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Orlando Magic News for March 15th: Vince Carter's Improvement, Dwight Howard's Free-Throw Shooting, and More
by Ben Q Rock on Mar 15, 2010 6:09 PM EDT
in News
13 comments
- NBA.com: Magic's Carter finding groove after rough start to 2010
David Aldridge writes about Vince Carter's rapid improvement after a horrid January this year, and asks coach Stan Van Gundy how he turned his season around.
"I really can't answer that," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "He's really playing well now, very efficiently. He had some injury stuff early, both his legs and his shoulder. I think he feels better. He seems very comfortable playing with everyone else. He's shooting the ball well. Everything's gone well for him. He keeps playing like that, obviously, we're pretty good."
- 4. Taking Care Of The Rock - Daily Dime - ESPN
The Elias Sports Bureau passes along this disheartening, albeit probably meaningless, note about Dwight Howard's free-throw shooting.
Dwight Howard scored 27 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, but his 3-for-10 foul shooting might have cost the Magic a victory in their 96-89 loss to the Bobcats on Sunday. It was the sixth time this season that Howard's missed free throws accounted for the margin of defeat for Orlando. That ties breaks a tie with Brook Lopez for the league lead in this category-without-a-name.
- Don't boo, Portland -- be thankful - ProBasketballTalk
Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk says the Portland Trail Blazers lucked out when Magic free-agent forward Hedo Turkoglu jilted them after verbally committing to sign there to instead take the Toronto Raptors' offer.
More after the jump.
13 comments | 0 recs |
Off-Day Open Thread: Should We Worry about Rashard Lewis?
by Ben Q Rock on Mar 15, 2010 2:00 PM EDT
in Off-Day Open Thread
44 comments
As noted in last night's recap of the Orlando Magic's loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, forward Rashard Lewis has struggled mightily lately. He's not having a great season overall, sure, but he's been especially ineffectual since the All-Star break, averaging 11.6 points on 51.3% True Shooting, and 3.8 boards in 33.1 minutes. He laid an egg last night against Charlotte, missing 6 of his 7 shots--many of them wide-open--and grabbing just 2 rebounds in 34 minutes. In the last week, he played 110 minutes and managed 11 rebounds, which is almost exactly the rate at which Boston's Brian Scalabrine, who's about as mobile as the basket stanchion is, has boarded this season. And after last night's loss, coach Stan Van Gundy expressed concern about Lewis' lack of energy lately.
Unsurprisingly, Lewis--who made waves earlier this year by refusing to re-enter a game because Ryan Anderson, his backup, was playing so well--is saying the right things about putting the team first and his individual needs second. From Josh Robbins of Orlando Sentinel:
"It's a team," he said. "It says ‘Magic' on the jersey and not ‘Lewis' on the front of the jersey."
And from Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse:
"I'm a veteran now on a good team, a team competing for a championship. It's loaded. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for that. As long as we're winning, I'm comfortable with it.''
Check that last part again: "as long as we're winning." Lewis spoke up earlier this season about not getting enough touches, and one wonders if he might voice his frustration again if Orlando goes through another rough patch.
So my question is two-fold: how concerned are you with Lewis' recent poor play? And to what extent are you worried about his attitude toward taking on a diminished role this season?
An optimistic argument goes something like this: around this time last year, his productivity had a similar decline, and he bounced back in time to play quite well in the postseason. Odds are he makes it two years in a row; betting against Lewis to deliver in key situations during his Orlando tenure has proven unwise.
The pessimistic outlook? He's 30 years old and taking more jumpers (and, consequently, fewer foul shots) with each passing year. And he's owed in excess of $60 million over the next three seasons.
44 comments | 0 recs |
T-Mobile Player of the Week: Dwight Howard
by Ben Q Rock on Mar 15, 2010 12:00 PM EDT
in News
4 comments
This post is sponsored by T-Mobile.
The Orlando Magic improved to 47-21 last week after going 3-1, due in large part to Dwight Howard's stellar play at both ends of the floor. He's our T-Mobile Player of the Week yet again.
| Dwight Howard | Pts | Rebs | Ast | Stl | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22.3 | 13.0 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 2.0 | |
 | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | ||
| 80.0 | 0.0 | 58.6 | |||
| eFG% | TS% | ||||
| 80.0 | 77.0 | ||||
Howard led the Magic in scoring and rebounding three times and shot an incredible 80% from the field. His averages would have improved were it not for the Magic's blowout win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night, in which his services were required for just 20 minutes.
Howard's excellent week overshadowed another strong performance from Vince Carter, who provided efficient offense (19.3 points, 65.6% True Shooting, just 2 turnovers in 131 minutes) from the perimeter when the Magic needed it, with Rashard Lewis struggling to get involved and Jameer Nelson becoming more of a distributor.
Finally, he surpassed Tracy McGrady for 2nd place on the Magic's all-time scoring list yesterday in defeat. He can realistically overtake Nick Anderson for the top spot two seasons from now, provided he averages 20 points per game and does not miss many games.
4 comments | 0 recs |
Charlotte Bobcats 96, Orlando Magic 89
by Ben Q Rock on Mar 15, 2010 2:34 AM EDT
in 2009/2010 Recaps
40 comments
In a potential first-round playoff preview, the opportunistic Charlotte Bobcats exploited the Orlando Magic's lack of rest and depth and ended Orlando's 8-game winning streak Sunday night by a final of 96-89. Stephen Jackson tallied a game-high 28 points and dished 6 assists for Charlotte, whose offense rolled along despite the absence of All-Star small forward Gerald Wallace. Orlando's Dwight Howard shot 12-of-14 for 27 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, while Vince Carter tallied 23 points and 6 assists, and spot-starter Mickael Pietrus drained 5 three-pointers en route to a 20-point outing. But those 3 players proved to be Orlando's only reliable scorers, and the Bobcats handily outrebounded the Magic, 46-34, to win rather impressively.
40 comments | 0 recs |
Post-Game Media Availability: Not a Well-Played Game
by erivera7 on Mar 14, 2010 10:52 PM EDT
in News
11 comments
Coming into tonight’s game, the Orlando Magic were on an eight-game winning streak and looking to tie a franchise-record for most consecutive regular season wins with nine. But catching the Charlotte Bobcats, a team without All-Star forward Gerald Wallace, on a back-to-back proved to be too much for the Magic. After the game, head coach Stan Van Gundy bemoaned Orlando's poor play. For the Magic, it was just one of those nights.
I was able to speak with Van Gundy amongst the media, as well as Mickael Pietrus, and Dwight Howard. Here’s what they had to say:
Stan Van Gundy:
Could you talk about Mickael Pietrus’ performance tonight?
I thought M.P. played well, yeah. I thought M.P. … on the offensive end, I thought M.P., Vince [Carter], and Dwight [Howard] all played well but it was pretty much a three-man show. Nobody else could really get anything going and so it’s just not enough.
11 comments | 0 recs |
Tonight's Orlando Magic Game: vs. Charlotte Bobcats
by Ben Q Rock on Mar 14, 2010 5:44 PM EDT
in 2009/2010 Previews
624 comments
The Orlando Magic can clinch a playoff spot and tie a team record with their 9th straight win if they defeat the Charlotte Bobcats tonight in what could be a playoff preview of sorts. I say "of sorts" because All-Star small forward Gerald Wallace will sit out with a sprained left ankle, and he'd most assuredly play a big role in a potential first-round matchup. Additionally, the recently signed Larry Hughes is recovering from a hand injury suffered earlier this season with the Knicks and will not be available for at least a week. So essentially the Bobcats are spotting the Magic two rotation players today. But will that advantage lead to a franchise record-tying win?
UPDATE: Orlando's Matt Barnes is day-to-day with a sprained left big toe and won't play tonight. Mickael Pietrus will start in his place. Barnes had yet to miss a game this year.
624 comments | 0 recs |
Pre-Game Media Availability with Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy
by erivera7 on Mar 14, 2010 5:03 PM EDT
in News
0 comments
Before the Orlando Magic face off against the Charlotte Bobcats in tonight's game, I was able to speak briefly with head coach Stan Van Gundy amongst the media.
Here's what he had to say:
With the rotation in tonight's game, will you allocate some of the minutes at the small forward position to Vince Carter?
Yeah, Vince and J.J. [Redick] have played ... we went down the stretch last night with those two guys in so that's not a problem. We can move Rashard [Lewis] over there, too.
What's the key to game-planning against a Larry Brown-coached defense?
Well, I don't know about ... they're a good defensive team and I think when you play good defensive teams, you're generally going to have to make more passes, get to your second and third options, and things like that. I think the one thing that they do is that they will trap you coming across half-court at various times and you have to be alert for that but other than that, it's just a good, solid defense. Not a lot of tricks to what they do other than the traps. It's just they get down [the court], they work hard, they got tough guys that put pressure on the ball, they got size inside to protect the basket. I mean, it's a solid defense.
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Jameer Nelson Sparks the Orlando Magic's Second-Half Success
by Ben Q Rock on Mar 14, 2010 12:00 PM EDT
in Analysis
10 comments
The Orlando Magic have won eight straight games, their longest streak since the 2005/06 season and the longest active streak in the NBA. And no team has played better ball than the Magic over the last month, with Orlando drilling its opponents by an average of 14.5 points over that stretch. Each player deserves a share of the credit, as does the coaching staff. But to me, one player in particular has keyed the Magic's improvement since the break: point guard Jameer Nelson.
Here's a look at how his numbers have improved, UPDATE with his stats from last season added for comparison:
| Jameer Nelson pre- and post-All-Star break splits, 2009/10 NBA Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pts | Ast | TO | PPR | TS% | ||
| Pre | 11.6 | 4.8 | 2.1 | 4.1 | 52.3% | |
| Post | 15.1 | 7.1 | 2.2 | 8.7 | 59.3% | |
| 2008/09 Season | 16.7 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 5.2 | 61.2% | |
The break helped Nelson recharge his batteries, so to speak, and it's paying off with better percentages from the floor. More impressively, he's turned into an assist machine relative to his usual abilities. Prior to this season, Nelson split ballhandling duties with Hedo Turkoglu in Stan Van Gundy's offense, which robbed him of some assist opportunities. For most of his pre-Van Gundy career, he was regarded as a point guard with a shoot-first mentality and without great floor vision; the 1.5 Pure Point Rating he posted in his first full year as a starter did little to inspire confidence in his ability to run an offense. With Turkoglu in Toronto and Vince Carter not assuming that same playmaking role, Nelson's doing a little more than he used to, and proving to be one of the best pick-and-roll players in the game: data from Synergy Sports show Nelson produces 1.04 points per possession in all pick-and-roll situations, which puts him in the league's 86th percentile.
10 comments | 0 recs |
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