Feb 17
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “If nothing else, Wednesday night’s matchup between the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards can serve as Exhibit No. 1 for anyone who argues that the NBA regular season is too long. The Magic did exactly what they were expected to do: They clobbered a rebuilding Wizards team that cannot …
Jan 18
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic now know what they need to improve: their first-quarter starts and their defense. Both were woefully lacking in their 109-106 loss Monday night to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Again. Following an all-too-familiar pattern, the Magic spotted the Celtics an early 10-point lead and allowed the hosts to …
Dec 24
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Gilbert Arenas walked into the Orlando Magic locker room Thursday afternoon and found a handwritten note sitting on his chair. It was from his new coach, Stan Van Gundy. Go out there and play your game. Don’t try to fit in. Push the ball. Arenas heeded that advice hours later, leading the …
Dec 15
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Frustration oozed throughout the Orlando Magic locker room late Tuesday night. Stan Van Gundy dressed down his players after the final buzzer. Later, Jameer Nelson sat at his locker, read the postgame box score, crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it to the ground. In a postgame interview, Dwight Howard …
Dec 07
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Stan Van Gundy wanted to find something positive about the way the Orlando Magic played against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. He pored over the box score and pored over it and pored over it. But he found nothing encouraging. The Magic lost to the Hawks in a game every bit as …
Nov 25
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Night and day. The Orlando Magic team that suffered a blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Oct. 29 wilted under pressure, played stagnantly on offense and looked just plain awful. The Magic team that defeated the Heat 104-95 on Wednesday night answered a late Miami run, played energetically and hit big shots. …
Nov 16
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic would do themselves a favor if they take mental pictures of what happened Monday night and carry those snapshots the rest of this season. They’d see Mickael Pietrus diving to the floor to bust up an opponent’s fastbreak. They’d envision Marcin Gortat rolling around on the …
Nov 11
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “What upset Stan Van Gundy most is that he had seen it all before. Once again, his team stopped defending after it built a big lead. Once again, his team turned the ball over in bunches. Once again, his team missed lots of free throws. This time, it spelled disaster. An 18-point …
May 29
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “In the end, it was the beginning of the games that doomed the Orlando Magic and derailed their championship chase. [...] The Celtics built upon early leads in three of their four victories, a tell-tale Game 3 rout that put the Magic in a still inescapable 0-3 hole. Playing catch-up all series, …