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 The transformation was as swift as it was dazzling. One moment Penny Hardaway was an overburdened passing point guard on a floundering team. The next he was a self-assured high-scoring off-guard on a club that had assumed the character of an NBA heavyweight. Just like that, his play went from subpar to sublime—and Orlando would never be the same again. The big change in Penny—and consequently in the Magic—occurred on April 29, in Game 3 of Orlando's first-round playoff series against Miami. The Magic trailed the Heat two games to none and appeared to be drawing its last breath when, in the second quarter, Hardaway moved from the point to the 2-spot. He proceeded to go on a scoring spree and wound up with a Jordanesque total of 83 points in back-to-back wins in Games 3 and 4. Though Orlando was eliminated by Miami in Game 5, Hardaway's gilded performance left no doubt that, a season removed from the Shaquille O'Neal era, Penny is very much the man in Orlando. Moreover, with his switch of positions now permanent, he has every intention of wresting the scoring title from that fellow in Chicago. "Before, I was always worried about keeping everyone happy," says Hardaway. "It won't be that way anymore. I'm going to be more selfish this season because that's what it will take for us to win. If I'm doing my job, and leading the league in scoring, we'll be successful." New coach Chuck Daly is counting on that. Daly, who had been out of basketball since resigning as coach of the Nets after the 1993-94 season, was hired in June to replace interim coach Richie Adubato, who had taken over from Brian Hill last February after Hardaway made it clear that Hill was not the coach for him. Daly, who guided the Pistons to NBA titles in '89 and '90, has proved he can win, and his hiring, along with that of Julius Erving as the team's executive vice president, sent a message that the Magic intends to be taken seriously. Daly will have his patience tested as Orlando continues to seek its post-Shaq identity, but with Hardaway at off-guard it's at least clear where the scoring will come from. Penny's place at the point will be filled by the cat-quick Darrell Armstrong, who was surprisingly effective guarding Miami's Tim Hardaway during the playoffs. "Darrell played me as strong as anyone in the league all year," the Heat point guard says. Armstrong—who didn't compete in organized basketball until his senior year of high school and played in the Global Basketball League, the USBL and the CBA before signing with the Magic in April '95—isn't a scorer, but he is more than competent at distributing the ball. Armstrong will be backed up by 31-year-old Brian Shaw, who started 31 games last season, and 14-year veteran Derek Harper, the best active player never to make an All-Star team. The Magic acquired Harper and forward Ed O'Bannon on Sept. 24 for swingman Dennis Scott, who had asked out of Orlando. Scott had complained that the Magic was not supportive during his turbulent summer—in July, at a basketball camp for kids, he threw a tantrum, yelling about the "rage" within him, and in September two people were shot at his birthday party in Washington, D.C. Harper also welcomed the trade, saying that in this, his final season, he wanted to be on a playoff contender. Daly's choices at small forward are thornier. Nick Anderson, the last remaining player from the original Magic team in 1989-90, signed a six-year contract in August that could pay him as much as $40 million. Last season was the worst of his career—he shot an abysmal 40.4% from the line—but Daly is counting on him to rediscover the form that once made him an offensive force. Rounding out the starting lineup are center Rony Seikaly and forward Horace Grant. Seikaly is coming off his best season as a pro, averaging a career high in points, and he had a team-best 32 double doubles. Last season is not such a happy memory for Grant. He bickered with the team's medical staff about his injured right wrist, which kept him out of the playoffs: He said he had a hairline fracture; the team said it was a sprain. Whatever the truth, Grant is fully recovered and looking to return to the form he showed in 1993-94, when he was an All-Star. "Chuck can take us to the next level," says Grant. "If everyone is serious, then things can happen here." With Daly running the show and Penny putting up big numbers from Day One, Grant may just be right.
—Lars.Anderson.
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