By SAM GARDNER
FOXSportsFlorida.com Magic Writer
Dec. 24, 2010
The Magic secured an impressive blowout win Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs to snap a four-game losing streak, but even with the win, it's probably safe to say there is still plenty of improvement Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy would like to see from his team.
So in honor of the holiday season, here are five things on the Orlando Magic's Christmas wish list this year:
1) A few days of practice
Talk about being thrown to the wolves. Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas arrived in Orlando just in time for arguably the most difficult four-game stretch the Magic will play all year, followed by one day off and then three more games in the next four nights.
How's a team supposed to reach its full potential when it can't even get a practice in? Stan Van Gundy already had to break tradition by scheduling a practice Wednesday despite having a Monday-Tuesday back-to-back, and the team will practice Sunday despite also playing Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.
"It's very tough. Most of these teams have been together for years; we've been together for four days, so the time is ticking," Richardson said. "We know we don't have much time to find a way to gel."
This team is the definition of learning on the fly. Van Gundy estimates that the new guys know only half of his offensive playbook and even less on defense, and while the early returns are positive, a few practices will be of huge assistance in the long run.
A real one. Sorry, but Malik Allen won't cut it. Neither will Brandon Bass; his talents are better served playing power forward. Ryan Anderson? He's a center kind of like Pat Garrity was a center in the early 2000s -- meaning he's not one.
Orlando needs someone younger, stronger and more athletic to fill the void left by Marcin Gortat because when Dwight Howard gets into foul trouble -- and inevitably he will -- the Magic don't stand a chance inside.
Magic GM Otis Smith knows he needs to make a move; he said as much in his news conference after the Magic made their last round of trades.
"We'll still find ways to get better in some spots," he said. "Losing the backup center is big. So you need a little size for about probably five teams. That's really what it comes down to, so we'll probably address that over the next month or so."
It's not clear who the answer is, but with a host of backup point guards and solid perimeter options on the Magic bench, a move should come -- and, really, needs to come -- sooner than later.
3) More fast break points
Magic fans caught a glimpse of this Thursday when Orlando scored a season-high 30 fast break points against the Spurs.
But the Magic are still last in the league in the category with only 8.7 a night, and with the weapons they have at their disposal -- like, say, four perimeter players who can run the floor along with the league's most athletic center -- they can't afford for that trend to continue.
"For a team that was last in the league in fast break points, that's a pretty dramatic turnaround in a couple of games," Van Gundy said. "I like that. That's something that we'd been talking about pretty much all year. . . . I like the pace of the game, and that's the way I want us to play."
It's not as though Orlando will turn into Golden State, Philadelphia or Toronto overnight, but a few more points in transition on a regular basis will go a long way.
4) Consistent long-range shooting
The Magic shot an outrageous 59.5 percent from the field Thursday against the Spurs, but that kind of shooting success has been more the exception than the rule so far this season.
Even with Thursday's 13-of-25 night from beyond the three-point arc, Orlando remains in the bottom half of the NBA in three-point percentage at 35.6, and that's not good when you've taken the second-most threes in the league. The Magic are a jump-shooting team, and before Thursday's game, they had hit just 36.2 percent of their shots from beyond 15 feet so far this year.
With sharpshooters Richardson and Turkoglu on board (not to mention J.J. Redick's recent hot shooting), things would appear to be headed in the right direction in Orlando, but the Magic won't start winning consistently until they start shooting consistently.
5) Rajon Rondo to be out
OK, so the Magic actually got this present a little early. Look at it like the gift you open on Christmas Eve to tide you over until Santa brings the rest of them.
Rondo injured his ankle during a Dec. 15 game against the Knicks, and while you never wish injury upon another player, it couldn't have come at a better time for Orlando. Rondo is an absolute terror when he faces the Magic -- as evidenced by his 13.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game over Orlando's last 10 meetings with Boston.
He was one of the leaders of the Celtics' charge past the Magic in last year's Eastern Conference Finals -- remember that dive past Jason Williams that led to a steal and a layup in Game 3 -- and while Nate Robinson is a respectable fill-in, Orlando's chances of snapping Boston's 14-game winning streak are much higher with Rondo in a suit.
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