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By Matthew Gardner | October 5, 2006

Thursday's session started with Coach Hill announcing to everyone that today is Grant Hill's 34th birthday. Rookies J.J. Redick, James Augustine, Jackie Manuel and Kasib Powell then serenaded Hill by singing "Happy Birthday". However, their first attempt didn't go over well and they were asked to give it another try. This time, the other rookies on the Basketball Operations staff, Physical Therapist Ed Manalo and Athletic Development Specialist Joe Rogowski were persuaded to join in on the second rendition.

As the team scrimmaged near the end of practice, the players were divided into three units. The first unit consisted of Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu and Pat Garrity. Unit two was composed of Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo, Trevor Ariza, Bo Outlaw and Keyon Dooling while the final five consisted of Travis Diener, Keith Bogans, James Augustine, Jackie Manuel and Kasib Powell.

The second unit was especially impressive with good ball movement and some nice shots. During one possession, Milicic stole the ball near the top of the key, dribbled down court before passing to Arroyo who fed Ariza for an easy dunk.

Playing alongside three rookies and a second-year player, Bogans used the opportunity to demonstrate his leadership at times, while also making a great shot on one possession and drawing the foul after slashing through traffic on his way to the basket.

The team will not practice in the evening, but rather all go out together for dinner and to celebrate Grant's birthday.

Here are some other notes and observations from Day 3...

Dooling Delivers: On a team stacked with talented guards, the battle is going to be fierce throughout the season for playing time. Among the guards competing for time is Keyon Dooling, who is beginning his second season in Orlando. The great advantage for Dooling is his ability to seemlessly play at either the 1 or 2 - giving him more of a chance to see extra minutes.

Dooling played at both guard positions at times last year and is expected to do the same again this season. So far, Keyon has had a solid camp, demonstrating his ability to hit the outside shot, take the ball to the basket and has played very tight defense all week while guarding Grant Hill, J.J. Redick, Carlos Arroyo, Trevor Ariza, Keith Bogans and company.

Keyon is also one of the more vocal guys on the team, always yelling words of encouragement to his teammates.

Hedo's Back: After battling a bout with the stomach flu on Wednesday, Hedo Turkoglu returned to practice on Thursday and played at full speed.

J.J.'s Foot: As reported earlier in the day in Glass Half Full, J.J. is sitting out while trying to recover from a soft tissue tear on the bottom of his left foot. Redick remained near the court the entire practice so that he could listen in on Coach Hill's instructions. He spent most of his time on the stationary bike and doing other conditioning exercises.

Tony Update: Tony Battie sat out all of Thursday's practice while resting his right knee. After receiving some treatment, Tony spent some time on the stationary bike near the court.

Ariza From Outside: Ariza's jumpshot is looking better every day. During one stretch, Trevor hit back to back shots just inside the three point line along the baseline. He seems much more comfortable taking the outside shots than he did some eight months ago when he arrived from New York.

Points of Emphasis: After Thursday's practice, the players were instructed of some officiating points of emphasis for the season, which included rules changes and on-court behavior. The players were instructed of the new rules and then watched some video on how the rules will impact play this season.

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Matt Gardner is a writer for OrlandoMagic.com.