Updated: Mar. 17, 2005, 1:37 PM ET
Many of Weisbrod's moves have fizzled
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By Chad Ford, ESPN Insider
Chad Ford Archive
Did Orlando recapture its long-lost Magic this season, or was the whole thing an illusion?
After starting the season with a pretty miraculous turnaround (a 14-9 start), the Magic have lost nine of their last 12 and are in danger of missing the playoffs.
Early Thursday morning, any luster that was left on the season faded when GM John Weisbrod fired head coach Johnny Davis and assistant Ron Ekker (who was in charge of the team's defense), claiming that the team needed a "new voice and direction."
"We work in a bottom-line business," said Weisbrod. "It is our responsibility to do everything possible to create the best opportunity for success."
Davis said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the firing and felt like it was premature.
"I think it was obvious I was on a short leash," Davis told the Orlando Sentinel. "Teams go through tough stretches, and this was the first time we had gone through one. It's not like we bottomed out. It's not like we fell out of the picture and weren't going to make it.
"We gave it an honest shot. I think maybe the expectations had changed along the way."
Many of Weisbrod's moves have backfired. Will he be the next Magic man to disappear?
They sure have. Last season, the Magic finished with the worst record in the NBA. Weisbrod, who took over the team during the 2003-04 season, went for an extreme team makeover in the summer, trading the Magic's best player, Tracy McGrady, selecting a raw high school player with the first pick in the draft and then bringing in what Weisbrod described as "sore losers" – tough, team-first players who would play a more rugged style of basketball.
The only thing from the old regime that Weisbrod stood by going into training camp was Davis, whom he insisted was the right guy for the job.
"I think Johnny is the right guy for what we're trying to do here," Weisbrod told Insider in October. "He's proven to me that he has the mind and the attitude to turn us into a winner."
What changed?
Sources told Insider over the weekend that Davis' approach was too "soft" for Weisbrod. While Weisbrod agreed with Davis' coaching philosophy, he didn't think he commanded enough respect in the locker room. When Davis would say something to Steve Francis, for example, Francis, on more than one occasion, would just ignore it.
Davis' inability to get through to his mercurial point guard, in particular, probably did him in.
"Johnny's a great guy," one league source told Insider. "But he's better as an assistant, I think. A head coach has to find a way to get the team to do what he wants."
Weisbrod wanted someone who could be more forceful in getting his point across. While interim head coach Chris Jent should be able to raise the decibel level, can he really get through to Francis?
But many of the problems in Orlando won't follow Davis out the door.
Francis (left) apparently has not embraced the traditional point guard's role.
Weisbrod has made a series of crucial mistakes of his own that appear to be holding the Magic back as much or more than Davis did. For starters, the McGrady-for-Francis trade isn't looking so good for the Magic these days. Three months ago, it appeared that the Magic might have gotten the better end of the deal. But those days are over.
McGrady was slow to adjust to Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy's offense earlier on, causing Weisbrod and others in the Magic organization to snicker. However, once McGrady bought in, and Van Gundy loosened the reins a bit, T-Mac's caught fire. McGrady is averaging 28 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 5.9 apg on 48 percent shooting from the field in March. The Rockets are 7-1 during the stretch. McGrady's player efficency rating (PER), according to Insider's John Hollinger, is 22.59 which ranks him 15th in the NBA. Francis' on the other hand is 19.14 which ranks him 37th.
Meanwhile, the players that the Magic received in return are causing their fair share of problems.
Francis' offensive numbers have remained solid all season, but the team has grown frustrated with his defensive lapses and his irritating habit of overdribbling to the point that the offense stagnates. The Magic tried to alleviate some of those issues by moving Francis to the two and starting rookie Jameer Nelson at the point, but the experiment hasn't gone well. The Magic have dropped eight of 11 with Nelson in the starting lineup.
The tension between Davis, Weisbrod and Francis has been palpable, with sources telling Insider that it was "likely" that Weisbrod will try to trade him this summer.
The other big chip in the McGrady deal, Cuttino Mobley, was traded mid-season for Doug Christie in an attempt to bolster the defense. That, too, turned into a major mistake. Mobley gave the Magic their most reliable 3-point threat. Christie has been a huge bust, averaging 5.7 ppg on 36 percent shooting in 21 games for the Magic.
He was placed on the injured list on March 5 with bone spurs in his ankle that might require season-ending surgery.
Weisbrod swapped Mobley for Christie claiming that the team needed help defensively. But as Insider's John Hollinger pointed out last month, defense wasn't the Magic's biggest problem. When pace is factored into an analysis of the points the Magic had allowed this season, the Magic's defense ranked 13th in the league, not last as Weisbrod had claimed.
Instead, the Magic's real weakness was in offensive efficiency. When you factor in the pace that they play, their gaudy scoring numbers aren't as impressive. Once the team lost Mobley, its offensive efficiency declined and Christie proved to be ineffective on the defensive end.
Other trades have been just as disastrous for the Magic. Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao have been thriving with the Cleveland Cavaliers while Tony Battie, the piece the Magic got in return, has struggled.
"Forget swapping Gooden for Battie," one league executive told Insider. "That was bad enough. But they just gave away Varejao, a young kid who looks like he's going to be a great prospect in return. I don't think [Weisbrod] knew what he had."
Two of Weisbrod's other free agent signings, DeShawn Stevenson and Stacey Augmon, also have been disasters.
Losing Christie (right) to injury hurt Davis' chances of succeeding.
Factor in a pretty tough schedule down the stretch and it's conceivable that the Magic won't be able to keep up with the Philadelphia 76ers for that last seed in the East. If that happens, Weisbrod won't have a lot to show from the Magic's summer makeover – just a healthy Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu and two promising young prospects in Dwight Howard and Nelson. While the additions of Turkoglu, Howard and Nelson have all been beneficial, Weisbrod could have had all of those pieces – plus McGrady, Gooden and Varejao – had he not rushed into things last summer.
As it stands now, the team's payroll balloons to a whopping $70 million next season, limiting the Magic's ability to sign a free agent. The Magic don't have significant cap room until the 2007-08 season.
"Ultimately we're in a bottom-line business," Weisbrod told Insider this fall, a theme he echoed in his statement on the firing of Davis. "You either win or you lose. The media and fans can say you're a hero in the summer and if you lose, you're gone. They can say you're a horse's ass in the summer and if you win, they get on board.
"There's a scoreboard in every arena and there's standings in the paper every day. It's very clear whether you're good or bad at what you do. That's the only test."
Given how the Magic have performed of late, Weisbrod might be the next guy to follow Davis out the door.
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Many of Weisbrod's moves have fizzled
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/index
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/archive?columnist=ford_chad&root=nba
By Chad Ford, ESPN Insider
Chad Ford Archive
Did Orlando recapture its long-lost Magic this season, or was the whole thing an illusion?
After starting the season with a pretty miraculous turnaround (a 14-9 start), the Magic have lost nine of their last 12 and are in danger of missing the playoffs.
Early Thursday morning, any luster that was left on the season faded when GM John Weisbrod fired head coach Johnny Davis and assistant Ron Ekker (who was in charge of the team's defense), claiming that the team needed a "new voice and direction."
"We work in a bottom-line business," said Weisbrod. "It is our responsibility to do everything possible to create the best opportunity for success."
Davis said he was "surprised and disappointed" by the firing and felt like it was premature.
"I think it was obvious I was on a short leash," Davis told the Orlando Sentinel. "Teams go through tough stretches, and this was the first time we had gone through one. It's not like we bottomed out. It's not like we fell out of the picture and weren't going to make it.
"We gave it an honest shot. I think maybe the expectations had changed along the way."
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Many of Weisbrod's moves have backfired. Will he be the next Magic man to disappear?
They sure have. Last season, the Magic finished with the worst record in the NBA. Weisbrod, who took over the team during the 2003-04 season, went for an extreme team makeover in the summer, trading the Magic's best player, Tracy McGrady, selecting a raw high school player with the first pick in the draft and then bringing in what Weisbrod described as "sore losers" – tough, team-first players who would play a more rugged style of basketball.
The only thing from the old regime that Weisbrod stood by going into training camp was Davis, whom he insisted was the right guy for the job.
"I think Johnny is the right guy for what we're trying to do here," Weisbrod told Insider in October. "He's proven to me that he has the mind and the attitude to turn us into a winner."
What changed?
Sources told Insider over the weekend that Davis' approach was too "soft" for Weisbrod. While Weisbrod agreed with Davis' coaching philosophy, he didn't think he commanded enough respect in the locker room. When Davis would say something to Steve Francis, for example, Francis, on more than one occasion, would just ignore it.
Davis' inability to get through to his mercurial point guard, in particular, probably did him in.
"Johnny's a great guy," one league source told Insider. "But he's better as an assistant, I think. A head coach has to find a way to get the team to do what he wants."
Weisbrod wanted someone who could be more forceful in getting his point across. While interim head coach Chris Jent should be able to raise the decibel level, can he really get through to Francis?
But many of the problems in Orlando won't follow Davis out the door.
You must be registered for see images
Francis (left) apparently has not embraced the traditional point guard's role.
Weisbrod has made a series of crucial mistakes of his own that appear to be holding the Magic back as much or more than Davis did. For starters, the McGrady-for-Francis trade isn't looking so good for the Magic these days. Three months ago, it appeared that the Magic might have gotten the better end of the deal. But those days are over.
McGrady was slow to adjust to Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy's offense earlier on, causing Weisbrod and others in the Magic organization to snicker. However, once McGrady bought in, and Van Gundy loosened the reins a bit, T-Mac's caught fire. McGrady is averaging 28 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 5.9 apg on 48 percent shooting from the field in March. The Rockets are 7-1 during the stretch. McGrady's player efficency rating (PER), according to Insider's John Hollinger, is 22.59 which ranks him 15th in the NBA. Francis' on the other hand is 19.14 which ranks him 37th.
Meanwhile, the players that the Magic received in return are causing their fair share of problems.
Francis' offensive numbers have remained solid all season, but the team has grown frustrated with his defensive lapses and his irritating habit of overdribbling to the point that the offense stagnates. The Magic tried to alleviate some of those issues by moving Francis to the two and starting rookie Jameer Nelson at the point, but the experiment hasn't gone well. The Magic have dropped eight of 11 with Nelson in the starting lineup.
The tension between Davis, Weisbrod and Francis has been palpable, with sources telling Insider that it was "likely" that Weisbrod will try to trade him this summer.
The other big chip in the McGrady deal, Cuttino Mobley, was traded mid-season for Doug Christie in an attempt to bolster the defense. That, too, turned into a major mistake. Mobley gave the Magic their most reliable 3-point threat. Christie has been a huge bust, averaging 5.7 ppg on 36 percent shooting in 21 games for the Magic.
He was placed on the injured list on March 5 with bone spurs in his ankle that might require season-ending surgery.
Weisbrod swapped Mobley for Christie claiming that the team needed help defensively. But as Insider's John Hollinger pointed out last month, defense wasn't the Magic's biggest problem. When pace is factored into an analysis of the points the Magic had allowed this season, the Magic's defense ranked 13th in the league, not last as Weisbrod had claimed.
Instead, the Magic's real weakness was in offensive efficiency. When you factor in the pace that they play, their gaudy scoring numbers aren't as impressive. Once the team lost Mobley, its offensive efficiency declined and Christie proved to be ineffective on the defensive end.
Other trades have been just as disastrous for the Magic. Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao have been thriving with the Cleveland Cavaliers while Tony Battie, the piece the Magic got in return, has struggled.
"Forget swapping Gooden for Battie," one league executive told Insider. "That was bad enough. But they just gave away Varejao, a young kid who looks like he's going to be a great prospect in return. I don't think [Weisbrod] knew what he had."
Two of Weisbrod's other free agent signings, DeShawn Stevenson and Stacey Augmon, also have been disasters.
You must be registered for see images
Losing Christie (right) to injury hurt Davis' chances of succeeding.
Factor in a pretty tough schedule down the stretch and it's conceivable that the Magic won't be able to keep up with the Philadelphia 76ers for that last seed in the East. If that happens, Weisbrod won't have a lot to show from the Magic's summer makeover – just a healthy Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu and two promising young prospects in Dwight Howard and Nelson. While the additions of Turkoglu, Howard and Nelson have all been beneficial, Weisbrod could have had all of those pieces – plus McGrady, Gooden and Varejao – had he not rushed into things last summer.
As it stands now, the team's payroll balloons to a whopping $70 million next season, limiting the Magic's ability to sign a free agent. The Magic don't have significant cap room until the 2007-08 season.
"Ultimately we're in a bottom-line business," Weisbrod told Insider this fall, a theme he echoed in his statement on the firing of Davis. "You either win or you lose. The media and fans can say you're a hero in the summer and if you lose, you're gone. They can say you're a horse's ass in the summer and if you win, they get on board.
"There's a scoreboard in every arena and there's standings in the paper every day. It's very clear whether you're good or bad at what you do. That's the only test."
Given how the Magic have performed of late, Weisbrod might be the next guy to follow Davis out the door.
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/writeback?name=Chad+Ford
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