The Magic cut Bo Outlaw, seen here dunking against Team China last fall, to make room for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. Yesterday, the team announced it has added him to its community relations department.
Photo by Ted Aljibe, AFP/Getty Images

The Orlando Magic made former player Bo Outlaw a Community Ambassador yesterday. Here's the press release:

Outlaw will join Nick Anderson as community ambassador and take part in a variety of community outreach efforts.

Among his initial efforts, Outlaw will take part in the Magic's check presentation to the New Image Youth Center, 212 South Parramore Ave., Orlando, 32805 on Thursday, March 6 from 3:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Outlaw also will visit with the children at the facility. Anderson will be on hand as well.

[....]

Outlaw spent six-plus seasons (360 games-222 starts) with the Magic from 1997-2001 and 2005-07. He ranks on the Magic's all-time career lists in blocked shots (2nd, 536), rebounds (5th, 2,160), steals (7th, 401) and games played (9th, 358).

It's hard to find anything negative to say about Bo. Even as his skills declined, he always played hard. And in his prime, he was actually a damn good glue-guy. Look at his 1997-1998 stats: 9.5 points, 7.8 boards, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.2 blocks on 55% shooting. Outstanding. He's one of only four Magic players to record two triple-doubles in their Orlando careers, joining Scott Skiles, Penny Hardaway, and Tracy McGrady.

I won't be surprised if Pat Garrity joins Nick and Bo in the Community Relations department sometime this summer. The Magic will probably extend a job offer to Darrell Armstrong once he hangs 'em up, but I suspect Flash would rather pursue a career in coaching.

Congratulations, Bo, and thanks for all you've done for this team and for this city.

The New York Post reports (via Brian Schmitz)that the Magic have had discussions with the Knicks about sending either Carlos Arroyo or Keyon Dooling to New York:

A league source told The Post the Knicks and Orlando discussed trades in recent days involving their two backup point guards, Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling, but were in a stalemate.

[....]

Arroyo and Dooling each make roughly $4 million and own expiring contracts. But the Knicks didn't want to part with young players such as rookie Wilson Chandler Wilson Chandler , and neither team wanted to add payroll.

Orlando, with its glut of point guards, will not have the money to re-sign both as free agents following starter Jameer Nelson's contract extension.

I'm hoping we can pull a fast one on Knicks GM Isiah Thomas, who bailed us out two years ago by sending us Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway's corpse expiring contract for problem-child Steve Francis. Unfortunately, I don't see many players on the Knicks' roster who can help us. Renaldo Balkman and David Lee are both high-energy, rebound-focused guys, but Thomas doesn't want to part with either of them. Wilson Chandler, mentioned as a sticking-point in the above report, doesn't seem to be a long-term solution for us. He's only 20, and a rookie, but he's not a great rebounder (rebound rate: 11.2) ... or shooter (eFG%: .405)... or defender (PER allowed: 23.1).

Put that phone down, Otis! Get someone else, someone with actual assets to offer, on the line. The Bulls' John Paxson is reportedly taking calls for Joe Smith (via BlogABull); Toronto is the rumored interested party. Dial Pax up, Otis! DADDY NEEDS A NEW POWER FORWARD.

Yeah, so fun times at the trade deadline. Hardwood Paroxysm set the over/under on deadline deals at 2.5, not counting this morning's Rockets/Hornets trade.

Stay tuned.

Ordinarily, I'd put something like this announcement in today's news post and just be done with it. But this one deserves its own thread:

Hedo Turkoglu has made Orlando Magic history.

The NBA named Turkoglu the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. From the press release:

Turkoglu, who earned his second consecutive Player of the Week honor, guided Orlando to a 3-0 week, posting averages of 24.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists. Turkoglu recorded a season-high-tying eight assists on Feb. 2 in a 121-115 win at Indiana and led or tied in assists in all three of Orlando’s games last week. The Magic sit atop the Southeast Division with a 31-18 record.

John Denton notes it's the first time in Magic franchise history that one of its players has earned Player of the Week honors in two consecutive weeks. Shaquille O'Neal never did it. Penny Hardaway never did it. Tracy McGrady never did it. Nope. It's Hedo.

Does anyone want to argue he doesn't deserve a spot on the All-Star team now? There's a chance he'll still make it, though. Starting forward Kevin Garnett, the leading vote-getter in fan balloting, has missed over a week with a strained abdominal muscle. He may not be able to play in the game, in which case David Stern will select an injury replacement. Turk has as good a shot as anyone at taking that spot, if Ticket indeed chooses to sit-out the All-Star game.

Let us commemorate this momentous achievement by honoring Hedo... with YouTube Videos. Call it Hedo Turkoglu's Greatest Hits.

My favorite is his game-winner against Boston. What a game that was:

There's also this pretty sweet alley-oop to Dwight Howard from a visit to New York earlier this season. How did he even see him? Wow.

There are more, but I don't want to break your scroll-wheel by embedding too many movies. Here are others for your consideration:

• Game-winning, turnaround jumper against Seattle, 2006/2007.
• Alley-oop to Dwight Howard to beat the Spurs, 2006/2007 season.
• Game-winning jumper against Chicago, 2007/2008 season.

Post your favorite Hedo memories in the comments.

Before getting into today's (brief) preview, I'd like to share this bit of news with you: Hardwood Paroxysm has taken on the task of hosting the NBA Bloggers Awards, which will be voted on by blog readers in April. I'm proud to say that my fellow bloggers have nominated Third Quarter Collapse for Rookie Blog of the Year, along with Brew Hoop, The Dinosty, Yahoo! NBA Experts, and... Hardwood Paroxysm. Thanks to my fellow bloggers, for putting me on the ballot, and to you readers, for getting the word out. You can read the full awards ballot at this link. Thank you, once again, for your support.

And now, your regularly scheduled programming...

	vs.
22-12		15-17
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
FSN Florida
Probable starters:
Carlos Arroyo	PG	Rafer Alston
Keith Bogans	SG	Luther Head
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Shane Battier
Rashard Lewis	PF	Chuck Hayes
Dwight Howard	C	Yao Ming

The Magic handled the Rockets fairly well the last time they played, despite trailing by double-digits early on. The Rockets were playing with a hobbled Tracy McGrady, who shot just 1-of-10 before sitting out the rest of the game. No thanks to a strained tendon, he won't be in uniform tonight, much to the chagrin of the Magic fans who bought a ticket for tonight's game for the express purpose of booing him. Steve Francis, another Magic-player-turned-boo-bird-target, has dropped out of the Rockets' rotation due to sucking horribly bi-lateral quadricep tendinitis. Although we won't be able to vent our frustrations on goats from Magic seasons passed, at least we'll get to see a battle of the game's two best centers: Yao Ming and Dwight Howard.

For the record, grungedave from The Dream Shake, a new Rockets blog, has guaranteed a victory for his team tonight:

With Golden State and Boston out of the way, the Rockets should win their next four - with or without T-Mac. (Magic, Knicks, Wizards, Knicks)

19-17???

We'll see about that.

After the Nets' offensively-challenged trio of Malik Allen, Darrell Armstrong, and Jason Collins scored in double-figures against us the other night, I'm worried that one or two lightly-regarded Rockets will go nuts against us tonight. My money is on Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks, but given Houston coach Rick Adelman's inconsistent substitution patterns, there's no way to predict if they'll get enough playing time to do any damage.

On a personal note, it's a sad day in the Rock household, as we said goodbye to a dear friend. If that's all the personal information you care to know, that's fine. If you want to read just a bit more, there's another paragraph with additional information after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Slow news day yesterday. That wasn't the case today. Let's get to it.

• Via TrueHoop's Thursday Bullets: John Hollinger's new Playoff Predictor projects that the Magic's final record will be 60-22, that the Magic have a 100% chance of making the playoffs, a 100% chance of winning the division, a 17.6% chance of capturing the East's no. 1 seed, a 23% chance of winning the East finals, and a 14.6% chance of winning the NBA title. Holy crap!
• Carter Blanchard of FreeDarko pardons the Magic for the Lewis signing:

  While Orlando paid way more than they should have had to, and the $23m owed in 2012 is going to hurt, what is relevancy in the NBA for the next half decade actually worth?  Rashard for that team is the difference between sneaking into the playoffs and making perennial runs at the Finals. Couple that with the fact there was no other option available that would have provided this kind of boost and it seems clear that the initial consensus of the signing needs some reevaluating. But my guess is that even if the Magic can sustain this early success, Rashard will continue to fail to live up to the burden of his contract.
  [....]
  Overpaid players can win you games just as easily as underpaid players can lose 'em (see: Parker, Smush). Rashard Lewis might never deserve his $110 million, but when all's said and done, he'll have been worth it.

• Brian Schmitz has this news roundup in today's Sentinel. Clearly, the best news is that Carlos Arroyo's ill daughter is feeling better, which allowed Carlos to rejoin the team at practice yesterday.
• From Schmitz's blog:

  Unless Dwight Howard catches a Grant Hill curse or other players wind up getting fitted for walking casts, the Magic should post their best record since the 1995-96 season.

  That year the Magic, with Shaq and Penny, wound up a franchise-best 60-22. Orlando won 57 games the season before that.

  The franchise's top record since Shaq left in 1996 is 45-37, posted by the 1996-97 team that still had Penny, Nick, Dennis and Horace on the roster.

  Look at it like this: The Magic are 16-4 and if they go 31-31 the rest of the way, they'll have 47 wins.

The Magic's Keyon Dooling drives to the hoop past the Lakers' Jordan Farmar in Orlando's 104-97 win over Los Angeles.
Photo by Noah Graham, NBAE/Getty Images

Wow. Not bad news to hear after coming back from a meeting.

While I was out, the Magic stormed into Los Angeles and beat the Lakers at the Staples Center for the first time in that building's history. Here's the boxscore for tonight's game. And here's a photo of Lindsay Lohan sitting courtside. Maybe we should have her attend Lakers games more often.

The Magic's futility against the Lakers on their home floor dated back to 1996, when the 60-win Magic team featuring Horace Grant, Penny Hardaway, and Shaquille O'Neal eked past the Lakers by a score of 98-97.

Just a few boxscore-related observations before I head to bed:

• My friend Lane informs me that Keyon Dooling threw down a pretty nasty dunk on Kobe Bryant. If anyone has photo or video of this play, please post it. I want to see it.
• Kobe needed 26 shots to score 28 points, 19 of which came in the first quarter. Credit Keith Bogans, who I assume guarded Kobe, for shutting him down after that eruption.
• We got solid performances from everyone tonight. Scoring 104 points is great, but I especially like that no one had more than 18. Maybe it's just me, but I think balance wins basketball games.
• Maurice Evans had a Trevor Ariza-esque 9 points and 7 rebounds in his return to Los Angeles. Ariza, whom we sent to the Lakers to acquire Evans and Brian Cook, did not play.
• Speaking of Cook, he had 3 points in a team-low 9 minutes. He won't see more playing time until he gets into better shape.
• Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu lead us with 7 assists apiece. Actually, it appears that everyone moved the ball well; we posted 25 assists on 38 field goals.
• J.J. Redick was relevant for the third straight game, popping off for 8 points in 11 minutes. Very nice to see the youngster contributing when he's given the opportunity.

For more on the game, check out the game thread at MagicMadness; Forum Blue and Gold's game thread; John Denton's halftime notes; and Brian Schmitz's recap for the Orlando Sentinel.

	vs.
3-9		11-3
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
FSN Florida
Probable starters:
Jason Williams	PG	Jameer Nelson
Dwyane Wade	SG	Keith Bogans
Ricky Davis	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Udonis Haslem	PF	Rashard Lewis
Shaquille O'Neal	C	Dwight Howard

25 words or fewer: Surging Orlando faces off against division rival Miami in an early-season matchup with plenty of subplots.

Know your enemy: The Heat beat the Rockets last night. Shaquille O'Neal reverted back to championship form in scoring 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds while simultaneously holding Yao Ming to 20 points and 7 rebounds.

Useless information: The Heat went with an eight-man rotation last night. Fatigue may be a factor, especially for their backcourt; both Wade and Williams played 40-plus minutes.

I'll be at the game tonight. Let's see if the Magic can add another win to their total before embarking on a long West-Coast swing.

UPDATE: Added a poll. Will you be cheering or booing Miami's former Magic players in their return to Orlando this evening?

	vs.
0-2		1-1
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Probable starters:
Jason Williams	PG	Jameer Nelson
Dorell Wright	SG	Keith Bogans
Jeremy Richardson	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Udonis Haslem	PF	Dwight Howard
Shaquille O'Neal	C	Adonal Foyle

25 words or fewer: The Magic will try to keep the Heat winless in preseason play in a matchup of in-state rivals.

Know your enemy: The Heat, just two years removed from winning an NBA title, are coming off a game against Atlanta in which they were held scoreless in overtime en route to a 106-100 loss.

Useless information: Heat power forward Udonis Haslem scored 22 points on Wednesday night, which is the most points he's scored in a single game since last November, when he torched New Jersey for 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

Bullet points:

• You can listen to tonight's game for free by following this link to NBA.com Audio League Pass.
• The Magic will be without the services of forward Rashard Lewis, who left Wednesday's game against Charlotte after spraining his right ankle.
• Heat forward Antoine Walker is so out-of-shape that coach Pat Riley fears he won't be in playing condition until January. Riley is cutting Walker some slack, though. After all, Walker was the victim of a home-invasion robbery this past offseason.
• This game will be the last one the Magic play stateside until October 25th; next week, they venture to China to play the Cleveland Cavaliers twice and Team China once.
• I really want to see more of Marcin Gortat, who has played just 11 minutes in the Magic's two preseason games. He scored 7 points in 7 minutes against Charlotte and first-hand accounts tell us he's good at running the floor. He'll be important to our season, as he will likely back up Adonal Foyle at center.
• Former Magic guard Penny Hardaway has a non-guaranteed contract with the Heat and is trying to make an NBA comeback. However, he hasn't played yet this preseason owing to a quadriceps strain and his status for tonight is unknown. Thus, Magic fans will likely have to wait until the team's November 24th matchup with Miami to see the former face of their franchise return to action... for the enemy.