Believing in Magic

I said it in the beginning of the season. The Magic are a better team than they realized. But now they're beginning to realize it. And it helps that Steve Francis is gone. With his extreme ballhogging skills, he was destined to be traded to New York, a team that has a bottomless craving for ballhogging selfish point guards. And without him, and even without Grant Hill hobbling around, the team became instantly better. Any team who wants to improve themselves should consider aquiring Steve Francis, let him hand out with the team for a week, then dump his ass. Sort of like inviting Carrot Top to a family reunion. Suddenly your family doesn't seem so bad after all.


Dwight Howard is a beast. A cross between Charles Barkley and Shaq. The other night he almost managed 28 points and 26 rebounds. Not shabby at all. Yep. Next year looks promising indeed.

The Lakers are in the playoffs after a year's hiatus. And they are playing great basketball. The rest of the team is moving without the ball. They seem to have learned the triangle offense. And Kobe, with the game in sight, unless he throws an elbow into someone's head, doesn't quit - the ultimate assassin.

Miami is a mess. They don't have the chemistry they need at this time of the year. At least not enough to get past the Pistons. Shaq is a great player, even if his skills have diminished, and Wade is excellent. But the rest of the team is spotty, and the defense is weak at best. They miss Damon Jones and Eddie Jones and the energy bomb that is Keion Dooling. I probably spelled his first name wrong but I'm too lazy to find out.

After almost a year in Orlando, I'm proud of the progress I've made with the Magic. If we play the same way next year, we'll be in the playoffs. Which is not an altogether bad thing.

Okay, I have to go now.