Team USA survives big scare from Spain to win Gold

In an entertaining, high-scoring game, Spain gave Team USA all it could handle in Sunday morning's Gold Medal Game in Beijing, as they came within 2 points of the Americans with over 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and within 4 points with 2 and a half minutes remaining before clutch 3 point field goals from Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade helped Team USA pull away to a 118-107 victory and the Gold Medal to redeem themselves after embarrassing performances at the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 World Championships.

Five Americans scored in double figures led by Wade off the bench with 27 points and Bryant with 20 points.

The Magic's Dwight Howard scored 8 points on 3 of 3 field goal shooting, all in the second half, along with 5 rebounds. On a discouraging note, Howard continues to struggle at the free throw line, as he shot just 2 of 6 against Spain and couldn't even make half his free throws for the entire Olympics, shooting just 17 of 37 from the charity stripe.

For the box score, click here

HoopsWorld Magic Rumors

Morning Report: Miami Is Not A Player -

No Urgency In Orlando:

Hey Magic fans… the roster is basically set, so quit asking… just kidding. The Orlando Magic and their rabid fan base have been fun this summer, but sadly beyond a couple of toss-in roster players the Magic are not looking seriously at any major moves before camp opens on September 27th.

The Magic would like to add a third point guard and there is always the lingering question of what to do with J.J. Redick, but neither of these issues seem to be at the top of the Magic's to-do list. As it stands today Redick looks like he's coming to camp to compete for a role on this team. Magic sources say they understand that things may be broken with J.J. after two seasons of being parked on the bench, but they also point out that if J.J. get real minutes and a role on this team there is a belief that things can be fixed.

The other side of the J.J. situation is that his value is tremendously low because he has not played. One league source said the Magic were struggling to get a first round pick for a player they took in the first round, so why sell J.J. at a loss, bring him to camp, establish some value and move him along when his value is higher?

There had been a rumor floating around, suggesting the Magic and the OKC TBA's – also dubbed The Thunder – were pondering a swap involving Nick Collision coming to Orlando in a package that was to include Tony Battie. Magic sources have assured me that Tony Battie is not going anywhere and that the love affair fans and the media have with Nick Collision in Orlando is not going to happen, at least not before training camp. The Magic feel Tony Battie is the answer to their toughness question and Tony is in great shape and well rested. Should the team struggle early or Tony not fit back in where he's expected that could change the situation, but Magic sources were pretty clear that beyond a few small tweaks, you are looking at your 2008-2009 Orlando Magic roster now.

Howard has best game of Olympics in Team USA rout over Germany

Magic C Dwight Howard, who has had a rather unspectacular showing for Team USA in the Olympics up until now, broke through against Germany on Monday scoring a game-high 22 pts on 9 of 10 field goals and 4 of 9 free throws to lead the Americans to a 106-57 rout over the Germans. In addition, Howard grabbed 10 rebounds and added 2 assists and 2 steals in just 19 minutes of action.

For the complete box score click here

Summer Vacation

HoopsWorld Eastern Conference Rankings

Ranking the Eastern Conference -

1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Detroit
4. Philadelphia
5. Toronto
6. Orlando
7. Washington
8. Indiana

Out of Playoffs
9. Miami
10. Atlanta
11. Charlotte
12. Chicago
13. Milwaukee
14. New Jersey
15. New York

Magic are ripped in a lazy write up by someone named Jessica Camerato:

6. Orlando Magic: Rashard Lewis was supposed to help Dwight Howard lead the Magic on a deep postseason run. That didn't happen. The Magic fell short in the playoffs and have done little to spark hope for a championship next season. They will need more than Mickael Pietrus off the bench to make up for their thin backcourt, which boasts a mediocre point guard in Jameer Nelson and the rarely-used-but-never-traded J.J. Redick. Howard's shoulders are not big enough to carry this team.

Nice job of getting nearly every fact wrong in just five sentences. Lewis was brought in to advance the Magic in the playoffs. 5 wins vs. 0 the year before is progress. "Deep postseason run?" Is a straw man designed to get knocked down. Good sign of a bad reporter. Everyone knows the talk at the start of the season was the Magic were likely to go backwards from their 40 win season the year prior.

"Magic fell short..." by getting killed by Detroit's guards. Pietrus, you could argue, was brought in specifically to help against Detroit in the playoffs. And he's penciled to start, not come off the bench.

"little to spark hope for a championship..." His name is Dwight Howard. He is a huge man. He is very young. He is already at the top of the league as First Team All-Pro center, and the only center on the Olympic NBA team. Oh, and by the way the Magic sold over 100% of the available seats last year and are building a new arena. "Little hope" my ass.

Back-court ... mediocre ... D'uh. That's why Evans, Dooling and Arroyo are gone and replaced by taller or more athletic guards.

J.J. Redick... Ouch. Our guards suck because 14th man J.J. Redick is one of them? Since when do we compare the guys who don't dress for games when picking the order of our playoff teams? How stupid can a reporter be?

"Howard's shoulders are not big enough to carry this team." Yes they are, you stupid ignoramus. He's Superman.

Magic open 2008-09 regular season vs ATL on October 29th

The 2008-09 NBA schedule was released on Wednesday, and the Magic will open their 20th anniversary season with 6 of their first 7 games at home, including opening night against the Hawks at Amway Arena on Wednesday, October 29th. The Magic then travel to Memphis on Halloween, then have a season-long 5 game homestand.

The Magic will be on national TV at least 11 times, with ESPN televising 6 games and TNT televising 5 games, with possibly some games on ABC later in the season.

The Magic play on Christmas Day for the first time in 5 years as they play host to the New Orleans Hornets at noon, which will be televised on ESPN.

The Magic's longest road trip will be 5 games from DEC 8th-15th.

The most difficult stretch this season for the Magic will be between DEC 8th and JAN 17th, as 14 of their 21 games in this stretch will be on the road, with 13 of those 21 games against teams that made the playoffs last season. After that, the schedule relaxes a bit as 8 of the next 11 games are at home, with 6 of those 11 games against non-playoff teams from last year.

Another difficult stretch figures to be after the All-Star Break, as the Magic play 8 games in 12 nights (3 Home 5 Away) from FEB 17th-28th.

A month-by-month breakdown of the Magic schedule:

OCT/NOV... 10 Home 7 Away
DEC............. 6 Home 9 Away
JAN............. 6 Home 7 Away
FEB............. 7 Home 7 Away
MAR............ 7 Home 7 Away
APR............. 5 Home 4 Away

For the complete schedule click here
82 days until opening night!

Arroyo Signs with Maccabi Israel

sport5.co.il - אתר ערוץ הספורט

At least that's what Hoopshype says and links to a Hebrew website.

The Puerto Rican, 29, is one of the most glamorous names to have landed in Israel. Efi Birenboim, the new coach of Maccabi, told the offical website of the team: "I'm happy about the signing. It's a player of the best level of basketball in the world, he's been our first priority for a while. Happily, the management decided to sign him despite the high cost. That's exactly the player we need, a great basketball player and a great leader."

I really thought he was going to Miami. Not sure how many Puerto Rican flags will come out to waive in Israel.

Magic re-sign Adonal Foyle

From today's edition of the Online Florida Today from John Denton:

The Orlando Magic and veteran center Adonal Foyle have reached an agreement on a one-year contract worth $1.3 million, according to a NBA source familiar with the contract negotiations.

Foyle, 33, played in all 82 games with the Magic last season, backing up starting center Dwight Howard. Foyle exercised an opt-out clause in his contract back in June, looking for a situation where he could get more playing time and money. But instead he decided to re-sign with the Magic.

Because Foyle received the veteran's minimum for a player with 10 years or more of experience, the Magic will be responsible for just $757,581 of his contract. The NBA will subsidize the rest of his contract.

The Magic now have 13 players on the roster. Carlos Arroyo and Pat Garrity remain unsigned from last season's roster and neither is expected to return. Orlando would still like to add a third point guard behind starter Jameer Nelson and reserve Anthony Johnson.