Posts Tagged → Marcin Gortat
Recap: Orlando Magic 98, Charlotte Bobcats 89
Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images
In a hard fought, physical game, the Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 98-89 to take a 1-0 series lead in the first round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs. Before the game, there were two players to keep an eye on for the Magic and they were Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson. There were question marks surrounding Lewis and Nelson as the postseason was gearing up but each player answered the call for Orlando. Nelson led the way for the Magic, setting a career playoff-high by scoring 32 points, as well as chipping in with six assists and four rebounds. Lewis was excellent, playing a very efficient game by scoring 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Dwight Howard had a lackluster performance on offense but he was otherworldly on defense, where he tied a playoff-high with nine blocks and set a franchise playoff record with eight blocks in the first half. Gerald Wallace performed magnificently, with 25 points and 17 rebounds for the Bobcats. Monster numbers for Wallace, to say the least.
Friday’s Magic Word
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Magic SF Matt Barnes said Thursday that his camp spoke with the franchise about extending his contract or awarding him with a new deal. ”Yeah, we talked to them,” Barnes said told the Sentinel. “We’re going to wait until the season’s over.” Barnes’ agent is Aaron Goodwin, who also represents Magic C Dwight Howard. Barnes signed a two-year deal last summer, but he can opt out of his contract at season’s end. He has said he would love to stay with the Magic.”
- Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated lists the Orlando Magic as one of the teams that has a chance to win a championship this year: “Orlando attempted more threes than last year, while Dwight Howard averaged two fewer shots per game; but he is shooting a higher percentage at 61.1 percent and he is likely to win another defensive player of the year award. Put it all together and coach Stan Van Gundy has wrestled an apparently disparate roster back into title contention. They enter the playoffs on a 20-3 tear along with the confidence that they can reprise last year’s upset of Cleveland. They surely look like the biggest obstacle the Cavs will face this spring.”
- Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated previews the first round series between the Magic and the Charlotte Bobcats: “This could be a much tougher test for the Magic than it first appears. Their 3-1 season edge over Charlotte included two victories in the first three weeks of the season, before the Bobcats acquired Stephen Jackson. Since then, Charlotte extended Orlando to overtime before losing and then went into Orlando and beat the Magic in mid-March. Points will be precious, as Larry Brown’s Bobcats led the NBA in defensive efficiency (fewest points allowed per 100 possessions), Orlando was third and both teams play at a slower-than-average pace. If Orlando isn’t hitting its three-pointers, Charlotte could steal a game on the road — and the Bobcats finished (31-10) at home.”
- Charles Barkley chimes in on Orlando.
- Doug Collins recognizes that it’s not all about threes when the Magic play: “Normally teams that take a lot of threes play small. They stretch you out, they run, they quick shoot the ball and they want to get into a shootout. [The Magic have] Dwight Howard back there anchoring that defense blocking or changing shots. One of the things I love about Orlando is they’re a team that can get hot and throw up huge numbers but they can also beat you in a game where defense wins.”
- Want to know why Rashard Lewis has struggled against the Bobcats this season? Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post provides an explanation: “The poor shooting in spot-up situations is absolutely cause for concern, as spotting up is how Lewis gets 42.9% of his offense on the season, according to Synergy. That figure increased to 60.9% against the Bobcats, which makes his decline in effectiveness in those situations so jarring. He scored 7 times in 28 possessions when spotting up, or just 25% of the time for 0.679 points per possession, as the above chart shows. For the season, spotting up? He scores 45.5% of the time and produces 1.218 points per possession. What a dramatic drop-off. Thing is, Lewis can’t stop shooting. Orlando needs him to continue firing away, predominantly from beyond the arc, for its offense to work. He’s going to have to spot-up against the Bobcats, and he’s also going to have to convert those chances at a much higher rate. So the next question is, “how?” Honestly, he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing.”
- Bill Simmons of ESPN.com attempts to prove that Orlando can’t win four straight playoff series with Vince Carter on the team.
- Two of the top 10 five-man units in the playoffs, sorted by efficiency differential, are owned by the Magic. John Schuhmann of NBA.com has more: “The Magic starters are the best starting unit in the East, both offensively and defensively. If you’re willing to look at smaller sample sizes, you’ll discover that replacing Howard with Marcin Gortat gives you even better results, (Def: 85.2, Diff: +33.4), which doesn’t make a lot of sense, because Howard is the prohibitive favorite to win his second straight Defensive Player of the Year award. The starters-plus-Gortat lineup played in just 21 games together, and for just 74 minutes total.”
- With the use of video, Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook breaks down the strengths and weakness, plus the tendencies, of Orlando and Charlotte.
- Bethlehem Shoals and Tom Ziller of NBA FanHouse offer a fun and insightful preview of the matchup between the Magic and the Bobcats.
- Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse: “At the start of practice Friday — in a mundane, two-on-two, pick-and-roll drill he has run a thousand times in his career — veteran Vince Carter surprised everyone by cutting loose with a dunk so emphatic, so focused, that it shook the goal, looking like something he did a decade ago in a nationally-televised game. Even Magic center Dwight Howard was impressed, turning to general manager Otis Smith, who was watching from a distance: “I guess he’s ready for the playoffs,” Howard said with a nod. Carter, 33, never has been more ready to play basketball, knowing through the next eight weeks he can redefine his career, change the perception he has fought the last 12 years, that he is nothing more than a great individual player who can dominate the highlight tapes. He wants to be known as a champion. And he finally has the chance to do it.”
- As Tom Haberstroh of Hoopdata shows, Howard gets a lot of And-1′s.
- Meet Jameer Nelson, Orlando’s championship x-factor, according to Austin Burton of Dime Magazine: “He wasn’t there for most of the ‘09 Finals run, so in a sense he’s still playing catch-up. By the numbers, it’s been a subpar year for Jameer: His scoring is down, his shooting percentages are down, his steals are down, and his turnovers are up. He also missed a solid month of the schedule with injuries. With Vince Carter assigned to create offense and run the pick-and-roll with Dwight Howard in crunch time, Jameer just needs to protect the ball, hit open shots, and defend his position.”
- Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference’s statistical plus/minus projection likes Orlando in 5 against Charlotte.
- Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus: “If you consider yourself a connoisseur of defense, the matchup between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Orlando Magic is the series to watch. On the final night of the regular season, the Bobcats passed the Magic to finish the season as the NBA’s top defensive team. While the two teams have very different styles–Charlotte thrives thanks to excellent wing defense, forcing turnovers and solid performance in the paint, while the Magic funnels everything toward the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard–both have proven very successful. It’s on the offensive end that the two teams differ in results. Orlando’s fleet of excellent shooters around Howard set the NBA record for most three-pointers in a season. Charlotte has been substantially below average on the offensive end this season, which explains why the Bobcats are the seventh seed while the Magic boasted the league’s second-best regular-season record and is a heavy favorite in this series.”
- Will there be a title rematch between the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers? Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie breaks down the possibility.
MBN Roundtable Discussion: Previewing the 2010 NBA Playoffs for the Orlando Magic
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
And the grand finale.
I gathered writers, the best of the best in the blogosphere, to participate in a roundtable discussion and answer some of the most pertinent questions concerning the Orlando Magic as the 2010 NBA Playoffs are set to begin.
So, without further ado, here are the participants:
Kevin Arnovitz, TrueHoop
Tom Haberstroh, Hoopdata
Kurt Helin, ProBasketballTalk
Matt Moore, Hardwood Paroxysm
Kevin Pelton, Basketball Prospectus
Each individual provided his opinion on Vince Carter‘s potential impact in the playoffs, how things may shake out if the Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet in the Eastern Conference Finals, and more.
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Who is the x-factor for the Orlando Magic in the playoffs?
Kevin Arnovitz: The x-factor, as he’s long been for Orlando, is Rashard Lewis. If Lewis is accurate from the perimeter, effective at exploiting slower defenders with improved dribble game and able to use his size to post up smaller defenders, then he gives the Magic even more flexibility in the half court.
Tom Haberstroh: Matt Barnes. They’ll need him to do the dirty work. Can he neutralize the opponent’s top scorers?
Kurt Helin: I wanted to go with someone a little more exotic here — Matt Barnes, Rashard Lewis, and those guys will need to have key moments and games — but in the end it’s about Jameer Nelson to me. Dwight is going to be Dwight. But nobody else in the East has a second option as good as a healthy Nelson. Maybe nobody outside the Lakers does (Gasol behind Kobe). And in the playoffs, when things get tight, that second guy comes up huge. Nelson is a shooting guard who can score when the offense breaks down and there are 6 seconds left on the shot clock, and you need that in the playoffs.
If Nelson can come up huge in the playoffs. That’ll be the test. When it comes down to Cleveland in the conference finals — and it will — the Magic will need to pick-and-roll them to death because neither Shaq nor Big Z can defend it well consistently. If Nelson is All-Star Nelson, running the P&R as god intended… well, the Great Cleveland LeBron Freak Out will begin earlier than expected.
Matt Moore: The bench, quite honestly. I could drive it down to Matt Barnes or Brandon Bass or Marcin Gortat or Mickael Pietrus or J.J. Redick or Ryan Anderson but that’s the whole point. It could be any one of them. They’re all capable of producing at an insanely high level, and the 10-15 points they can put in (if SVG gives them time) could be the swing. Mickael Pietrus was the dagger in the ECF last year. In the semis, J.J. Redick’s defense on Ray Allen was the tip of the sword. It could be any one of those guys. That’s the trouble with the Magic. There’s simply no way to stop all of them.
Kevin Pelton: At the risk of copying Kelly Dwyer, this has to be Rashard Lewis. Lewis’ ability to stretch the floor was the difference-maker for the Magic in last year’s postseason, and you can trace Boston’s addition of Rasheed Wallace and Cleveland’s move for Antawn Jamison to wanting to have similar presences. Lewis has had a down regular season and Orlando could really use him to step up at both ends of the floor.
Interview with Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
Ben Q. Rock is a man that needs no introduction, at least to Magic fans that frequent the blogosphere, but deserves one. Rock covers the Magic at Orlando Pinstriped Post, my former stomping grounds for over a year, and has done excellent work for the past three years. For instance, Rock has been doing a great job of previewing the first round series between the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Bobcats the last few days. I highly suggest reading what Rock has written, so far, as it’s about informative as it gets.
Rock promised, when I left OPP, that he’d collaborate with me from time to time so here we are.
A few days ago, I was able to ask Rock a few questions concerning some of the major storylines surrounding the Magic with the 2010 NBA Playoffs starting on Saturday.
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I’ve always been of the opinion that Jameer Nelson is the x-factor for the Orlando Magic. When he goes, so go the Magic. But certainly the same thing could be said about Vince Carter, given his talents and what he’s proven to be capable of in a Magic uniform. So, between Nelson or Carter, who must produce and take his game to another level for Orlando to win a championship?
Well, I mean, both Vince [Carter] and Jameer [Nelson] are important, and I’m not sure there’s one who’s more key to Orlando’s title chances than any other. I suppose you could say that Vince is going to end more possessions and thus will have more responsibilities, and thus he’ll have more chances to affect the Magic’s playoffs. Thing is, I feel like he’s more consistent. He’s going to get his 15-to-18 points per night, as he’s done for the last few months. Whereas Jameer’s been more up-and-down.
Given the choice, most opponents would rather limit Carter and take their chances with Nelson firing away, so Jameer has to answer the call there. To me, the biggest thing for Jameer is to cut the one-on-one play. Get into the teeth of the defense, kick the ball out. He has to take enough of those 18-footers in pick-and-roll situations, but he can’t keep settling for them. Vince has to avoid that as well, but you and I both know that Carter’s much more likely to put his head down and draw contact than Nelson is.
So now I’ve talked myself into believing Nelson is more crucial. Fair enough, but it’s not a huge margin.
What makes this discussion easier is that J.J. Redick and Jason Williams have been so reliable off the bench. I trust them more than I did, say, last year’s version of J.J., or Anthony Johnson. If Vince and Jameer don’t have it some nights, I’d be comfortable counting on their backups if I were Stan Van Gundy.
How Did the Orlando Magic Get to This Point?
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
For Billy Donovan and Stan Van Gundy, it’s a tale of two stories for two head coaches that are in two different positions right now. While the Florida Gators are currently undergoing a rebuilding phase after winning back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball national championships in 2006 and 2007, the Orlando Magic are enjoying an era of prosperity not seen since the mid-’90s when Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal were household names. It’s no secret that Donovan and Van Gundy will forever be linked in Orlando lore after the drama that unfolded in the summer of 2007. Long story short, Donovan accepted then declined the Magic’s offer to become head coach after Brian Hill was fired and as a result, Van Gundy ended up with the job. The question is, how did we get here? How did Orlando become a powerhouse in the NBA?
Look no further than the man that “replaced” Donovan.
There’s no doubt that other people should be credited with returning the Magic to prominence, including the DeVos family (for paying the luxury tax), general manager Otis Smith, and others. But at the end of the day, Van Gundy is at the epicenter of this era. Van Gundy is defining the narrative that is unfolding in Orlando and it’s an interesting one, to say the least.
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.”
Recap: San Antonio Spurs 112, Orlando Magic 100
Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images
Matched up with a good opponent on a back-to-back, the Orlando Magic lost to the San Antonio Spurs by the score of 112-100. The Magic played with the requisite effort and energy required to win but a dominant performance by Manu Ginobili, with 43 points, six rebounds, and five assists, allowed the Spurs to come away with the victory. As expected, Tim Duncan returned to form for San Antonio with 23 points in 24 minutes after being held to his worst shooting percentage game of his career the last time these two teams met. Orlando was led by a balanced attack, with six players scoring in double-figures. Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus each had 18 points and shot with great efficiency.
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.
Media Log: Orlando Magic 110, San Antonio Spurs 84
Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images
I was able to speak with head coach Stan Van Gundy amongst the media, as well as talk with Jameer Nelson, Marcin Gortat, Rashard Lewis, Matt Barnes, and Dwight Howard after the Orlando Magic defeated the San Antonio Spurs by the score of 110-84.
Stan Van Gundy
Rashard Lewis got things going in the first quarter and it seemed like you ran a few plays for him to get him going. Could you talk about his performance tonight?
Well, I thought … certainly the first play … I wanted to get the ball in his hands on a play where I thought he had a chance to get a shot. I just wanted to get him into the flow right away but yeah, he played well tonight and shot the ball well. Everybody is going to have ups and downs but he’s always been a guy that’s bounced back and I thought he had a good night tonight.
Jameer Nelson
With Tony Parker absent from the game, how do you think that changed things for the San Antonio Spurs?
Well, he’s a big part of what they do. He’s a one-man machine on the fast break and they need that. They need easy buckets and we didn’t allow that tonight. We all got back, for the most part. We shut down the paint and made them shoot jumpshots.
Could you talk about your relationship with Anthony Johnson? What has he taught you?
Well, he just … each game we warm-up, he stays on me about practicing certain shots. We [are] out there practicing certain shots before the game in the layup line. Every timeout, he’s in my ear about certain things that he see and he could be not playing, he could be one of the guys that’s just … ‘aw, I’m not playing, I’m not going to say anything’ but he’s not like that and he’s the ultimate professional. I’ve been very fortunate to have him, guys like Grant Hill, and other guys around me that are great professionals.
