Posted by Glass Half Full, Friday, November 2, 2012, 1:30 PM
Three-Point Play
1) The Magic are 9-3 over their last 12 season openers. Best Record in Season Openers, Since 2000-01 San Antonio Spurs 12-1 .923 New Orleans Hornets 10-3 .769 Orlando Magic 9-3 .750 Minnesota Timberwolves 9-3 .750 Los Angeles Lakers 9-4 .692 Orlando’s roster endured quite a makeover during the offseason and features 10 new players this season. Most New Players on Current Roster (includes rookies) Houston Rockets 11 Orlando Magic 10 Seven Teams Tied 9 2) This will obviously be a very different season for the Magic without Dwight Howard. Magic Without Dwight Howard, Since 2004-05 (regular season only) W-L 7-12 (.368) Pts/Gm 95.6 Opp. Pts/Gm 97.5 Opp. FG% 48.4% Opp. Pts in Paint/Gm 40.3 3) Players with 70+ 3PM and 300+ Assists – 2011-12 Player, Current Team 3PM Ast Brandon Jennings, Mil 129 365 Deron Williams, Bkn 115 481 Jameer Nelson, Orl 87 325 Kyle Lowry, Tor 79 310 Arron Afflalo was one of the best guards, by field-goal percentage, down the stretch for the Nuggets last season. Highest Field-Goal Percentage, Guards, Since March 1, 2012 (minimum 150 FGA) Player, Current Team FG% Avery Bradley, Bos 52.5% Tony Parker, SA 52.0% James Harden, Hou 52.0% Manu Ginobili, SA 51.8% Brandon Rush, GS 51.8% Arron Afflalo, Orl 51.1% (189/370)
Posted by Glass Half Full, Monday, October 8, 2012, 1:30 PM Glass Half Full Will Now Take Your Questions…
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Posted by Glass Half Full, Monday, September 10, 2012, 1:30 PM Stadium Experience: Magic No. 1 When you break down ESPN Magazine’s latest franchise rankings, the Orlando Magic ranked fourth overall in all of sports and No. 1 in the NBA in the category of Stadium Experience. The category measures Quality of Stadium, Fan Promotions, Contests and Giveaways and Fan-Friendly Environment at Games. Here is a look at the Top Ten. 1. Green Bay Packers 2. San Francisco Giants 3. Pittsburgh Pirates 4. Orlando Magic 5. Philadelphia Phillies 6. Minnesota Wild 7. Seattle Seahawks 8. Milwaukee Brewers 9. Tampa Bay Lightning 10. Baltimore Orioles Follow Glass Half Full on Twitter here
Posted by Glass Half Full, Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 12:30 PM SI Profiles Rob Hennigan Interesting feature by Sam Amick of SportsIllustrated.com (see link below for entire story) on new Magic GM Rob Hennigan. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL FEATURE>>> Hennigan on Arron Afflalo: "We love his mindset, love his toughness, love his penchant to compete every day. We really feel that he's someone who can set the tone for the organization and help set the tone for the culture and the kind of work ethic and mindset that we want the players to embody. I just really like his makeup."
On the Houston Rockets offer Sam Amick writes: Many assumed that the Rockets' three first-round picks from this year's draft -- guard Jeremy Lamb and forwards Royce White and Terrence Jones -- would be made available in a Howard deal. But sources close to the Magic said Lamb was the only such prospect offered, and that he was off the table by the time the talks involved the Lakers and Lamb had impressed at the Las Vegas summer league in July (he averaged 20 points in five games). Meanwhile, unwanted players like Gary Forbes, Jon Brockman and Marcus Morris were made available (along with shooting guard Kevin Martin, whose expiring $12.9 million contract was a must to make the money work). On the Rockets' side, meanwhile, sources said the message had been sent that the Magic could have one or possibly two prospects from a pool that included Morris, Patrick Patterson, Lamb, Jones, White and Donatas Motiejunas. Houston offered significant salary-cap relief, but, as had been the case on the topic of young players, never in the form that the Magic wanted. "I enjoyed working with Rob on a potential deal," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey told SI.com via text message. "He went with what was best for Orlando and over time people will see that he has made a good decision. He has a plan for Orlando and he has proved his ability to execute a plan to make franchises great from his time in San Antonio and Oklahoma City." Hennigan wouldn't discuss the negotiations in any detail but made it clear he is content. "What's available in theory and what's available in reality aren't necessarily the same," he said. "At the end of the day, we're happy with the net result of the trade considering the circumstances." On trade with the Lakers Amick offers: Critics decried the deal and lamented how the Lakers' acquisition of Howard was the NBA's latest case of the rich getting richer. Fans who may not have known Hennigan's name filled the airwaves with questions about what in the name of Superman was the Orlando general manager thinking? Hennigan, true to form, insists he wasn't fazed. "It's somewhat similar to bench chatter in baseball, just a lot of noise floating around in a lot of different directions," said Hennigan, who was a shortstop ("good glove, [bad] bat") on his high school baseball team. "But really, what does it mean? I think if you can hit the mute button as much as possible and try to stay focused on making decisions that are rooted in principle, I think your chances of making a good decision increase exponentially. "Our goals going in were to remain flexible, create a chance to have some long-term sustainability, and the avenue to that is a mixture of what we were able to get back." Hennigan on getting the job: "When the DeVos family and Alex hired me, I was just really humbled and really excited," Hennigan said. "For a second, it really hit me how much work was ahead of me. It was a little overwhelming for like a day, and then I said to myself, 'Well, you signed up for it so you'd better get to work.' That's the approach I took. At Oklahoma City and San Antonio, I was really lucky to be privy to a lot of varied discussions and negotiations. And a lot of times, I was fortunate enough to have an active role in that process. I think those experiences and observations helped me quite a bit and provide the foundation of, 'OK, here's how to operate, here's how to conduct your business, here's how to establish an action plan from which to operate.' That just gave me a lot of confidence to pick up the phone and start doing what was best for the organization." What little Hennigan saw of the circus was torture for a man who takes his humility seriously. Ask him about his past experiences or to explain how he won the job over candidates with longer résumés, and he'll tell you over and over again that he was "lucky." Ask him to talk about himself, and he'll cringe. This is the guy who was known for not celebrating game-winning shots during his playing days, who once had an impressed friend send him a cell-phone picture of the banner inside the Emerson gym honoring his scoring achievements and responded with "Yeah, I was a little bit of a ball hog." So, yeah, he'd be just fine if the spotlight dimmed a bit and no one asked him to talk about himself. R.C. Buford of the San Antonio Spurs on Hennigan: "He had a very mature understanding of what he knew and what he needed to know, and had a very calculated and mature approach to growing himself and helping us grow in areas that were new to us -- new to people who were scouting basketball," Buford said of Hennigan recently. "The data collection, the development of our internal information systems, were all a big part of Rob's contributions. At the same time, he was a diligent film watcher. And as he grew through the scouting role, I think he had a very confident approach to his evaluations and his ability to transfer those evaluations to discussions among our group, among our coaches. His opinions were well-grounded and well-researched, so he spoke confidently in a pretty intimidating atmosphere." Sam Presti of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Hennigan: "He was consistent," Presti said. "He had a really high work capacity. He was able to finish projects and round things out beyond what you might have initially asked for. He wasn't in a rush to impose himself on the entire decision-making process. He was really comfortable trying to support those decisions with his work. And over time, he organically built a level of respect among R.C. and [then-VP] Danny [Ferry] and myself through just consistency and willingness to do the dirty work."He had input along with the rest of the guys in our front office into each decision that we made," Presti said -- but he made his biggest mark by feeding and helping form the scouting department through countless trips around the globe. You could tell the guy, 'Hey, go to Moscow tomorrow, then jump over to Tel Aviv.' He wasn't afraid of any of that," said Trail Blazers assistant general manager Bill Branch, a former director of pro player personnel for the Thunder who worked two seasons with Hennigan. "He's the type of guy where if you dropped him off in some random country, he wouldn't panic and would find his way back. And he may make a few friends along the way. When you talk to him, you realize that he has an uncanny knack of getting a grasp of something very quickly. Whether that's IQ or just a great understanding of things, that's the one thing I really noticed about him. It's how quickly he's able to assimilate the information and come up with an answer."
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Posted by Glass Half Full, Monday, August 20, 2012, 12:30 PM Franchise Success Since the DeVos family purchased the Magic in 1991-92, just a few teams have made more playoff berths than the Magic. Below a look at the NBA Playoff Appearances since 1991-92: NBA, Most Playoff Appearances - Since 1991-92 1. San Antonio Spurs: 20 2. Los Angeles Lakers: 19 3. Utah Jazz: 17 4. Indiana Pacers: 16 4. Miami Heat: 16 4. Phoenix Suns: 16 7. Portland Trail Blazers: 15 8. Chicago Bulls: 14 8. ORLANDO MAGIC: 14 10. Detroit Pistons: 13 10. New York Knicks: 13 10. Oklahoma City Thunder: 13 13. Atlanta Hawks: 12 13. Boston Celtics: 12 13. Dallas Mavericks: 12 13. Houston Rockets: 12 13. New Orleans Hornets: 12 18. Cleveland Cavaliers: 11 18. Denver Nuggets: 11 20. New Jersey Nets: 10 20. Philadelphia 76ers: 10 22. Sacramento Kings: 9 23. Minnesota Timberwolves: 8 24. Milwaukee Bucks: 7 25. Los Angeles Clippers: 5 25. Memphis Grizzlies: 5 25. Toronto Raptors: 5 25. Washington Wizards: 5 29. Golden State Warriors: 3 30. Charlotte Bobcats: 1 MOST SEASONS WITH A .500 RECORD OR BETTER SINCE 1992-93 (last 20 seasons) San Antonio Spurs: 19 Utah Jazz: 18 Los Angeles Lakers: 17 Houston Rockets: 17 ORLANDO MAGIC: 16 Phoenix Suns: 16 Portland Trail Blazers: 16 Miami Heat: 15 New Orleans Hornets: 15 Indiana Pacers: 14 Oklahoma City Thunder: 14 Chicago Bulls: 13 Cleveland Cavaliers: 12 Dallas Mavericks: 12 Atlanta Hawks: 11 Denver Nuggets: 11 Detroit Pistons: 11 New York Knicks: 11 Philadelphia 76ers: 10 Boston Celtics: 9 Brooklyn Nets: 9 Sacramento Kings: 8 Milwaukee Bucks: 7 Minnesota Timberwolves: 7 Washington Wizards: 6 Memphis Grizzlies: 5 Toronto Raptors: 5 Golden State Warriors: 3 Los Angeles Clippers: 3 Charlotte Bobcats: 1
MOST SEASONS MAKING THE PLAYOFFS SINCE 1993-94 (last 19 seasons) San Antonio Spurs – 18 Los Angeles Lakers – 17 Miami Heat – 15 Utah Jazz – 15 ORLANDO MAGIC – 14 Indiana Pacers – 14 Phoenix Suns – 14 Portland Trail Blazers – 13 Chicago Bulls – 12 Dallas Mavericks – 12 Detroit Pistons – 12 Atlanta Hawks – 11 Denver Nuggets – 11 Houston Rockets – 11 New Orleans Hornets – 11 New York Knicks – 11 Oklahoma City Thunder – 11 Boston Celtics – 10 Philadelphia 76ers – 10 Cleveland Cavaliers – 9 Sacramento Kings – 9 Minnesota Timberwolves – 8 Brooklyn Nets – 8 Milwaukee Bucks – 7 Memphis Grizzlies – 5 Toronto Raptors – 5 Washington Wizards – 5 Los Angeles Clippers – 3 Golden State Warriors – 2 Charlotte Bobcats – 1 Follow Glass Half Full on Twitter here