HEAT
Center Jamaal Magloire strives to regain form with Miami Heat
The Heat signed Jamaal Magloire, who was an All-Star in 2004 but has fallen from that level of play.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 03, 2008

By MICHAEL WALLACE
mwallace@MiamiHerald.com

BILL KOSTROUN / AP

With a critical shortage of experienced big men on the roster, the Miami Heat needed a center.

Hoping to revive a once-promising career that has been on a four-year tumble into obscurity, journeyman Jamaal Magloire wanted another chance to turn things around.

Both the team and the player found a match Tuesday, when Magloire officially signed a one-year contract for close to the veteran's minimum of about $1.3 million.

Magloire, 30, arrived in Miami on Monday night and met with the media Tuesday after his first workout with the Heat.

''I definitely see potential for me to help this team,'' Magloire said. ``To what capacity remains to be seen. It remains to be seen the shape I come in, how training camp goes. I wouldn't have if I didn't see a need.''

Magloire, who is 6-11, is expected to compete for the starting job at center, where nine-year veteran Mark Blount (7-0) had been the only player under contract with more than two seasons of experience. Magloire views the Sept. 27 start of training camp as a chance to revive his career after seeing his production dwindle the past three seasons.

WELL-TRAVELED

He was an All-Star in 2003-04, when he averaged 13.6 points and 10.3 rebounds with New Orleans. But Magloire has since played for four teams in three years and is coming off his worst season after averaging 1.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 31 games with New Jersey and Dallas.

A combination of nagging injuries and inconsistent play factored into the drastic drop in production.

But Magloire insists he has come to Miami recharged. If not, it's a relatively minor gamble for the Heat.

''Whatever role, whatever capacity that's needed here, I'm looking forward to that because I want to get back to the level I was playing at four years ago,'' Magloire said. ``The fact that I didn't play last year just makes me more vicious, more hungry to go out there and get the job done. It's just all motivation.''

The Heat settled on signing Magloire after considering several other free agents, including D.J. Mbenga, Lorenzen Wright and Theo Ratliff.

`THE RIGHT PLACE'

Magloire also has a unique connection to Heat president Pat Riley. Magloire played at the University of Kentucky and wore Riley's old number.

''We feel this is definitely the right place for him to re-energize his career,'' Riley said of Magloire. ``He is an excellent rebounder with a big body. On the defensive end, he will plug up the paint and on the offensive end, he can score.''

Magloire provides the Heat more flexibility along a frontline that complements guard Dwyane Wade and features Shawn Marion, Michael Beasley and Udonis Haslem.

Alonzo Mourning, who is recovering from knee surgery, is not under contract but hopes to return by mid-season.

QUINN MIGHT RETURN

Tuesday's signing also brings the Heat's roster to 14 players under contract, one shy of the league maximum for the regular season.

The Heat is close to re-signing restricted free agent point guard Chris Quinn, who was extended a $1 million qualifying offer this summer.

''Our training camp roster is set,'' Riley said Friday during an interview on 790 The Ticket.

``We've got a lot of great [perimeter players], a lot of versatility. We're as good as we can be at this stage.''

Well that's good to hear! At least we know he is attempting to get into shape, so hopefully we will see a revived Magloire remember he isn't that old so it's not to far fetched to believe he can play in a high level maybe not like the 04 season, but at least somewhat close

Yea but we dont need him to play like an all-star, we need him to be a bigger version of Haslem. Just play D, rebound and trust that every night you'll get a few easy ones under the basket from a rebound or a dump off from someone drivin the lane. if he can give us 10ppg 10rbs and a couple of block shots then he would have been a success.

i even doubt he will get 10ppg a game, which is fine considering all the scoring options we have on this team, if he gets 10 rpg a game and a few blocks, we were successful

quote:

Yea but we dont need him to play like an all-star, we need him to be a bigger version of Haslem. Just play D, rebound and trust that every night you'll get a few easy ones under the basket from a rebound or a dump off from someone drivin the lane. if he can give us 10ppg 10rbs and a couple of block shots then he would have been a success.

A bigger Haslem and would be the most underrated team... esp if acts as deterrent to drives in lanes which would allow Wade more forgiveness for gambling for steals, I am liking the way our squad is shaping up...

lets hope he works out

quote:

Originally posted by Bringin Da Heat:
Yea but we dont need him to play like an all-star, we need him to be a bigger version of Haslem. Just play D, rebound and trust that every night you'll get a few easy ones under the basket from a rebound or a dump off from someone drivin the lane. if he can give us 10ppg 10rbs and a couple of block shots then he would have been a success.

10-10 is a bit optimistic i think, he wont be averaging 10 points with wade, beasley and marion on the team, but as others have said, we dont need him to score, we need him to be a SOLID presence in the post, block shots, and rebound, if he can do that, then our team will already be that much better.

we already have a solid core in wade, surrounded by 2 every capable scorers in beasley and marion, a great point gaurd with all the potential in the world in mario chalmers, a versatile front court soldier in haslem who can contribute on both ends of the floor, so all thats left is a center that is a role player, one that can play D, and only D

damn, i just realized exactly how many more posts everyone else has over me lol

quote:

Originally posted by Tisilv3r330ci:
damn, i just realized exactly how many more posts everyone else has over me lol

Trust me you are doing great you are not a post w.hore people have opened accounts the same day as you have more posts than me already.. crazy

lol yea thats true, i spend almost 4 hours a day reading these forums and i hardly post for the ammount of time i spend on the forum, i just like to stay informed and every now and then post my opinion

quote:

Originally posted by HeatRevolution:
lol yea thats true, i spend almost 4 hours a day reading these forums and i hardly post for the ammount of time i spend on the forum, i just like to stay informed and every now and then post my opinion

Yea sometimes it looks like people are more interested in the ranking system than they are of the heat.

lmao its true, as if u get rewards for post count, the only thing they could possibly get is respect for post count, but if the posts r pointless things, there goes the respect, the respect should be given to ppl who post thoughtful and insightful opinions and facts that were actually thought out and not thought only to be 1 closer to "1000 posts" a few of the posters i respect for their insightful posts, not for the post count r
Cauzeneffect (sry if typo)
GQ7
House
Diego

and a few others that im forgetting to mention only because i cant remember their exact usernames lol

All we need out of Magloire is just to be a solid defensive and rebounding presence in the post. Anything else like scoring points is a bonus.

And with that, I am officially a Star. Wow it does seem like a looooong time for me to reach 1000 posts as compared to some others.

well he is an article from the herald


Scout dissects Heat's Magloire
Posted: Wednesday September 03, 2008 06:43AM ET

One veteran NBA scout said of new Heat center Jamaal Magloire: ''Good rebounder and has long arms to defend in the block, but he can't run well anymore and he thinks he's better than he is. The All-Star berth [2004] went to his head. He's not a bad guy, but can be a pain if he doesn't play. He's got a bit of a post-up game, and you've got to give him the ball some to keep him happy.''

yea i read that this morning in the paper, i dont see that as true because from wat he said in the press conference, he is happy to come in and do watever the coaches ask of him, so it doesnt sound like he needs touches, but by all means, if the opportunity is there, give it to him, it will relieve pressure from the other scorers