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Jacque Vaughn Gets Tossed For Arguing With Refs

March 20, 2013

Is Marcus Smart the Magic’s Likely Target in the Upcoming Draft?

March 10, 2013

At 19 years old, 6'4 and 200 pounds, Marcus Smart has the build and demeanor of an NBA veteran. He is technically a point guard, but the term combo-guard is probably a bit more apt.

Magic Nearly End Heat’s Record Winning Streak

March 6, 2013

Division rivals, the Orlando Magic (17-45), gave the champions a run for their money in a game that came down to a driving play by Lebron James with 3 seconds left.

The Team Nobody Wanted

March 6, 2013

In a recent interview with CBSLA, Dwight Howard mused about his former team and had this to say, "My team in Orlando was full of people nobody wanted."

The Orlando Magic: Comparing This Season and Last Season

March 5, 2013

With over 75% of the season behind them, the sample size on the Orlando Magic's 2012-2013 campaign is finally large enough to start viewing as an actual representation of the team's true statistical trends.

Jacque Vaughn Gets Tossed For Arguing With Refs
Is Marcus Smart the Magic’s Likely Target in the Upcoming Draft?
Magic Nearly End Heat’s Record Winning Streak
The Team Nobody Wanted
The Orlando Magic: Comparing This Season and Last Season

Jacque Vaughn Gets Tossed For Arguing With Refs

Posted on March 20, 2013 by admin

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Jacque Vaughn is generally composed and stoic on the sideline, his demeanor generally existing as the antithesis of former Magic coach, Stan Van Gundy. However, last night Jacque Vaughn was ejected after receiving two technical fouls in the the third quarter at the 4:47 mark. He was arguing a double technical foul called on Roy Hibbert and Kyle O’Quinn. After staying on the court to give referee David Jones a piece of his mind, Vaughn was eventually tossed. Vaughn only received two technical fouls during his career as a player and the two technicals he received last night were his first as a coach. Only Byron Scott has managed to avoid any technical fouls as a head coach during this season.

While composure is a very important quality in a coach, it is nice to see this kind of passion out of Jacque Vaughn. Nobody would accuse him of not caring about the Magic’s abysmal 18-50 record, but actually getting to see him fired up was actually really refreshing.

The Orlando Magic are currently holding the second-worst record in the league, barely beating out the Charlotte Bobcats. This isn’t exactly a surprise, considering the events that transpired during the off-season with the departure of Dwight Howard, but it is still a little deflating for fans that had become accustomed to rooting for their team in the post-season. A high position in the draft order seems imminent for the Magic, which is all a part of the plan for rebuilding a successful team. The development of young players like Maurice Harkless and the acquisition of the surprisingly capable Tobias Harris has continued to spark hope among Magic fans.

Jacque Vaughn getting tossed was a really great moment for Magic fans. Not because we are blood thirsty or starved for drama, but because we want to know that people on the inside of the organization are not satisfied with the status quo.

Is Marcus Smart the Magic’s Likely Target in the Upcoming Draft?

Posted on March 10, 2013 by admin

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The 2013 draft has been labeled a relatively weak class by many pundits and fans, but like most drafts, there is some intriguing talent at the top of the pool. Nerlens Noel was a virtual shoe-in for the first pick for most of the season, in the same mold of an Anthony Davis. However, that seems unlikely after his season-ending ACL injury against Florida last month. Shabazz Muhammad has steadily decreased his draft value throughout the season, while Ben McLemore has jumped up nearly ten spots. McLemore, compared to Ray Allen, was projected to be a late lottery player coming into the season and is now at the top of many lists.

The Orlando Magic’s record has fallen precipitously over the last two and a half months. They have the penultimate record in the league, beating out only Michael Jordan’s pathetic Bobcats. It stands to reason that the Magic should end up with a fairly solid pick in the upcoming draft. Like most fans of awful teams, I find myself constantly watching NCAA games and checking up on the latest draft board updates. One name continues to be linked to the Magic: Marcus Smart.

At 19 years old, 6’4 and 200 pounds, Marcus Smart has the build and demeanor of an NBA veteran. He is technically a point guard, but the term combo-guard is probably a bit more apt. Smart utilizes his strength to overpower smaller guards with ease. He has tremendous versatility and a natural feel for the game. He has a knack for knowing when to hit a pull-up jumper or when to make the proper pass. NBADraft.net has his NBA comparison as James Harden, which makes sense if you have watched him play. His biggest weakness is his shoddy outside shot, which is very un-Harden-esque. Everyone that has scouted him has one common thing to say: he is a true competitor with a winner’s mentality.

If the Magic decide to target Smart as their pick this year, it is likely they will be able to get him. Most boards have the guard hovering between 4th-7th, partially because most of the worst teams in the NBA already have decent point guards. The Magic have clearly targeted 2015-2016 as their turn around season, so in that regard Smart makes sense. They will need a point guard to take over for Jameer Nelson and next year’s draft is heavy on forwards in the earliest projections. I am personally of the mind that the Magic should target one of the guards in this upcoming draft. I understand the appeal of shoring up the defense with Noel at the 5 and possibly moving Vucevic to the 4, eventually. However, I think the biggest need at this stage in the rebuild is a guard. Smart certainly makes sense from a positional standpoint, although if he were available, I still think Ben McLemore is the best player in the draft.

Thanks for checking out It’s The Magic Word! Please leave your comments below.

A fun reference for anybody interested in the upcoming draft is the 2013 NBA Mock Draft Lotto

Magic Nearly End Heat’s Record Winning Streak

Posted on March 6, 2013 by admin

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The Miami Heat (45-14) came into Wednesday night’s game with a franchise record of 15 straight wins. Division rivals, the Orlando Magic (17-45), gave the champions a run for their money in a game that came down to a driving play by Lebron James with 3 seconds left. Despite a 20 point deficit at the beginning of the third quarter, the Magic took the lead and held it until the 3 second mark. The Miami Heat had an extremely cold final couple of minutes, but were able to come from behind to win by one thanks to MVP-candidate, James.

Foul problems were an enormous deterrent for the Orlando Magic. Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, and Tobias Harris all fouled out of the game in the last few minutes. Nik Vucevic had 25 points and 21 rebounds before fouling out. Harkless and Harris were big time contributors for the Magic. They combined for 28 points and both chalked up a handful of steals and assists. Jameer Nelson had a huge double-double with 16 points and 12 assists. All of these performances combined to equal a huge team effort that undoubtedly excited a fanbase that hasn’t had much to cheer for this season.

The game nearly ended with some controversy, starting when the Miami Heat regained possession with 12.6 left to go in the game while down 95-96. Spoelstra was credited a timeout that he said he did not call. He argued with the refs, who looked pretty confused. Ultimately, the Heat came out with no timeouts left and put their hopes in the hands of Lebron James (good plan). It is insane to think that 26 points and a game-winning shot actually constituted a disappointing outing, because it was paired with only 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Dwayne Wade 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals.

The Team Nobody Wanted

Posted on March 6, 2013 by admin

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In a recent interview with CBSLA, Dwight Howard mused about his former team and had this to say, “My team in Orlando was full of people nobody wanted.” Howard, not normally known for having much tact in his approach to PR, really just sh*t the bed with this one. First off, Earl Clark and Chris Duhon went with him to the Lakers, where they remain teammates of his. I bet they love reading that nobody wanted them last year. Second, Ryan Anderson won Most Improved Player last year and was inked to a 4yr/$36 million contract. Teams don’t shell out that kind of money to players that nobody wants unless their name is Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, or Otis Smith. J.J. Redick was the second biggest name at the trade deadline this year, if you count Josh Smith who remained stationary.

Jameer Nelson responded today by saying this:

“At some point, when are you [Howard] gonna, as a man, when are you going to take ownership and stay out of the media in a professional manner?” Nelson told the Sentinel after Wednesday’s shoot-around in Miami.

“I would be less of a man to comment on certain things that people comment on about me and my teammates. We had a great run as a group, as core guys, and he was a part of it (reaching the 2009 Finals) and for him to say things about anybody in a negative manner, that’s up to him.”

“That’s his opinion. If that’s how he feels, that’s how he feels.”

Dwight Howard make his “homecoming” next Tuesday, when Kobe’s Lakers take on Jameer’s Magic. I really hope for once that the Orlando Magic fans outnumber the bandwagon LA Lakers fans, because I would just love to hear the boos come rattling down I-4.

The Orlando Magic: Comparing This Season and Last Season

Posted on March 5, 2013 by admin

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With over 75% of the season behind them, the sample size on the Orlando Magic’s 2012-2013 campaign is finally large enough to start viewing as an actual representation of the team’s true statistical trends. The team was not structured to perform at a high level this season and up until this point that mold was not broken. Last season, the Orlando Magic were 37-29 and were actually far better than that before Dwight Howard suffered his back injury (I almost put quotation marks around “back injury”, but it just felt too spiteful). Let’s see just how precipitous the drop-off between last season and this season has actually been.

Category	2011-2012	2012-2013
Record	37-29	17-44
PPG	94.2 (21st)	94.2 (24th)
OPP PPG	93.4 (7th)	100.4 (22nd)
OFF RTG	105 (15th)	102.4 (26th)
DEF RTG	104.1 (12th)	109.1 (26th)
RBS	42.5 (13th)	42.3 (9th)
AST	20 (20th)	23.5 (6th)
TOV	14.9 (18th)	14.6 (16th)
BLK	4.2 (28th)	4.2 (25th)
STL	6.8 (25th)	6 (30th)
FTA	22.8 (12th)	16.1 (29th)
FTM	15.1 (28th)	12.4 (29th)
FT%	66% (30th)	.769% (10th)
FG%	.441% (22nd)	.453% (12th)
3P%	.375% (3rd)	.335% (28th)
3PM	10.2 (1st)	6.4 (16th)

Watching the Magic at the end of last season, I didn’t have any illusions about that team being a championship contender. The team chemistry was clearly thrown off by the childish demands of the man-baby that had commandeered the team with his flip-flopping, beboppin’ non-sense, but this wasn’t a championship team anyway. Otis Smith had tethered the team to the ground with outrageous contracts that a single amnesty could not fix. With no help in sight, the implosions were an eventuality of poor management.

This year’s version of the Orlando Magic is in the infantile stage of the rebuild. The statistics above support that theory, which is fine. It is extremely encouraging that the Magic rank high among other teams in the league in rebounding and assists. As the team continues to build itself into relevancy, they will need to focus on developing defensive stalwarts and cultivating talent that is able to slash/draw fouls. I DESPISED last year’s version of the Orlando Magic, mainly because the whole season was poisoned by the end-of-an-era impending doomsday. The 2012-2013 version of the Orlando Magic at least have a sense of direction, which gives me hope.

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