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No Early Magic

William Foote

Wednesday 3rd November 2004



Bonus NBA on Milwaukee +4.5 -110

- Milwaukee at Orlando

- Game goes at 4:05 PM PST., 7:05 PM EST.

- Best Line Available at BoDog Sportsbook & Casino



This is a classic case of the oddsmakers catering to public sentiment and hoopla early on in the NBA season. Orlando is looking to put last year’s disastrous 21-61 effort behind them and took some drastic measures in the off-season to ensure that there isn’t a repeat. Chief among them was trading “Me-McGrady” for Francis, Mobley and Cato from the Rockets. They also drafted high school phenom, Dwight Howard, and Grant Hill will be making what seems like his 100th comeback. Yes, we should see far-reaching improvement out of Disney City this year. But we don’t expect this drastic change to happen overnight. After all, this is a completely different roster and they will need time to gel as one under a new system.



On the other side of the equation is Milwaukee. After everyone predicted they would be one of the worst teams in the NBA a year ago, the Bucks silenced their critics with a solid season and playoff appearance. Unlike their opponent tonight, the Purple Reindeer did virtually nothing to alter their roster in the off-season. Milwaukee is basically playing with the same core group of players, minus TJ Ford who is still out with a spinal injury. And similar to last year, expectations are low for Terry Porter’s club heading into the season.



Most will say the Bucks overachieved last year and hell won’t freeze over two consecutive seasons. Perhaps MIL will decline a notch this year. But until we see it first hand, we’ll go ahead and assume that this is the same club that cashed so many tickets last year as the result of low expectations. And really and truly, the Bucks have a marked advantage early on because their roster remains almost unchanged from last season. This in turn means players already have a familiarity with one another and their coach’s system. As cited earlier, the Magic will not be playing with this same early edge. The Bucks are a great value at this price and should have no trouble trotting off with the green.



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