October 13, 2004

Call me crazy (and believe me, you won't be the first) but I am excited about this year's Orlando Magic team. I know T-Mac's gone, Drew Gooden is in Cleveland and Steven Hunter is wandering aimlessly in Arizona's Painted Desert, but there is reason for optimism about this squad. I had the opportunity to attend the intra-squad scrimmage in Jacksonville and I came away with a more positive feeling from that game than I had all last season, here's why:

1) Grant Hill is healthy........I don't know for how long, it could be till opening night against Milwaukee, or it could be till Grant's first postseason series in four years, either way as long as it holds up, he'll be as close to the old Grant Hill as we could ever have hoped. He doesn't limp, he doesn't baby it on every other possession, and he doesn't look like he's even thinking about it at all. I know he hasn't played a regular season game yet, or laced up the shoes on the second game of a back-to-back, or have a clumsy oaf like Joel Przybilla land on him, but as we speak it looks good and quite frankly, I've counted him out so many times, it would be fun to root him on and see him make it through the season.

2) Steve Francis can flat out play. He's the biggest point guard this team has seen since, you know who, was traded to Phoenix. He can shoot, pass, drive, and dunk. Now, I knew he could dunk, I watched him in the slam dunk contest, I've seen some of his games, but what I'm here to tell you is that Steve Francis can DUNK! He explodes at the basket, and doesn't care WHO is in the way. Almost everyone in the league can dunk, so no big deal right? Wrong. He attacks the basket, and if you play off of him he can hit the "j" from anywhere on the court. Oh, and I almost forgot, he loves to run. If Eric Floyd was called "Sleepy" then Tyronn Lue should be called "coma" for how slow he brought the ball up the floor. We won't see that this year, not with Francis, and if guys don't run with him, they'll sit, and that's how it should be.

3) Dwight Howard will only get better. He's already added muscle to his frame since he's graduated high school, there's rumors he's even grown half an inch since then too, so he's already well on his way. To make it easier, Coach Johnny Davis has told Howard only to concern himself with rebounding, blocking shots and running the floor. The offense will come. Howard has the ability to change the game without even taking a shot. He doesn't need to have plays run for him, he doesn't need to be the savior of the team overnight. That was the case with Sam Bowie, and we all know how that story ends. Also, Dwight listens......enough said!

4) Cuttino Mobley is a leader. You could tell just from the scrimmage, and we'll see it all season long, this guy is a competitor. He wanted to win the intra-squad game, a meaningless exhibition in front of 1,000 college kids and he wanted the "W". He's also vocal out there on the court, patting guys on the back when they do well, and correcting them when they make a mistake.....in other words....it looks like he actually cares. Not to mention, he averaged 16 points and five rebounds a game last year, so he's not merely a throw-in to the T-Mac deal, there are big things expected out of "Cat" this year.

5) Depth. With the additions of Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, Stacey Augmon, Jameer Nelson and others, there are some jobs at stake. The starting center position will actually have to be won this year, not just handed to whoever hurts you the least. There is a logjam at the guard position the likes of which this team hasn't seen in years. Where do players like Bogans and DeShawn Stevenson get minutes? Whoever plays will have earned the right to do so. We won't have to merely hope the wind is blowing the right way so Jerryl Sasser's shot has a chance to bank in off the glass. Also, everyone on this team has experienced success at some point in their careers. Last year, Juwan Howard's sound bytes were the same after preseason game 1, as they were after regular season game 82, it's a script that he's rehearsed for ten years in this league. That's no offense to Juwan, he was a great player here last year, but he hasn't won yet on this level, and we have guys now that have been on successful teams. Granted, we have to be realistic, this isn't a team that will run the table in the playoffs and most likely won't even win their division, but you can see where they are headed. Head Coach Johnny Davis has players that want to play, heck he has players that can't wait to PRACTICE! I know anything is better than last year, we won 21 games, slamming my fingers in a car door brings less pain than last season, but there is an air of optimism surrounding this team, and I for one am on board.

Dante welcomes your comments, questions and alternative opinions. E-mail him here.

Dante’s Speak is solely the opinion of Dante Marchitelli and does not reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA. Marchitelli has served as radio producer in the Orlando Magic's Broadcast department for six seasons.