Clifford too sick to coach
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Hornets scrambled a bit as their tipoff against the Orlando Magic approached Monday night at Spectrum Center.
An illness prevented Hornets coach
from attending the game, so the coaching duties fell to associate head coach
Silas said he learned that Clifford felt ill around 9 Monday morning and received definitive word between 1:30 and 2 p.m. from Clifford that Clifford wouldn’t coach.
“Today’s been a lot of study,” Silas said before tipoff. “Usually, I’ll watch a game and kind of gloss through it if it’s not my game [to scout] and not my gameplan [to prepare as an assistant coach]. But today, I spent a lot more time delving into the stats, delving into our last game and really making sure that I’m prepared for situations — late-game situations, that sort of thing.
“You have to be on top of the rotation a lot more, groups that play well together. Usually, Cliff kind of handles that, and I assist him during the game with the substitutions and the playing groups.”
Silas served as the Charlotte Bobcats’ head coach for several games late in the 2011-12 season when his father, head coach
and the team’s front office gave him an opportunity to do the job. The Bobcats finished that lockout-shortened season 7-59, so the Bobcats had nothing to lose. Magic coach
said the biggest adjustments for someone taking over the head-coaching duties on short notice would involve calling timeouts, making the final decisions on playing rotations and late-game situations.
“I hope he’s bad in all of those areas,” Vogel joked before tipoff. “I hope he makes a lot of mistakes tonight and it costs them a win. That’s what I hope. I love Stephen, but …”
Indeed, Vogel’s team needed all the help it could muster Monday.
The Magic held an eight-game losing streak against the Hornets — the Magic’s second-longest active losing streak to a specific team.
“One of the strengths of our team is our wings,” Vogel said. “They have elite defenders at the wing position. has given us problems both in the 5-man pick-and-roll and in the small pick-androll game. … And they’re well-coached on the defensive end. We’ve just had some poor offensive performances as a result.”
Vogel made clear that slowing Walker, an All-Star last season, would be a “five-man job.” Magic point guard would have to prevent Walker from having easy looks from the perimeter, but Payton’s teammates would have to defend Walker effectively on other spots of the court. Magic center
scored 34 points in Sunday’s 105-100 victory over the New York Knicks, and the performance catapulted him forward on the Magic’s alltime scoring list.
Vucevic started Monday with 5,926 points as a member of the Magic, moving him into ninth on the all-time list, passing guard who had 5,898
points.
Vucevic’s next on the list is
who ranks eighth with 6,603 points.
On Monday, Vucevic had tough tasks: slowing
offensive game, slowing any pick-and-rolls involving Walker and Howard and using his 3-point shooting to move Howard away from the hoop on the Hornets’ defensive end. target Moving on up Nikola Vucevic Steve Clifford Paul Stephen Silas. Silas, Kemba Walker Darrell Armstrong, Dennis Frank Vogel Scott, Dwight Howard’s Elfrid Payton Josh Robbins