You know that feeling when you see a major car accident on the other side of the
road? For some unknown reason, the accident occurred on the other side of the
highway, yet the traffic is backed up for miles on your side?
Anyway, as you pass by, you can tell it's a really bad accident with
injuries and everything. It's unfortunate, but for some reason, you can't seem to
take your eyes off of the overturned Ford or the red Mustang that barreled into the
medium. No matter how bad the accident, you can't take your eyes away.
That's how I feel when I watch Magic games these days.
Going in, I just know that things are probably going to end badly, but
there's something in me that has to keep watching, even after team's committed its
seventeenth turnover. I'm upset and pissed off at the lack of discipline, but I
can't force myself to change the channel (even if Desperate Housewives and Boston
Legal are on).
The Magic ship is slowly becoming the NBA's version of the Titanic. Fans
are just waiting for the team to crash into the iceberg.
With about 20 games left in the regular season, the Magic are taking a hard
road to the playoffs. The same problems that have plagued them since day one has
will ultimately be their undoing.
Based on talent, the Magic are easily a 45 win team, but for some reason,
they are struggling to get to 35, and are a below .500 basketball team for the
first time all season. They are set to embark on their last West Coast road trip,
with visits to Sacramento, Los Angeles (Clippers), Seattle, Portland, and Charlotte.
Ouch!
The Magic could come home three or four games under .500, and out of the
playoff race.
So what's the problem with the Magic? Well, the troubles are plenty.
To name a few:
1. Lack of coaching - I even devoted an entire article to this.
Johnny Davis continues to
do a poor job of putting the right combination of players on the floor. None of the
players are held accountable for their mistakes. Players are out of control both on
and off the court, and Davis has done nothing to change the declining culture.
Davis has to do a better job of getting maximum effort on both ends of the court
from his players, and stop sitting quietly in his chair wearing a bad suit.
2. No on-the-floor leadership - What happened to that leadership quality
that Magic GM John Weisbrod saw in
Steve Francis? Francis
has gone into a shell, and it seems that he's become a black hole with the
basketball. Lately, Francis hasn't pulled the troops together on the floor like he
did earlier in the season. He just doesn't seem to care as much as he did at the
beginning of the season, and oddly enough, neither have the Magic.
3. No interior presence - This one also falls under the coach's category;
he calls the plays, and if the bigs aren't getting the ball in the post, it's his
job to make sure that they do.
Dwight Howard is itching
to get more touches (as highlighted by his 19 and 19 against Kevin Garnett and the
Minnesota Timberwolves a few games
back), yet the only players willing to get him the ball are
Jameer Nelson and
Grant Hill. The Magic will
never have a balanced attack until they establish something down low.
4. Better ball movement - The Magic play their best when the ball moves
around, with all five players getting a touch. When the ball is held on one side of
the floor, the defense has the upper hand with the ability to compact their defense
to that side of the court, and force the Magic into a bad shot. Francis and
Hedo Turkoglu have to
do a better job of moving the ball around the perimeter, making the extra pass for
the open shot. No way the Magic make the playoffs with guys holding the ball waiting
for the shot clock to end.
5. Did I mention it was the coach's fault?
6. Defense - The one Achilles heel all season, defense will be the reason
why this team either makes the playoffs or head home early in preparation for the
lottery. At times, the Magic have shown that they can play defense and shut other
teams down. More often than not, however, the Magic couldn't guard the Orlando
Miracle. Poor rotations, and even worse individual defense has this team on pace to
surrender about 175 points a game. At this point, Roger Lodge could have a career
night against the Magic.
The Magic have 20 games to make the playoffs and gain a little momentum.
More importantly, they have 5 games to decide whether they are going to stay
together or fall apart. Are they willing to play together as a team, or should they
start playing for themselves, looking for that next contract like last seasons team
did?
This will be a big week in the history of the Magic, and looking back later
this summer, this stretch will be the most talked about. Did the Magic falter under
the pressure due to a lack of coaching and team defense, or did they come together
and make a huge sprint to the finish line?
