Orlando Magic News & Notes: Losing, Nets Miss Carter’s Leadership, & A Pat Garrity Update

The Orlando Magic will take on the New Jersey Nets Friday night. Click here to read a preview of the game.

Mark Ginocchio of Nets Are Scorching answered a few of my questions about the Nets to help get a better understanding of their team before Friday night’s game. You can find his answers here.

John Denton says the Magic must not look past the Nets.

"“It’s important to be ready to play and bring everything against a team like New Jersey that has absolutely nothing to lose,’’ Magic forward Rashard Lewis said. “We don’t beat these guys, we’ll be on SportsCenter all night and the next day. They have one of the worst records in history and we don’t want to be one of the teams that they end up beating.’’The Magic (42-20) have taken care of business of late against some of the league’s worst teams, pounding the 22-38 Philadelphia 76ers by 21 points and the 17-43 Golden State Warriors by 27 points.Up next: The 6-54 Nets tonight in New Jersey. This has been fluke for the Nets, who started the season 0-18 and saw things improve only marginally. They are 3-27 both at home and away. And they are 2-8 in the last 10 games and losers of the last two games."

You can find that story here.

The best way to handle a situation like the Nets’ is to laugh it off.

"Ask Fred Carter, the leading scorer on the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers. He and his teammates won nine games in an entire NBA season.“Everybody knows I don’t want that record broken,” Carter said by phone this week. “You gain immortality in so many different ways. Unfortunately for me it won’t be because of being a great player or winning 7 championships. It might be because of being the best player on the worst team in basketball. That could be my immortality. There have been so many guys that have played in the NBA who are forgotten.”Carter might not be able to hang onto that notoriety much longer. This year’s New Jersey Nets are closing in on the title of losingest team in NBA history. The Nets, who the Magic face on Friday, are 6-54 after losing handily to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. They began the season 0-18, setting a record for the most consecutive losses to begin a season, then changed coaches, but still they just keep on losing."

Tania Ganguli has that story here.

The Sentinel looks at some of the worst teams of all time here.

Terrence Williams calls his rookie season “rocky.”

"“I really didn’t know what to expect,” he said Thursday. “I tried to come here and use the same game that I used in college, but my shot wasn’t falling. I had to re-evaluate myself as a player and change my game to more so going to the hole, but still do the other little things that I do and love to do, as far as, like, passing, playing ‘D’ and rebounding.”Williams appears to have figured things out. The 11th pick overall out of Louisville, he has played off guard and some backup point guard this season, averaging 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19.4 minutes per game."

Colin Stephenson of the Star Ledger has that story here.

Sebastian Pruiti of Nets Are Scorching takes a closer look at Williams. You can find his analysis (and video) here.

Courtney Lee says he’ll play on Friday but his coach thinks otherwise.

"Courtney Lee wants to play against his old team. He missed the game in Orlando and he’s not about to miss this one. So when he was asked if he was playing Friday, his response was simple. “It’s still a very good chance. Very good chance.” But in another part of the gym, Kiki Vandeweghe was saying something else, calling Lee’s return “doubtful”. Meanwhile, Trenton Hassell will continue to start at small forward over Terrence Williams, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Jarvis Hayes, who seems mystified about why he’s lost his job."

Nets Daily has that story here.

Al Iannazzone say the Nets miss Vince Carter’s leadership.

"The Nets (6-54) knew they would struggle without Carter, but never imagined it would be to this degree.Consider their fourth-quarter troubles: Carter created shots for everyone. The Nets played through him and he kept them calm in tight games. Carter also was the undisputed leader who held the team together, especially in tough times.“He was a big guy in our locker room,” Devin Harris said. “He was missed when he was traded away.“Coming into this season we thought we had not just one guy but a couple to fill that void for us. But you never know what you’re missing until it’s gone.”"

You can find that story here.

Sham Sports features a former Magic player in there “Where are they now?” feature.

"Pat GarrityGarrity retired from basketball after the 2007-08 season. Now in retirement, Pat Garrity is pursuing a business MBA at Duke’s Fuqua Business School. He also worked for Credit Suisse during the summer, a financial services company."

You can find that story here.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).