Running off at the typewriter …
First and foremost, let me just stress that I am absolutely NOT comparing the 2023 Orlando Magic to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, but I do believe this has been a “perfect” season for the Magic.
Bianchi, you moron, the Magic are 13 games below .500 and have the fifth-worst record in the league. How can you say this has been a perfect season?!!!
Because I’m not talking about a perfect season by Boston Celtics standards; I’m talking about a perfect season by Orlando Magic standards.
Whether intentional or not, the Magic have masterfully choreographed this season. They have walked that fine line between flirting with the playoffs and falling into the lottery. They have played meaningful games for much of the season to develop their young players and keep their fan base engaged, but now they are almost certainly a lottery team and right now would have a 10.5 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick (7-foot-5 French phenom Victor Wembanyama).
Philosophically, I am anti-tanking, but with the Magic five games out of the play-in with just nine games left, I am putting my stamp of approval on a short-term end-of-the-season tank job — aka “Withering for Wembanyama.”
Before the season, I wrote that we shouldn’t expect the Magic to make the playoffs this year or even make the play-in, but what we should expect is for them “to make significant progress and give their beleaguered fan base some hope.”
Mission accomplished.
No. 1 overall draft pick Paolo Banchero almost certainly will be the NBA’s Rookie of the Year and second-year forward Franz Wagner is also a potential star in the making. The Magic also have some other good, young players (see Wendell Carter Jr., Markelle Fultz, etc.), two first-round draft picks (their own and the one they acquired from Chicago in the Vooch trade) and maximum cap flexibility.
Although the Magic have the fifth-worst record in the league, the fan base certainly seems to be buying in. Last year, the Magic ranked 26th in the league in total attendance and this year they are 15th.
As for next year, it will be playoffs or bust, but for right now the Magic are exactly where they need to be — with immense hope for the future and two potential lottery picks in the upcoming draft. …
Short stuff: Now that Japan has beaten the United States in the World Baseball Classic, I say that we challenge them to a rematch in the World Football Classic!!! … And speaking of the World Baseball Classic, it may not have created much of a buzz in America, but it has been a global phenomenon for Major League Baseball. Although the official TV numbers aren’t in yet, the Japan-USA final on Tuesday night was projected to be the most watched worldwide baseball game in history with an estimated 75 percent of Japanese households tuned in. For comparison’s sake, about 40 percent of American households tuned in to watch the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the Eagles. I guess you could say America’s national pastime has become Japan’s national passion. …
A moment of silence, please: Willis Reed has gone to That Big Game 7 in the Sky. It was an injured Reed, as the Associated Press eloquently wrote in his obituary, who became a mythical sports figure when he dramatically limped from the Madison Square Garden locker room “minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain.” And now let’s fast-forward 50 years to the Big Apple, where Kyrie Irving missed almost an entire season because he wouldn’t get jabbed with a needle. … One last thing on Willis Reed: What if he had played in Atlanta instead of New York and sparked the Hawks to a championship? Would he be a legend today or just a footnote? …
As David Whitley of the Gainesville Sun writes: David Venci, a Czech free-form diver, “set a world record by taking a deep breath and diving 170.9 feet beneath a frozen lake in Switzerland. When he emerged after 1 minute and 54 seconds, he spat up some blood, sat down and popped open a bottle of champagne.” In related news, MLS players released a statement that said: “What’s the big deal? We take dozens of dives every week and the only thing we ever bleed is our integrity.” … Speaking of dives, whatever happened to Hoops Tavern by the old Amway Arena? … Did you see Arkansas coach Eric Mussellman take off his shirt to celebrate the Hogs’ upset of defending national champion Kansas on Saturday? This was much more acceptable than Rick Pitino, who used to, ahem, take off his pants to celebrate when he was at Louisville. … Suspended Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell was driving over 141 mph while trying to evade deputies before his arrest on marijuana charges in the Florida Panhandle last week. Hey, this guy shouldn’t be playing for Nick Saban, he should be driving for Rick Hendrick. …
Clearwater mayor Frank Hibbard resigned in the middle of a city council meeting earlier this week after he said fellow council members voted to “recklessly” spend $90 million on a new city hall. “Just because you have money doesn’t mean you have to spend it,” Hibbard told a local TV station. Obviously, with such fiscal responsibility, Hibbard could never be a college athletic director. … Did you know that retired NFL tough guy J.J. Watt is a big Taylor Swift fan? I always pictured him as more of a Five Finger Death Punch guy. … I’m a little confused as to why actress Gwyneth Paltrow is standing trial this week for allegedly snow-skiing “out of control” and crashing into a man on the slopes in Park City, Utah. I always thought being out of control and crashing into things was just part of the snow-skiing experience. … UCF football coach Gus Malzahn says there will be a legitimate quarterback competition this spring, which will include incumbent starter John Rhys Plumlee, returning sophomore Thomas Castellanos and USF transfer Timmy McClain. If you believe anybody other than JRP will be starting in the season opener, I’ve got a snow-skiing resort in Mount Dora I’ll sell you.
Last word: “NFL’s reinstatement of Calvin Ridley sponsored by FanDuel.” — The Onion.com
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2
