John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com opens up his mailbag for a Black Friday post, and responds to a question about why Brandon Bass has fallen out of coach Stan Van Gundy's rotation.

As for Bass, that’s a tricky one. He’s still going to play against teams with bigger, stronger frontlines. I was actually surprised that Van Gundy didn’t use him in the Miami game because he could have provided some much needed scoring punch to a Magic offense that was spotty throughout that game.

It hurts Bass that he doesn’t have 3-point range, something that Van Gundy prefers with his power forwards because that keeps bigger foes from double-teaming [Dwight] Howard. But what has cut into Bass’ playing time more than anything has been the veteran’s struggles defensively and on the boards. His easiest way to play his way back into the rotation is by rebounding the ball better.

Bass hasn't played since the Magic's romp over Oklahoma City on November 18th, and even then he was relegated to mop-up duty, playing the final 6:21 of a 14-point win.

Matt Humphrey of the Orlando Sentinel points out that the Magic have succeeded even without All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson in the lineup, this season and last.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with Jameer Nelson, including last year's run in the NBA playoffs, the Orlando Magic are 45-19.

Without Jameer Nelson?

They're 43-21 with players like Rafer Alston, Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson filling in the gap.

I'm interested to know what the point differential is like. I imagine the Magic crush teams by at least 7 points a game with Nelson, and squeak by them by roughly 4 points a game without him. If anyone has those figures readily available, I'm all ears.

Bucks hope to hold winning pair
Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes that Magic forward Rashard Lewis may try to recoup some of the money he lost during his 10-game suspension this season.

Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis and his representatives have taken an interest in the court cases involving Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams. If the players successfully fight the NFL’s attempts to suspend them for violating that league’s anti-doping policy, then Lewis may seek to recover some of the $1.8 million he lost in salary resulting from his 10-game suspension.

Catching Up With Rashard Lewis
Ryan McNeill of Hoops Addict posts this transcript of a chat he had with Lewis during the Magic's visit to Toronto last weekend.

When he was in town this weekend I talked with Lewis about where his fascination with shooting three’s came from, what he learned while playing with Ray Allen in Seattle and he talked about the kinds of shooting battles he has in practices with Vince Carter and J.J. Redick.