Posts Tagged → LeBron James
Monday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade all pooling their talents is unseemly or just unfair … unless they do it in your town, of course. [...] Remember the summer of 2000, when the [Orlando] Magic boldly toyed with signing their own Big Three — Tim Duncan, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady? Wade really wasn’t going to leave the Heat. He was waiting for the cavalry. But a decade ago, the Magic wanted to start from scratch by signing the three biggest free agents in captivity. I don’t remember anyone in town thinking such an unprecedented, potential merger was bad for the game. Don’t recall a national media uproar over Duncan possibly joining Orlando and hitch-hiking his way to another title. It was a long shot to land all three, sure. The Magic had Hill (and T-Mac) in their pockets and pursued Duncan. They wanted at least two of them, with McGrady the third choice. Former Magic General Manager John Gabriel told me that ‘after Tim’s visit to Orlando, we got the sense he was considering us strongly. At that point, we were looking at maybe getting all three.’ There was one step needed to bring their talents to Orlando: Ask the three stars to take less money (a la the Heat). The plan never got that far.”
- Vince Carter‘s improved play on offense hasn’t been because of strategic changes.
- Mickael Pietrus‘ wrist is hurting, but he won’t sit out because of it.
- George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic have embraced their misery and pain. After all, doesn’t everyone consider them collateral damage this NBA season? They won’t be able to beat the Heat. They won’t be able to overcome Shaq and all those other tall tress in Boston. Thanks for playing, and please enjoy your consolation prizes this season. The Magic get it. And they are doing something about it.”
- Dwight Howard got baptized during the weekend. Good for him.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “For most rookies, the month before the NBA regular season typically offers a fantastic learning opportunity. The youngsters pick up X’s and O’s, but most of all, they discover just how much they need to improve in order to compete with veteran players. Instead, Orlando Magic first-round draft pick Daniel Orton has learned patience. Sidelined by a weak left leg he injured back in high school, Orton has watched from the sidelines as his teammates have spent the last month scrimmaging, playing exhibition games and jelling with one another. Orton knows his rehabilitation program likely will pay off in the long run. Still, that hasn’t made the present much easier to endure.”
- The Magic hope that Howard can three-peat as the Defensive Player of the Year. Head coach Stan Van Gundy: “His focus is good, and if it stays there, there’s no reason [Howard can't win the award again]. It goes far beyond his blocked shots and even beyond his rebounding. He’s extremely smart. He makes all the right rotations. He’s a great pick-and-roll defender. There’s really not a whole lot he can’t do defensively. There’s no reason he shouldn’t.”
- Evan Dunlap — also known as Ben Q. Rock — of Orlando Pinstriped Post looks back at the pre-season for Orlando (click here for Volume 2): “Surprisingly, the Magic were 16.5 points per 100 possessions more effective with a traditional power forward in their lineup, mostly due to their work on defense in those alignments. [Rashard] Lewis, the incumbent starter at power forward, wound up taking most of his reps at small forward this preseason, but he proved effective playing both positions. Lineups with [Marcin] Gortat at power forward–which is to say, lineups in which Gortat played up front with Dwight Howard–were potent on both ends of the court. Oddly, in prior years, that jumbo pairing fared better on offense than on defense. Gortat must have made strides in learning power forward this summer and in training camp, however, for the numbers here to be so impressive.”
- Two ESPN writers (out of 30) predict that the Magic will win the Eastern Conference.
- John Schuhmann of NBA.com concludes that the pre-season does matter to a degree: “OK. So the Magic probably won’t break the ’95-96 Bulls’ record of 72 wins. But Orlando’s dominant preseason is a reminder that they were statistically the best team last season, outscoring their opponents by 9.3 points per 100 possessions (Cleveland ranked second at +7.3). The playoffs were — and are — a different story, but this team is primed to be a regular-season juggernaut again. With Dwyane Wade out for most of the preseason, the Heat may need some time to find their rhythm, while the Lakers and Celtics are more likely to deal with injuries and also pace themselves to stay fresh. The Magic will hit the ground running next week and have proven that they can sustain quality in a season.”
- Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated thinks that Howard has a great chance to win the MVP award: “The voters will probably look away from both LeBron and Dwyane Wade, reasoning — perhaps unfairly — that the presence of another transcendent star undermines the MVP qualifications of each player. That leaves a handful of other leading candidates headed by Howard and Durant. Things will tip Howard’s way if the Magic win 60-plus games and he, once again, plays defense better than anyone.”
- Jameer Nelson is one of the biggest x-factors in the league this year.
- Manny Maduakolam of SLAM ONLINE previews Orlando’s season
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com previews the year ahead for the NBA.
- “E” is for envy for the Magic, according to Chris Tomasson of NBA FanHouse: “Do the Orlando Magic envy what’s going on in South Florida? Maybe it will result in motivating Dwight Howard to unseat two-time defending MVP James to win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.”
- Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference: It’s that time of year again. Time to plug a ton of projected numbers into a computer, simulate the NBA schedule thousands of times, and see what kind of predictions it spits out. This year I ran three sets of 2,500 simulated seasons — one based on statistical plus/minus (the raw version of which I posted here, but also adjusted for team using past franchise & coaching histories), one based on Win Shares (using the Simple Projection System method), and one based on a heavily regressed-to-the-mean version of last year’s Simple Ratings (not so much for prediction purposes, but as an experiment to see how well the “dumbest” possible projections fare vs. complex methods).”
- SCHOENE projects Orlando to capture the No. 2 seed in the East.
Magic Basketball Featured at Hardwood Paroxysm
Photo by Terry and Rachel Dodson
Last week, Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm approached me to see if I was interested in writing a prologue of the Orlando Magic’s season for his site.
Needless to say, the decision was a no-brainer.
Here’s a snippet of what I wrote:
It’s championship or bust for the Orlando Magic. Like last year. But this year feels a little different. Yes, the Miami Heat are the proverbial elephant in the room and with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh forming like Voltron, they will be the standard bearer in the Eastern Conference much to head coach Stan Van Gundy’s chagrin. Yes, the Boston Celtics remain the litmus test for the Magic, in the sense that the C’s will continue to be a difficult matchup with their personnel. The Celtics seemingly endless supply of big men, which begins with Kendrick Perkins (when healthy), Jermaine O’Neal, and ends with Shaquille O’Neal, will push the limits with Howard when the two conference rivals face off against each other.
Kanye West once said, “no one man should have all that power.”
However, there’s one player for Orlando that has the power to change everything that happens in the East and that’s Dwight Howard.
Make sure to check out the rest of my Magic preview.
Also, keep an eye out for the remainder of HP’s “incomplete” 2010-2011 NBA previews.
Friday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “This was an NBA walk-through that actually was a walk-through. The Orlando Magic did not do any running during their shootaround this morning at the St. Pete Times Forum because the court was too slippery. [...] The Magic are scheduled to face the Miami Heat here at 7:30 p.m. [Stan] Van Gundy said he would have kept his team at its hotel this morning and held a walk-through in a ballroom if he had known the court was so slippery. St. Pete Times Forum spokesman Bill Wickett said the court’s slickness was not caused by condensation from the ice underneath the wood. Instead, he said the basketball court had been stored for a long time and was cleaned after last night’s Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game. The spokesman said the court had not dried before the Magic arrived at the arena.”
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “Regardless of what’s motivating [Vince] Carter, one thing is clear: it’s working. To great effect. Yet Carter’s attitude adjustment isn’t the only factor that appears to have contributed to is success. Indeed, the Magic are deploying him differently than they did last season, using him less as a facilitator and more as a jump-shooter. More specifically, data from Synergy Sports Technology show that Carter’s pick-and-roll involvement has dropped from 48.7 percent of his overall plays in 2009/10 to 34.4 percent this preseason. As a result of playing off the ball, he’s able to take more in-rhythm shots off the catch (33.9 percent), and fewer contested ones off the bounce (21 percent). On the downside, his assist numbers have taken a dive, which his incredible efficiency mitigates.”
- Dwight Howard and Marvel Comics team up for a rare collaboration.
- Ball Don’t Lie previews the Orlando Magic. A must-read: “The only thing stopping Orlando is smart play down crucial stretches of playoff games, and this means the first quarter as much as it does the fourth. Because the fourth quarter is rarely crucial when you lose the first. Jameer Nelson needs to lead his team offensively, Rashard Lewis needs to get back to where he was during the 2009 playoffs, and coach Stan Van Gundy will have to get the most out of what is easily the deepest team in the NBA. Championship, or bust. No other way to put it.”
- Zach Lowe of The Point Forward looks at the good and bad of the pre-season for the Magic. There’s not a lot of the latter: “Everything. The Magic are undefeated and outscoring opponents by a ludicrous 25 points per game.”
- Rashard Lewis is one of the worst shot blockers in the NBA.
- An opposing scout provides his take on Orlando for Sports Illustrated: “I don’t see Orlando being on the same level as Boston or Miami in the East, and a lot of it has to do with having Vince Carter as their go-to scorer. He can do it on certain nights, but I don’t think they can depend on him consistently in the playoffs. When he is doing most of the scoring and shooting, it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the team and what they’re all about. Defensively, Carter doesn’t help them either. The problem is they brought in Carter to replace Hedo Turkoglu, who played a big role for them going to the Finals two seasons ago. They ran many sets with Turkoglu handling the ball in pick-and-roll situations as if he was a point guard. He could post up, he could play both forward positions, he could handle the ball and he was so versatile — not a great shooter but he made big shots and plays — and most of all he was a matchup problem for everybody. Carter doesn’t create those mismatches, and their other players don’t flourish around him the way they did around Turkoglu a couple of years ago.”
- Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated: “They appear to be third in line behind Miami and Boston, but Orlando will demand the respect of opponents by winning close to 60 games. No one thought much of the Magic two years ago either, and then they went to the Finals. They’ve kept their team intact, which gives them an advantage in teamwork over the Heat, and they’ve shown no interest whatsoever in ceding anything to Miami. The two Florida contenders will be on their way to developing the East’s best rivalry if they succeed in beating each other when they meet twice in the opening month.”
- Howard empathizes with LeBron James and the hateful tweets he’s received.
- ESPN previews the Magic, as well, and a lot of their criticisms are off-based (more on this later). Take it away, Chris Broussard: “Dwight Howard will be better and make a serious case for MVP, but the Magic as a whole are declining. They’ll still win lots of games, but with Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis just another year older, they’re heading in the wrong direction. Bottom line: they should’ve paid Hedo!”
- And lastly, NBA FanHouse previews the men in blue. Tom Ziller and Bethlehem Shoals provide a sound and accurate depiction of the forgotten contender in the Eastern Conference: “I’m fully convinced that having Patrick Ewing, the king of great but somehow disappointing centers, as an assistant coach has dragged Dwight Howard’s name unnecessarily through the mud. Like death and taxes, you can always count on a louse or two pointing out Howard’s flaws without acknowledging his amazing feats. Feats like winning three straight rebounding titles before turning 25. Like leading the league in blocks and rebounds two straight years. Like missing a whopping three games in six seasons. Howard doesn’t have Hakeem’s smooth or Duncan’s craft; he’s just a heap of muscles and a giant set of hands. So, like Ewing and even David Robinson, he’s discounted as a player not committed to getting better, to not being the man. Bull pucky. This is the best big man in the game today, an heir to Hakeem and Duncan in terms of impact on a game, any game. How quickly we forget that Howard’s team has beaten LeBron and the Celtics already.”
- Seriously. Read and re-read the previews of Orlando by Ball Don’t Lie and NBA FanHouse.
Welcome the Newest Addition to the NBA Blogosphere
Please welcome the newest addition to the NBA blogosphere.
This is not hyperbole. I’m convinced, at this very moment in time, that this is going to be one of the greatest ideas ever conceived in quite a while. Everyone envisions a basketball blog as nothing more than written type, with videos and podcasts serving as alternative story forms.
But what about spoken word? Meet basketball’s version of Def Poetry Jam.
Take it away, Matt Moore.
Like most ideas that come from our brains, this one was largely an accident and not a very well conceived. At one point or another, Rob Mahoney and I came to the conclusion that we wanted this new project, that we wanted it to be inclusive, and we wanted it to be new. What formed out of it was Voice on the Floor.
The idea? It’s an audio blog. Or a podcast. Or a podcast blog. Or something. The general concept that we’re striving for is “NPR for the NBA.” Or as one person tagged it, “This American NBA Life.” We didn’t want to do a normal podcast with two of us talking about stuff, we have those on Paroxysm and we’ll have them again. Instead what we wanted was an audio magazine, featuring two elements. An in-depth interview, my only content production of the project, and spoken-word essays, performed by both Mahoney and the wonderful talented people we’ve encountered in our time out here in the Wild, Wild West.
I will be proudly contributing to this fantastic project next week (Tuesday, to be specific) on the eve of opening night in the NBA, with a spoken word essay on LeBron James. The title?
“I Hope LeBron James Destroys Us All.”
Stay tuned.
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.
_______
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.
MBN Roundtable Discussion: Orlando Magic 2010-2011 Season Preview, Part I
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
To continue Magic Basketball’s preview of the 2010-2011 season for the Orlando Magic, I gathered writers that cover them on a day-to-day basis. Each writer, except for one, has media access with the Magic and offers an authoritative voice concerning the team.
So, without further ado, here are the participants:
Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel
Dan Savage, OrlandoMagic.com
Ben Q. Rock, Orlando Pinstriped Post
Andrew Melnick, Howard the Dunk
Philip Rossman-Reich, Orlando Magic Daily
Each individual provided his opinion on which team in the Eastern Conference — between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat — is a bigger obstacle for the Magic, Ryan Anderson‘s role on the team, and more
_______
Which team concerns you more — the Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat?
Andrew Melnick: This is tough because both teams will present a lot of problems. The Celtics have added a few nice pieces and look very deep but I think this year’s Magic team is better equipped to handle them. Before media day, the Magic had a lengthy meeting (somewhere around three to three-and-a-half hours) and based on the comments from several players, toughness — both mental and physical — is being stressed this season. I think the Magic, through losing to the Celtics last year, are better equipped to deal with them this year. Dwight Howard’s performance in the second half of the series also backs up that statement. He is learning to play differently against different big men (i.e. using finesse against the powerful Kendrick Perkins).
The Miami Heat offer a completely different challenge. Not only do they have three All-Stars and arguably the two best players in basketball but all of three of them have absolutely torched the Magic throughout their careers. In fact, Dwyane Wade averages more points against the Magic (29.9 ppg) than he does against any other team. Chris Bosh (23.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg) and LeBron James (28.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 6.4 apg) have put up huge numbers as well.
I don’t see how the Magic can consistently deal with all three of these players on the defensive end (well, I don’t see how anyone can) and with Wade and James defending the perimeter, it’s going to make life very difficult for Orlando’s shooters and drivers.
The Heat also put pretty good talent around their big three, including sharpshooter and former Rookie of the Year (while with the Magic) Mike Miller.
Dwight Howard should be able to handle all of the Miami’s big men but with James and Wade constantly penetrating, it’s going to be quite difficult for Howard to stay out of trouble – he’s going to have to be extremely careful and pick his battles.
Orlando Magic 2010-11 Season Preview
Photo by Fernando Medina
| adj. +/- | net +/- | stat. +/- | PER | WARP | Win Shares/48 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Anderson | +0.65 | +1.8 | +1.97 | 18.1 | 2.7 | .161 |
| Brandon Bass | N/A | -4.9 | -2.65 | 16.5 | 1.1 | .147 |
| Vince Carter | +1.95 | +7.5 | +2.62 | 17.1 | 4.3 | .154 |
| Chris Duhon | -2.02 | +1.0 | -2.41 | 10.7 | -0.5 | .045 |
| Marcin Gortat | +13.73 | -7.8 | -1.73 | 13.9 | 2.3 | .151 |
| Dwight Howard | +24.97 | +10.2 | +7.21 | 24.0 | 19.2 | .223 |
| Rashard Lewis | -6.31 | -0.8 | +1.74 | 14.0 | 2.5 | .132 |
| Jameer Nelson | -4.14 | +1.5 | +0.22 | 15.5 | 3.0 | .130 |
| Mickael Pietrus | -9.32 | -7.2 | -0.36 | 11.9 | -0.1 | .103 |
| J.J. Redick | -9.19 | -6.1 | +0.99 | 15.0 | 2.1 | .173 |
| Quentin Richardson | +3.30 | +6.0 | +1.82 | 12.9 | 1.4 | .133 |
| Jason Williams | -2.59 | -1.4 | -0.45 | 12.9 | 2.1 | .127 |
A Quick Take on Marcin Gortat’s Role With the Orlando Magic
AP Photo/Delcia Lopez
Via Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel:
At the EuroBasket qualifying tournament in August, few big men were more dominant than Poland’s Marcin Gortat.
He led the tournament in field-goal percentage. He played almost every minute. He had 29 points against Belgium. 23 against Bulgaria.
When playing for Poland, Gortat is the man. His teammates look to him almost every trip down the court, feeding him the ball near the hoop and out near the perimeter. Jumpers, post-ups, cuts off the pick and roll; Gortat shows off a versatile offensive repertoire when playing for his home country.
Then Gortat returns to Orlando, where his role is simple: rebound, defend and run the floor. Stuck backing up the league’s best center, few plays are called for Gortat. On offense, he’s little more than a pick-setter and boards-crasher.
When Gortat does try to showcase his offensive game with the [Orlando] Magic, he gets talked to by the coaching staff.
And that adjustment has not been easy for the 26-year-old big man. [...]
The Orlando Magic, meanwhile, are not overly concerned about Gortat’s desire to play more offense. During the team’s 3 1/2- hour meeting last Monday, his teammates told him they wanted him to focus on his role of defending, rebounding and running the floor.
They weren’t interested in any offensive flash from Dwight Howard‘s backup.
This is an interesting problem, because Marcin Gortat is the only player for the Orlando Magic that has to deal with this type of issue.
In Poland, Gortat is the man.
In Orlando, Gortat is one of many.
For the rest of the Magic roster, each player has a defined role that doesn’t change dramatically even in international play. Granted, when Dwight Howard is playing for the USA men’s basketball team, his role is a little different. More so on offense than anything else, given that in the past he’s played alongside LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and some of the other top players in the NBA. And FIBA basketball, when it comes to trends and patterns with offenses, is not entirely conducive to traditional big men like Howard. As such, Howard’s value comes mostly on defense.
For Gortat, his desire to be more involved on offense is understandable. It’s tough to alter roles on the fly and in the past several years, Gortat has grown accustomed to being the centerpiece (here is an example) offensively when he’s playing for the Polish national team. It explains why Gortat isn’t shy in talking about his desire to play more, whether it’s for the Magic or another team.
Gortat wants “the damn ball.”
Can Gortat post up? Yes.
Should Gortat receive more touches on the low block? No.
That’s not an indictment on Gortat’s skill, per se, but it speaks more to the amount of talent Orlando has at their disposal. When Gortat is playing on the second unit, he’s not the best option on offense. Likewise, if the Magic want to really have a low post presence when Howard is out of the game, they could tab Rashard Lewis to be that guy since head coach Stan Van Gundy is making a concerted effort to play him more at the small forward position to take advantage of those skills.
The lack of a low post option was an issue last year for the second unit, at times.
What does this all mean for Gortat this season?
Nothing. Gortat’s role won’t change and shouldn’t change.
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Former [Orlando] Magic shooting guard Courtney Lee feels right at home with the Houston Rockets. Going from a team that went 12-70 last season to a playoff contender would make anybody feel happy. That’s the case with Lee, who was sent from the New Jersey Nets to the Rockets in August as part of a four-team trade. Lee, 25, likes his role with Houston. He likely will back up starting SG Kevin Martin, but Lee also played some point guard during training camp. The Rockets want him to serve as a defensive stopper on the wing and also attack on the offensive end.”
- More from Robbins: “There will be no surprises in the Orlando Magic starting lineup when the team takes the floor for its preseason opener tonight against the Houston Rockets. Rashard Lewis will start at his usual position of power forward, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told me a short while ago. Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Quentin Richardson and Dwight Howard will join Lewis in the starting lineup. Still, you can expect that Lewis will play some small forward tonight. Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass and possibly Marcin Gortat will man the 4 spot when Lewis plays the 3. [...] Van Gundy said he’ll play at least 11 of his 13 healthy players. The two guys who might not play are rookie Stanley Robinson and veteran Malik Allen.”
- Money is the reason why the Orlando Magic won’t sign a third point guard.
- What does Brandon Bass need to improve on? Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel offers a solution: “Bass struggled to grasp the Magic’s defensive rotations last season, often ending up in the wrong place or defending the wrong players after defensive switches. And being a big man, lapses on help defense lead to open lay-ups and dunks. That kept him out of favor with Stan Van Gundy and on the bench for most of last season. Bass’ shooting range doesn’t extend to the 3-point line, which is limiting for Orlando’s 4-out, 1-in offense. And unless the Magic organization invents some new technology this won’t be improved, but Bass’ 6-foot-7 frame can be limiting.”
- Additional information on Bass’ improvements on defense.
- A few things to look out for in the Magic’s pre-season game against the Houston Rockets.
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com answer some questions for Magic fans.
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “The issue with either Anderson or Bass sharing the court with Lewis is that it’d force Lewis to cover smaller, faster players at the other end. More broadly, it means Orlando wouldn’t have a plus defender at either perimeter position. Sacrificing defense for offense’s sake doesn’t sound like a Van Gundy tactic, but as John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com explained, there’s a lingering feeling in Magic HQ that playing Lewis at small forward in the Eastern Conference Finals could have put Orlando over the top against the Boston Celtics. The thinking, then, appears to be that Lewis’ ability to score in more ways from the three-spot is more important than putting a “true” power forward in the lineup. Regardless of the reason for the move, it’s clear that it’s something with which the Magic intend to experiment this season, starting with the exhibition schedule. I’m excited to see how it plays out.”
- Make sure to also read Rock’s pre-season primer. It’s a must-read.
- Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk chimes in on Bass’ progress defensively in training camp: “It wasn’t Bass’ blinders-on approach to scoring or his somewhat troubling rebounding rate that led to his diminished role with Orlando. Instead, Stan Van Gundy spoke of Bass’ defensive limitations, and his lack of familiarity with the defensive system that is so vital to the Magic’s success. Bass may have been strong enough and productive enough to thrive as a sixth man for the Dallas Mavericks in the season prior, but he clearly failed to meet SVG’s more specific systemic needs.”
- Tracy McGrady is jealous of the SuperFriends. Remember, McGrady had a chance to play alongside Grant Hill and Tim Duncan (it was a longshot, but a remote possibility) in the summer of 2000 when Orlando was pursuing each of them when they were free agents: “I am envious (of Miami’s Big Three). I’m jealous as s**t. I look at all the teams I’ve been on, and I never had a Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the same team. I’m jealous, but I’m happy for them. I hope they win 10 damn championships. [...] Ten years ago, we could have done it (put a Big Three together) but without all the hype. But that’s just wishful thinking now. It’s what could have happened. It’s only teasing me (to talk about it). So many nights I remember just wishing that Grant was healthy. I would have loved for Duncan to have been there, too, but a healthy Grant Hill would have been good enough (for me).”
- McGrady is right — he didn’t have a Wade alongside him, not even close.
- Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie with some words of wisdom on McGrady: “McGrady carried the Magic, for years, when Grant Hill was injured. He has never made it out of the first round of the playoffs, but he’s never been on a team that deserved to beat the team it lost to in the first round of the playoffs. You may not like the way he left Toronto, Orlando, or Houston; but his prime years were also decimated by injury. He’ll take in a lot of flak for these comments, but I think it’s time to give the guy a break.”
- Dwight Howard is the starting center of Team “D.”
- Penny Hardaway made a big jump statistically from 1995 to 1996.
