Orlando Magic News for March 21st: Magic Centers in the Spotlight
by Evan Dunlap on Mar 21, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
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Print- Why Adonal Foyle is the Orlando Magic's most important player - OrlandoSentinel.com
With this profile of Orlando Magic center Adonal Foyle, Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz has just published one of my favorite Magic stories in recent memory. Foyle hasn't logged any minutes on the court this season, but as Diaz explains, that's beside the point.
"He may not be the Most Valuable Player but he is the most important player we have on the roster," said Magic General Manager Otis Smith. "He's a veteran who can help young guys deal with the ins and outs of basketball as well as the game of life. Basketball is bigger than what we see for those 48 minutes."
That's one of many memorable bits from the piece. Truly top-notch, and if you're a Magic fan, you should stop whatever you're doing and head over to that link. You'll be glad you did.
- Magic’s Marcin Gortat ready for a larger role as the postseason approaches - OrlandoSentinel.com
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel likens Marcin Gortat's role on the Magic to that of "a typical firefighter" because "they never know exactly when they'll be pressed into action.
Gortat has played his best when Howard picked up two early fouls. When Gortat knows he'll play seven to 10 minutes in a row, he finds it easier to relax on the court, get into the rhythm of the game and just play.
A recent stretch of solid play from Gortat has foregrounded how important he could be to the Magic's championship drive.
The Magic have again honored Dwight Howard for his work in the community, as he won his fourth Rich & Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award last night, per a team press release. Here are but 3 examples of his engagement with, and commitment to, his community:
Donated $30,000 to Florida Hospital for Children to help bring advancements to the children’s hospital through the Dwight Howard’s Big Change for Kids program.
Donated $25,000 for a learning center at BETA, which provides middle and high school academic training to teen moms through Orange County Public Schools’ Alternative Education Program.
- Participated in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program in South Africa. The program focuses on education, grassroots basketball development and HIV/AIDS education and advocacy.
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agree with the Foyle article
I suppose when you consider it, how many 12-13th men in the NBA top teams get minutes? In that case their importance needs to be assessed outside of the 48 minutes of basketball.
I still wanna see him play though.
Some interesting quotes from
Otis, SVG, and Al Thornton on VC, in this NYTImes piece from yesterday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/sports/basketball/21carter.html
Great find Brad1
Was a good read.
The fact that Carter is only 6 behind Kobe in game-winning shots over the last decade (on 20 less attempts, no less) confirms what I’ve seen.
When the big fella was whistled for his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter, Stan Van Gundy left Clark Kent alone. And in a phone booth measuring 94 feet across, Dwight Howard used that vote of confidence to transform into his alter ego. - Chris Sheridan
by thermodynamic on Mar 21, 2010 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, it's a reality
Like I said, Vince is probably top 3 in the NBA talent-wise. In fact, he might be number 1 because I can’t really think of people with more talent. T-Mac is up there with him, Kobe is talented as well as D-Wade is, but Kobe worked on his game much harder which is something else.
I think Kobe and Vince have one big thing in common...
…they’ve always been better at making tough shots than they have at manufacturing easy shots. In a weird way, both are a little TOO talented as scorers.
I think we saw this catching up with Vince earlier in the season, when it became apparent he could no longer make a lot of the shots he used to take for granted. But he’s definitely reined it in and adjusted lately… he’s learning his new limitations. Whether Kobe can do that, I think, is still an open question.
Bass is a kind of fish.
He will. He's too smart and driven not to.
I hate Varejao.
Eh...
…the thing is, I think Kobe has always had problems as a passer because he has so much trouble estimating what his teammates can do. (It’s no coincidence that most of the success he’s had has been alongside big men, whose ranges are relatively easy to calculate — and both Lakers Shaq and modern Gasol are great at creating opportunities for themselves in the post.)
So if he can’t adjust his playmaking to his teammates’ lesser abilities, I think it’s a fair question to ask whether he can adjust his scoring to his own diminished physical abilities. He might be able to — it’s a different thing, of course — but it might be harder than it was for, say, Jordan. (Who made a lot of tough shots, but was always better at getting himself looks that would be high-percentage for anyone. I don’t know that the shots Kobe shoots now would be high-percentage for a player without Kobe’s talent.)
Bass is a kind of fish.
He's already adapted his game from the high-flier he used to be.
He used to get by almost all on athleticism, now he has the best mid-range game out there, maybe. Kinda hard to not see him able to adapt again.
I hate Varejao.
Even though it's really difficult to say who's "the most talented"...
I’ll say that T-Mac and LeBron are from this generation. At least as far as wing players go. They both made the game look a lot easier than anyone else, which to me is the sign of raw talent.
I hate Varejao.
I don't consider LeBron "talented"
He has great passing ability, but take his athleticism away from him and see where his talent gets him.
Talent is raw ability.
Natural athleticism is part of that. Vince’s ability to jump over everyone and hang in the air for an eternity are all part of his natural talent, and that stems from his athleticism.
I hate Varejao.
Somewhere Johnny Taylor is crying himself to sleep after reading that
That guy had crazy athleticism, but he wasn’t much of a ball player. Lebron is very athletic and a lot of his game comes off of it, but he is also very talented as well.
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
LeBron has great basketball instincts, as evident by his ability to set up teammates.
Not to mention the fact the guy went from having no jumper to having a great jumper now shows how naturally gifted he is with the game.
I hate Varejao.
Loved that Foyle piece.
It was very well written and I bet that reporter had a fun day! Foyle seems like a really down to earth guy. I bet he is really great for the younger guys. I bet he helps keep them grounded and not let everything that is happening to them go to their head.
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