http://www.detnews.com/2003/pistons/0311/16/c08-326527.htm Rivers' reign as coach of Magic might soon end By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News PHOENIX--Start up the office pools and draw your dates. As ridiculous as it migh t sound, as unfair as it might be, Magic Coach Doc Rivers could be fired, seriou sly, by the end of this month. The Magic, winless at home (0-6), took a 1-7 record onto a five-game trip that b egan Friday. And even Rivers seems resigned to the fact that, unless things get turned around quickly, it could be his final trip. "Someone is going to take the blame, obviously," he said. "And if we keep losing , it'll be me, the players or management. It could be anybody. That's just the w ay business is and the way sports are. I understood that when I got into this. B ut I believe that we'll turn this around." Magic star Tracy McGrady didn't exactly give Rivers a vote of confidence, either , when he said, "When you're not winning, changes have to be made." Nor did this help: "I don't see a light right now; really, I can't even see the end of the tunnel." If the Magic do pull the plug on Rivers, in all likelihood General Manager John Gabriel will be fired along with him. Gabriel, after all, is responsible for put ting this team together. John Weisbrod, the Magic's chief operating officer, is a former Amway executive who has assumed a more powerful role in the basketball operations this year. He maintains that no firings are imminent. "I'm not speaking along those lines or thinking along those lines," Weisbrod sai d. "I know it's the unavoidable question because it happens to be on everyone's lips and that's the culture of sports. That's the way everyone thinks when a tea m gets in these circumstances. But now I'm focused on joining hands with Gabe an d Doc and trying to fight out of this." The Magic's downfall, it must be said, has nothing to do with coaching. They hav e had horrendous luck with injuries (Grant Hill, Pat Garrity, Gordan Giricek, to name just a few) and Gabriel has made some questionable personnel choices (draf ting Steven Hunter and Jeryl Sasser, passing on Jamaal Tinsley and Tony Parker, signing classic underachiever Juwan Howard, etc.). Rivers hasn't exactly been gi ven a stacked deck. But he continues to fight. "The bottom line is, the easiest fix is for you to take the blame," he said. "Bu t you've just got to keep doing your job and keep the guys focused on the goal, on the task. If you do that and get out of this, all will be forgotten. If you d on't get out of it, something will happen. And it might not be just me. I don't want that. I'd rather just work this out." Believe this: If Rivers is fired, he won't be long out of work. My guess is, the Knicks will fire Don Chaney at their earliest convenience and hire Rivers. T-Mac support team Things got so bad in Orlando that McGrady briefly pondered quitting. "There for a minute I was out of it and just really frustrated," he said. "I did n't want to play basketball any more and I was ready to give it up right then an d there." That had to send up some red flags within the organization. Well, guess who has stepped up to help lift McGrady out of his funk -- a $13.2 million pseudo-shrink named Grant Hill. Hill, who hopes to try to play again in January or February, has been offering a shoulder to cry on and some counsel. "I try to be there for him, but it's frustrating to see somebody so talented go through something like that," Hill said. "We've all gone through something like that in this league with the adversity. "It's unfortunate the price you have to pay sometimes to be a top player in this league. But this might be his adversity. Magic (Johnson), Michael (Jordan), Lar ry Bird and Isiah (Thomas) have all gone through something. But this too shall p ass as long as he keeps doing the things he's been doing the past three years." McGrady has apparently seen the light. "It was a reality check for me and now I'm back to my normal self," he said. "I' ve been down and I don't want to feel that way no more. I never felt like that i n my life. I was so depressed. The people around me were feeling it as well. Whe n I hurt, they hurt. I don't want to put my family and fans through that any mor e. If I struggle now, I struggle. But I've just got to go have fun. If I struggl e again, I'm fighting through it." 尼克居然想要Rivers ??!! @@" --

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