The Fan Voice: "Summer League Observations - Day 1"

By Live or Die Magic | July 10th, 2007


The Orlando Magic website has streaming video feeds of the Pepsi Summer League games, complete with a two man play-by-play team. The website also provides box scores, rosters, and short recaps. Basically, everything you need to know the outcome of each day’s games.

So what I hope to provide from my experience at the Pepsi Summer League is my observations – anecdotes, if you will – of what I saw and what it was like being there. Since I was there as a fan, I am certain that my experience was quite different than those of the coaches, players, and various other league and team staff. Please note, any opinion provided is mine alone, any quotes attributed are conversations that I personally overheard or took part in. This is meant strictly to be interesting and entertaining to my fellow Magic fans.


Game 1 – Pacers vs. Bulls
I actually started off taking notes about the game, much like my game notes during the season. It became increasingly cumbersome because I didn’t know any of the players! So I found myself referring to my roster sheet every 15 seconds. I can tell you that Anthony Myles, a forward for the Pacers, was very strong inside and that Andre Barrett, playing for the Bulls team, is as fast as he ever was. In general, the Bulls team, anchored by first rounders Tyrus Thomas and Thebo Sefolosha, seemed to display greater teamwork. They were quick to get into the fast break and they had some success finishing broken plays.

Both teams played hard, cared about winning and clearly were trying to impress. The Pacers won the first game but the score stayed close throughout. I was surprised at the number of quality big men on both rosters. Of course, they could have just appeared good because of the caliber of talent they were playing against.


Observations of a Fan
What I found to be much more interesting was watching the various “NBA luminaries” around me. The RDV basketball court is slightly larger than a typical high school gym, so it was very easy to observe everyone in attendance. Some but not all of the people I saw included Larry Bird, Scott Skiles, Stan Van Gundy, Otis Smith, Bernie Bickerstaff (who actually greeted me twice), Joakim Noah (in street clothes), Joel Glass, Rodney Powell, Darrell Armstrong, Morlon Wiley, Sam Vincent, Jim O’Brien, Lawrence Frank, Brian Hill, Dell Curry, Dennis Neuman, David Steele, Bob McAdoo, and plenty of others.

Traditionally, the assistant coaches run the Summer League games. During the second game between the Heat and the Bobcats, I was able to observe all 6 head coaches – Pat Riley, Stan Van Gundy, Jim O’Brien, Lawrence Frank, Scott Skiles, and Sam Vincent – sitting either in the bleachers or in chairs along the sideline. Lawrence Frank and Jim O’Brien sat together for a while, talking shop I assume.

Team personnel tending to stay together and had seemingly benign conversations. For instance, the Bobcats staff, including Dell Curry and Paul Mokeski, sat directly behind me in the bleachers and I was able to hear them talking about all kinds of stuff during Game 1. Paul Mokeski has a deep, DEEP voice. Walt Perrin, who is the Director of Player Personnel for the Utah Jazz, walked by, noticed Dell Curry, stopped, and began joking with him about shooters and shooting. He commented about a player from one of the Vegas summer league games saying “He didn’t get up enough shots, you know how it is!”

JJ Redick younger brother David sat right next to me. After a few minutes, I drew his attention to the media guide I was holding, where it said that Travis Diener holds the Pepsi Summer League single game scoring record of 34 points. I then told him that I expected his brother to break that record this week. He laughed and said “OK.” JJ Redick then went out and scored 30 points in Monday’s victory over the Nets.

When walking to the media eating area, I passed by Lawrence Frank. He is even smaller in person, if you can believe that.

When Pat Riley walked into the building, he seemed to command the whole room. The place was already full of dozens of current, former, and hopeful NBA players, including Hall of Famers like Larry Bird and Bob McAdoo. But Pat still seemed to have the whole room looking at him when he came in and sat down. Walking by him, I made sure to make eye contact, and he did make eye contact with me – twice! (Hey, sometimes it’s the little things.)

The bathrooms near the RDV practice court are pretty small. I was waiting in line to get into the men’s room and Larry Bird walked by. He was about 5 feet from me, and of course, I was staring at him. The gentleman behind me in line – he was from the NBDL, I believe his name was Terry – said “Hey Larry.” Larry then said “Hey Terry,” and they shook hands. I watched Bird walk away and then I turned to “Terry” and said “I bet you could make ten 3-pointers in a row right now with that hand." He smiled and said “That guy? I don’t even know why I shook that guy’s hand!” Of course, he didn’t actually use the word “guy.” I assume he meant it all in jest.

As I walked back from the bathroom, I saw former Magic coach Brian Hill walk into the building. He immediately began talking with some lower-level Magic staffers. They were near enough to me for me to hear them asking Coach Hill questions about his status and what his plans were. To paraphrase Coach Hill, he said that he is taking it easy right now, he mentioned that he was in Jackson Hole recently, and that he has yet to make a decision. He went on to say that he knows there are a lot of rumors going on right now but none of them are true. He hasn’t decided what he will do next year yet. He has a year left on his Magic contract. Oh, and Coach Hill looks extremely fit and well-built in regular clothes.

In between games, I was in the area where food was being served and Coach Hill walked in and began speaking with Bulls Asst. Coach Jim Boylan, and some other Bulls staffers. I was sitting at an adjacent table eating a Subway sub and drinking a Mountain Dew (gotta tip my hat to the Pepsi sponsors). JJ Redick walked into the eating area and walked straight up to Coach Hill. They greeted each other with a handshake and a “how are you doing?” Hill told JJ that he looked good and JJ said he was looking forward to playing (in the Summer League). They only spoke for 20 seconds but it seemed genuine, not forced at all. JJ then walked away and Coach Hill turned back to Jim Boylan and commented that he was surprised they were letting him play (I assume by “they” he meant the Magic.).

Shortly after JJ left the room, Stan Van Gundy walked in. I immediately got tense, having both Coach Hill and Coach SVG in the same room. I suppose that SVG didn’t actually replace Hill, he replaced Billy Donovan, but I digress. SVG walked over to a closed-circuit monitor behind a counter/bar that food was being served on. He said aloud that he was watching for his brother (Jeff?) to arrive so that he could let him in the back entrance. He then asked anyone that was listening if he should actually let his brother into the building. I saw an opportunity, so I walked up to the counter that SVG was behind, got his attention and said “Stoly on the rocks, please.” He got the joke, laughed, and said that if he stays back there long enough, he’ll get all kinds of questions and requests from people. I couldn’t help noticing that SVG looks much slimmer in person. In fact, he really doesn’t look that heavy at all.

I smiled and turned away, only to come face-to-face with Joakim Noah. He said “Excuse me, can you tell me how to get back to the front entrance?” I was wearing a Magic golf shirt and Magic credentials, so he naturally assumed that I would know. I actually DID know, so I told him where to go, all along acting like I spend every day in the building.

Just before I left the eating area, I noticed Coach Hill approach SVG (who was still behind the counter). Hill joined him behind the counter and the two engaged in a friendly conversation (in low voices). Later on, I observed Coach Hill having similar friendly conversations with Tom Sterner and with Scott Skiles.

Ok, that is all the juice from Day One. I hope you enjoyed it. I will have more tomorrow.


This message was not subject of approval by the NBA or the Orlando Magic. The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA, but solely the writer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Live or Die Magic,

Awesome read LOD....you're one lucky SOB to have access to this thing. Cool comments on SVG and Brian Hill. Keep your ears open about any free agency talk today, I bet there will be some wheelin and dealin going on all afternoon. Thanks for the inside info, though, and keep up the good work!

I'm extremely jealous. Normally I'd be up at the RDV in the evening working out and playing basketball. But I can't, because I have to sit in front of my computer is listen to Dante and his Buddy George who enjoy making Anchorman and 40 Year Old Virgin jokes more than talking about the game. I admit, it's funny, but I enjoyed reading your juicy facts more.

I really hope Otis can work some "Magic" and we can find a way to resign Darko.

Even if we can't, it's been a good summer. They made the huge upgrade at the coaching position. We should be signing Rashard tomorrow. It looks like Redick should be ready to take a major role next year, hopefully starting. If we can actually find a way to sign Darko, that might be as close to a perfect summer as possible.

Haha! Nice read LOD!

great read,
one of the few bright spots in this dark week,
keep posting, where is the Day 2 ? :-)