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Magic act Orlando's chemistry is finally clicking
On Jan. 9, Orlando had lost four consecutive games and had a record of 14-20. Since then, the Magic have gone 14-4, en route to the fifth-best record in the East. In fact, until Tuesday night's loss to Phoenix, Orlando had won nine games in a row, tying the franchise record set by Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway and the rest of the 1994-95 Magic team that reached the NBA Finals. The Magic have done this by playing more like they did last year, with "heart and hustle." The play of Darrell Armstrong, in particular, has been big. He didn't really start off well, but lately he's picked it up, along with their backup point, Troy Hudson, who replaced Chucky Atkins, who was traded to Detroit in the offseason. And adding Mike Miller to the starting lineup was a tremendous plus. Of course, Tracy McGrady's played great, but every night he gets help from somebody different, a lot like they did last year, but with a star player. Head coach Doc Rivers, who was Coach of the Year last season, is doing another excellent job. The expectations were much higher for the team this season, but then they got off to a slow start -- and then lost Grant Hill. It's tremendously difficult to get the players focused under those circumstances. And with the dramatic changes they made to their roster, it was going to take them a while to settle in anyway, and they finally have.
Almost all the coaches today are good X's and O's guys, but the big difference with Rivers is that he's a very good bench coach. A lot of head coaches are so organized that they forget bench coaching is so important. Sometimes it's a natural talent, but being an ex-player helps him with that, too.
Pacers' head coach sends message to his playersIsiah Thomas has the Pacers going through two-a-day practices for the first time since last fall's training camp. He's sending a signal to his players that it's now or never. After going to the Finals last year, they're fighting for the playoffs, and he's telling them that they have to step up. Indiana's problems started when it lost Rik Smits, Mark Jackson and Dale Davis -- three veteran players -- and then added so many young players. Complicating matters is the fact that Jalen Rose's best position is not point guard. He's an outstanding small forward or even two-guard -- he's a scorer. His distribution of the basketball is not nearly what Jackson's is. He's a terrific player, but not at the point. The bottom line is, the Pacers have enough talent to get into the playoffs, but they won't cause any damage there. Jonathan Bender hasn't produced, and Austin Croshere has really struggled. So even if they do get in the playoffs, they won't have much success.
Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN's This Week in the NBA.
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