The Orlando Magic's Offense Has Been Efficient But There is Room for Improvement

by erivera7 on Dec 20, 2009 4:37 PM EST in Analysis

If there's a difference between the Orlando Magic of last year and this year, it's the offense. Granted, last year's offense when the Magic had a healthy Jameer Nelson during the regular season ranked 5th in Offensive Rating. But it took a ridiculous shooting display from Nelson over a period of time for Orlando to be as potent as it was on the offensive side of the ball. It didn't seem like Jameer could sustain that type of performance for the entire year but one will never know - he may have, he may have not. As such, when Nelson did get hurt this past season, the Magic's offense couldn't keep pace because the personnel wasn't equipped to make up for the loss of production.

This year, the Magic rank 5th in Offensive Rating once again but there's room for improvement and a reason for that is the improved supporting cast on the team (as well as the impending return of Nelson from injury, etc). When one considers the inefficient shooters general manager Otis Smith jettisoned during the off-season (Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, Hedo Turkoglu) and who he brought in to replace them (Brandon Bass, Vince Carter, Jason Williams, among others), it's no surprise Orlando is a much more potent offensive team. What's scary for the Magic is that the team, offensively, isn't playing at its maximum. One major reason for that has been the sub-standard play from Carter on offense, who has been in a shooting slump lately. Carter hasn't been efficient and although it hasn't affected Orlando much, in terms of team-wide production, it has held the team back from fully realizing its offensive potential. Still, it's a long year and usually the numbers even out when everything is said and done.

Here's a list of the Orlando Magic players who have been efficient on offense:

	TS%	eFG%	Offensive Rating
J. J. Redick	61.6%	57.6%	123
Jason Williams	56.8%	54.9%	121
Ryan Anderson	58.3%	55.0%	115
Dwight Howard	64.5%	63.2%	115
Brandon Bass	56.6%	54.4%	114
Rashard Lewis	57.6%	53.6%	114
Anthony Johnson	53.6%	50.0%	110
Jameer Nelson	54.4%	50.8%	109
league average	53.9%	49.6%	106.6

Impressive.

If Carter (and to a lesser extent, Nelson) returns to form on the offensive side of the ball sooner rather than later, then the Magic could live up to Pro Basketball Prospectus 09-10's projection, which is that the team will finish the regular season with the most efficient offense in the NBA.

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Comments

good read. carter will pick it up.meer i think will come back strong.

i think its a matter of time till we get to see the real magic.the last 20-25 games will show what we have really.

by magicman775 on Dec 20, 2009 7:31 PM EST reply actions

nice one

hope no more injuries

in OTIS we TRUST...

by Hbkid on Dec 20, 2009 11:00 PM EST reply actions

Let's hope.

I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.

"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat

by erivera7 on Dec 21, 2009 1:51 AM EST up reply actions

The room for improvement is with the all-stars. Jameer on defense and staying healthy..,

Vince on efficiency and forgetting how to needlessly launch 28 footers, and Rashard on consistency (not to mention not being sketch with SVG). Jameer’s prospective improvement is probably the most crucial and least reliable. You really can’t ask more from Redick, Pietrus, Barnes Williams Anderson AJ Bass Gortat. Dwight brings it every night.

by CaliFlorida on Dec 21, 2009 1:30 AM EST reply actions

You can ask more from Gortat.

Marcin isn’t producing like he was last year.

I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.

"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat

by erivera7 on Dec 21, 2009 1:50 AM EST up reply actions

What does that matter though? If he's only going to play 7 minutes a game.

by CaliFlorida on Dec 21, 2009 2:33 AM EST up reply actions

Because it's why his minutes have been steadily decreasing.

And also, it matters when it comes for Otis Smith to move him in a trade.

I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.

"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat

by erivera7 on Dec 21, 2009 2:53 AM EST up reply actions

I recall him always being about a 7 minute a game player.

by CaliFlorida on Dec 21, 2009 3:00 AM EST up reply actions

I recall him being more than that.

I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.

"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat

by erivera7 on Dec 21, 2009 3:43 AM EST up reply actions

gortat needs to step it up

he isnt sohowing us anything great this year, last year he was the top back up in the league ans starter material, dwight needs more rest during the games or hes gonna be so tired come playoffs, gortat needs to step up to his potential and not fall into a hole that he hads been in lately. We saw his true potential the other night, if you were at the game he was battling in th epaint and on defense thus he got 2-3 offensiverenoumds in his first few minutes on the court

by Vanek on Dec 21, 2009 6:07 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, Gortat's game against the Blazers was the Marcin of old.

The Magic need to see more of that from him.

I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.

"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat

by erivera7 on Dec 21, 2009 3:28 PM EST up reply actions

He averaged 12.6 minutes per game last year, and they've actually increased to 13.3 this year

Although Dwight Howard’s early-season foul trouble inflated Gortat’s per-game average this year slightly. He hasn’t played more than 12 minutes in a game since November 25th against Miami. And in the 12 games since then, he’s topped 10 minutes only 2 times.

Orlando Pinstriped Post: Blogging the Orlando Magic with Energy and Enthusiasm Since 2007 | Brandon Bass: "I just play hard."

by Evan Dunlap on Dec 21, 2009 5:17 AM EST up reply actions