Posts Tagged → Boston Celtics
Recap: Orlando Magic 111, Charlotte Bobcats 102 (OT)
AP Photo/Chuck Burton
In a wild and crazy game, the Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 111-102 in overtime. With the win, the Magic notched their 50th win of the regular season — the fourth consecutive year with 50 wins or more for the franchise in the Van Gundy era. The victory also sealed the Bobcats’ slim fate of returning to the playoffs. With five games left before the postseason begins, it seemed as if Orlando and Charlotte would go through the motions and play the game just for the sake of playing it. However, the Magic paid a price when Dwight Howard stepped to the free-throw line in the second quarter. Gerald Henderson counted out the seconds as Howard was going through his routine at the charity stripe. Once Henderson reached 10 seconds, Howard was whistled for a violation by Bennett Salvatore and quite frankly, it’s something that should happen more often but referees turn a blind eye more often than not. However, on this occasion, because Henderson was counting out loud, there was no choice but to blow the whistle. Howard did not approve of the call and made it known by throwing the basketball to the baseline away from one of the refs. Immediately, Howard was called for a technical foul by Salvatore, his 18th of the season.
With it, Howard will be suspended for Sunday’s matinee against the Chicago Bulls unless the tech is rescinded. Surprisingly enough, that’s not all for drama. In the fourth quarter, Quentin Richardson got into a scuffle with Henderson after he was called for a foul. Richardson and Henderson exchanged words. Suddenly, something must have been said because Richardson immediately shoved his hands in Henderson’s face, prompting both teams to shove each other. Following the shoving match, Richardson was ejected, while Henderson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Kwame Brown were called for technicals since they were in the middle of the altercation. So a game that meant very little for Orlando turned into a matchup against an enemy.
The Magic were led by a balanced attack, as six players scored in double-figures. Taking the place of Jason Richardson in the starting lineup, Gilbert Arenas was excellent, putting up 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, including making six three-pointers. Brandon Bass had 19 points and eight rebounds, Jameer Nelson had 18 points and nine assists, Turkoglu had 17 points and seven rebounds, while Howard had 15 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks. Coming off the bench, Ryan Anderson finished with 10 points.
Wednesday’s Magic Word
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Even now, some eight months later, Orlando Magic superstar center Dwight Howard has flashbacks to July and August when he would spend two to three hours a day in gymnasiums all over the world shooting jumpers and perfecting his hook shot with both hands. Howard was a man in demand last summer, twice traveling to China for promotional appearances, making a third trip to India for the NBA and also spending time in New York and Los Angeles furthering his acting and musical aspirations. But regardless of where he was, Howard would always seek out a gymnasium – usually at U.S. army bases – to perfect his craft and prove that he was far more than just the NBA’s premier defender and rebounder. Howard and the rest of the basketball world see the fruits of all of that work now on a nightly basis as he has boosted his scoring average to easily the best mark of his career (23.2 points per game) while also carrying his Orlando Magic across those broad shoulders of his. “
- How many wins have the Orlando Magic lost due to injuries and illnesses?
- Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “When the Magic do stumble in the playoffs, know that it’s not your fault. It may be the midseason trades that didn’t provide much useful debt, especially at point guard (but did tie up future cap space). It might have something to do with inconsistent three point shooting. It might have something to do with teams being able to slow the Magic because they can single-cover Howard.”
- Ironically enough, following the Kendrick Perkins trade and Dwight Howard’s continued development on offense, the Orlando Magic have become the Boston Celtics’ kryptonite according to Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider: “The Celtics had an answer for Dwight Howard, but now he plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Perkins was pivotal in neutralizing Howard in the Eastern Conference finals last season, but the Celtics don’t have that weapon in their arsenal anymore. In the two games the Magic played against the Celtics with Perkins in street clothes, Howard and the Magic held the Celtics to 78 points in an eight-point win on Christmas and lost by just three on Boston’s home court in January. Luckily for the Celtics, the playoff seedings likely will keep Howard far, far away from TD Bank Garden, because the earliest the two teams could possibly meet is in the Eastern Conference finals, a would-be rematch of last season’s East title bout.”
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Magic coach Stan Van Gundy might be right: Some in the media may have already made up their minds that Derrick Rose is the MVP, all evidence be damned. Personally, I haven’t. Even if you’re like me and have been leaning that way for a few weeks, there is plenty of time for careful, thoughtful, and informed analysis before the ballots are due in the NBA office April 14 at 3 p.m. ET.”
- Howard implores Magic fans to believe in the team.
Friday’s Magic Word
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic received some good news and bad news today at shootaround. The bad news is that Gilbert Arenas likely won’t play tonight because he’s sick. He woke up with the chills and a fever, and he felt so bad he couldn’t even drive himself to the doctor. There’s some good news, though. One, Arenas will miss tonight’s game because of sickness and not because of his knee — that’s, strangely, a good sign in itself. Two, Chris Duhon’s thumb injury may not be as serious as originally thought. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Duhon’s MRI results came back negative and he could return before the end of the regular season. And three, Quentin Richardson will play tonight after missing the last three games with back spasms. But tonight the Magic will be without a true backup point guard, leaving Hedo Turkoglu to employ the 10-12 minutes when Jameer Nelson isn’t on the floor. “
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy is proud of his players.
- Gilbert Arenas is out for tonight’s game with the flu.
- Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com: “I think just about every Magic fan hopes the Chicago Bulls secure the No. 1 seed, which would then set up a likely Orlando-Chicago series in the second round. I talked briefly about this on a recent webcast here on OrlandoMagic.com, but to restate my thoughts I think the Bulls’ lack of postseason experience and the fact that compared to the Celtics and Heat, Chicago just simply don’t have as much talent are two primary reasons why it would be most beneficial for the Magic to clash with the Bulls. I recognize how extraordinary Derrick Rose has been this season and I think the signing of Carlos Boozer – in spite of him dealing with injuries throughout the year – was one of the more intelligent acquisitions this past summer. I also think Chicago’s front office made an astute decision to withstand temptations to trade Joakim Noah in a Carmelo Anthony proposed deal. But ultimately when you examine the rosters and analyze the assortment of facts, the Bulls don’t seem to have the makeup of a club that would advance far into the playoffs. They have a first year head coach, they lack supreme quality at the shooting guard position and they don’t have enough size to contend with Dwight Howard for an entire seven game series.”
- Royce Young of CBSSports.com notes that the Orlando Magic’s matchup with the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs is set in stone.
- Is there an upset winner for Defensive Player of the Year?
- Dennis Scott, a former Magic player, was a pretty terrible rapper.
Monday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “It wouldn’t be shocking at all if the New York Knicks — the Magic’s opponent tonight — make a play for Dwight Howard next season, perhaps offering either Amar’e Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony at trade deadline for the all-star center. Howard can become a free agent after next season, and the Magic will be nervously waiting for the NBA’s most dominant big man to make a decision. If they don’t want to wait and risk losing him without compensation, the Magic could listen to trade offers for Howard next season. It’s when they have some leverage. Teams in the NBA will be falling all over themselves in attempts to pry Howard away from Orlando — at the trade deadline and, obviously. next summer if, or when, he’s free. The Knicks are desperate for a center. You don’t think they’d part with either Anthony or Stoudemire for Howard? Stoudemire has had to play the role of the Knicks’ big man this season, and it has worn him down.”
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy is complimentary of a fellow coach.
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “The Orlando Magic are a wacky collection of characters and off-center personalities as evidenced by their recent vow to not shave their facial hair until after their playoff run is complete (hopefully in the NBA Finals, of course). But head coach Stan Van Gundy pointed out something recently about a couple of the Magic players that is a true rarity in NBA locker rooms. According to Van Gundy, Ryan Anderson is much better than even the power forward thinks he is and the coach is constantly harping on him use his talent to attack. Then, there’s the case of reserve point guard Chris Duhon, who has taken care of the ball and defended the way the Magic have hoped, but for whatever reason he’s shown a reluctance to shoot the ball. It’s gotten so bad at times that it’s been like the Magic are playing four on five offensively because of Duhon’s unwillingness to pull the trigger on shots. Begging a player to shoot more and not less? Again, a true rarity in the sometimes egomaniacal NBA world.”
- Players for the Orlando Magic state their individual goals.
- Vince Carter is not the same player that he was with the Magic. Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post explains: “While it unfolds, the whole scene is surreal to me as I watch from the comfort of my couch. Less than two years ago, the Magic acquired Carter and Ryan Anderson for next to nothing (the expiring contracts of Rafer Alston and Tony Battie, plus the youthful Courtney Lee) in a critically acclaimed move designed to put them over the top in the championship hunt. Now, following a midseason trade and a rocky adjustment period, he’s coming off the bench for a lottery team, and even then only to loiter on the weak side and wait for a kickout.”
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “This probably speaks more to the ongoing Boston funk and Miami’s recent 5-6 stretch against .500-or-better teams, but Orlando actually has the East’s second-best record since the All-Star break … at a modest 11-5.”
- M. Haubs of The Painted Area argues that Dwight Howard does more to help the Magic win games than Derrick Rose does for the Chicago Bulls: “Derrick Rose is a great player who has had an outstanding season. He is the best player on the best team in the Eastern Conference. He has been the driving offensive force in pulling out wins in the fourth quarter on several occasions. The Bulls offense as a whole has been excellent when he’s been on the floor. But Derrick Rose has been one of several key factors – defense (and the coaching behind it), Rose, rebounding, bench – in the Bulls’ surprising success this season. He has not been the single primary factor. [...] I was fully ready to swing to the Rose MVP camp following his performance late in the game on Saturday. However, after digging into the evidence, I feel more strongly than ever that Derrick Rose does not deserve to be the 2010-11 NBA MVP, though I have little doubt at this point that he will win the award. I’m going to withhold judgment on my mythical ballot as a whole for another couple weeks.”
- Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Five straight wins and the best center in the game, solid four seed, but nobody mentions them among the contenders in the East. You’ll see more Gilbert Arenas this week, which may not be best for then Magic.”
Linking the NCAA Tournament and NBA together, Part III
Photo by Flickr/mcdonaldsallamericangames
In Part I, we discussed the idea of teams drafting winners. Part II looked at the teams who drafted winners, and how the players performed in the NBA.
Part III will explore two different one-and-done scenarios, and the NCAA Tournament history of players on top NBA teams. We will also see the “good ol’ days” are aptly named.
One-and-done and one-and-done
Before the NBA outlawed entering the draft right after high school, many players made the leap from prep-to-pro. The only March Madness footage you’ll see of Dwight Howard and LeBron James is during their McDonald’s commercial. We won’t hear highlights of Gus Johnson screaming “rise and fire!” before Kobe Bryant nailed a game winner. It’s sad these players were never part of March Madness. Fortunately, the restrictions on draft eligibility have led some NBA stars to the Big Dance.
The NBA’s leading scorer, Kevin Durant, steered Texas to the tournament in 2007, but that was about it. The Longhorns beat New Mexico State in round one, and lost their next game. In the 2008 Final Four, Derrick Rose and Memphis toppled the UCLA Bruins, who featured Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook. Rose came close to a title, but his team lost a late lead two days later in the championship game. Highlight machine Blake Griffin reached the Elite Eight in his final collegiate season before falling to North Carolina.
Other NBA greats went to college before the restrictions were in place, but they didn’t cut down the nets either. Dwyane Wade led the Marquette Golden Eagles to the 2003 Final Four, but was knocked out by Kansas. Tim Duncan reached the Elite Eight at Wake Forest, but Chris Paul never made it past the Sweet 16 as a Demon Deacon. Shaquille O’Neal, one of the most intimidating players of all time, met kryptonite in three straight NCAA Tournaments and never advanced past the second round.
Failing to stand on stage with Jim Nantz wasn’t the end of the world for these guys. Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal both boast four NBA rings and will be remembered as two of the best players ever. Dwyane Wade won a ring with Miami, and Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose are positioning themselves for some jewelry.
The basic structure of the tournament is the simplest explanation for these all-time greats never winning an NCAA championship. The one-and-done format essentially caters to underdogs, as the randomness of single elimination allows many inferior teams to advance. Sustaining tremendous performance throughout a series is much more difficult and is a major reason the best NBA teams usually meet in June.
Sneak Preview: Orlando Magic at New York Knicks
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
- George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Nothing against [Gilbert] Arenas personally, but he is damaged goods. He’s been trying to play on creaky damaged knees for three years, and there obviously appears to be no miracle cure short of Santeria to make Gilbert all better. But enough shots at Arenas. I am here to defend Nelson. The much-maligned Jameer Nelson. The guy who is as much a team leader as Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard is the imposing, great superstar. Jameer Nelson is the heart and soul of this team. Has been for years. Yet fans, media, and even his GM don’t seem to appreciate Jameer all that much. Everybody went gaga when rumors of a trade for Chris Paul surfaced during last year’s NBA Draft. Everybody like to rip Jameer because he is too short and vulnerable on defense and isn’t a ‘true point guard.’ But he’s also the guy who is most clutch at crunch time. He killed the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day when he scored 10 of his 12 points in the game’s final three minutes and recently took out the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-point shot. What more do you want from this guy?”
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Here’s Magic General Manager Otis Smith‘s dream, which initially sounds like a nightmare: Smith hopes Gilbert Arenas causes a major controversy. That’s right. Gilbert’s no stranger to dark headlines, of course, but Smith is talking about him stirring things up on the court, not the gun range. Smith wants to see Arenas create waves in Orlando by challenging Jameer Nelson for the starting point-guard job next season — or even seizing it from Nelson. This scenario sounds far-fetched now, given Gilbert’s struggles since arriving in a mid-December trade. [...] Smith’s response came when I asked him about the clouds hovering over Arenas’ future with the Magic. He hasn’t been healthy, bothered by a troublesome left leg. And — as a career starter — Arenas is not happy as Nelson’s back-up, even though he’s showed little progress with his downsized minutes. [...] Smith feels Arenas needs more time, especially with [Stan] Van Gundy. But at some point, as his mentor/father figure since their Golden State days 10 years ago, Smith needs Arenas to justify why he risked making the deal.”
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Stan Van Gundy originally tried to solve the Orlando Magic’s turnover problem by talking about the issue and showing pertinent video clips to his players. Didn’t work. His team still committed 20 turnovers in its win Monday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers — the sixth time in their last eight games that the Magic had at least 18 turnovers. So, Van Gundy tried something novel during practice Tuesday at Baruch College in Manhattan. He didn’t use the word ‘turnover.’ The closest he came to discussing it? He urged his players to be sharp in one drill. [...] Before every game, he writes down the keys to that game on a dry-erase board in the Magic locker room. But Van Gundy said he won’t even mention the word ‘turnover’ on the board prior to tonight’s matchup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.”
- Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times: “The Knicks are on the wrong side of a list of worrisome numbers. They blew a 15-point lead and lost to the Boston Celtics on Monday, their sixth defeat in seven games, and fell to .500 for the first time in more than a month. And who could predict the team’s scoring famine with the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups? Coach Mike D’Antoni pinpointed the team’s most glaring issues at Tuesday’s practice, especially in the fourth quarter. Against the Celtics, Anthony did not score a basket in the second half, during which he was bloodied by a Rajon Rondo elbow near his left eye and left in the final seconds of the 96-86 loss. Amar’e Stoudemire did not score in the fourth quarter as Boston raced away from the Knicks, finishing on a 23-5 run, including the last 10 points of the game. The Knicks have not scored 100 points since Toney Douglas poured in nine 3-pointers last week against Memphis.”
- Howard Beck of the New York Times: “After one loss, Carmelo Anthony blamed a lack of defensive strategy. The next day, he blamed an overabundance of defensive schemes. In Indiana, Anthony upbraided Jared Jeffries for failing to get him the ball on a last-second play. In Detroit, he badgered Toney Douglas for failing to get him the ball in the second half. After his worst game of the season, he walked straight to the team bus, leaving others to explain the loss. Anthony is probably not as petulant, moody or selfish as he projected. But the hand-wringing over his demeanor obscured the Knicks’ broader deficiencies — most of which stem from the trade that brought him here. Their defense is worse. Their ball movement has suffered. And their roster is in shambles.”
- Ian Begley of ESPN New York: “The Knicks are 7-9 since Anthony’s arrival. They fell to 35-35 after Monday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics. The last time New York was .500 was Feb. 11, 11 days before the Knicks finalized the three-team, 13-player deal to acquire Anthony. They enter play on Tuesday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers. According to some associated with the team, the Knicks players may be pressing. Coach Mike D’Antoni said on Monday night that the team panicked late in the fourth quarter of its loss to the Celtics. He said on Tuesday that the offense was stagnant at times in the final stanza, a common theme in its recent struggles. D’Antoni has observed that the new-look Knicks are ‘not quite sure’ of what they want to do on offense late in games. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 23-4 in the final 7:26 on Monday.”
- Stephen A. Smith of ESPN New York: “Monday night started with the New York Knicks introducing the Boston Celtics to a team we hadn’t seen since the days of Pat Riley, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. It continued with blood splattered on the Madison Square Garden floor, punctuated with near fisticuffs from Amar’e Stoudemire — and teammates surprisingly eager to come to his aid. But once the final buzzer sounded and it was time to exhale, seconds removed from evident demoralization of a 96-86 defeat, it was clear these latest representatives of Gotham City didn’t warrant any comparisons at all. Just pity! There are no Oakleys or Masons, just Ronny Turiaf and Jared Jeffries. There isn’t a Riley on the bench, just Mike D’Antoni, who appears to detest everything Riley represented when he was with the Knicks — meaning rigidity and toughness. By now we’ve also learned, excruciatingly, that there is no defense, very little toughness or offensive efficiency, no team in any sense that really matters. Just a collection of NBA-caliber talent paid to wear blue-and-orange uniforms. [...] A season is not made in a week or two any more than a stellar game epitomizes greatness. But if what we’ve witnessed in the past nine days symbolizes anything, it is that the Knicks are falling apart before our very eyes. They’ve lost to sub-.500 teams. They’ve made marginal opposing players look like All-Stars. They’ve appeared disoriented in running plays, at getting to key spots on the floor and forcing misses, transforming themselves into laughingstocks. Privately, as a result, they have lost faith in one another. But especially in their coach.”
Linking the NCAA Tournament and the NBA together, Part II
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Part I of this mini-series looked at the draft position of players who have recently appeared in the NCAA National Finals. Today, we will look at the teams who pursued these players, and how these players performed in the NBA. Tomorrow, Part III will explore two different one-and-done scenarios, and the NCAA Tournament history of players on top NBA teams. We will also see the “good ol’ days” are aptly named.
Winnersville, U.S.A.
Say what you want about the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they are a bunch of winners (at least on draft night). Since 2005, four of Minnesota’s eleven first round picks have played on NCAA Championship teams. They also picked champions in the second round, netting Mario Chalmers and Chris Richard. These players have not helped Minnesota become a #winning team so far. Actually, Wayne Ellington is the only player among the six still with the Wolves. Two different luminaries, Kevin McHale and David Kahn, have made draft picks for the team during this time.
Ironically, Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz welcomed three members of the runner-up 2005 Illinois team to town. They used the third overall pick of the 2005 draft on Deron Williams, and he eventually assisted Sloan’s exit from Salt Lake City. They drafted Dee Brown in the second round of 2006, and Roger Powell signed with the Jazz after his Illinois career.
The Bulls ended up with three members of the 2001 Duke team at various stages of their careers. They drafted Jay Williams second overall in 2002. Two years later, they used a second round pick on Chris Duhon. In the summer of 2010, their decision was signing Carlos Boozer to a five year contract. In total, the Bulls have had eight players from the last eleven champions wear their jersey (Williams, Duhon, Boozer, Joakim Noah, Hakim Warrick, Lonny Baxter, Chris Richard, Ben Gordon).
Five teams (Dallas, San Antonio, Boston, Sacramento, Phoenix) haven’t selected a player who appeared in the National Finals since the turn of the century. It is worth pointing out some of these teams are major players in basketball analytics.
The dichotomy between the Timberwolves draft results and some of the analytical squads’ results leads to an obvious question: do the more analytical teams ignore winners, while teams like Minnesota think winners will bring them out of the basement?
We at least know the Mavericks philosophy. I e-mailed Mavericks owner Mark Cuban yesterday and asked him why his team hasn’t drafted a player from the National Finals since he took over. He just chalked it up to happenstance. He went on to say it is “not intentional at all. We don’t care who they play for.”
Friday’s Magic Word
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “In the absence of J.J. Redick — who’s missed four games and counting with a lower abdomen injury — the Orlando Magic have adjusted their lineup by giving Redick’s minutes to Gilbert Arenas and leaving the backup point guard minutes to Chris Duhon. Stan Van Gundy explained his decision Friday to play Duhon rotation minutes rather than keeping Arenas at point guard and giving Redick’s minutes to Quentin Richardson or Earl Clark. One, Van Gundy wants Arenas comfortable playing at either guard spot. The Magic had all but abandoned the experiment of playing Arenas at shooting guard in the second half of the season, but Redick’s injury has resurrected that project. If Arenas can gain any efficiency at that spot — which, to be honest, he hasn’t — it’d give the Magic the option of playing Arenas and Jameer Nelson at the same time, potentially adding another dynamic to a sometimes-stagnant offense team.”
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy has high praise for the Denver Nuggets.
- J.J. Redick will continue to sit out of games until he’s fully healthy.
- John Schuhmann of NBA.com takes a look at which teams in the NBA have the best benches. The Orlando Magic do not make the list, even though a bevy of other contenders make appearances.
- Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated on the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference: “The race for No. 1 could be decided April 7, when Boston (which holds a 2-1 lead in the season series) visits Chicago. Some will argue that the older Celtics can’t afford the more difficult postseason schedule, but they have a history of flouting that logic — last year they won on the road against Cleveland and Orlando and came within five minutes of upsetting the Lakers on their home floor in Game 7 of the finals. Home-court advantage may be more important to the Bulls because Rose has never won a playoff series and will be dealing with an entirely new level of intensive opposition with each successive round. The Celtics know they can win on the road, while this Bulls team has yet to win a series under any circumstances.”
- Given that the Magic are in line for the No. 4 seed in the East, keep an eye on the race for the top seed.
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “The focus here is fully on Florida, despite the fact (A) GM Otis Smith should really be under far more pressure in Orlando than Stan Van Gundy after making the Gilbert Arenas trade so many of us deemed unnecessary in addition to the Vince Carter-for-Hedo Turkoglu swap and (B) Stan Van Gundy would instantly become one of the hottest commodities on the coaching market even if the Magic can’t get out of the first round and Van Gundy is ousted.”
- Chad Ford of ESPN Insider breaks down Jason Richardson‘s future: “His numbers no longer pop out at you, especially since the Suns traded him to Orlando, but Richardson continues to play well. He is a big threat from behind the arc and still has some bounce in those 30-year-old legs. The Magic have incurred a massive payroll, so unless they win a title this season it’s unlikely they’ll be willing to pay Richardson to stay around.”
Wednesday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “[Dwight] Howard was in a good mood, joining Jameer Nelson in heckling Brandon Bass about his pants size even after Monday night’s loss in L.A., which seemingly should have hurt a little more. Howard summoned rookie Daniel Orton to carry his jacket, headphones and tote bag to the bus as is his right as a veteran. The Magic didn’t look or sound like a team with a care in the world, much less in the East postseason race. If they’re concerned, they don’t show it. They’ll let the worry lines occupy coach Stan Van Gundy‘s face. One thing that’s clear to me about the Magic: They aren’t taking much stock in these regular-season results. They are veterans, some who have been to the ’09 Finals, and this 82-game stuff to them is a formality, practically a nuisance. I think players realize the season hasn’t gone as planned, that Otis Smith’s trades don’t figure to run down the Celtics, Bulls and Heat. They’ve fallen short of expectations, so their focus already has shifted to the playoffs and the repairs they can make there to stun their doubters. The Magic know they probably are stuck with the No. 4 seed and simply need to catch fire. Their maddening inconsistency? The turnovers and defensive lapses? The rebounding woes? Run along, naysayers. We’ll get that all straightened out in the playoffs. Hard to buy what the Magic are selling, isn’t it?”
- George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “[Otis] Smith has handicapped the Magic for years because he believed in [Gilbert] Arenas when no one else did. It’s an admirable thing to do as a compassionate human being. It’s a horrible thing to do from a business standpoint. The Magic and Arenas appear to be stuck with each other. It will be this city’s burden to have to watch and wince.”
- Tracy McGrady didn’t always try hard in practice. Is that necessarily bad?
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy warns the Orlando Magic about the Milwaukee Bucks.
- J.J. Redick will not play in tonight’s game against the Bucks.
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “All jokes aside, Howard has been attempting to look into the future quite a bit these days what with the playoffs beginning in almost a month. At 42-26 with 14 regular-season games left before the postseason free-for-all begins, Howard is attempting to project positives where some only see darkness. His Magic are most likely locked into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and unlike some Howard doesn’t see that as being the end of the world. [...] If the playoffs started today, the Magic would open in the first round against an Atlanta team that it has dominated much of the past three seasons and swept last spring in the most lopsided postseason series in history. Win that, and the Magic could be in position to face Chicago, a blossoming team that has yet to prove itself in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the East’s other two top teams, Boston and Miami, could be forced to beat up on one another in the other side of the playoff bracket.”
- I think it’s foolish to underestimate the Chicago Bulls “lack of playoff experience.”
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie has more on McGrady’s practice habits: “Here’s the part where we tell you that McGrady really is a sweet, intelligent, and thoughtful guy. And here’s the part where we remind you that, holy crap, he averaged 32 points, a combined 12 rebounds/assists, and just 2.6 turnovers in 2002-03 with the Orlando Magic. And here’s where we remind that though McGrady never made it out of the first round as an active player, there wasn’t one time in that first-round losing streak where I thought McGrady’s squad lost to an inferior opponent.
- Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “The middle of the East looks pretty set. Look for another Orlando vs. Atlanta playoff series, although this time in the first round as the four and five seeds (the Magic swept that series last year).”
- Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “Van Gundy tried to make sense of 593 foul calls without so much as a flagrant foul on Dwight Howard. And after speaking the truest words of the season – saying that Stern doesn’t allow dissenting opinions in the NBA, that free speech is a scarce commodity on league issues – the commissioner reacted in a most predictable, childish way on state-run NBA radio. After refusing to confront Van Gundy directly and promising to take the matter to Magic ownership, Stern sounded like a power-drunk small-town mayor saying ‘… We won’t be hearing from him for the rest of the season.’ ”
The importance of the three-point shot
Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images
Remember back in 2009 when the Magic knocked off the seemingly unbeatable Cavs in the Conference Finals by shooting 41 percent from deep for the entire series? Sometimes I wonder if this year’s squad is the same type of team as that NBA Finals team. That is, I wonder if this team lives and dies by the three-point shot like they did in the days of Lewis and Pietrus. Jeff Van Gundy seems to think so. He never fails to point that out when the Magic go on a big run. The reliance on the three-ball was evident this year when the Magic shot over 50 percent from deep en route to a 20 point win over the Spurs. So I gave it a look. I checked out some season splits from Orlando against the best teams in the East and West to find out if three-point shooting was really the key for this Orlando team. The results pointed to just that, and even taking into account the ever-important role of Dwight Howard in the post, the bottom line is that the Magic will need to shoot the ball, and shoot the ball well from the outside if they are going to be a factor in the playoffs this year.
It is important to understand that the East flat out plays better defense than the West based on defensive efficiency. Five of the top six defensive teams in the league are East Coast teams and the first contending West Coast team that appears on that list is San Antonio in the seventh slot. It should be no wonder that Orlando is able to dominate against the West, but struggles against the East (and they do, as we will see).
Defensive efficiency is a result of several variables, and it isn’t groundbreaking news that an East Coast team plays tougher games against other East Coast teams. Familiarity and predictability certainly come into play. The simple fact that Orlando gets more exposure to the East means that teams come more readily equipped (and fired up) to handle Dwight and company, even if that means hammering Dwight in the post. But more importantly, the Stan Van Gundy/Dwight centered offense is by now extremely familiar. There just aren’t a lot of ways to mask what you’re trying to do if you’re SVG.
The Magic, more so than most other teams, have a particular brand of basketball, making them even more predictable than others.
Just look at the figures. Against the top four teams in the East, the Magic are 5-7 and as a team, shoot the ball at a lower percentage than their season average. Against the top four teams in the West it’s a totally different story. Dwight shoots close 70 percent from the field, and three-point shooters are knocking down well over 40 percent, which, as we’ve seen before, are championship-run numbers. So there is obviously something at work here.
The compelling factor in all of this is not that the Magic struggle against defenses that are more familiar or competitive with them. What is intriguing is that a closer look at the numbers shows that there is one stat that takes a considerable hit when Orlando loses to Eastern Conference teams — three-point shooting.
