[Orlando Sentinal] Steve-O starting to follow road Me-Mac took

LOL! ahh, the bitterness!

Still couldn't help but take a swipe at T-Mac, although the article is not at al about him. The loser franchise (Magic franchise that is) continues to be a team of sore losers.

Yah well, keep taking jabs, since you got nothing to back up your argument now...

Anyways, here is the article:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...23,1,4333426.column?coll=orl-sports-headlines

Steve-O Starting to follow road of Me-Mac

Published February 23, 2005

Every Magic player was there on the first day of practice after the all-star break. From all over the country, they all did what they had to do to be there. They all probably wished they had another day or two off; they all likely wished they could spend some more free time with their friends and families.

But everybody was there Monday. Even Grant Hill and Dwight Howard, who arrived in Orlando at 5 a.m. after participating in the all-star weekend in Denver.

Everybody.

Except Steve Francis.

Except the man who is supposed to be this team's floor leader and emotional engine.

Steve-O became Steve No Show.

And then, predictably, the Magic followed their leader and failed to show up Tuesday night in their first game back from the break. The result was an inexcusable 108-84 loss to the Indiana Pacers in a game where the Magic were booed by their own fans.

"Personal reasons," Francis said Tuesday when asked why he missed Monday's practice.

He did not elaborate, but could those personal reasons have been because Monday was his birthday and he wanted to stay at his house in Houston to celebrate?

Happy birthday to me,

Practice starts at 3,

All my teammates will be there,

But I'll be home eating brie.

Must have been a heckuva party. Francis came out Tuesday and said he couldn't even see, evidenced by his 2-of-10 shooting, six points and four turnovers.

This is much bigger than just the $10,000 fine Francis received. This is about loyalty to your team and respecting your teammates. A real leader doesn't start the second half of the season by sending this message to his compatriots: My time is more important than our team.

"The implication of this is much deeper than him not being here," Davis said. "There's a responsibility to your teammates."

Especially in the wake of Davis and GM John Weisbrod trading Tracy McGrady essentially because McGrady thought he was bigger than the team.

Me-Mac was on the worst team in the league. What's Steve-O's excuse?

Weisbrod, who publicly questioned McGrady's commitment last season, said Tuesday that he's not overly concerned about this situation because Francis is not traditionally a loafer.

"I haven't seen anybody in the league who works harder and wants to win more," Weisbrod said. "When you see the effort Steve gives, you tend to want to give him some slack."

Slack? This word seems strange coming from Weisbrod's mouth, especially on Tuesday, which happened to be the 25-year anniversary of "Miracle on Ice." Who will ever forget Coach Herb Brooks and the underdog U.S. hockey team winning the gold medal in 1980? As a young hockey player, Weisbrod was drafted into the pros by Brooks and put this Magic team together with the same "nothing comes before the team" philosophy preached by Brooks.

Weisbrod's plan will only work if Francis buys into it. If he doesn't, this Magic rebuilding project will be doomed just like all the others.

Francis needs to show more responsibility -- on and off the floor. He's a terrific talent, but he is among the league leaders in technical fouls and turnovers. That's unacceptable.

It's hard to trust a teammate who doesn't take care of the ball, can't control his temper and failed to show up for a practice that might have set the tone for the rest of the season.

Herb Brooks once said, "I'm not looking for the best players; I'm looking for the right ones."

Francis has given us little indication that he is the right player to lead the Magic to any sort of miracle finish.

In fact, on a team being run by a hockey guy, Steve-O is dribbling on thin ice.

 

More fallout, this time from Cato and others...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...gicgamer022305,1,7059732.story?coll=orl-magic

Fans unhappy in loss to Pacers

By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 23, 2005

The NBA, in its new "Fan Code of Conduct" guidelines, again reminded patrons to think and drink responsibly.

Fans, however, were irate Tuesday night at TD Waterhouse Centre, where the boos flowed.

The Orlando Magic were welcomed back from their six-day all-star break by the sound of jeering, the crowd's reaction to their listless 108-84 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Instead of heating up for a playoff push, the Magic looked like pushovers, falling behind by as many as 31.

"The game started off bad and then it got worse," Magic Coach Johnny Davis said. "It was like we were still on the all-star break. We just got an old-fashioned whipping."

The Magic (28-25) were booed loudly throughout their worst loss of the season. Some of the ticket-buyers' frustration was aimed at Steve Francis, who drew Davis' ire and a fine after skipping practice Monday.

Davis called it a "distraction" and underlined the importance of post-break preparations, but said poor defense was as much to blame as anything for the loss.

The team's leading scorer, Francis had his worst game of the season. His line: six points on 2-of-10 shooting, one assist, four turnovers.

Probably could have used the practice.

"It wasn't just one guy," Francis said. "They played harder."[/i[ (refusing to take responsibility for his actions, wouldn't be Steve-O if he didn't say this)

Francis' points and assists were season lows. The Magic tend to follow their point guard's lead and ď emotions, meaning everybody looked out of sorts.

The Magic missed 15 consecutive shots during a stretch of the opening quarter, falling behind 18-5.

They gathered themselves, outscoring the Pacers 13-2, facing just a 20-18 deficit at the quarter's end. But then the Magic got buried by a telltale 17-0 Pacers run to end the first half, their defense surrendering 32 second-quarter points. The Magic trudged off the floor at halftime trailing 52-36, the first healthy dose of boos ushering them into the dressing room.

"Really it was kind of benign," Magic forward Pat Garrity said of the boos. "Booing is the least of our problems ... You don't come hard in the NBA, you get beat by 30."

Frustration was the theme of the night.

Davis talked to his team longer than usual afterward. Center Kelvin Cato and Davis exchanged words near the bench, and Cato was in the coach's office after the game. Mild-mannered Hedo Turkoglu took exception to a foul by James Jones, and went after him.

The Pacers shot 50 percent, and were led by all-star Jermaine O'Neal's 20 points. Rookie Jameer Nelson paced the Magic with 15 points, lifting them by scoring nine consecutive points in a brief second-quarter surge.

Hard to believe, but things actually got worse in the second half, the Pacers' lead growing to 29.

Layoffs seemingly affect the Magic's focus.

They lost a season-high four consecutive games around the Christmas break. Team captain Grant Hill said using Francis' no-show as a distraction is "an excuse."

"We had poor body language. It looked like we weren't into it," he said.

They better get into it quickly. Coming up are two games against the Southeast Division-leading Miami Heat, followed by a game against the Sacramento Kings at home.

Orlando's next game is at Miami on Saturday. "The good thing," Garrity said, "is we have three days of practice now."

Davis expects everyone there today at 11 a.m.

 

DAMN YOU FAOS!

That is cool, I posted a second link as well, so if the mods can merge this one in the other thread, or otherwise if someone posts this second article in the other thread, then please lock this one up.