Hill wants Magic to be more hard-nosed

Toughing it out

The Sentinel released a pre-camp article today. The link to the article is above. Listed below are some of the comments that stood out.

Hill was brought back to help change the team's country-club culture, making players accountable.

"That's not going to change," Hill said.

That's why Francis and Kelvin Cato were traded, and why Hill won't hand out starting jobs as if they were honorary degrees.

"Guys have to earn their positions out there and maintain them," he said.

Hill said he hopes that some toughness can be forged, beginning this week with training camp at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He expects a "very, very competitive camp" from the Magic, who will field one of their deeper clubs.

Ideally, the opening-night starting lineup would look like this: Jameer Nelson at point guard, Grant Hill at shooting guard, Hedo Turkoglu at small forward, Milicic at power forward and Howard at center.

Some interesting camp battles, however, will ensue:

Battie vs. Milicic. Can Darko build on his post-trade coming-out party and wrest the power-forward spot from Battie?

Grant Hill vs. all comers. The Magic want Hill to move from small forward and fill their shooting-guard vacancy. He's nearly 34 and recovering from another injury. Dooling, Keith Bogans and rookie J.J. Redick also want some action.

Trevor Ariza vs. his jump shot. The Magic made it a point to retain the defensive-minded Ariza. If his offense evolves, he can back up Turkoglu and provide much-needed depth at small forward.

Nelson vs. Carlos Arroyo. Nelson is the incumbent at point guard. But the way the fiery Arroyo played in the FIBA World Championship, he isn't likely to concede.

He's pretty tough.

Training camp

WHEN: Tuesday-Saturday.

WHERE: University of North Florida, Jacksonville.THE BUZZ: Practices are closed, but a free public scrimmage is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the UNF Arena. The first exhibition game is Oct. 10 in Charlotte, N.C.