ORLANDO – If the Orlando Magic were looking for kudos late Tuesday night for playing the powerhouse Philadelphia 76ers close despite the loss of Terrence Ross and the struggles of center Nikola Vucevic, they were sadly mistaken when head coach Steve Clifford addressed the team.
Clifford, an old-school coaching lifer, is usually about as subtle as punch in the stomach and he isn’t one to spare feelings when it comes to the bottom-line business of basketball. In Clifford’s eyes, there is the black-and-white assessment of winning and losing and he isn’t one to tolerate the excuses that fall into the gray areas.