# **Official Orlando Magic Scrimmage Game Thread 10/9/04**



## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

This is the official *courtside TV* recap. Here we go. I have a correction to the roster. I believe Battie was on the grey team. I had courtside seats right behind the gray team bench. I got to hear what paul westhead and the asst. coach were saying. Fun sitting 3 feet behind francis battie and watching them joking around. 


*Offense*: It was the run and gun offense. Paul Westhead kept yelling. RUN OUTLET>>>RUN OUTLET>>> GO GO GO!... They were basically running the entire game. Not really much half court game going. Most of the game's offense was basically layups/dunks....only a few guys took jumpshots. 

*Defense*: All the players did a good job playing defense but did ever better on offense. I think we need to improve a little on defense. Our offense is probably one of the best in the league. So we've got one of the best offense playing against a pretty good defense which is why the defense looked bad I guess.. (I bet that doesn't make any sense but you'll understand what I'm talking about later)...basically I am saying that our offense is so good that its hard to play defense against our offense.


The grey team 

*Steve Francis*- Has the sickest J out on the floor. (he'll be fine replacing McGrady's shoes). He'd do some sweet crossovers and drop in the shot. Or he would run to the basket and do a nice layup. Very VERY athletic. Probably as athletic as Tracy McGrady BUT he is like 5 inches shorter so that's why he's probably 75-85% of what McGrady was in his prime as a Magic. 

*Grant Hill*- Words can't desribe what I saw. During the shootaround...hill missed almost all his jumpers. His shot was off I guess. This guy has still got it in him. He's still quick, can blow by the defenders etc. The most impressive thing I noticed about Hill was his court vision. During several fast breaks...He would be looking straight and he KNEW someone on his team was right next to him a little back. Its like a 6th sense or something.. Anyways, without turning his head... He would give a perfect pass to that person for an easy basket. Francis+Hill complemented each other VERY nicely. 

*Stacey Augmon*- Great defense. Overall...good guy to have on your side off the bench to teach others etc.

*Pat Garrity* - DNP  I guess he wasn't feeling good. During shootaround...Garrity shot about 30 3 pointers and only missed like 3 or 4..

*Tony Battie*- Played better than Cato. Had some good rebounds and shots. VERY VERY GOOD hookshot that we can use.

*Keith Bogans*- Very agressive. Looks strong. Great shooting still. 

*Mario Kasun*- Ok off the bench guy. Reminds me of DQ basically. 
Michael Bradley- not much to say. doesn't really matter since their minutes will be limited. 


The Blue Team 

*Jameer Nelson*- Very very quick. Great vision/passing ability. Wasn't impressed with his defense but then again, he was gaurding a top 5 pg in the league (Francis). Needs to work on his shot but he doesn't really need to score. Just set up plays. 

*Cutino Mobley*- STOOD OUT. Very quick/strong/great shooting/passing.. Very good defense. He is most def. underrated. 


*Kevin Cato*- Good defense. Didn't really notice him much because they were putting in the young C's.

*Hedo Turkoglulo*- Nice shooter/defender. (I like how he tries to act thug. He looks halarious when he does so.) 

*Deshawn Stevenson*- Will do fine as a backup gaurd. Needs to improve his shot still. Had some good dunks. Good defender. 

*Dwight Howard*- Started off slow. Picked up the pace. Won both tipoffs vs. 
Battie which is good..he's got hops. Basically cleaned up missed shots. Has a few rebounds. I hope he was just having an off night because I wasn't impressed. He got to the freethrow line a lot which I think he'll do in the NBA so HE NEEDS TO IMPROVE HIS FREETHROWS!.

*Mario Kasun*- ? Dont remember what team he was on.

*Andrew Declercq*- DNP due to injury. 

*Unknown shorty*- There was a guy who was about 5'8-5'9 who could dunk. He was avg. Would be a good backup for a pg but we dont need him really. He's basically a smaller version of Jameer Nelson. 

*#34*- Some random guy. Don't really need him.

MISC: It was funny because when Francis' team fouled Dwight's team. Someone from Dwight's team was on the FT line and Francis was on the wrong side. Paul Westhead was yelling STEVE..STEVE.. Otherside..Other side.. Francis was like what? *with puzzled face*. And right before the person is shooting a FT.. Francis is like OH..then he puts his hands up and walks across to the other side where he was suppose to stand (interfering the ft shooter)..the shot still went in but it was funny

During the game. Francis thought it was a timeout so he sat on the bench. Paul Westhead looks at him and says "Its not a timeout. Get out there and start running"... 

Another thing I heard Westhead say is "No second shots. No second shots". I guess he was implying MAKE IT THE FIRST TIME. 

Also, I heard him tell Bogans: "When you have an open look, take the shot...dont hesitate..take the shot..." which is something bogans did last year too. He would just pass it up or something instead of shooting.

The grey team won the first half. Each half was like 12 minutes long.
The 2nd half was a tie 


About Hill: He had 2 sweet dunks. I didn't think Hill would dunk b/c during the warmups, he was not getting up high. He would just do a simple layup. But during the game. He stole it and had a very nice dunk And another time had another good dunk. It wasn't a windmill or anything but seeing a guy coming off a broken ankle dunk is sweet.

About Francis: During the game, he had 2 nice dunks. One of which he took off and just threw it down. I think this will be a fun team to watch

Shorty aka 5'9 stole it once from Francis and went all the way. Francis was right behind him and almost blocked the shot but Shorty ended up making the layup. It was crazy because the crowd was wow'ed seing someone do that to francis... I guess its not as bad as Britten Johnsen dunking on Lebron though

OH yeah. I just remembered. Paul Westhead also said "What are you guys going to do..what are you guys going to do"...whenever the offense got kinda lost..it only happened a few times but they still managed to score when it happened.

*Update* The plays. One of the plays was called C.. They just kept saying C C C CC.. I didn't know what the heck it was exactly. The other play was called reversal. I heard Westhead yell "Bo (refering to bogans)... reversal..reversal..."... I think its when bogans is out in the wing...and is suppose to reverse aka do a 180 turn and run backdoor or something.. westhead was telling bogans to cut in a lot.

*UPDATE ON HILL*

I forgot to add... Hill didn't have anything around his ankle at first. But during the 2nd game, they taped it up. He did look like he was a little off when running/walking but it didn't look like he was limping. I was kind of scared but hopefully it was just a regular soreness you get when you land awkwardly that you can brush off after some rest.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Making me a little nervous there talking about Hill being taped up the second game. Are you sure he wasn't taped the first game? I don't think the management would let him step on the court without a serious tape job on that ankle.

I wouldn't worry about Jameer's D on Francis. There might not be a PG in the league that can really handle Francis in one on one type situations, I wouldn't expect Jameer to be able to.

Did they run Hill at PG at all?

As long as Dwight got some rebounds and blocked some shots, then i'm fine with him.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Some pics from that game

Grant looking just a little tired.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

I read some comments from others at the game and a couple people said Hill was the best player on the court. Damn I hope he stays healthy. So much for not getting my hopes up again.


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

LOL THATS NOT FAIR.. i saw the girl in the purple jersey..howd she get hills auto..that's def after the game..i thought all the players just exited the arena...guess hill stayed behind a little but id idnt see anyone crowd around them...hmm. oh well..

i didnt have a hill card anyway.

i brought jameer/dwight rookie card and a battie one as well as francis...heh...tough luck i guess...doesnt matter


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> I read some comments from others at the game and a couple people said Hill was the best player on the court. Damn I hope he stays healthy. So much for not getting my hopes up again.


I was just thinking the exact same thing. So much for not getting my hopes up and not expecting anything out of Hill.


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

Hill is okay i think. At one point he dunked and came down a little wierd but he shaked it off and played through it... THe last play was sweet...Hill's team down by 2..with 10 seconds to go..Hill steals it and dunks it

Yeah I'm sure hill wasn't taped up the first game because I was looking to see if he was wearing an ankle brace. He wasn't limping..he just was a little off when walking...but it didnt seem major b/c he still played fine..


Oh yeah..Hill played some point forward...basically the pg brings it to him at center court..and hill takes it the rest of the way and sets up the plays...he has amazing court vision and on fast breaks...ITS INSTANT POINTS...its so sweet...its like he has a 6th sense to know where his teammates are...even if they were behind him..he could throw an alley straight up and they would catch it..and throw it down...heh


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Hill plays game, has no pain
Grant Hill scores 10 points, and more importantly, doesn't report any discomfort.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...e10101004oct10,1,4871644.story?coll=orl-magic



> Hill reported no pain or discomfort in his left ankle after starring Saturday night in the Magic's intrasquad game, the promising climax to a training camp in which he participated in all eight practices over a five-day period.





> He carried over his impressive play in training camp into his first public game-type action in 20 months Saturday night. He scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists in the scrimmage at the University of North Florida Arena in front of 1,500 fans.





> "For a guy who hasn't played in 20 months," Mobley said of Hill, "he looked pretty good."



On Dwight -



> Rookie power forward Dwight Howard, saying he had "butterflies" in his first public competition as a pro, finished with 11 points, mostly on offensive rebounds. He hit 5 of 7 shots and grabbed six rebounds.


On Garrity -



> Forward Pat Garrity sat out the scrimmage after sustaining a minor hip injury in Friday's practice. . . .


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

i was telling my friend the exact same thing... maybe dwigh got a little nervous being public hahah..


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

More Photos from the game:









Magic rookie Dwight Howard (center) gathers a loose ball from Tony Battie and scores 2 points on the play during Saturday's scrimmage.









Corsley Edwards (34) finishes off a slam dunk despite the block attempt by rookie Mario Kasun (41).









Steve Francis is flying high as he gets ready to dunk during Saturday's scrimmage in Jacksonville. Francis, acquired in an offseason trade, led all Magic scorers with 14 points.


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## X-Factor (Aug 24, 2004)

From hearing about this game, I am begining to become less tense as a Magic fan. Sure, I was scared for the Magic after being the worst team in the league, but with all the major adjustments that this team has made in the offseason, and the status provided in this thread explaing Hill's health through an actual game (whether it counts or not), I think I should be optimistic about this season.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Some recap on the game -

http://www.nba.com/magic/news/Day_5_Recap-119404-66.html


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## dominikan_balla1 (Aug 4, 2004)

i wonder if pat garrity injury is goin to cause him not playin in the preseason........an im just wonderin ....but does hearing about this scrimmige impressed any of yall? are yall predictions still the same?


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## Enigma (Jul 16, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>courtside</b>!
> 
> MISC: It was funny because when Francis' team fouled Dwight's team. Someone from Dwight's team was on the FT line and Francis was on the wrong side. Paul Westhead was yelling STEVE..STEVE.. Otherside..Other side.. Francis was like what? *with puzzled face*. And right before the person is shooting a FT.. Francis is like OH..then he puts his hands up and walks across to the other side where he was suppose to stand (interfering the ft shooter)..the shot still went in but it was funny


The old Harlem Globetrotters routine. Nice touch Francis.


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