he see Garrity turning way too late and running to cover his spot on the floor after the ball is in the net?

    Does he count the rebounds?

    Does he look at the +/- statistics when Garrity comes on the floor?

     

  • At 8:27 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    I like the influence Arroyo has on the court. It's hard to see on tv, but more than once he was guiding players to their proper spots on the floor when he didn't have the ball.

     

  • At 9:30 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I like what I saw from Arroyo so far, smart and yet street ball toughness. Now I am torn between him and Dooling for the starter's job. Even from the playing time in MIA, I thought Dooling was erratic, at times, but boy he is explosive on the offensive end and a top notch defender. Arroyo is steadier but not as flashy, and a better passer and better shooter. Regardless, they both would be valuable assets at any guards' position. I am glad that Otis didn't give up any of our excellent guards.

    All these nasty comments, here or on Sentinel, and more are in order for BS Hill, or whatever new title Omar finds for him. He has deservedly earned them. My worries are beyond this season. Coaches and players alike are major factors in free agents deciding to sign up with a team. Players talk to each other, and I bid you they have an open book on coaches between themselves. Good coaches find a way of reaching the hearts and minds of their players to get them to buy into their systems, and virtually leave sweat and blood on the floor every time they are playing. I got a glimpse of Larry Brown sitting next to a distraught Frnacis talking about how he has been following Francis even before his college time, and then saying that he doesn't care about positions and all he wants are basketball players. I bid you that he will convince Francis to play wherever that he wants him to play, and Francis abides.

    Without intending to beat on the dead horse, I honestly believe that we didn't have to put up with Francis' theatrics, for almost a month and a half, if Brian Hill had any shred of wisdom in him.

     

  • At 11:46 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Watch in the summer the magic will probably resign pat!

     

  • At 11:54 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I dont mind pat getting some back -up minutes,but why the hell does coach hill start garrity as his fourth quarter PF,as if he changes his starters for the fourth quarter,battie should get most of the fourth quarter minutes,but no,garrity does,anybody but garrity,when there's 3 or 4 minutes left in a game,that is the most critical part of the game,your best defenders should be on the floor,not unathletic-undersized-scorers,that just doesnt make any since,its like he says "right now i need defense,so i'm gonna put in my shortest,most unathletic,worst defender big-man,that should work" (not a real quote)!

     

  • At 1:03 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    It's not just what Pat has always lacked, but as far as offense goes, he's not the same as he once was. If he was nailing big 3's and shots on a consistent basis, sure, maybe he would have earned this time. But he's not, he's had a couple decent games this year, beyond that, he has pretty much sucked. And really, I wouldn't mind him being on our bench, but playing the 10th, 11th, 12th man, but not the 6th. It really does remind me of how back in the day B Hill used to insist on playing Brian Shaw no matter what. The fans would boo, but it didn't matter. As for Pat, pick whatever reason you want, I just can't picture the fans in Orlando booing him. The only option I see as of now, is he has to be traded or not resigned.

     

  • At 2:38 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    I think Introvert316 has said it best about Pat Garrity. When he was signed to a 3-year deal for 3.5 million a year, he was a top 3-point shooter in the league ... which he is not any more. His defense has gone down too ... he used to move a whole lot better (as I remember, if my memory is not failing me). Despite all this, if B Hill is around, expect him to be re-signed probably for a 1.2-1.5 million range salary on per year basis.

     

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