Orlando Magic Daily
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Talking Orlando Magic’s upcoming road trek with Tuck & O’Neill and Bang the Book

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Feb 26, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) prepares to shoot the ball as New York Knicks center Robin Lopez (8) defends during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) prepares to shoot the ball as New York Knicks center Robin Lopez (8) defends during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Orlando Magic face a difficult March road and path to get to the Playoffs, sitting four games behind. There is a lot to chat about with the team so far.

The Orlando Magic enter March in an interesting spot.

Orlando finished February with a 130-116 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in a game the team absolutely had to win to stay in the Playoff race. It brought the Magic to within four games of the final Playoff spot.

The road gets tougher in March though. Much tougher.

Not only is there the heightened attention of the Playoff races that will be coming to an apex with each passing day, there is a road-heavy schedule. Orlando will play 13 of 19 games on the road in March, including a four-game West Coast swing that will see that rematch with the Golden State Warriors.

The Magic will have their work cut out for them. And they still have to do a fair amount of focusing on themselves in addition to climbing over a few teams to get into the Playoff conversation again.

It is not impossible, but the odds appear to be very long.

Still there is a lot for the Orlando Magic to accomplish and a lot to break down. Monday I did a couple of radio appearances to cover all the topics with the Magic and get my takes in on the team and what it has coming up.

First, I joined Tuck and O’Neil of Sports Talk Florida 1080 AM in Orlando and SportsTalkFlorida.com to discuss the current state of the Magic including Mario Hezonja’s first start, how the trade to acquire Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova is going and then to rank the best Magic players of the season so far.

We also talked about the the Magic’s disappearing defense and the team’s difficulties on that end.

Be sure to listen to Tuck and O’Neil from 3-7 p.m. on 1080 AM in Orlando or streaming live on SportsTalkFlorida.com.

Next, I joined Bang The Book Radio as I have often throughout the season to talk about the Magic and update the comings and goings in the Southeast Division. My appearance is right at the start of the show.

"Philip Rossman-Reich from Orlando Magic Daily has become a regular contributor of the show and he’s more than just a Magic man. With some initial thoughts on Orlando, Rossman-Reich and Burke talked about the teams in the Southeast Division and some observations about recent Orlando opponents. At the tail end, the segment did cycle back to the Magic, with a look at the week ahead and some good betting opportunities."

The Southeast Division is certainly an interesting and packed division. Whenver it looks like someone will pull away they get pulled back to the pack. Right now the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat are battling for the top of the division with the Charlotte Hornets lurking a strong run of play behind them and the Washington Wizards and Magic fighting to get into the Playoffs.

You can listen to the Bang The Book Podcast every weekday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Blog Talk Radio or download the podcast on iTunes.

The Orlando Magic get back to action Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks. And in the next month and a half the season will reach its conclusion and ending and we will have a better picture — we hope — of what the Magic will have to do to take the next step this summer.

Next: Mario Hezonja excels in first start

You can of course download the Orlando Magic Daily Podcast on iTunes too.