Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek to start straight away... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New arrivals to start for the Magic tonight There was no time. Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek were rushing. They had so many things to do so quickly. Meet their new teammates. Talk to the media. Talk to the coaches. Take physicals. Oh, and one more thing: Prepare for the Magic's game tonight because both of them will start against the Chicago Bulls at TD Waterhouse Centre. It will be like taking a test on the first day of class. "We're going to throw them right into the fire," Magic Coach Doc Rivers said of his new players. "We're not going to wait." Reality returned a day after a most surprising trade. Mike Miller and Ryan Humphrey are out, Gooden and Giricek are in, and there are only 27 games remaining to push for a playoff spot. The Magic made this trade to benefit them now and later, but they are very much entrenched in the present. Fortunately, Gooden and Giricek seemed numb to the change. After all, they were Memphis Grizzlies two days ago, playing for a franchise located somewhere south of nirvana. "I don't know how I feel because it happened so soon," Giricek said. "I don't know exactly how I feel. Maybe I'll feel something in a week. I see nice weather and nice things." Giricek will start at shooting guard and Gooden at power forward, unless Rivers changes his mind during the shootaround this morning. They will join a starting five that figures to include Jacque Vaughn at point guard, Tracy McGrady at small forward and Andrew DeClercq at center. While Orlando lost Miller's three years of experience and 16.4 points per game, they added two players to their rotation and lost one. Humphrey was included in the deal, but he had played in only seven of the past 22 games. There is the question of who will be the Magic's No. 2 scorer, a spot that Miller held. Miller may have not become dominant in that role, but he did have success. Rivers hopes that Gooden will b that guy, but he doesn't want to put too much pressure on the 6-foot-10, 238-pound forward. Gooden is seven months shy of his 22nd birthday. And Giricek has more responsibility, too. Still, there is no time to think about anything other than making the playoffs. "We all understand that that's very difficult to make happen," Rivers said. "When you double that with rookies, I understand. I do. But I still won't relent on our goal. You might find out a little bit about guys." Most important, you will find out about Gooden. The Magic love him, but they also wondered for a while why Jerry West, the Grizzlies' president of basketball operations, would trade the first player he drafted in Memphis after only 51 games. West wanted Miller that much, but he had to have soured somewhat on Gooden. The Magic's theory is that Gooden was a bad fit in Memphis because they have so many power-forward types, including Pau Gasol, last season's rookie of the year. Maybe West, acclaimed as perhaps the greatest talent evaluator in NBA history, gave up on him too soon. "He also traded for Glen Rice and gave up Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones," Rivers said of West, referring to his days with the Los Angeles Lakers. "No one's perfect. No one's batting a thousand. We obviously are not, and neither is Jerry West. He had a backlog. He fell in love with Mike Miller, and there it is." Gooden expects to return to being a power forward who rebounds relentlessly and plays a versatile game on offense. He played too much small forward in Memphis to establish his true identity. "Deep down inside, I know I can do more," Gooden said. His teammates, especially Tracy McGrady, will be evaluating. "You've got to throw them in there right away," McGrady said. "We don't have time to wait."
So T-Mac is moving to SF. I think it's a good move. They get their quality players the most minutes out on the court each game. I think Gooden is going to be great for the rest of the season.
Armstrong Giricek Mcgrady Gooden DeClercq is their best starting 5 for a while..should be interesting how they do tonight on debuts.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "Big D":</div><div class="quote_post">So T-Mac is moving to SF. I think it's a good move. They get their quality players the most minutes out on the court each game. I think Gooden is going to be great for the rest of the season.</div> I agree I think Gooden will play much better for the rest of the season. Giri is starting and that's awesome
Gooden will put up better numbers here is why A-he is now in the east and out of the tough west B-he played out of position at the Grizzles as he was forced to play the SF C-He will play PF at magic and get a better chance to score as mcgrady will be the main attention on offence.So he should take advantage of that. Giricek will replace that shooting and scoring role which mike miller had and be affective.Magic couldn't of wished for a better trade..
I agree with everything you said but I think that Gooden wil be their second option. I think he will play so good till the rest of the season. Giri will also play better. Mike Miller will also improve. I know it's harder to play in the west but he will be able to take more shoots than he did in Magic. I can't wait to see Gooden and Giri!!!!!!
T-Mac & Miller were best friends on the team. But I think more double doubles from Gooden and more wins will help ease the pain.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "shapecity":</div><div class="quote_post">T-Mac & Miller were best friends on the team. But I think more double doubles from Gooden and more wins will help ease the pain.</div> Yup, I agree. If the Magic continue 2 go on a roll, and Gooden keepz on playin' like this, I think that he could re-enter the ROY race! He'll get more minutes, more points, more rebounds.... more WINS!
Gooden I think in the future will turn into one of those 20-10 guys everynight. He has great size and is a great defender. Girenk is a great shooter and will be like Mike Miller was on the team. A good trade for the Magic.
