Are the Orlando Magic Turning a Corner?
by erivera7 on Jan 29, 2010 4:00 PM EST
in Analysis
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PrintWhen the Orlando Magic lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in embarrassing fashion exactly two weeks ago by the score of 102-87, people began to wonder whether or not the players - the four All-Stars on the team, to be specific - on the roster would figure things out sooner or later. In essence, play up to the capabilities and expectations everyone had for the Magic before the year started. Or during Orlando's 17-4 start to the regular season. Take your pick.
A few days after, even though the Magic lost its long-awaited NBA Finals rematch with the Los Angeles Lakers, it was clear that the team was escaping its mid-season swoon and starting to make progress on the court. Fast-forward to now and the Big Four, with some help from the supporting cast, is leading the charge for Orlando as the team has won four of its last six games. Dwight Howard is playing like the top five player - in the Association - that he is, Rashard Lewis is performing relatively well, Jameer Nelson is exhibiting flashes of the All-Star player that he was this past season, and Vince Carter is chipping in here and there rather than dominating the basketball like he did earlier in the year. A step in the right direction, to be sure.
Yes, the Magic lost to an underrated Memphis Grizzlies squad a few days ago. But notice how Orlando lost. If anything, it felt more like a game the Magic gave away rather than one where the team was never in it to begin with, as was the case in a recent loss to the Blazers where anxiety levels in the city of Orlando were reaching unhealthy levels. If there's one thing people can take away from the Magic's last six games is the fact that the team has been competitive in each one of them. As such, Orlando is winning again because the team is putting itself in positions to win. Shocking, I know.
But how have the Magic been winning?
Click after the jump to find out why.
Two words, Dwight Howard.
Howard isn't the only reason why Orlando is turning things around as the All-Star break looms closer, because that would do a disservice to the other players on the team, but he's been the main reason. Howard has been a man possessed ever since his sub-par performance against Portland, where he allowed world beaters like Dante Cunningham, Juwan Howard, and Jeff Pendergraph contain him for 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. For a player of Howard's caliber, that type of mediocre play against that type of underwhelming competition is unacceptable. Something needed to change.
| REB | STL | BLK | PTS | eFG% | TS% | FGA-M | FTA-M | |
| at LAL | 12 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 71.4% | 72.1% | 10-14 | 4-6 |
| IND | 11 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 61.5% | 67.9% | 8-13 | 16-24 |
| SAC | 15 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 57.1% | 77.4% | 4-7 | 11-12 |
| at CHA | 20 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 36.4% | 39.2% | 4-11 | 2-4 |
| at MEM | 15 | 0 | 6 | 27 | 64.3% | 71.7% | 9-14 | 9-11 |
| BOS | 10 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 66.7% | 57.9% | 8-12 | 3-10 |
And something has changed.
Ever since the Blazers game, the Magic's offense has been Howard-centric - for the most part - and the team has been reaping the benefits. Yes, Orlando continues to neglect Howard on the offensive side of the ball for whatever reason but the neglecting hasn't been as bad as it has been in the past. As such, Howard has been able to impress on offense and have sterling performances against elite teams that have, historically, given him fits due to the respective personnel on the roster. Specifically, the Lakers and the Boston Celtics, with Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Kendrick Perkins, and Rasheed Wallace as the main players in question. It's no secret that Howard has had problems in previous meetings with Los Angeles and Boston because they are two of the few teams in the NBA with the size to bother him. But in what may be a storyline that should be followed closely, Howard didn't have many issues scoring on the Lakers or the Celtics. Not with dunks, mind you, but with post moves. By the way, Howard will have another chance to prove his mettle at Boston on February 7th. In any case, it'll be interesting to see if this trend continues and there's no guarantee that it will. But if it does, things change. Like the balance of power in the Eastern Conference, for example, not only this year but in the future.
Seriously.
As for Howard's defense, it's been excellent. Howard has been playing like a reigning Defensive Player of the Year should be. Erasing teammates' mistakes, providing help-side defense, rotating defensively, showing on the pick & roll, and more. Howard has been performing all these defensive principles at a high level and it's the reason why the Magic rank 5th in Defensive Rating, as of today. For all intents and purposes, Howard is Orlando's defense. The anchor. It's not all about Howard on the defensive side of the ball for the Magic, but at the same time, it is.
As long as Howard continues to be the focus of Orlando's offense and as long as he continues to play defense like he has been lately, the team should be okay as it waits for Carter and Nelson to fully snap out of their funks (after last night, it's safe to say that Lewis is out of his funk). Whether or not that happens remains to be seen but one thing is for sure, the Magic go as far as Howard takes them.
After all, he is Superman.
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Great write-up E
and you know I agree with Ben.. FEED THE BEAST!!
D12 used multiple moves to score last night. That was great to see.
FEED THE BEAST!!!
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I don't think the team will be turning the corner
until VC either finds his stroke, starts finding open teammates when he gets to the basket or gets demoted to the second unit. Until then, all those touches he’s using up (poorly) will continue to resonate with the team, leading to lethargic play on both ends. Last night’s game has brought the national spotlight on how poorly he’s been playing (note the scathing writeup on truehoop). I realize hes hurt, but SVG needs to see the forest for the trees—the offense moves more smoothly with Redick at the 2. I can’t believe I just wrote that, but kudos to JJ for turning the corner on his career.
I agree.
it is weird to say but Redick has been productive, at least more so than VC.
If there’s one thing I liked about Carter is the defense he played on Pierce where he just annoyed the hell out of him until Pierce freaked out. I know that’s just a minor thing but it still got me excited. He needs to play with that kind of fire more often and not just because he was having a horrible game.
D12 erased 14 Bobcat points
He alone could fix the Sun’s defense.
Dwight can average 25 points a game on 55% – 60% & the sooner the rest of the team realizes this the better. 9.4 shot attempts per game is insulting.
Just a thought. Since VC is hurt it makes us thin at the 2 so should Otis see what’s available in exchange for Bass? Would it even be worth it or would we likely be giving Bass up for nothing and stacking a position we may not need? Or would SVG be content with moving Pietrus back to the 2 and playing Rashard some at PF if either VC or J.J. went down?
I did it just now and surprisingly came up with something
It would only work in rare situations but it will work (on paper) against Boston when they play the combo of Big Baby at PF & Pierce at SF. The Magic could put Rashard at PF & Bass at SF. Rashard would guard Pierce and Bass would guard Big Baby. Offensively, it would force Pierce to guard Rashard. ’Shard would be able to get clean looks in the post and probably pick up a few cheap fouls on Pierce while getting to the FT line.
Instead of Big Baby going to work on Ryan Anderson in the post or Gortat shuttig down big baby but limiting the Magic offensively, Bass should be able to handle Big Baby in the post and with Bass having more offensive range than Gortat it would spread the floor a little more for Rashard to go to work on Pierce in the post.
I’m also never opposed to playing Dwight & Gortat at the same time when Big Baby is on the floor so we can dominate the paint & boards, especially if Big Baby is in because their other bigs are in foul trouble. Really put the pressure on them.
that would work...
but really what you just described is Bass at PF and Rashard at SF
by real thrilla on Jan 29, 2010 8:16 PM EST up reply actions
Haha, you're right
Offensively Bass would never get the SF matchup regardless because Boston wouldn’t give us Bass vs Pierce as they would put Pierce on Rashard. Bass could only work at SF against a team who went big on us and also put a PF at SF.
In certain situations.
It’s not a go-to line-up. History has confirmed that. Unless Gortat or Dwight reliably develops a mid-range jumper, it’s only valuable assuming the other team is playing two bangers in the middle and Rashard is getting tossed around like a rag doll.
I will say that Gortat setting Dwight up for the alley was the second best part of last night (just behind Barnes getting in Pierce’s face).
Not really, it just showed it can work against the Celtics.
But even then, I’m sure Boston will find a way to counter that lineup.
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
Great write-up...
But isn’t “intensive purposes”—" intents and purposes"? Sorry but I’m an English teacher and I know E is in journalism…Lots of snow here in Beer-town, Germany, must be basketball season!!! Go Magic!!!
Good catch. It is, indeed, intents and purposes.
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
Just trying to help...
Boston having a tough time, and we play Atlanta here…Boston with the Lakers on Sunday, maybe we can make little move in the next few games…
That'd be ideal.
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
Are the Orlando Magic Turning a Corner?
It is hard to tell if they have turned the corner. Last night when Van Gundy called a play for Carter, I have my doubts. I believe JWill, Barnes and JJ are the only players that are hustling on offense and defense. Nelson waits for the defense to set up before he gets the ball across center court. Last night, I thought that Barnes in the face of Pierce (after grabbing Howard) was great team player although he got a technical out it (which I don’t think he deserved). If the Magic is not turning a corner then we are in deep trouble. Let’s see what happens with the Hawks tomorrow night. That was one hell of game as a magic fan to watch. One win does not make a string.
a quote from the write-up:
“Fast-forward to now and the Big Four, with some help from the supporting cast, is leading the charge for Orlando as the team has won four of its last six games….and Vince Carter is chipping in here and there rather than dominating the basketball like he did earlier in the year. A step in the right direction, to be sure.”
Is the author of this post really intending to say that Vince Carter has helped the Magic with his play? Really? Are you SERIOUS? I’m sorry man, but Vince Carter is horrible. I’ve said this since the Magic picked him up. The guy has never been a winner and worst yet, he has lost his athletic ability. Which makes him WASHED UP. If the Magic want to win a title, they will have to do it with as little help from VC as is possible.
A much more honest write-up on VC can be read here:
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/12691/vince-carters-bad-night
Face it, VC is not even CLOSE to an upgrade over Hedo. And i mean not even close. If anything, the Magic team would be well advised to sit VC and play without him. And last nights victory for the Magic over the Celtics, AT HOME, is not something to write home about. I’ve said it all year, the Celtics will not win a title this year. They are too old. Did you see Garnett on the court last night? I know he was there, but do you remember him? I sure don’t, because Garnett is not even half the man he used to be. In the east, it is the Cavs as #1, the Magic/Celtics are 2nd tier. I put the Lakers/Nuggets in the first tier with the Cavs. Yes, the Nuggets are better than the Magic/Celtics in a 7 game series this year.
The Magic can still come through and perhaps beat the Cavs again this year. Unlike the Celtics, the Magic do have a chance. But it won’t be due to VC’s play. It’ll be because they are an incredibly deep team. It’ll be because Nelson/Rashard return to all-star level play. If it happens that is.
Sorry, but I actually took into account the other five games in which Carter played.
If you weren’t so obsessed with trying to prove me wrong, which you seem to like doing but fail at achieving, you’d be aware that Vince did okay in some of the other games the Magic have played for the past two weeks. Has Carter struggled this season? Yes, he has. I’m not an idiot but in these past six games, Vince has chipped in here and there. It’s true, even taking into account his forgettable performance last night.
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
VC went 2-8 vs IND but had 5 Ast to 1 TO. Against SAC 11 pts on 57% FG, 50% 3-pt 2-2 FT, 2 steals & 2 blocks. Against CHA 21 pts on 50% FG, 5 rebounds & 3 Ast. 15pts on 40% FG, 2-2 FT, 3 Ast, 0 TO, 2 steals & 1 block.
In the past 6 he’s had 2 good games, 2 decent games and 2 bad games. In the 2 good games he did basically everything well. In the 2 decent games he did most things well but some things poorly and in the 2 bad games he did everything poorly, offensively, that is.
We lost one of his bad games and one of his decent games. VC is playing solid defense right now. He just needs to stop taking wild shots and the entire team needs to get Dwight the ball a lot more. VC is attacking but he’s not really being savvy about it and once he hits the paint he’s not looking for the pass even if he has multiple defenders on him.
I would like to see VC not beign the focal point on offense to start games. He’s struggling more on offense than anyone else on the team yet he’s expected to be the guy who goes out there and puts the ball through the net on our opening posessions? It hasn’t worked well and it’s a bad idea to begin with. We should go to Dwight early and often, let the horse put points on the board and get everyones confidence and rhythm going, then watch how shots begin to fall. It’s important to set the tone early and Dwight is the best we have for this.
I don't think you have to be concerned.
Howard is becoming more and more of the focal point on offense, as he should be.
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
all i have to say is wait till post season till you write carter off.
he is still a great basketball player we will see this come playoffs. i can,t believe anyone would say hedo is better than carter.lol
while hedo has not excelled thus far, he had a good game the other night for toronto
It is conceivable that if vince doesn’t improve his play before the end of the year (which i think is unlikely) and if Hedo improves his play that right now Hedo could have been the better player for our team this year. The issue that Otis had is that Hedo wanted a five year contract. He refused to mortgage the future for instant gratification. Four season’s from now we will not wanting to be paying Hedo 10mil per year especially when the salary cap shrinks like it is anticipated.
Those writing off VC....
Are showing just how little they know about him. As a Nets fan (who also follows the Magic very closely), I can assure you that the ONLY difference between last season’s Nets (mediocre at very best) to this season’s (possibly the worst team in NBA history) was Vince Carter’s leadership, his all-around play, and his ability to pull through for the team – in some way shape or form (whether it be offensively OR defensively). Last season, he was one of very few in the entire league to average 20-5-5 – and that was without Jason Kidd, one of the greatest playmakers the game has seen. Vince assumed that role as soon as J-Kidd left, and he did so magnificently.
Those labelling Vince “awful”, “terrible”, and “not even close to an upgrade over Hedo” are obviously doing so for two reasons. Since his closing days as a Raptor, it’s always been easier for the naive to unreasonably slam Vince than to treat him like they would any other player. The Nets are just about the least covered team in the NBA (by the national media) [or were until this record breaking season] so it was incredibly difficult to break away from the stigma surrounding him. He put together some of the most consistent basketball of any non-megastar (Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, CP3) in the NBA over his 4.5 seasons with the Nets, and few seemed to notice.
Vince has played – to my knowledge – 5-6 healthy games this season, and has played through the majority of the Magic’s games with injuries (whether they be ankle, knee, or shoulder). For the most part, he has contributed. When he’s finally fully healthy again (which will happen sooner rather than later, contrary to the belief of those who’re under the oddly misguided opinion that he’s ‘soft’ and doesn’t play through injuries), you’ll see exactly why Otis went after him, with the knowledge that Hedo would likely leave.
- End of Rant (and I know I do this a lot, and I’m probably making a name for myself around here as VC’s #1 fan, but that doesn’t necessarily make me wrong) – :-)
by Rusty_b on Jan 30, 2010 5:21 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
If the point of this post, Eddy, is to point out that Dwight Howard is your best player and the Magic will go as far as he will take them, I agree.
But, that’s always the case with superstar talents anyway. It’s about them playing at their best for the biggest prizes. The trick is to have enough talent around this player so they don’t end up like Chris Paul and toiling for a 500 team consistently.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
Oh, hes in the laegue two and Jayson Thomson and that Boggins dude on Milwokee, and Occur for the Jizz. Its a talented laegue.--Kfan in Korea
That's somewhat the point.
If the Magic are turning a corner (I leave the question up to the reader to answer), it’s because of Howard.
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
I'd want to give the better play of Lewis a nod.
The less-frequent chucking play of Carter, too.
"I’ll go into practice and strangle every single one of them." Kobe's plan to get his teammates engaged after they lost the season series to the Cavs. Leadership.
by magicfaninTN on Jan 31, 2010 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
They've been a reason, too, but it has started and ended with Dwight.
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
I agree Dwight has been fantastic.
But somewhere I’ve read someone saying, “Win as a team. Lose as a team.” ;-)
"Give it a rest. No need to keep repeating your distaste for Vince. Carter is struggling, we get it." ~erivera7
by magicfaninTN on Feb 1, 2010 12:38 PM EST up reply actions
Hey, I did mention the other players! LOL
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
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