No I didn't take NSD off, though I did consider it.

My frustration with the new blogger is sapping what little motivation I had left for this blog. Actually, its not completely a lack of motivation that has been responsible for my downturn in productivity as much as its been that in combination with my new work related responsibilities. However, I’ve already spent too much time bitching about that in this space over the past few weeks so I’ll save you any further boredom on that front today.

Honestly, I’m just not very inspired by much of what is going on out there to sit down and type out my usual array of theories/anecdotes on a regular basis. With that said, it’s a bit of a slow day at work so I figured I’d at least pop in and get some thoughts down while I had the time.

As many of you are undoubtedly aware, today is National Signing Day for college football. This years NSD isn’t nearly as exciting as some of the past NSDs (2003 remains my all time favorite with players such as Reggie Nelson, Joe Cohen, Andre Caldwell, Chad Jackson, Antonio Cromartie and Craphonso Thorpe all announcing on NSd with UF in their top 2 or 3), due in large part to the University of Florida having most of their class wrapped up by the end of last week. Still, there were/are a few blue chip prospects out there that I’ve been interested to see where they land and its always interesting to see some guys change their mind and bail on “commitments” when it comes time to fax in their LOI. The Gators pulled in surprise commit from 4 star safety Jeremy Finch today that should further boost their already nationally top ranked recruiting ranking. Finch is the ultimate example of how ridiculous this whole recruiting thing has gotten. With colleges all across the nation fawning over the young man, he committed to his third school in nearly as many weeks this morning by spurning his original destination (Michigan) and his second (Indiana) in order to come down and play for Urban Meyer and the Gators. Once Finch signed on, its been pretty slow on the Gator front, save for a couple of tenuous moments while awaiting the arrival of LOIs from guys like Carlos Dunlap, Lorenzo Edwards and a few others. At this point, Florida is pretty much done, with one possible exception: Belle Glade WR DeonteThompson. Thompson is a recruit that may Gator fans consider to be crucial despite a bevy of highly rated WRS littering the Florida roster. The logic behind this is twofold. First, Thompson is the only remaining receiver left of the three that were targeted by Florida for NSD. Both Ahmad Paige and Terrance Toliver opted to sign with SEC rivals Tennessee and LSU, respectively. Evidently, the Gators were confident enough in Toliver's supposed silent commitment to them that they slow played Paige only to end up losing Toliver to LSU and inadvertently driving Paige into the fat, grease coated arms of Phil Fulmer. Secondly, Thompson hails from the South Florida football hot bed of Belle Glade which has produced such stars as Reidel Anthony, Santonio Holmes and Fred Taylor, among others. A commitment by Thompson to the University of Florida could go a long way toward re-establishing the pipeline to Gainesville that once existed in Muck City, as Belle Glade is affectionately known. Thompson is set to announce his intentions at 3:30 this afternoon. For full coverage of the NSD goings on, click here.

The other National Championship team at the University of Florida will take on the much improved University of Georgia team tonight at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens this evening. While UGA is a possible NCAA Tourney team this year, their thin frontcourt doesn’t seem to stand much chance of holding up against a Gator frontline (and team) that is playing its best ball since last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Of course, I won’t be watching the Gators tonight because the broadcast will be blacked out due to the Orlando Magic’s game tonight against the Atlantic Division leading Toronto Raptors. The Magic were embarrassed by the Raptors last time they met and have seemingly not recovered since. The team that started out the season so hot has fallen on increasingly hard times due to a combination of injuries, poor execution and a disturbing lack of on-court chemistry. The losses of Keyon Dooling and Trevor Ariza have robbed this team of what little athleticism it originally possessed and left it with few, if any, perimeter players capable of slowing down even average scorers. In addition, the energy that each of these players provided on offense that helped offset the slow down post up game preferred by Brian hill is now completely absent and has rendered the Orlando offense as little more than five guys standing around while waiting for somebody, anybody to create a shot for themselves or others.

Earlier this year, I spoke of this problem for the Magic. It seemed to go by the wayside as Ariza became more acclimated in his role and Dooling began to round back into form in late December. However, with both of these players now on the shelf the Magic are left with a frightingly thin bench almost completely devoid of difference makers. For a team whose bench comprised over 50% of it offense during the first ¼ of the season this is a major problem that shows no signs of ending soon.

While I doubt this happens, I’d like to suggest that the Magic explore the possibility of trading for Corey Maggette. While I’m not an enormous Maggette fan, he is young athletic and capable of scoring in bunches. Additionally, he makes a relatively affordable salary while also managing to be the kind of “good citizen” that the Magic clearly prefer. Maggette has been unhappy coming off the bench in LA all year and has recently begun losing minutes to none other than Doug Christie in the Clippers’ rotation, so there may be no better time than now to explore this trade and try and infuse the Magic with a much needed boost in energy, scoring, athleticism and, hopefully, wins.

Finally, one last thing. It was a popular sentiment among many fans that the carping amongst NBA players about the (formerly) new ball was a complete joke and yet another example of pampered millionaires complaining for the sake of complaining. While I can’t argue that the level of bitching was a bit much, I do have to admit that the style of ball used does have an effect on the way certain players shoot, and therefore, produce. I’ll use a couple of Magicians as an example. Early in the year, Jameer Nelson was struggling mightily with his shot and, as a result, much of the rest of his game suffered. At this same time his backup, Carlos Arroyo, was lighting it up to the point that many fans wondered if he shouldn’t be starting. Brian Hill never relented, partially due to concerns about team chemistry. Eventually, Nelson started to play better but his shooting % never completely recovered. However, with the re- introduction of the old ball, Nelson immediately began to shoot and score at a much more prodigious rate. He scored over 30 in the first game with the old ball, and when questioned about the change he responded flatly, “It’s the ball”. I saw him say this and he was almost defiant in his answer. It was clear he hated the new ball and felt markedly more comfortable with the old NBA ball.

While Nelson has continued to shoot well, Arroyo’s play has suffered dramatically with the re-introduction of the old ball. In fact, Arroyo briefly lost his starting job to Travis Diener earlier this month due primarily to his pronounced shooting slump. While Arroyo has never mentioned the ball publicly, consider this: Arroyo’s best play is almost always in international competitions where a synthetic ball (similar to the formerly new NBA ball) is used. If you look at the numbers, it is clear that Arroyo’s slump has directly coincided with the re-introduction of the old leather NBA ball. While this may sound like a tremendous leap in logic to some, I say that one need only look at the results on the court for proof that the ball really does matter. Take a look:

Nelson (shooting %)

Nov/Dec: 39%

Jan/Feb: 45%

Arroyo (shooting %)

Nov/Dec: 44%

Jan/Feb: 32%

The splits in their 3 pt. shooting is even more pronounced. While I don't doubt that some of this is psychological, its hard to completely ignore the numbers.