Good morning, everyone! It is Friday, and you know what that means… The weekend starts in a meer, oh, nine hours for many of us. Let’s finish another solid week out strong, shall we? Here’s what’s going on with the Orlando Magic Today.
First, our friends at Upside and Motor took a look at how the Magic are currently building in a not-so-conventional way. There’s a lot of great points brought up that really help to backup the fact that the Magic really are somewhat gambling on their selections learning how to shoot later on, while they fill the shooting void with current veterans. It’s a very interesting tactic, and something that in the long run could benefit the Magic, but it could cause some struggles in the short term.
Next we stop at OrlandoMagicStuff where they were lucky enough to catch up with former Magic great Adonal Foyle! Wait… Are you trying to tell me he isn’t a former great? Well, you must not have enjoyed the Foyle years as much as I did, haters. On a serious note, Foyle didn’t have a huge impact on the floor, but was a great person for the team and community off the floor. He’s continuing to do a lot of great things, and should be applauded for his work both on and off the court.
"I know that a lot of Magic fans really appreciated the fact that you have always been involved in the community so I’ll have to thank you for that personally and on their behalf.Yeah, you know, the Bay Area has been great, but I think Orlando has such a genuine love for the community, and when I came there from the Bay they just embraced me and allowed me to have a safe journey through the world. It was extraordinary to live there and be involved with the community. The DeVos family has done an amazing job of activating and revitalizing the Orlando community, so it was a natural fit. I think being there and working with everyone there — they have some great folks in the Orlando organization that love the community — was one of the most extraordinary parts of being a professional athlete. I just loved being a part of Orlando and was so grateful that they embraced me.The two years that you were with the team were pretty great. That 2008-09 season even finished with a trip to the Finals. How do you think that team made the “leap” that everyone talks about by going from a middle-of-the-pack postseason team to a Finals-caliber one?You have to give a lot of credit to Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith and the folks that really helped to create a culture of stability and respect. They created an environment where players actually believed that they had what it took to make it to the next level. Stan was very judicious in how he held everyone to high expectations. The players that Otis was able to bring in… everything worked out almost perfectly. We really had an opportunity to start believing that we could compete with the best in the NBA, and we did. It’s a testament to the players we had and the willingness to work, but it was Stan and Otis setting the mood on the basketball operations side and helping the team understand that they had all the knowledge and skills to compete at the highest level. Convincing players that fact is a part of it that’s almost always forgotten, but it’s a big part of success. They laid that framework and that path to greatness."
Our final stop will be at the Magic’s official website where Josh Cohen takes a look at the Magic’s best assets moving forward. To be fair, they have a lot of assets and could be in a position to make a big splash should the opportunity arise. The big question is if they’ll have that opportunity, however.
That does it for this edition of Orlando Magic Today! Finish the week strong and get ready to enjoy a nice weekend. We’ll continue our season preview series with the start of the Southwest later, so check that out also, why don’t ya.