# Preseason: Magic vs Heat Game Thread



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

From OrlandoSentinel.com ---

Magic vs. Heat, 8

RECORDS: Magic 0-2; Heat 0-1.

WHERE: St. Petersburg Times Forum, Tampa.

BROADCAST: TV -- Sunshine Network; Radio -- 580 AM (WDBO); Spanish-language radio -- 1030 AM (WONQ).

MAGIC UPDATE: Grant Hill will start, and Pat Garrity will see action after both were held out of Wednesday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks. . . . PG Steve Francis has nine and rookie PF Dwight Howard has eight of the Magic's 43 turnovers in their two preseason losses to Memphis and Atlanta. . . . Orlando has missed 32 free throws in two exhibition games. . . . Next up: Orlando faces the Dallas Mavericks at 6 p.m. Sunday at TD Waterhouse Centre.

HEAT UPDATE: Miami landed the biggest offseason catch, acquiring former Magic center Shaquille O'Neal from the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his Heat exhibition debut against the Houston Rockets, an 85-75 loss. . . . Ex-Gator Udonis Haslem is Miami's starting power forward. . . . .The teams meet again in an exhibition game Oct. 27 in Orlando. . . . The Heat swept all four games against the Magic last season. Both teams underwent major roster changes.


WHAT TO WATCH FOR: How the Magic use Kelvin Cato, Tony Battie and the rest of their new big men to try to tag-team Shaq. 

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Unfortunately or fotunately, no Shaq tonight. But Orlando starters should be getting good minutes and Orlando should have a good shot at getting their first win.

Also, the first shot at seeing Guokas on the local telecasts instead of Goose. :no:


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

First half impressions -

Hill looks good health wise but he is very rusty. You can clearly see his timing and ball-handling are off. The passing ability is definitely still there.

Dwight is gonna be a superstar. He's got great footwork around the basket and the step-back 13 foot bank shot was very Duncan-esque. Can't wait to see what this kid becomes a few years from now. Needs to stay out of foul trouble.

Cato looks disinterested.

Nelson is very slick with the ball and has a beautiful shooting stroke. He looks a little anxious on the court but a ways into the season he is gonna be important for this team.

Augmon was a good pickup. Too bad he is taking Bogans mins.

Mobley's defense is underrated.

I agree with Hobo, I don't think it is long before Battie is starting over Cato.

This team needs a real coach. The offensive sets don't look good, although it could just still be the unfamiliarity.

Dorrel Wright is real skinny and not nearly as tall as I thought he was.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Guokas just called the rook Dwight Gooden. :laugh:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

My First half impressions -

Dwight Howard is more comfortable in the post than I thought. He had a really nice move where he faced the basket, dribbled right then spun around and got fouled on a dunk attempt. His form at the line looked good. He needs to not pick up stupid fouls though, that's going to hurt him this year. 

Cato is worse than I thought, and I really like Battie. I hope Battie gains the starting job sooner rather than later, I really like his game over Cato's in just about every aspect of the game. 

Nelson needs to relax and make quicker decisions. Wade got his breakaway dunk because Jameer hesitated before passing to Francis. 

Keys to getting better:
1. TURN THE BALL OVER LESS.
2. Get Francis, Nelson and Hill penetrating to open up things for Mobley, Hedo and Garrity outside.
3. Crash the boards defensively, box out.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Yeah, turnovers are really killing this team right now.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Dwight having another really good game so far.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Man, Dwight is big kid for 18 yrs old. Nelson having a very good game. 

Wade is good.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Garrity really struggling to hit a shot. 

We need to win this game. We can't go 0-8 or whatever in the preseason again like last year.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Magic lose.

Good news, Dwight Howard with 17 and 10 and didn't foul out. He played well.

Nelson played well.

Hill was lackluster and rusty most of the game but played better in the fourth quarter. Mobley was asleep the whole game until the 4th as well.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Grant Hill should've had a 3-point play at the end of the game there. He jumped in the air, and Haslem ran over and then fell backwards when Hill landed in front of him. Horrible call. You know if Grant Hill is complaining about it that it was a bad call. Good to see Nelson get going in this game, and you could even see Hill getting more comfortable as the game went along. I think Grant's going to be alright, playing in the preseason is going to help him. After watching this game, a few things are for sure:

1. Battie needs to start
2. We need to turn the ball over less
3. We're probably going to struggle at the beginning of the season, we need time to gel. 
4. Howard is a contender for ROY for sure.
5. We need to use a lineup with Hill and Nelson in at the same time more often. Two ballhandlers in at the same time, particularly one in(Hill) to help the rookie.
6. We need to run more.


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## reHEATed (Jun 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!


Do u still think Haslem is the worst starting pf in the league 

i know, preseason will be your answer. But you gotta admit he was impressive. Rebounding, a lil unexpected scoring. Taking charges. And just playing his heart out. Thats how he plays.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Francis looked so comfortable in the uptempo game, I think we really need to play to his strengths for us to be successful. His passing was very good on the break, although he was unfortunate several times when Cato fumbled his passes out of bounds. Which reminds me, Howard has *great* hands. He's really getting me excited. He's going to be a good one.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> Francis looked so comfortable in the uptempo game, I think we really need to play to his strengths for us to be successful. His passing was very good on the break, although he was unfortunate several times when Cato fumbled his passes out of bounds. Which reminds me, Howard has *great* hands. He's really getting me excited. He's going to be a good one.


Agreed. He caught one pass that I couldn't believe he caught. Hard to believe watching him that he is only 18 yrs old.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>wadeshaqeddie</b>!
> 
> DO u still think Haslem is the worst starting pf in the league
> 
> i know, preseason will be your answer. But you gotta admit he was impressive. Rebounding, a lil unexpected scoring. Taking charges. And just playing his heart out. Thats how he plays.


Nope, preseason isn't my answer. I think the preseason means more than a lot of people think, actually. Did I ever say Haslem was the worst starting PF in the league? I don't think I did. I think I said he was bottom 5, and yes I do still think that. He can play a little ball, I never said he couldn't, but the PF position is very deep in the NBA right now.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> 
> 
> Nope, preseason isn't my answer. I think the preseason means more than a lot of people think, actually. Did I ever say Haslem was the worst starting PF in the league? I don't think I did. I think I said he was bottom 5, and yes I do still think that. He can play a little ball, I never said he couldn't, but the PF position is very deep in the NBA right now.


:yes: 

There are teams in the league right now that have backups at PF good enough to start over Udonis. But he should be a decent complement to Shaq.


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## CrossOver (May 19, 2003)

Nice analysis Hobo and JNice. 

I couldn't catch the game being down in Miami, so it's nice to see the game from a Magic fan's pov. I think Dwight will be the front runner for R.O.Y. simply because the only other rook that has a shot imo plays on the worst team in the league.

Although our starters need time playing together as well, there is a positive in Shaq not playing this early. Since I didn't get to see the game but just read up on it here and on the Heat board, it seems our shooters were knocking them down and our D was pretty decent. Wish I could've seen it as I have yet to see Howard play live and have only read about how well he has been playing so far.

Oh, as far as Dorrell goes...he's a STICK! He is a legit 6'7" though. Not that it means much since he probably weighs around 190 lbs.


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## Yyzlin (Feb 2, 2003)

I haven't been able to watch any of the games, but from what you guys are saying, I'm really getting excited about Howard. Hopefully, he will be the next Magic superstar to lead this team.


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## reHEATed (Jun 29, 2003)

box score is finally up

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2004101514


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## Enigma (Jul 16, 2002)

Other observations I made other than just the rooks played well and too many turnovers:

1) I miss Goose. Matt Guokas might be able to break a play down more analytically, but he was putting me to sleep. Plus, Guokas isn't incredibally accurate all the time either, I also heard the Dwight Gooden reference. Goose at least had a spark about him. I hope he's cleared of all the charges and comes back.

2) None of our shooters have stepped up. It's odd to see every shooter in the dumps. Garrity, Turkoglu, Mobley, and Bogans. The only people who were shooting it relatively well were the Francis, Nelson, and Hill. They're good shooters, but we need Garrity, Turkoglu, and Mobley to step up.

3) Cato didn't play as bad as some of you are making it seem. I believed he outplayed Battie today. Another note regarding Cato and Dwight Howard, did they have to pick similar numbers? They're about the same height, size, skin tone, and number, it's tough to tell them apart when watching the game on my little T.V.


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## DaUnbreakableKinG (Jun 28, 2003)

Why are they not starting Turkoglu?


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## magicfan187 (Jun 28, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Enigma</b>!
> Another note regarding Cato and Dwight Howard, did they have to pick similar numbers? They're about the same height, size, skin tone, and number, it's tough to tell them apart when watching the game on my little T.V.


i noticed that too, i had to go down in the basement on the larger tv. even though i didnt mind being that it is a 62 incher:grinning:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Francis put up some nice stats, and for the most part didn't turn the ball over. Unfortunately, Hill played a pretty sloppy game(especially for him) and Mobley was horrible for the most part(6 turnovers). 17-8-6 for Francis, along with 3 steals and 3 turnovers. I can live with 3 turnovers a night from Francis, we just can't have Hill and Mobley turning the ball over 11 times combined. Our point guard did a decent job of frustrating Wade, particularly Francis. I realized they were playing him pretty well, but I didn't realize he turned the ball over 8 times.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Enigma</b>!
> Other observations I made other than just the rooks played well and too many turnovers:
> 
> 1) I miss Goose. Matt Guokas might be able to break a play down more analytically, but he was putting me to sleep. Plus, Guokas isn't incredibally accurate all the time either, I also heard the Dwight Gooden reference. Goose at least had a spark about him. I hope he's cleared of all the charges and comes back.
> ...


1. Agree totally on #1, but I have a feeling we won't ever be seeing Goose on Magic telecasts again, unfortunately.

2. I'm not too worried about the shooters. You know Garrity is going to find his range. We have to remember he was out all last year as well. And right now our offense is real deliberate and you can tell guys are thinking to much and trying to run it perfectly. Once all the guys get the offense down and guys starting penetrating then our shooters should be getting more open outside shots. We could have won that Miami game easily had Mobley been awake the first half and Garrity hadn't bricked all those wide open 3s he usually hits.

3. True on them looking the same. :laugh: Especially when the camera is far away and there is a quick lob. Tough to tell who it was.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Some post-game articles

http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/sportstoryS1016MAGICFINAL.htm



> Magic rookie forward Dwight Howard admitted that he thought about facing O'Neal during the two-hour bus ride from Orlando to Tampa Friday afternoon. He wouldn't have necessarily been guarding O'Neal, but he was eager to battle with him down low.
> 
> "I've never met him and it would have been great to play against him,'' said Howard, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds Friday in Orlando's 95-89 loss to Miami. "I was wondering all day what I'd do when he came down the lane and sat on me.''


:laugh: 



> Joked Hill, who made three of nine shots after missing all four of his tries on Tuesday: "Hey, I actually made a basket. But that was on the slowest move ever. But, hey, I'll take it."


:laugh: 


Magic's Hill Working Way Back
By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON 
http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGBPSQ08D0E.html



> Hill's love of basketball has never left during the past four years, but his concerns increased after he developed a staph infection in March 2003. After that landed him in the hospital again, Hill spent a month and a half pondering his future.
> 
> "I had a PICC line in my arm for six weeks. I couldn't put my foot below my heart for only a few seconds at a time. I was wondering is it worth it. Has my love for the game put me in a situation where I almost died?'' Hill said. "It kind of scared me and made me put things in a proper perspective.


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

Dwight is awesome. I like how he respects Shaq by not talking trash..instead, he makes a joke on how Shaq would sit on him haha

and HIll is cool..sense of humor


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