Magic Wands: November 21, 2008

-Good little nuggets from Marc Stein's Weekend Dime on ESPN.com last week. Nugget 1: Stein wonders how the Magic faithful feel about a possible return for Shaquille O'Neal as a part owner. Shaq feels the city has gotten over it... and I tend to agree. I know, as a kid, I was distraught after O'Neal left and trashed just about anything with his name or likeness on it. After years of booing and jeering him, I feel we have both matured to the point where we understand each other and our motivations. I hope other fans do too.

-Nugget 2 from the Weekend Dime: Stein was invited to help create the NBA All Star ballot. It is a tougher job than it looks. But, I still don't think Jameer Nelson should be on that list (prove me wrong!).

-Sad news for the world of basketball. Pioneer coach Pete Newell died Monday at 93. Newell is known for holding the Pete Newell camp for big men in California. He won a national championship with Cal in 1959 and won an Olympic gold medal in 1960 (with a team that featured Oscar Robertson and Jerry West). The basketball world will miss him.

-Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel noticed a lot of former players are wearing suits and ties as coaches and general managers. And, the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat, wins a bet with Mickael Pietrus (at the bottom of the page).

-Anyone notice how many more fights/flagrant fouls there are in the NBA these days? It is only November and we have had a full-on fight between Phoenix and Houston, Shaquille O'Neal getting suspended for a flagrant foul on Rodney Stuckey and now Kevin Garnett serving a game for a near hit on Andrew Bogut. The NBA is definitley trying to crack down on these incidents by publicly punishing these guys early and harshly. But isn't this adding more attention to a problem the NBA perceives that it has?

-Never too early to start thinking about the playoffs. Orlando premiers in John Hollinger's Playoff Odds as the No. 7 seed behind Miami and Atlanta. The Magic have not beaten anyone yet, but really? The Hawks are sliding and the Heat are good, but can they keep it up for 82 games. Orlando still has some work to do, I guess. About 71 games of it too.

-I know John Hollinger. Mickael Pietrus has been a pretty big surprise for the Magic.

-A mainstay of the NBA media force is leaving Sports Illustrated, Henry Abbott reports.