Posts Tagged → Jason Williams
April 15th, 2010
Thursday’s Magic Word
- Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “Vince Carter smiled, playfully. Matt Barnes started chuckling. Rashard Lewis called it a “once every blue moon” occurrence. It’s not often Magic coach Stan Van Gundy says nice things about the team he coaches. You know, the one with the second-best record in the NBA, that’s only lost five games since the all-star break and set an NBA record for three-pointers made while still being one of the best defensive teams in the league. At the end of a regular season in which the Magic (59-23) barreled through opponents to the finish, Van Gundy took some time to compliment his players.”
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Van Gundy takes seriously the fact that the Magic are hitting the playoffs just as the team is seemingly peaking. The Magic not only beat foes down the stretch, but usually smashed them in resounding fashion. Orlando won a NBA-best 39 games by at least 10 points this season, something that shows the professionalism of the team and willingness to strive for greatness, Van Gundy said. “I appreciate what our team has done,” Van Gundy said. “Sometimes when everybody is just waiting for the playoffs there’s not enough appreciation for the grind of the regular season and how hard you have to work and play to be good every night. I mean, it’s not like our team was screwing around and winning by four or six points against these teams that we’re supposed to beat,” Van Gundy continued. “We pretty much drilled them all. That level of focus every night, I can really appreciate that. And it means a helluva lot to me.” Now, comes a different kind of grind for Van Gundy and the Magic. Whereas the marathon regular season is often a test of wills and energy, the playoffs boils down to which team is better four times in a seven-game window.”
- Click here to get to know more about Shannon Van Gundy, head coach Stan Van Gundy’s daughter. It’s certainly a different but more personable perspective on the ol’ coach.
- Dan Devine, Kelly Dwyer, and Trey Kerby of Ball Don’t Lie preview the first round series between the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Bobcats. Here’s a snippet from Dwyer: “If you’re a fan of the Magic, you’re right chuffed that the Magic face the Bobcats first. That [Jameer] Nelson and Lewis will have to answer the bell early. That [Dwight] Howard will have to flex his muscles while trying to stay on the court for 35 minutes. This is absolutely what Orlando needs, and while Charlotte is nobody’s prefight sparring partner, I can’t help but think the Magic depth and talent will win out.”
- John Hollinger of ESPN Insider predicts how the 2010 NBA Playoffs will shape up from beginning to end. According to Hollinger, he sees the Magic losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals: “Welcome to the real NBA Finals. These have been the league’s two best teams all season, and the winner of this series will be an overwhelming favorite to claim its first championship. [...] My numbers like Orlando because of its dominance down the stretch of the season, but Cleveland was with the Magic step for step in the Power Rankings until Shaq and Anderson Varejao went out. We still haven’t seen what the Cavs are capable of with Antawn Jamison, Varejao and O’Neal on the court together, but I suspect the answer is ‘awesomeness.’ Most importantly, the Cavs have the best player in the league. A year ago, James’ 38-8-8 series averages weren’t enough because Cleveland couldn’t stop the Magic at the other end. This time around, he has more help, and I think he gets it done in a seven-game slugfest.”
- Austin Burton of Dime Magazine lists the top 10 players he thinks will get rich from the NBA postseason. J.J. Redick makes the cut for Orlando: “It wasn’t that long ago when J.J. looked like he’d be joining Trajan Langdon in Russia before he’d ever be an impact player in the NBA. It took four years, but now he’s finally getting enough minutes and shots to show what he can do. Granted, 9.6 points in 22 minutes a night doesn’t make J.J. the next Dan Majerle, but he’s proven he can be a valuable bench guy on a contender or even a starter on some teams.”
- As Emperor Palpatine once said to Luke Skywalker in the Return of the Jedi, “let the hate flow through you.” With that, J.A. Adande of ESPN.com thinks the Magic are the angriest team out of the 16 teams in the playoffs: “In 2010 you won’t find an angrier team than the Orlando Magic. Dwight Howard leads the league in technical fouls. He leads the league in rebounds and blocked shots — again — and can’t get any serious run for MVP. He had to watch the Lakers celebrate their championship last year in his house.”
- John Krolik of ProBasketballTalk explains why Orlando is capable of winning a championship this year.
- Howard is well represented on M. Haubs’ ballot at The Painted Area.
- Want to know what the offensive tendencies are for the Magic and the Bobcats head-to-head? Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post has got you covered: “Indeed, three-pointers comprise a shade more than 40% of the Magic’s shot attempts against the Bobcats this season. Put another way, they averaged 32 three-point attempts per game against the Bobcats, compared to a season-long average of 27.4 per game, which led the league. Shooting the three plays into Charlotte’s strategy; it yields a league-high 20.7 triple-tries per game, while limiting teams to the second-lowest percentage in the league. Larry Brown has his team playing smart on D, as it forces its opponents to take shots that it defends well. There’s a trap here, though. The three-pointer is, historically, the league’s most efficient shot that isn’t a layup or dunk. The Bobcats tend to get away with letting people shoot it because they’re confident in their ability to guard that shot. But against Orlando? With guys with hair-trigger releases like Jason Williams, J.J. Redick, Ryan Anderson, and Mickael Pietrus? That’s what one might call playing with fire.”
- Check out The Basketball Jones’ preview of the matchup between Orlando and Charlotte.
- Lang Whitaker of SLAM ONLINE picks Howard as his Defensive Player of the Year.
- Which player is on the spot to perform in the playoffs? According to Sean Deveney of The Baseline, it’s Vince Carter: “The Magic traded for Carter last year—letting Hedo Turkoglu go shortly thereafter—in hopes that Carter’s ability to slash to the basket and create his own shot would help the Magic keep the offense going on nights when their 3-point shots weren’t falling. At times, it has worked. At times, it’s been a disaster. Carter averaged 16.6 points but frequently had to be prodded to attack the basket throughout the year. Ultimately, though, Orlando was hoping that Carter could be a difference-maker in the playoffs, though Turkoglu did a very good job in playoff situations last year.”
By Eddy Rivera • Posted in News • 2 Comments
April 12th, 2010
Monday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic, who have already clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Eastern Conference playoffs, can learn who their first-round playoff opponent will be as early as tonight. Here’s tonight’s scenario: The Magic will face the Charlotte Bobcats in the first round if the Bobcats lose to the New Jersey Nets tonight in New Jersey or if the Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers tonight in Philadelphia.”
- Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus: “When I fill out my awards ballot tomorrow, there will be two honors that merit virtually no discussion because they are so obvious. One is MVP and the other is Defensive Player of the Year. [Dwight] Howard is so far beyond his peers defensively it is remarkable. He’s accounted for 13.9 WARP at the defensive end, which would be good enough to place him in the league’s top 10 in total WARP even if Howard was merely average on offense. Howard ranks second in the league in defensive rebound percentage and ninth in block percentage, and he’s also stifled opposing centers. His dMult looks like a typo; opponents have been held an incomprehensible 41.4 percent below their usual production. Orlando is at the moment the league’s best defensive team despite starting a converted small forward at the four, a poor defender at shooting guard and for much of the year either an aging Jason Williams or Jameer Nelson hobbled by knee surgery at the point. That’s a testament to the incredible force that Howard is in the paint.”
- It’s no secret that head coach Stan Van Gundy likes to speak his mind, which makes him a great interviewer but also leaves him open to be critiqued sometimes. So, it comes as no surprise that the blogosphere has reacted (cue the reactions here, here, and here) strongly to Van Gundy’s latest comments about LeBron James and the Most Valuable Player award: ” ‘You know how the vote’s going to go. LeBron (James) will win the MVP every year until he retires,’ Van Gundy said. Van Gundy was likely playing to the Cleveland media. But there’s part of him that feels that the MVP — decided by the media — will be James’ award to lose for a long time. ‘LeBron has to go into the year and basically lose the MVP. You guys have decided he’s the MVP,’ Van Gundy said.”
- Nevertheless, Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk praises Van Gundy’s ability to be candid when he talks, especially when it comes to genuinely praising an opponent like the Cleveland Cavaliers: “There are a few shining beacons of hope. Ron Artest immediately comes to mind, though one of my personal favorites is Stan Van Gundy. SVG is oddly personable and eccentric, obsessed but self-aware, and incredibly knowledgeable but not wholly set on defending his methods like nuclear launch codes. For instance, Van Gundy is apparently very fond of the Cleveland Cavaliers. [...] Now, was it unknown that the Cavs are better than they were a year ago? Of course not, but it means something else entirely to hear it coming from the head coach of the Cavs’ likely opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals. It also means a bit more coming from Van Gundy, who has never been one to offer lip service, especially to the competition. This reads as legitimate praise from an opposing head coach rather than a cursory response to a question from a guy on the other team’s beat.”
- After the unfortunate loss of the president of Poland, who was killed along with 95 others in a plane crash, Polish native Marcin Gortat speaks about the tragedy.
- If you want to see upsets in the playoffs, Henry Abbott of TrueHoop suggests keeping an eye on the Western Conference: “The playoff odds say that it’s 89.3% likely that the Eastern conference champions will be a team that starts the playoffs with homecourt advantage. It’s 73.9% likely to be either the Magic or Cavaliers. In the West? Wow is it ever a totally different story.”
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com chimes in on Howard being named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the third time this season: “The Orlando Magic had just locked up their fourth consecutive victory and surged ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings on Sunday, but superstar center Dwight Howard wasn’t pleased at all. He’s been unhappy with how the Magic have defended of late and on Sunday in Cleveland he despised the fact that Orlando had to dig its way out of a 16-point hole. It was a peek inside the perfectionist persona that drives Howard to be great. Howard’s incredible drive was rewarded on Monday when he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. It is the fourth time this season and the 10th time in his six-year NBA career that Howard has been honored as the East’s Player of the Week.”
By Eddy Rivera • Posted in News • 2 Comments
April 8th, 2010
Thursday’s Magic Word
- Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “Magic General Manager Otis Smith can see both sides of the discussion about whether or not NBA players should dedicate so much of their summers to playing for their countries. He understands the struggle of players with limited free time. Mostly, he supports it because playing for your country is an honor. His star, Magic center Dwight Howard, re-affirmed his commitment to play in the World Championships with Team USA this summer. But Smith acknowledges his might be a situational perspective. ‘I guarantee you’ll get a different answer from a general manager that has an abundance of European players,’ Smith said.”
- Good news. Dwight Howard’s AAU team is doing well. The DH Warriors are 7-1 and won their last game on a buzzer-beating half-court shot by Matt Clark.
- Sean Deveney of The Baseline chooses Josh Smith over Howard on his ballot for Defensive Player of the Year and explains why: “Howard is a dominant defender and fearsome in the lane, and it’s likely he will win this award. But the reason Smith edges him on my ballot is that his athleticism allows him to get out and defend the perimeter, and is one of the chief reasons the Hawks are able to use their switch-everything approach to pick-and-rolls.”
- Jason Williams is a player that doesn’t get his shot blocked very much.
- Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus chimes in on a team’s ability to win close games: ”There are, generally speaking, two schools of thought on close games: That they reveal a team’s true ability and that they are decided by luck. My research on the subject last year for Basketball Prospectus offered a middle ground, suggesting that good teams win close games more often than bad teams, but that the element of randomness mitigates the talent gap.” In the Magic’s case, they perform worse than expected in close games. Red flag?
- Vince Carter, according to Dime Magazine, is one of the most hated players in the NBA: ”Hated by the entire city of Toronto and possibly all of Canada. Critics get on him for settling for jump shots, even though every other high-flyer before or after Vince has been encouraged to adjust their game eventually and take more jumpers. Call him soft, call him lazy, but then he drops 40 or gives you a game-winner and your point becomes moot.”
- Tracy McGrady wants to be back in Orlando. Ditto with Mike Miller.
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post talks about the possibility of either McGrady or Miller re-joining the Magic during the off-season: “Obviously, there are downsides. Miller’s had trouble staying healthy, and though he’s still a deadeye shooter–he’s posted a True Shooting percentage of better than 58.8 in each of the last 6 seasons, and he’s second among swingmen (minimum: 30 minutes per game) at 60.8% this season–he’s spent each of the last 3 years trying to re-invent himself as a point forward, and has thus passed up numerous open shot attempts. Also, his lateral mobility is more-or-less gone, which makes him a defensive liability. McGrady has his own set of red flags, as he’s recovering from microfracture knee surgery and still trying to figure out how to play without the benefit of the all-world athleticism that helped him win back-to-back scoring titles in 2002/03 and 2003/04. Oh, and the way he sulked his way out of Orlando after that disastrous 21-61 season has made him Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of most Magic fans. Owner Rich DeVos, who’d be footing the luxury-tax bill once again next year, might be loathe to pay the man who publicly trashed his franchise after demanding–and being granted–a trade. So they’re likely not going to be the Magic’s top options this summer [...]”
- Paul Forrester of Sports Illustrated isn’t impressed with Matt Barnes‘ poise.
By Eddy Rivera • Posted in News • No Comment
April 8th, 2010
Video Highlights: J.J. Redick and Jason Williams
Things started out slow for the Orlando Magic against the Washington Wizards in last night’s game. The Magic were up only six against the Wizards at halftime but the action picked up in the second half, as J.J. Redick, Jason Williams, and the rest of the bench for Orlando put on a show for the hometown fans in one of the last games at Amway Arena.
April 7th, 2010
Recap: Orlando Magic 121, Washington Wizards 94
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
There isn’t much the Orlando Magic have to play for after winning the Southeast Division title for a third consecutive season and locking up the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference … aside from having the chance to catch the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings, of course, in hopes of earning home-court advantage if the two teams meet in the NBA Finals once again. So, it’s no surprise that the Magic mucked around here and there in tonight’s game. Against the Washington Wizards, Orlando got away with it and won by the score of 121-94. The Magic were led by a balanced attack, with seven players scoring in double-figures. Dwight Howard finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, while Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick each pitched in with 16 of Orlando’s season-high 65 points off the bench. Mike Miller, a former Magic player, had 16 points, nine rebounds, and five assists for the Wizards.
By Eddy Rivera • Posted in Recaps • No Comment
March 18th, 2010
Recap: Orlando Magic 110, San Antonio Spurs 84
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
When you’re a team that holds Tim Duncan to his worst shooting percentage game of his career, odds are you’re going to win the game. And that’s what happened last night, as the Orlando Magic defeated the San Antonio Spurs by the score of 110-84 in front of a nationally-televised audience and a sellout crowd at Amway Arena. With Tony Parker sidelined with a broken hand and the Spurs playing on a back-to-back against a well-rested Magic squad, the last thing San Antonio needed was a career-worst performance from their future Hall of Famer. Needless to say, Orlando took advantage of the circumstance. The Magic were led by Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis, two players that played extremely well on an evening when Dwight Howard had a pedestrian game for his standards. Carter had 24 points and eight assists, while Lewis had 20 points.
By Eddy Rivera • Posted in Recaps • No Comment
