The Orlando Magic will take on the Dallas Mavericks tonight at 8:30 PM EST at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Per Tania Ganguli, Orlando’s starting lineup tonight will consist of:
Dwight Howard
Rashard Lewis
Mickael Pietrus
Vince Carter
Jameer Nelson
Lineups should change often throughout the pre-season as Van Gundy continues to switch them in hopes of finding his best starting group.
Brian Schmitz takes a look at five things to watch for in the game tonight.
See the rest of the story here.
"5. Really intrigued what the Magic will do with Bass. Do they start him at PF and eventually move Lewis back to the 3? The Magic haven’t had a true power forward since…I don’t know…Horace Grant? Want to see how Bass plays with Howard and against his former Mavs teammates. Gotta be honest: I’d also like to watch the Packers make a Favre sandwich and devour it."
Bass is facing his old team and Ganguli has the story about it here.
"“I’m really happy for him,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Bass. “He got himself a heck of a deal. He played very well for us. But we like our situation now.“One of the things about this league is there’s always going to be dynamic change. There’s going to be guys you really like but you just can’t keep. And so you got to adjust and fill your roster spots with other guys.”As president Donnie Nelson added: “What he did here was terrific and we wish Brandon nothing but the best – just not in our backyard.”"
Brian Schmitz has an article about the new-look Magic and their first game tonight. See the full story here.
Slam Magazine doesn’t think very highly of the Orlando Magic, predicting a 53-29 record and a second round playoff exit.
"Vince is no wash-up please, believe that, but he is a lazzzzy bum when he feels like it’s not necessary to play. I don’t think he’s the right fit for this team. Sure his skill level is still up to par, but the chemistry level doesn’t sit right in my stomach. I think Hedo was taken for granted — there wasn’t another player last year to put in work like Hedo (maybe Kobe). You can’t replace clutch and that’s what Hedo brought! Vince, on the other hand, may be a better player overall, but not as clutch."
This seems ridiculous. A few weeks ago, I talked about just how clutch Vince Carter was and even posted a video off all of his game winners. Vince is just as or perhaps even more capable of hitting a game-winner than Turkoglu.
No way Turk was taken for granted. The team loved him and tried hard to re-sign him, but as I’ve stated many times, Carter is clearly a superior player in just about every aspect of the game.
At least Slam acknowledged that the Magic have improved on defense.
"Defensive improvement: Matt Barnes and Brandon Bass. Perfect reserve Barnes is a cat who will do whatever it takes to get his playing time — floor burns, take charges, pick fights… whatever. Dude’s a workhorse, and not so shaky offensively. I think of him as another Mickael Pietrus. Bass, I’ve liked him for a while now, but could never endorse him because he played for that A-hole in Dallas! He’s a workhorse, and there’s nothing more to say. He’s going give Dwight an extra push in his game at practice. Maybe the push Dwight needs to get that killer mentality."
See the full story here.
Josh Robbins has a good read about the NBA’s replacement referees.
"Los Angeles Lakers point guard Derek Fisher, president of the players’ association, said in a statement, “Players throughout the league are concerned that the use of replacement referees could compromise the integrity of our games.”The league wants to mute any complaints. The NBA sent a memo to its teams last Wednesday, reminding them about fines for public criticism of officiating. Meanwhile, there’s no end in sight to the labor dispute. The referees’ union voted down the league’s latest proposal on Sept. 27. No new contract talks have been scheduled, league spokesman Tim Frank told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday."
So far, fouls have been way up in the few NBA preseason games that have taken place. Not good.
Check out Robbins’ full story here here.
Robbins also has a good story about why Vince Carter thinks this preseason is more important than others.
Check out my blog about Florida State Head Coach Bobby Bowden and why it is time for him to retire…or be fired. Bobby, It’s Time To Step Down.
Also, here’s my weekly college football blog.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)