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.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Support for coach...

Magic president Bob Vander Weide laughed off a report by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Monday on ESPN 1060-AM that Orlando head coach Brian Hill will be fired if the team misses the playoffs.

Vander Weide said there was no truth to the report. He said that while he's frustrated with the Magic's swoon during the past three months he has faith in Hill as the Magic's head coach.

Orlando started the season 13-4, but entered Monday's game just 15-29 during the past three months. He said he refused to believe that Hill's intensity and attention to detail were negatives, as Smith pointed out on the radio.

"After starting the season 13-4, I know Brian is feeling the pressure of turning the team around. But we think he's doing a fine job."

Contract talk...
Look for the Magic to extend center Dwight Howard this summer for five years. The contract, beginning in 2008, likely will total about $87.5 million. It could start around $14.5 million and finish at $20.5 million. Also, don't be surprised if the Magic and Milicic end up signing a short-term deal -- say, $21 million over three years.

posted by OVERWADED @ 5:40 PM  

9 Comments:

  • At 5:44 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I wonder how many games Bob has watched this year.

     

  • At 11:01 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Moron!

     

  • At 1:12 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    This doesn't surprise me at all, knowing how highly the Magic front office thinks of BHill. Unless the Magic go completely in the tank the final 20 games (say 4-16 or 5-15), there is virtually no chance they would fire Hill.

     

  • At 7:23 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    One can never know. If the public goes real sour, Bob knows only the "color green". They have fired a popular coach in Doc Rivers who had the support of the star player without hesitation.

     

  • At 8:36 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    I'm still deeply depressed that they failed to take advantage of their expiring contracts when they needed the help.

    Here's hoping DH puts a lot of pressure on them before committing a critical five years of his life to such a historically poor organization.

     

  • At 6:32 PM, Blogger Ken said…

    I haven't figured out yet if the re-hiring of BSH was a public relations move to bring back the fans who adore his dumb ass, or if the Magic management really believes it was his skill as a coach that took them to the NBA Finals.

    If it was a PR move, then, I would think those fans would eventually figure out that he is no more than an assistant, at best. And that he is not the one who can take this team to the next level.

    If it was the latter, then we have been giving management waaaaaaaay to much credit all these years for knowing what they are doing. Sure they may have made a few intelligent moves. But if they really think BSH is "da man" this team is in deep shit....

    I love Dwight Howard to death. And as much as I want to see him spend his career in a Magic uniform, I can't help but think of Kevin Garnett. So much talent, so many skills, classy kid, intelligent, but wasting away on a sub-par team with a sub-par coach struggling to make the playoffs every year. I also wonder if the Cav's will be able to put the players in place around LeBron to take it to the next level.

     

  • At 6:38 PM, Blogger Ken said…

    Did anyone see the Bianchi (sp) column about the old die-hard gator fan and the kid who started the FireBrianHill.org website? Basically Bianchi was criticizing those calling for BSH's head and not supporting the team. Yeah, Right, like bianchi ever had anything worth while to say. I had very little respect for him before, I have even less now...

     

  • At 3:26 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    The tremendous outpouring against Bianchi's article is what is interesting. it shows that the wheels are turning in terms of public disapproval of Hill. Sentinel's writers can continue with their code of silence of all related to Magic's ownership, management and coaching, but soon they will end up with no readers.

     

  • At 6:30 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Even worse, if you read the blog follow up on FireBrianHill.org, you'll see that Bianchi completely took out of context what he was saying. The Sentinel sports writers have been sub par for as long as I can remember and this sure didn't help them.

     

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