HoopsHype.com Articles
A
magical season for Pat Garrity
by Mike
Tuck / March 3, 2002
In his fourth NBA
season, Pat
Garrity is posting career highs across the board. Pat’s
contributions have the Orlando
Magic in the running for a top seed in the Eastern Conference
despite a season ending injury to perennial All-Star Grant
Hill.
“Pat’s been
a lifesaver,” Horace
Grant said without hesitation.
Pat Garrity had always
been a player who would come off the bench and provide three-point shooting,
but at the same time be a defensive liability. Early on in the season
this was the case again. The Magic had added future Hall of Famer Patrick
Ewing to the roster, but did not make him a starter in
order to save his legs for the long hall. So once again Orlando had a
revolving door at the center spot, but about a month and a half into the
season Pat Garrity slammed that door shut when he was given his chance
to start.
“I think it’s
given me more confidence and having Doc trust me like that, it really
has given me more confidence in my all-around game,” Garrity said.
Pat took over at power
forward and Head Coach Doc Rivers bumped Horace Grant up to center.
Garrity is an undersized power forward at 6’9’’ and 238
lbs, but it is Garrity, not his opponents, that is causing match-up problems.
Pat’s feathery touch from the outside forces opponents’ big
men to have to step out on the floor and guard him.
“The fun thing
about playing against those guys is that while they have the advantage
in the post, it’s kind of fun the other way when we have an up-and-down
tempo, coming off screens and stuff. They really don’t look too comfortable
doing that either,” Garrity said with a chuckle.
The fact is that the
Magic has thrived with this smaller lineup, currently sitting at a season-high
five games above .500. Offensively Pat Garrity has shined this year. He
has led the Magic in scoring on four different occasions. But equally
important Pat has more than held his own on the defensive end. Pat’s
hustle and determination on defense has allowed Doc Rivers to have confidence
in playing with a smaller lineup.
“I think he’s
been great,” Rivers said. “He’s guarding guys who are bigger,
stronger and you can make the case more talented every night and a lot
of those nights he comes out ahead. I’ve been really happy with him.”
Despite his career
year and deadly accuracy from deep, his teammates have one complaint about
Pat’s shooting. He doesn’t do it enough.
“He knows we
get upset at him when he doesn’t take shots,” Darrell
Armstrong said.
Horace Grant said,
“We get mad at him. It shows him how much confidence we have in him.
Whenever he gets his hands on the ball, we think it’s going in because
he’s just that good of a shooter.”
Teams throughout the
league know how good of a shooter Pat Garrity is too. Every team the Magic
had trade talks with, one name kept popping up in every deal discussed.
That name was Pat Garrity. His value to the Magic is why he is still in
Orlando.
He is a perfect fit
for Orlando’s run-and-gun style of offense. He allows the Magic to
spread the floor and open the lane for Tracy
McGrady and Mike
Miller. All he has to do is sit on the perimeter and shoot
the ball when it comes his way. And when Pat Garrity has his feet set,
it’s lights out.
“Times like that,
when you’re shooting well, it doesn’t fell like there’s
any effort. Or when the ball touches your hand, all of a sudden it’s
up in the air. It’s kind of hard to explain, but when you’re
a shooter and you start getting into a rhythm, everything’s right.
Your footwork’s right, you’re effortlessly catching the ball,
squaring up and letting it go and those are fun nights”, Garrity
said in talking about his special skill.
Pat has had a lot
of fun nights for the Magic this year.
Mike Tuck is a
producer/on-air talent for 740 The Team in Orlando and a regular contributor
to HoopsHype.com
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