Finally, a Win For the Former Orlando Magic Players in New Jersey

by Ben Q Rock on Dec 4, 2009 11:42 PM EST in News Comment 27 comments

After their 97-91 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats, the New Jersey Nets' long nightmare is over. New Jersey has its first win on the season, improving to 1-18 tonight after setting an NBA record for most losses to start a season, with 18. Brook Lopez--an All-Star in the making--tallied 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots in the win.

The Nets have four former Orlando Magic players, which is why I'm mentioning their win on a Magic-centric site. Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, Keyon Dooling, and Courtney Lee played a combined 600 regular-season games for Orlando. Lee played a big role in New Jersey's win tonight, with a career-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including connecting on 3 of his 4 attempts from three-point range. He added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals for good measure. Battie played his first-ever game as a Net, only recording a missed field goal in 6 minutes. Keyon Dooling also made his season debut, and scored 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting. De to a sore left knee, Alston did not play.

The Magic sent Alston, Battie, and Lee to New Jersey in June in the deal headlined by eight-time Vince Carter coming to Orlando; Ryan Anderson, a 21-year-old power forward, also went to Orlando in that transaction. Dooling arrived in New Jersey as part of a sign-and-trade transaction in 2008, after the Magic were unwilling to go above the luxury-tax threshold in order to meet his salary demands.

Congratulations to Rafer, Tony, Keyon, Courtney, and the rest of the New Jersey Nets.

UPDATE: Here's Chris Sheridan's game story for TrueHoop, which includes this bit about Lee, speaking about the last time he won an NBA game:

For Lee, it had been 156 days since he won a meaningful game. "I remember, I dunked on Derek Fisher and had 13 in that game," Lee said, showing memory skills not quite up to par with his basketball skills (he scored only 4 points in that Game 3 victory over the L.A. Lakers during the finals, which he followed up with a 4-point performance in Game 4 -- part of the reason that he is no longer with the Orlando Magic).

Is Sheridan suggesting the Magic would not have traded Lee had he played better in the Finals?

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DO YOUR THING CLEE!!

Congrats to you and your win (still wish we could trade and get you back)!!

by telka on Dec 4, 2009 11:37 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

YEAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do your thing CLee. He had a clutch steal and runaway dunk in the last few minutes along with his 27pnts. Magic fan first, but I’ll always be rooting for Turk and CLee too.

by derekk on Dec 4, 2009 11:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It's about time!

I was really feeling sorry for them!

by GuapoDCole on Dec 5, 2009 12:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nice post, BQR

And congratulations to CLee on the big night.

Chris Sheridan comes off sounding like an idiot. Sure, Courtney had his struggles in the Finals, but the team (and its fans) would love to have kept him. I wish Courtney success.

by gift of the magi on Dec 5, 2009 1:00 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Will update the post with photos of the players celebrating if/when they become available...

Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation | Brandon Bass: "I just play hard."

by Ben Q Rock on Dec 5, 2009 1:02 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Happy for C. Lee, had himself a career night.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse 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 5, 2009 2:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good for CLee, but everyone must recognize this was Battie's first game.

Lee played in the losses, so whose the Difference Maker, baby?! Tony!!! lol.

by magicfaninTN on Dec 5, 2009 2:19 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

C. Lee, deserves to be on a better team, and as productive and beneficial Carter & Andersen have been for us – I still miss Courtney and the passion he played with

by QBallWhitey on Dec 5, 2009 3:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse 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 6, 2009 3:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Anybody watch the cavs game?

Is Lebron one of the least sportsman like player you have ever seen or what? The game has 10 minutes left in it, about, and he is dancing around on the sidelines because they are winning. So.. he dances around when he is winning, but wont even shake hands when he loses. Thats not being a ‘winner’ thats being a petulant child. Sorry to be off topic, but that just pisses me off.

by i2ambler on Dec 5, 2009 7:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Never trust a fart

by AB's triple double on Dec 5, 2009 12:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

ha..

I read that too. I think LBJ is really starting to get full of himself.

"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
Twitter Account

by Wmillion on Dec 5, 2009 1:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Fascinating.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse 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 6, 2009 3:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

he's a dick

I'm a girl.

by TheGiantSquid on Dec 5, 2009 11:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tell us how you really feel. Hah.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse 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 6, 2009 3:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

LeBron can do whatever he wants at his own bench. It's not like he was dancing in front of the Bulls.

Give me a break about the handshake thing, when you lose on that stage and are emotionally crushed, you have the right to go compose yourself. It’s not like he didn’t congratulate the Magic later. It’s not like the Celtics with their taunting, now THAT’S unsporstmanlike. Pierce kneeing Bosh in the balls then staring him down, Garnett crawling on all fours in front of Jerryd Bayless, Allen elbowing Varejao in the nuts.

It's not a dunk unless your hand makes contact with the rim. Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, "Superman..."

by ben_gleicher on Dec 5, 2009 8:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Eh, that whole handshake ordeal is overblown.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse 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 6, 2009 3:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"Is Sheridan suggesting the Magic would not have traded Lee if he had a better memory?"

Fixed

by grayson1103 on Dec 5, 2009 12:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

lol.

by magicfaninTN on Dec 5, 2009 8:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Courtney is a great defender...

But Ryan is a huge offensive upgrade and is growing to become a good defender.

Go Magic/Bucs/Gators/Rays!

by chiefs_55 on Dec 5, 2009 12:52 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

Well, the fact that we want Ryan doesn't change the fact that we miss Lee.

(Just like not wanting Steve Francis doesn’t mean we would have been happy keeping McGrady.)

…is SG going to be a problematic position for us next year? I mean, I strongly suspect Redick is playing himself into a real contract somewhere… unless we clear some cap room, I also suspect it’s not going to be here. (Granted, Gortat is probably going, but we’re getting something in return for him, right?)

Bo Outlaw's name is Charles. Chucky Atkins' isn't.

by 3.3seconds on Dec 5, 2009 7:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Too soon to say goodbye to JJ. Need to wait and see. Lots of possibilities.

by magicfaninTN on Dec 5, 2009 8:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Players like Courtney Lee are a dime a dozen.

Players like Ryan Anderson are not.

I write for Third Quarter Collapse 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 6, 2009 3:39 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I think that's selling Lee a bit short.

I feel like Lee has the potential to be a lockdown defender at SG, one of the 5-10 best guys at his position. And if he can do that, and score 15 PPG effectively, and pass the ball to a decent standard, he’s at least an average starter if not better. I feel like a couple years from now, Lee will be a guy who would start for most teams. You can’t say that about Redick, and at Carter’s age, I’m HOPING we can say that about Carter.

Even worst-case scenario, Lee is Delonte West minus the character issues, and that’s a useful player to have. Certainly replaceable, but “a dime a dozen” is going too far.

Bo Outlaw's name is Charles. Chucky Atkins' isn't.

by 3.3seconds on Dec 6, 2009 6:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs