Posts Tagged → Jameer Nelson
Recap: Orlando Magic 101, Dallas Mavericks 76
AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack
Looking for a challenge from the opposition so that head coach Stan Van Gundy could finally play his starters extended minutes in the pre-season, the Orlando Magic got what they wanted — sort of — against the Dallas Mavericks as they won their 20th consecutive pre-season game by the score of 101-76 in the final exhibition game at the Amway Center before the regular season home opener next week. The Magic were led by dominating performances from Dwight Howard and Vince Carter, as they had 20 points each. Howard also had 13 rebounds and four blocks. Despite not scoring much, Jameer Nelson chipped in with 10 assists and five rebounds. As the numbers show, it was another lopsided victory for Orlando.
What else is new?
The Mavericks did put up a fight in the first half, trailing by two points at halftime. A big reason for that was because the Magic’s second unit got killed in the second quarter against the 5-man combination of J.J. Barea, Dominique Jones, Caron Butler, Dirk Nowitzki, and Tyson Chandler. Dallas put on a clinic offensively, running a lot of pick and pops for Nowitzki, pick and rolls for Chandler, backdoor screens for the wing players, and more. It was just beautiful to watch. Likewise, until the starters for Orlando checked into the game at the 4:37 minute mark in the period, the reserves were struggling to create for themselves on offense. That was a big reason for Dallas’ 16-2 run and six point lead in the quarter.
But the Mavericks’ success was short-lived, as the Magic were able to regain the lead heading into the second half. From there, Orlando clamped down defensively, holding Dallas to 11 points in the third quarter and putting the game away with relative ease.
Wednesday’s Magic Word
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “Many Orlando Magic observers, including some of us here at the Orlando Sentinel, were a bit skeptical when Stan Van Gundy said both Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass would play every night. While both players earned playing time this preseason, it just didn’t seem logical or plausible for Van Gundy to utilize an 11-man rotation on a nightly basis. Van Gundy clarified a bit further on Wednesday morning. According to Van Gundy, the plan is to play both Bass and Anderson backup power forward minutes in the first half every night. Then in the second half, he’ll decide which one to play based on matchups and who has the hot hand.”
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Mickael Pietrus is expected to play for the Orlando Magic tonight in their preseason exhibition against the Dallas Mavericks. Pietrus sat out Orlando’s last two preseason games because of lingering soreness in his right wrist, which was hurt when he took a charge Oct. 14 against Charlotte. Coach Stan Van Gundy said he’ll employ a starting lineup tonight of Jameer Nelson at point guard, Vince Carter at shooting guard, Quentin Richardson at small forward, Rashard Lewis at power forward and Dwight Howard at center.”
- Earlier today, Dwight Howard surprised the Orlando media with copies of his new album and “a huge smile on his face.” Oh, and Howard impersonates Adonal Foyle in this video.
- Will the Orlando Magic get off to a fast start in the regular season?
- Zach Lowe, in a Sports Illustrated roundtable discussion about the Miami Heat, thinks that the Magic could provide the biggest test for them: “Orlando is a more interesting case to me. The Magic have Howard, the one player for whom the Heat really don’t have an answer, and they have a system on both ends they execute well and consistently. They obviously don’t have Miami’s superstar talent – Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson have proved merely “good” or “very good” at this point in their careers. But I like the idea of a System vs. Superstars battle, and I think Orlando could give the Heat problems.”
- Austin Burton of Dime Magazine: “Just like their Finals run in ‘09, this will be a year of exploiting matchups for the Magic, and whether they’ll be on the positive or negative end of those exploitations. In a seven-game series, Miami has to find a way to neutralize Dwight. Against Boston, the Magic are the team that needs to adjust. Van Gundy has to find a way to keep “Superman” from being locked in a phone booth while opening up looks for Vince.”
- M. Haubs of The Painted Area thinks Orlando will finish with the second-best regular season record in the NBA when it’s all said and done.
- It’s all about good habits for the Magic. Tracy Weissenberg of SLAM ONLINE explains: “A lot of people base Orlando’s identity on the fact that they are overlooked. And compared to Miami and Boston, they are. But in the locker room, all the players — including those who tasted the bittersweet success of reaching the NBA Finals and the new faces hoping to get there — define the team by something far more basic and a lot less subjective: the way they practice. [...] The dynamic of the NBA changes rapidly, and while success can be ephemeral, work ethic is a key to longevity. There are always going to be teams and players willing to put in the time, and the Magic hope that this season, time behind the scenes eventually leads to the spotlight.”
- Dan Devine of Ball Don’t Lie takes a closer look at Howard’s new kicks.
- Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus with some revealing data about Rashard Lewis at small forward: “Orlando has used these bigger lineups in five of its six preseason games (the exception came last Thursday against Charlotte, when Lewis and fellow stars Vince Carter and Dwight Howard got the night off; the Magic still won by 13). Going through the play-by-play for those games, I found that Lewis has played small forward for 82 of his 125 minutes. During those 82 minutes, Orlando has outscored its opponents by an incredible 75 points–a +43.7 point differential per 48 minutes. The Magic has been strong in the preseason no matter the lineup, but has gone supernova with Lewis at the three. I’ve been dismissive of the notion of moving Lewis back to small forward in the past because of my belief that it takes away some of what makes Orlando special (the ability to spread the floor around Dwight Howard) and because I’m not sure Lewis is as effective defending the perimeter as the post at this stage of his career. However, it’s impossible to argue with the results. Lewis has played well individually (he’s made eight three-pointers in 15 attempts) and the backup bigs have all taken advantage of the increased opportunities.”
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy: “I haven’t talked to Pat in a long time, certainly not since any of that. I didn’t take it as big of a deal as what everybody else did. He was upset about some of the things said about some of the players that he now has. I honestly did not mind his criticism of my comments as I said when he mentioned that I was out of line on my comments about Chris Bosh, he had every right to say something about that. I took offense to it and came back at some of the things that he said about Otis [Smith] primarily and his comments. Then just in general just accusing other people of moralizing and things and I had just heard too many things from Pat moralizing things over the years to not be able to laugh at that, that he was taking others to task at that. I didn’t take it as a big deal. He had his say, I had mine, people disagree in these kinds of situations all the time, and it’s no big deal. It didn’t change the way I thought about anybody that’s for sure.”
- For Jameer Nelson, there’s always room for improvement defensively.
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel is skeptical that Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson will earn enough playing time in Van Gundy’s rotation once the regular season starts.
- What will Malik Allen‘s role be with the Orlando Magic?
- Friday’s pre-season game between the Magic and the Miami Heat will be like …
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “Anderson and Bass entered this preseason needing to accomplish separate goals. For Anderson, it was strengthening his body and becoming a more sound individual defender. Bass had to hit the boards harder and improve his grasp on the team’s defensive rotations. And both have succeeded so far. There are still concerns, though. Bass still needs to become more efficient offensively, as he’s used an estimated 59 possessions to score his 63 points this preseason. But he’s managed to harness his seemingly boundless energy and tenacity, turning it into a much-improved showing in the rebounding area.”
- Check out Dwight Howard‘s new shoes for the NBA year.
- According to SLAM ONLINE, Howard is the fifth-best player in the league. Hard to quibble with that ranking when looking at the numbers, but it is hard to quibble with this critique: “We’ve seen the clip of him working out with Hakeem, but he’s had Ewing as his mentor and his jump shot is still broke. It’s also easy to spin baseline and jam when nobody’s guarding you. Yet, there’s no doubt over time, with focus and confidence, we’ll see the low-post game we crave from Dwight. And when that happens, the Magic will be on their way to a championship parade. [...] Dwight has always averaged more turnovers than assists, even more troubling when you consider all of his damn teammates are capable of knocking down threes, save for [Marcin] Gortat, the perfect Dwight backup. Add passing out of the post as a bullet point in his lack of low-post confidence list.”
- First, Howard has low post moves. The author thinks otherwise, however. Second, Howard can pass out of the post and does so very well. The reason why Howard has more turnovers than assists is because many of the “assists” he does get are of the Gretzkyian variety. Meaning, in other words, that Howard accumulates a lot of hockey assists that are not quantified. Look, Howard isn’t a perfect player but critique him for what’s relevant now, not three years ago.
- Zach Lowe of The Point Forward explains why he thinks the Magic are the forgotten contender: “Record aside, the Magic were the best team in the league during the 2009-10 regular season. They had the largest point differential, and they were the only team to rank in the top five in both points per possession and points allowed per possession. They obliterated the league during the second half of the season, posting a 33-8 record, and they swept the Bobcats and Hawks before falling in six games to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. And yet, that series defeat, combined with the emergence of the new-look Heat and some shrewd signings in Boston this summer, has moved the Magic to the fringes of the championship conversation.”
- The Basketball Jones preview Orlando’s season!
- Not sure how a matchup between the Magic and the Washington Wizards is more must-see than a face-off against that other team in the state of Florida on their regular season home opener, but whatever.
Recap: Orlando Magic 102, Atlanta Hawks 73
AP Photo/John Bazemore
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Atlanta Hawks have a new head coach and a new philosophy on offense, but none it mattered.
Despite those subtle changes, the Orlando Magic were able to extend their pre-season winning streak to 20 games after defeating the Hawks by the score of 102-73. The Magic were led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. The two individuals that stood out for Orlando were Dwight Howard and Brandon Bass. No, that is not a typo. Howard finished the game with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and one block while Bass had 17 points and eight rebounds. Perhaps one of the more interesting things to take away from the game was the attendance at Philips Arena. Atlanta drew a crowd of 7,571 people. To put that number in perspective, a crowd of 8,516 watched the Magic’s open practice on Sunday at the Amway Center.
I guess there’s better things to do in Hotlanta on a Monday night. In a sense, can’t blame the fans.
Moving on.
Let’s start things off with Howard.
Monday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Stan Van Gundy has conducted countless practices during his coaching career, but he rarely has held a team workout quite like the one that unfolded Sunday afternoon inside Amway Center. An announced crowd of 8,516 people streamed into the new building and watch the Orlando Magic run a 5-on-4 transition drill and scrimmage for about 50 minutes. The scene resembled a Midnight Madness event that major college basketball programs put on this time of year. Music blared over the arena loudspeakers as Van Gundy and his players stepped onto the main court. Orlando Magic Dancers waved pompoms. Fans cheered when a player unleashed a dunk or blocked a shot. [...] Van Gundy wore a portable microphone, and even people who sat in the upper deck of the cavernous new building could hear his every word.”
- Marcin Gortat likes when the Orlando Magic play tall ball: “I believe we can be really dangerous. Physically, I think we are one of the best in the league. I think the most important thing right now is just I’ve got to work on my game and just be consistent with everything I do.”
- Maybe Vince Carter should pace himself during the regular season.
- The Atlanta Hawks know that the Magic are their kryptonite.
- More from Robbins: “Van Gundy said he’ll employ a starting lineup tonight of Jameer Nelson at point guard, Vince Carter at shooting guard, Quentin Richardson at small forward, Rashard Lewis at power forward and Dwight Howard at center. Lewis will also play some at the three, while both Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass will play at the four. Marcin Gortat will play primarily at center, especially during the first half. Point guard Chris Duhon and shooting guard J.J. Redick also are expected to receive playing time.”
- Matt Moore of ProBasketballTalk wonders how long Brandon Bass will last in Orlando: “Bass has produced well. His defense is lacking but his real problem is that he’s in a system which doesn’t speak to his talents at all. He’s not a stretch-the-floor guy, he’s a post-player with a slight midrange. Another spot and he could wind up with the minutes he’s been chasing for years. The question is exactly when Orlando will call it quits on the Bass experiment and get some assets that they can use.”
- A scout breaks down the Magic roster for ESPN Insider: “They could use a flat-out scorer off the bench, a Jamal Crawford-type to give them 16-18 points a night. They miss that punch. Vince Carter is not in the killer category. He gives you numbers but won’t buy into really being a good defender. And while he’s not a selfish guy, he’s a selfish scorer, a guy who dominates the ball when he gets it going. Because of Vince, I thought Rashard Lewis didn’t get enough touches last year. In the playoffs, Jameer Nelson’s lack of height and inability to bother opponents defensively hurts them. And then I’ve been told by players in that locker room that Stan Van Gundy’s act has worn thin. He’s a blatant yeller and screamer who’ll throw you under the bus in the press conference after a game. They’ve got too much pride to take the key out of the ignition, but there comes a time when a team completely stops listening to a coach, and I don’t think he’s far from that.”
- Take that quote for whatever it’s worth.
- John Schuhmann of NBA.com attempts to figure out if Orlando is capable of making even more threes this season: “The Magic set a record for 3-pointers made in a season last year, connecting on 841 (10.3 per game). They then went and signed 3-point specialist Quentin Richardson to replace Matt Barnes. [...] Still, the addition of Richardson, who was only outdone by James Posey (70.1 percent) and Keith Bogans (65.8 percent) when it comes to taking shots from beyond the arc, should have the Magic challenging their own record. In the preseason, the Magic have attempted 29.3 and made 11.3 threes per game, both increases over last season.”
- According to one NBA scribe, the Magic are projected to finish second in the Southeast Division.
- Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus recaps the Northern California Symposium on Statistics and Operations Research in Sports (NCSSORS for short): “To me, the more practical takeaway is the reminder that individual player ratings are a reflection of many things beside talent. Roles, coaching, motivation and noise all complicate the relationship between ability and performance. As a result, we have to assume a degree of variability in player ratings. Basically, player A has to rate a fair amount better than player B for us to be confident he is truly the superior player–to the extent such a judgment really exists.”
- Is Bass increasing his trade value?
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Howard has to back up his preseason promises and be more assertive and dominant. Basically, if Miami loading up in free agency doesn’t put Howard on a mission of total destruction, then nothing ever will. But the Magic have issues other than the Heat. First, they have to prove that they’ve recovered from — and have learned from — the thorough beating inflicted on them by the Celtics in the playoffs last spring. They can’t even begin to worry about Wade and LeBron until they put that disappointment behind them. If the Magic are going to take the next step and get back to the NBA Finals, they’re going to need more toughness on the floor. That has to start with Howard.”
MBN Roundtable Discussion: Orlando Magic 2010-2011 Season Preview, Part II
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Here’s Part II of my roundtable discussion (click here for Part I). In this segment, different Orlando Magic writers talk about Dwight Howard‘s evolution on offense with the help of Hakeem Olajuwon, and more.
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What will it take for opposing players to respect Howard’s jumpshot just enough and as such, alter the way they defend him?
Melnick: Howard has to have more confidence in his shot and just shoot his jumper more often. Anyone who has been to a Magic practice has seen Howard make the shot fairly consistently. Up until now, Howard hasn’t had the confidence to consistently take the shot. If Howard begins to shoot more and more, his confidence is going to grow. Defenders will have to respect that shot and that will allow Howard to use his superior athleticism to blow by his opponents like he does when he faces slower defenders. We saw a glimpse of this in Orlando’s first preseason game when Howard utilized a spin move to get easy looks against Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.
Robbins: I’m not sure. I think Howard is so effective on the inside, that it would take a lot for opposing teams to significantly alter the way they defend him because if he gets the least bit of space down there, he’s unstoppable. He’s already next to unstoppable and the only way to really stop him when he’s close to the basket is to foul him. He’s got to show that he can hit that 12-15 foot jumper with regularity, with a very solid regularity, for them to leave the hoop. Certainly we saw Yao Ming respect that jumper in the first pre-season game. If you recall, Dwight hit a pair of those mid-range jumpers in the game’s first six minute and then Dwight used a pump-fake to get Yao to commit for a great drive to the hoop. I don’t know if other centers will play Dwight that way. I think Yao is rather immobile, so we’ll see what happens. Time will tell with that.
Rock: He has to start hitting them, which can’t happen unless he takes them, which can’t happen until he feels comfortable taking them, which can’t happen until he takes a few hundred per day. He’s accomplished the last two parts. Let’s see if he can continue progressing. Until then, we have the memory of his sinking two jumpers over Yao Ming, and then driving by him for a score when Yao honored his shot, this preseason to hold onto.
Rossman-Reich: They may never fully respect Howard’s jump shot. After all, what would you rather give up? A 12-foot jumper from Howard or a dunk or a 5-foot hook shot that leaves Howard in good position for the offensive rebound. But to get teams to really respect it, he has got to come out with it early in the season and early in games and make two, maybe three per game. It sounds extreme, but, again, what kind of shot would you have Howard rather shoot? He has got to really be killing teams with his jumper before teams start to defend it the way Howard can take advantage of it.
Savage: To me, it’s simple. He’s got to make them. It’s as simple as that. I think the key for Howard is take a few early on in the game, be confident with them, knock them down. If he takes them early on in the game and establishes that, it’s going to carry over to the later periods. As we saw when the Magic played the Rockets against Yao Ming, Dwight Howard took a few early shots early in the game, knocked them down, Yao Ming stepped up, and then he started blowing past him. I think that’s the key. If he can knock a few of those down in the first quarter, opposing defenses are going to start playing up on him and then he can use the advantage of switching back-and-forth and exploding past people and using his biggest asset, which is scoring within the circle.
Classy Move by Stan Van Gundy; Apologizes to Fans
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Via Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:
Stan Van Gundy, how could you?
How could you not pencil in a single [Orlando] Magic starter Thursday night?
Now I realize it was a preseason game and players need nights off.
But all of them?
No Dwight [Howard], Vince [Carter], Jameer [Nelson], Rashard [Lewis] or [Quentin Richardson] in the lineup.
The Magic trotted out Marcin Gortat, J.J. Redick, Chris Duhon, Ryan Anderson and Mickael Pietrus. [...]
Again, what was shocking is that this was so un-Van Gundy. He wants to win every game, preseason to postseason. I mean, the Magic had a 17-game preseason winning streak at stake.
“It’s a legitimate gripe,” Van Gundy told me when I asked what he would say to fans who purchased seats. “I understand if people were upset.”
Immediately after the game, Van Gundy said he wanted to see his back-ups perform as a group, which is why he started them all. [...]
Fifteen minutes after I left Van Gundy, he called my cell.
“It’s been bugging me,” he said. “I want to say I’m sorry and I was wrong. I thought I reasoned it through, but I can’t justify it. If it was the first game that somebody came out to see, you bring your kids … I’d be upset, too.
“I won’t do it again.”
If there’s one thing you need to know about head coach Stan Van Gundy, is that he’s not afraid to own up to his mistakes when he’s wrong.
That’s an admirable trait for anyone, let alone a coach in the NBA.
Thursday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “An arena isn’t the only magnificent structure recently completed on the [Orlando] Magic‘s campus. As difficult a project as it was, from start to finish, the shiny new place comes in second to what has been built inside its walls. Under construction for years, Otis Smith made the declaration on Wednesday. [...] Smith’s work is done. Well, at least the hardest part, the part many general managers never manage to pull off, much less get right. Here we have the unveiling of a winning atmosphere, the Magic way of doing things, a culture that can breed championships. How to work, how to play. I know what Magic fans are probably thinking: OK, Otis, show us the title! And you know what? Otis wholeheartedly agrees. [...] What’s the big deal about the environment? Only everything. It’s the difference between the Yankees and Mets, Patriots and Raiders, Celtics and Clippers, Charlie Sheen and Charlie’s Angels. Players come and go — and the clueless ones should go first in your long-range blueprints. Winning cultures endure, from the telegraph to Twitter. And that’s what Smith feels he has at long last accomplished in HIS building. For this one, there was no speech from the mayor. No ribbon-cutting ceremony. No grand announcement. That’s not Smith. What he built he built largely away from the glow, in silence, in no-nonsense nuance, in moves great and small.”
- The Orlando Magic have been working on their zone defense lately.
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy on Stanley Robinson: “His attitude’s great. His attitude’s exactly what you want. He comes in, he works hard, keeps his mouth shut and his ears open. He really tries to learn both from coaches and the other players. He never makes an excuse. He’s really, really working at it. And then I see a guy who really understands this game. He does the things he can do, he’s a great cutter, he gets on the offensive glass, he runs, he’s working hard defensively, he’ll take his shots but he’s never forcing the issue; he’s just got a great understanding of what his game is.”
- Dwight Howard got more serious because he “got older.”
- John Denton of Orlando Magic.com: “Once a light-hearted group that enjoyed the ‘Magic Show’ pregame routine and usually had as many laughs as dribbles during practice, the Magic have taken on a serious tone so far in an effort to maximize their potential. Co-captains Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson have made the biggest changes, attacking each day with business-like attitudes. And the tone has just filtered down from there to a point now where Van Gundy can’t help but rave about the focus of this Magic squad.”
- For what it’s worth, Denton predicts the Magic will win 65 games this season.
- According to Shaquille O’Neal, Howard is one of two “real” centers left in the NBA.
- Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus introduces WARP2: “The bigger question is where WARP has room for improvement. Here, we focused on the differences between how WARP and adjusted plus-minus rated each player on offense and defense. For example, Kobe Bryant’s adjusted offensive plus-minus in 2007-08 was +10.4 points per 100 possessions. His Offensive Rating was +6.4 points per 100 possessions compared to league average. Thus, adjusted plus-minus rated Bryant as 4.0 points better on offense. Are there shared traits among players who are overrated or underrated by WARP? For the most part, these correlations are close to zero, indicating that WARP is properly valuing each statistic. The most notable differences share a common theme–three-point shooting. The correlations indicate that players with higher three-point percentages and especially three-attempt percentages tend to rate better by adjusted plus-minus than by WARP. Essentially, there appears to be a value to spacing the floor that is not captured by the individual statistics of three-point shooters.”
- Pelton’s adjustment of WARP rewards three-point shooters that were undervalued before. As such, Rashard Lewis and Quentin Richardson see their value increase.
- Vince Carter is “Bad” … no, really.
Wednesday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Jason Williams expects to reach a milestone Wednesday. He believes he’ll run for the first time since he underwent a knee operation on Sept. 30. This day couldn’t have arrived soon enough for Williams. He participated in just one day of training camp before he decided to have arthroscopic surgery to clean out debris inside his left knee. He watched on TV when the Orlando Magic played their first two preseason games. [...] Williams said he feels like he could play right now if absolutely necessary. After an hour-long rehab session of stationary bike work, leg-strengthening exercises and icing his knee on Tuesday, he walked briskly and without a limp through Amway Center toward the players’ parking garage. Before his surgery, Williams had been told he could return to the court within three or four weeks, and he’s still on that rough timeline. The Magic will be happy to have him back.”
- Jason Williams on the Miami Heat: “The Orlando Magic’s got just as good a chance of winning the championship as the Miami Heat, and that’s all it’s about for me right now: winning a championship.”
- Marcin Gortat thinks the Orlando Magic have a better frontline than the Los Angeles Lakers.
- What does Dwight Howard have to do to win the MVP award this year?
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post previews the Magic’s season: “Frankly, I don’t see how the team could possibly have declined. It led the league in point differential despite getting only two above-average months from [Vince] Carter and [Jameer] Nelson, and never getting any consistent production from [Rashard] Lewis. This NBA season, in terms of attention and coverage, will belong to the Miami Heat. I don’t think anyone will dispute that point. But in their shadow, I believe the Magic will modestly improve upon last season’s record, and enter the postseason more prepared to take on all comers than they were last season.”
- Make sure to check out Rock’s practice reports from yesterday. All of them are must-reads.
- Trey Kerby of The Basketball Jones: “Dwight Howard has made a name for himself by being a lovably goofy giant, smiling any chance he gets and breaking in to his Charles Barkley impersonation anytime someone requests to see it. Six seasons in to his career, Dwight is one of the most recognizable and famous players in the NBA. He’s got commercials. He’s got a shoe deal. He’s even got a kid’s CD. And it’s all because he’s a big-time jokester. But, apparently, the Dwight we’ve come to know and love is gone, never to be seen again. Gone are the halfcourt shots and Superman capes. Gone are the dunk contests, smiles and dance moves. There’s a new Dwight in Orlando, and he sounds a lot less fun.”
- FreeDarko’s new book is out!
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie thinks Jameer Nelson is an underrated player: ”Well, everyone knows his name, and he did make an All-Star two years ago while slightly disappointing last season. But he’s clearly slimmed down, and about to enter his prime. I think Jameer Nelson will be terribly underrated this season. This guy has a chance to go off. This isn’t to say he looked doughy or out of it last season, it’s just to point out that he really looks fit now, and could lead Orlando to great things. The Magic have long needed him to be the straw that stirs the drink, and I don’t think I’m being annoyingly glass half-full in expecting him to stir away in 2010-11.”
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “His grandmother bought him a Nerf ball game when he was a toddler. He slept with a basketball by his pillow as he got older. No wonder he has a nose for grabbing a rebound and a shooting eye to die for. And it’s no surprise that he tossed in a shot from half court after Monday’s practice — in his first try. Watching from afar, you’d swear that [Orlando] Magic forward Ryan Anderson was a natural. Far from it. You know how they say some athletes are “born” to play this or that? Anderson had a better chance of becoming a brainy guy who liked to kayak but, if pressed, could also decorate a living room. [...] Anderson largely taught himself to shoot, alone in his front yard in Dorado Hills, Calif. Before basketball camps and coaches got a hold of him, he didn’t stop releasing the ball from the hip until a better eighth-grade player made fun of his shot. Obviously, Anderson didn’t forecast pro basketball in his future, given his background. [...] But his friends all played and he somehow grew to 6-feet-10 (“My dad is 6-foot and my mom is 5-8. I’m the freak of the family,” he said). And he simply kept getting better at it. Still is.”
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “[J.J.] Redick made significant strides last season, and the Magic noticed. The team matched a front-loaded three-year, $19 million offer sheet from the Chicago Bulls to keep him. Redick has improved markedly as a defender, and he’s no longer a liability on that end of the floor. You probably wouldn’t want him defending an opponent’s best wing scorer for lengthy stretches — that’s more of Mickael Pietrus’ role — but Redick rarely gets caught out of position. No one on the roster hustles back on defense as well as he does. Redick is a superb outside shooter — he led the Magic in 3-point percentage last season — and he’s also an underrated passer. Redick’s midrange game also has progressed. According to HoopData.com, last season he made a career-best 58.8 percent of the shots he attempted between 10 and 15 feet of the basket. He remains an excellent free-throw shooter. Redick works hard to stay in shape; last year, he won the team’s “Iron Magic” award for his performance on a variety of strength, agility and conditioning tests.”
- The Orlando Magic will host an open practice at the Amway Center on Sunday.
- Jameer Nelson got the day off from Magic practice earlier today.
- According to one writer, head coach Stan Van Gundy should never wear a tie.
- Van Gundy on Ryan Anderson: “I don’t think people realize how good he is. Because he is a very good 3-point shooter people tend to look at him as a one dimensional guy, but that’s not even close to true,” Van Gundy said. “He can really put the ball on the floor, he’ll make good passes, he can score in the post and he’s an outstanding rebounder. As a rebounder, people have the wrong impression of him. [Fans] talk about our need for rebounding and I hear a lot of names come up, but right now Ryan’s our second-best rebounder behind Dwight [Howard].”
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com has more on Anderson: “The impact that offseason work made on Redick and [Marcin] Gortat’s careers didn’t go unnoticed by Anderson, who entered the offseason looking to get stronger so that he could be more forceful inside and play more minutes at power forward when Rashard Lewis shifts to small forward. And all of the hard work that he has done is paying off now as Anderson has been one of the Magic’s best preseason players through training camp and three exhibition games. [...] The ability to play rugged basketball and hold his own in the paint comes, of course, after a summer in which Anderson rarely took a day off and put his body through the paces. He worked out three times a day for four days a week, lifting weights in the morning, shoot hundreds of jumpers in the afternoon and then doing boxing drills to build stamina. And on the one day that he wasn’t doing those exercises, Anderson was with [Joe] Rogowski outside on the track doing 800-meter runs in the blazing summer heat. Almost immediately, Anderson began to see results from his sessions. Once able to bench-press no more than 185 pounds, he now can do a set of four repetitions of 225 pounds. His vertical leap went up three inches and his times in the 800-meter runs dropped from 4 minutes to 3 minutes.”
- Contrary to popular belief, Anderson is not a shooting specialist. Far from it.
- According to a few NBA head coaches, if you hold an opponent to a field goal percentage of 45 percent or lower, the chances of winning games are high. John Schuhmann of NBA.com investigates whether this is true or not: “ Now, this is obviously a simplistic way of looking at things. For one, saying that holding opponents under 45 percent doesn’t account for how well your team does offensively. And second, there are other factors that affect how good your defense is: your opponents’ 3-point shooting, forcing turnovers, fouling, and rebounding. If you keep your opponent under 45 percent shooting, but allow them to get to the line 40 times in a game, they’re probably still going to score a lot of points. You’ve also got to control the boards, obviously. It’s possible that neither O’Brien nor Collins are versed in advanced statistics and would rather talk points per game and field goal percentage than points per possession. It’s also possible that they have autographed copies of Basketball on Paper, but prefer to keep things simple for their players and the media.”
- Marcin Gortat spent time at the power forward position during scrimmages.
- Hakeem Olajuwon’s positive impact on Dwight Howard. From the Associated Press: “Dwight Howard had heard it all before, people offering constructive criticism and invitations to improve his game – he never really seriously listened. Until he received a phone call from Hakeem Olajuwon. [...] Olajuwon’s call, which came when the Magic were down 3-0 to the Celtics in last season’s series, pushed Howard to almost single-handedly force the series to six games. Howard shed his happy-go-lucky attitude and became a one-man wrecking crew, giving a glimpse of all that untapped offensive potential so many have craved from the NBA’s twice reigning defensive player of the year. There just wasn’t enough to show. Olajuwon, given Howard’s phone number after meeting his mother at a Magic game in Texas, met with Howard in Houston immediately after the series. The pair trained for five days during the NBA finals. They worked for three hours a day, drilled on post moves, face-up jumpers, baby hooks, pump fakes and even some of those famous “Dream” shakes. Olajuwon also stressed the need for Howard to be mentally stronger, tone down his playfulness and maintain focus.”
- Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference predicts the NBA leaderboard.
- Apparently, Van Gundy is still allowed to wear turtlenecks.
