Magic Head Coach Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers

On the Orlando defense:
I was still disappointed in our defense. We have to be a better defensive team. I know it’s the first game and they did have the advantage of already playing one preseason game, which helps. We just have to help each other better on defense and keep the ball in front. Those are the two things that stood out to me. The first quarter we came out and played as passive on defense as we possibly could, and then we decided to grind it in the second quarter and it was great. I thought Tracy McGrady and Donnell Harvey led that charge. We went with that big lineup for a while and got some good stops. I was shocked we scored that much in the first half. I told them I could care less about your offense. I don’t care if you score 50 points. I know that if we are going to be a good team, we all have to commit to defense all the time, and I didn’t think we did it.

On the Mavericks offense taking advantage of the Orlando defense:
I thought there were many times tonight when we could have stayed in front of the ball and then help, but we didn’t do that. The other thing that stood out was that they had 15 offensive rebounds, and they shot 49-percent. That’s just too many chances.

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Magic guard/forward Tracy McGrady

Tracy McGrady

On his first impressions of the Magic in game situations:
It’s the first preseason game and it’s a lot of guys first time out there. They are nervous, they really don’t know what to expect. As far as the veteran guys, timing was a off a little bit; I know my timing was off a little bit. Playing against the Mavericks in our first preseason game, that’s a challenge. It’s really a challenge because those guys put up points. They know how play and they are very offensive minded. It’s tough when you have a young team and you are trying to put things together.