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Davis to take fall if Magic don't get back on trac; Thank God!!
Topic Started: Mar 15 2005, 12:19 PM (234 Views)
NYCMagicFan
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/bask...?coll=orl-magic


Quote:
 
The Orlando Magic came into the season with a lot of questions. With 20 games remaining, about the only one that's been answered concerns Stacey Augmon.

He's failing his audition with the Magic. But he might make it as a Mary Kay rep.

After Sunday night's loss to the New Jersey Nets, Augmon overheard a reporter asking Orlando guard Steve Francis if the Magic's wheels are coming off.

A sure way to tell the wheels are coming off is when a player -- Augmon, in this case -- starts squirting lotion at reporters for asking if the wheels are coming off.

The Magic now are riding on the axles, just in time for a five-game road trip. So we are back to the big questions. A) Whose fault is it, B) What can be done?

Everybody's.

Not much.

Before we perform this autopsy, it should be noted that the Magic have shown a knack for getting the wheels back on. So they could return next week with a five-game winning streak and be posing for a playoff picture.

DeShawn Stevenson also could be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' new kicker. He certainly showed a good leg kicking the ball into the stands after the debacle against the Nets.

Between the lotion fit, the field goal, the game fights and the four-game losing streak, all the signs point to this being the season's definitive collapse. That calls for a round of blame, and first in line is always the coach.

Johnny Davis usually points out how improved the Magic are from last year. That's true, but it avoids the fact that the team should be better.

Last year, Davis had a 21-win caliber team and coached it to 21 wins. This year's team is .500-or-better caliber, and that's what it's produced.

Davis is no failure, but he hasn't shown a knack for making teams perform beyond their talent.

After Sunday's shenanigans, there's a perception the players are out of control. That assumes, of course, NBA players can be controlled.

None were wilder than the Detroit Pistons' and the Indiana Pacers' that night a few months ago, but you didn't hear anybody saying Detroit Coach Larry Brown had lost control. Davis does not command instant respect, but not many coaches do.

That said, the Magic have shown up a lot of nights not ready to play. Part of that has to be on Davis, but he hasn't been given the easiest bunch to inspire.

Enter John Weisbrod. In the long term, he's doing a good job. Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson were great draft picks. Weisbrod cleared salary-cap space for the future by trading Cuttino Mobley. All that bodes well for the future, but it sure hasn't made his coach's job much smoother.

Davis has to make a playoff run with two rookie starters. It would have been difficult enough simply trying to reprogram Steve Francis. You take the good with the bad with Steve-O, and Davis isn't the first coach who's struggled to make Francis fit into a team concept.

It will be an injustice if that proves to be Davis' ultimate undoing. But to quote Clint Eastwood as he prepared to shoot Gene Hackman in Unforgiven, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it."

The players can't be fired, though some should be. The general manager isn't going to fire himself, especially when he thinks he's provided the coach with enough talent to succeed.

At least we're not far from a verdict. The Magic have five road games in seven days. Somebody better bring some lug nuts and a good wrench.

It's not all Davis' fault that the wheels are coming off. But unless things change fast, he'll be the one who pays for it.
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jfcasinabe
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he oughtta!!!!
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Black and Blue
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I loved the article except for the end when it says Davis is getting unfair treatment. In one part of the article he says Davis doesnt get any more out of players than "what theyre expected". A good coach pushes their players to greatness. I forget who said it, but some guy said "Average don't win championships". Hey, if no one said it, Ill say it now :)
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magiclive
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#1 Magic Fan
thank the lord
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c4ac5
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he deserves to be fired if he can't keep augmon from cursing out reporters and throwing body lotion all over them too.it shows he's just a scrub of a coach who doesn't get his players to show respect to him or to reporters.i thought he was a scrub of a player too except for the fact that he played for a portland team that won a nba championship his rookie season.i couldn't be a coach,but he never should have been given the job if he was going to do this bad.

but then again the magic may have given him the job cause this is a transition period for this organization right now.we don't even know if the magic are going to get this arena deal done or not.they could be in kansas city or las vegas or wherever.plus i don't know how long they're going to keep francis.hill is getting older.at least the we know the core of this team should be the turk,howard,and nelson,but thats all i'm sure of right now.things sure do go to sh*t quick in an nba season.so who's ready to find the next player the magic should grab in the first round between picks 10-15,where they're probably going to end up picking in this year's draft.if they keep playing like this in the last 20 games,i'll be ready too.i'm just frustrated cause this team actually looked like they could shake the eastern conference up quite a bit in the playoffs.but if they can't do any better then they need to sit on their d*mn couches at their mansions and watch just like the fans do.why couldn't grant hill ever learn to be an a*shole sometimes just to tell francis or augmon to shut up.
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gomagic33
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I can't be any sooner.
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roysterdude
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"The time has come the Walruss said", the time to let Davis go, but is Weisbrod and the Magic organization ready to do that?

Maybe not, because they are watching their pocket.

I heard Davis is the lowest paid coach in the NBA, if it is so, it really shows.

The organization says we want to make it to the playoffs, but don't really mean it.

If it was so, we would've had a new coach starting this year, a real proven coah!

Can't blame it all on Davis, but it sure starts there.
Francis, is also the other part of the problem, he's so erratic! Feast or famine!

But if the coach was good, then he would get more out of their players than what Davis is getting now, including Francis.

I don't like to see Davis loose his job, but he is not producing, and you know what would happen if we don't produce in our jobs, don't we? Hasta la vista.
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