Magic practice hard, hit road for three-game trip

By Marc D'Amico | October 15, 2008

After beginning their pre-season on a three-game homestand, the Orlando Magic (2-1) hit the road this week for two games against the Charlotte Bobcats and the Miami Heat. It will be the second meeting between the Bobcats and Magic this pre-season and the first against the Heat.

After playing three games in five days last week, the Magic had a few days to work hard in practice and develop as a team. It was the first time the team could get on the court in consecutive days and drill since the first week of training camp. Head coach Stan Van Gundy was glad the team could get some work in before their three-game road trip.

“It’s a good time to really get back out here and work hard and put in long, hard days,” Van Gundy said. “(It’s) really an extension of training camp and are probably our next to last real long stretch (of practices). It’s a good time to get some work in.”

One player who hasn’t been able to get much work in this week is starting point guard Jameer Nelson. He has been nursing a sore foot throughout training camp and has taken this week as his opportunity to get healthy before the regular season rolls around.

“It was bothering me a little bit in training camp,” said Nelson. “But I was just trying to push through and get through as much as I could and kind of get it right when we had no games, and this is the time to do it right now.”

Heading into the road trip, the Magic are facing a more serious injury from their power forward position. Tony Battie, a player the coaching staff feels is “like a free agent signing,” has been out with a fractured ring finger on his left hand. Listed as day-to-day, Orlando will most likely play this road trip without him, the only true power forward on the roster that is expected to be in the regular season rotation.

Without Battie, the team is likely to play more of the “small ball” they’ve become known for, with Rashard Lewis playing power forward and Hedo Turkoglu at the small forward position. Even though Lewis and Turkoglu are both listed as 6-foot-10, Van Gundy realizes that that lineup poses a few problems for the Magic on both ends.

“The problem is at the defensive end, matching up with people and on the boards,” he said. “So we need every body to take a little bit of the rebounding load but we also need Dwight to be dominant on the boards.”

If that’s what Van Gundy needs, he shouldn’t worry too much. Thus far in the pre-season, Howard has dominated in every facet of the game, averaging just under 22 points and eight rebounds a game on offense and nearly five blocks per game on the defensive end. He’s managed to put up these numbers while playing less than 27 minutes per game.

And while the Magic have had another week to practice and get better, so have their opponents. The Bobcats game to town on October 8 and were blown out of Amway Arena by a final score of 118-80. The game was relatively sloppy, with 94 total free throws taken (53 by the Magic). Both teams should come into the game much more fine-tuned, as the regular season tip-off is less than two weeks away.

In their first pre-season meeting, Howard was the top performer of the game, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds while blocking five shots. Gerald Wallace was the only effective player for the Bobcats, drawing fouls at will as he went to the line 13 times and made 12 of them. He finished the game with a double-double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bobcats may also have an edge as a result of the tip-off time. The game is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m., as this will be the Bobcats’ annual Cool School pre-season game. The Magic will be traveling to Charlotte today and waking up early for their abnormal starting time. The Bobcats play their Cool School pre-season game at this time every season, inviting local schools to the game free of charge.

The Magic will then travel to Jacksonville for at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night match-up against the Miami Heat. Even though the game is in Jacksonville, Orlando’s old training camp site, the Heat are scheduled to be the home team. The new look Miami team will be looking for their first win of the pre-season under new head coach Erik Spoelstra and it will be their first game since October 12. Howard’s gold medal teammate from Beijing, Dwayne Wade, has two new running mates as a result of the 2008 NBA Draft. Michael Beasley, the second overall pick and 2007-2008 NCAA First-Team All-American, and Kansas star point guard Mario Chalmers join Wade and look to turn around a team that won only 15 games last season. Wade and Beasley are the leading scorers on the team, averaging 16.7 and 116.3 ppg, respectively.

After the Magic take on Miami, they will then head to Atlanta for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Hawks Monday night. This will be the second contest between the two teams this pre-season, and the final pre-season road game for the Magic.