What More Do You Want from Jameer Nelson?

He’s an absolute warrior. He has the heart of a champion.
In a league where so many fail to live up to their potential, how many times has Nelson pushed the envelope, redefining what people feel his potential is? He gives you 110% on a nightly basis. On nights when his shot’s not falling, he does so many other things.
He’s a leader on the court in every way.
Most importantly, he is far more competent at running this team than Arenas ever will be.

niiiiice ;)

People who are in the blame game, have to blame losses on someone and since Vince and Rashard – the obvious targets – are no longer around, Bass has an exemplary year, and most importantly – for last night – it couldn’t be Dwight’s free throw shooting, it has to be pegged on Jameer.

Jameer is not a PG in the mold of elite prototype PGs with size and/or passing skills amongst which Nash, Kidd, Billups, D.Williams and Wesbrook come to mind. But Jameer has shown time and time again that he could hold his own in terms of many attributes which a floor leader needs to possess.

Considering that Magic is still shooting for nothing less than a championship this year, we cannot afford another overhaul. Therefore, modifications to the roster, if any, would be minimal. We have to work with what we have, and Jameer is our best option at the PG except if – for some odd reasons – Arenas miraculously finds his prime form. Honestly, Arenas has problems turning the corners or bursting to the rim – where he could do the most damage – and I don’t hold the hope that is going to change. I think the combination of Jameer and Arenas would be more than adequate most often than not.

We require better perimeter defense to support Jameer, as well and that is where we need adjustments especially after the trades weakened defense at wing positions. Blaming all the shortfalls on Jameer is not only unfair, but honestly counter-productive.

I’d like to know. I mean I wanted Gilbert to play more minutes in the Hornets game, but in no way do I want Jameer to lose his job to Gilbert. To be fair to Arenas, he may do very well in a starting role playing a lot of minutes. I guess we should all hope so because like it or not, Arenas is on board for another 4 years.

I would like more from Jameer like maybe on Mondays he drives by my work at lunch and plays a quick game of one on one. And I would like to start having him send some invites my way to the Magic’s parties and such. Selfish frigging guy, never remembers to include me.

Is the leader of this team. Dwight is the best player but Jameer is the leader. What I will give detractors is shot selection has been off these last two. But that is all I will give you. If Jameer is bad, you go out and defend Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook on back to back nights on the road. While also trying to run your team. While also trying to play your game. Yes he is shoot first PG. Get over it. There are four non shoot first PGs in the league now. FOUR!!! Rondo, Paul, Kidd, and Steve Nash. Grow the Frick up. So who should we start??? Gilbert Arenas, who I like but is physically and mentally not ready to start for this team? That guy?? Yeah didn’t think so. Jameer has two off games and the sky is falling. Magic Fans=Chicken Little. Jameer Nelson is a better player than half the league at his position. Grow up.

It’s not that I want Jameer benched, or think that Gil is a better fit as a starting point guard, it’s just that going into these last two games, and anticipating the game on Monday against the Celtics, I FULLY EXPECTED JAMEER TO GET OUTPLAYED!! Take away the disparity in the point guard production in these last two games, and we win them, HANDS DOWN! Now is Jameer facing about the best in point guards out there in this three game sample, OF COURSE HE IS! But in the playoffs we face a real good chance of at some point matching up with the Bulls or ther Celtics, and in those series JAMEER WILL BE OUTPLAYED AGAIN!! I’m sorry but I guess I feel that unless we luck out and miss either of the aforementioned playoff opponents, we lose the seires against the Bulls or the Celtics. Do any of you really feel differently, and if so, convince me as to why I am wrong.

“I put the team on my back, doe.”
—-You are our broken-legged Greg Jennings.

I don’t understand why, tho. Sure, Jameer had a tough last couple of games… against 2 of the best PGs in the league. Arenas might’ve scored more than Nelson, but he was doing nothing defensively, while Nelson, at least, was trying to slow them (Paul and Westbrook) down.

I’ve always been a supporter of Jameer, not just on the court but off the court. How many NBA players out there organize a team bonding session during the offseason??? I don’t beliveve many(if any), he is the heart and glue of this team. What people fail to see is that Jameer for some reason gets traded or benched and becomes disheartened then you will see how it would effect the team. I guarantee that if he were shipped away, DH-12 will be wearing a different jersey in 2012-2013. Jameer has worked on every facet of his game since entering the league and I believe he will still improve in different areas of his game. All the “fans” that say otherwise need to really think of the outcome if Orlando was to lose Jameer. GO MAGIC!

People’s expectations are out of whack…

On this team, in this system, Jameer is a great fit. We don’t need him to be Chris Paul, because that’s not how this team plays.

I’d guess the people wanting him benched are still clinging to the idea of Gilbert as a superstar, but he’s a great fit coming off the bench, is happy with it, and its working. Jameer is a more efficient offensive player as well. Starting Gilbert would throw alot of things off.

If people would adjust their expectations and step back and look at how this team operates as a whole, they’d see a guy doing his job every night and having arguably the best season of his career despite conventional stat totals.

Glad to see alot of people defending him here.

I want him to stop shooting so many off the dribble 3’s. cant he spot up now with hedo back or something?

He won games for us earlier in the season when we weren’t playing so great. I still can’t shake that shot over Brook Lopez. That was amazing.

I’m trying my best to be objective about the criticism that Nelson has received over these two games. But seriously, Chris Paul and Westbrook (especially with the way he was playing last night) can make most of the PGs in the league look bad. Perhaps the replays caught Nelson trying hard to close out on opposing PGs only to see them blow right by him and get to the rim to finish some insane floater.

Like Stan said during yesterday’s game about Durant. He was making a lot of long 2s. Orlando’s defense gives up that shot. I clearly remember a sequence last night when Nelson was playing great D on Westbrook, staying in front of him and pressuring him, only to have him pull up for long 2 and make it. What more do you want from Nelson? He has responded to Stan’s criticism of his defense and has been more focused on that end.

Also, during the win streak, we saw Nelson willingly give up shots and allow Hedo to run the offense. He knows what it takes to win, he doesn’t complain when he’s not getting shots. He’s aggressive when the offense stagnates, gets into the paint and dishes the ball. That aspect of his game has improved tremendously, he’s not a one dimensional scorer like some people make him out to be.

The loss last night to OKC was because the team couldn’t get a stop when they needed it. That is worrying, but Jameer is NOT the reason we lost that game. It was a combination of a lack of defensive intensity, and Durant/Westbrook shooting lights out. Benching Jameer will not solve these problems. His play and decision making has been largely solid.

That’s the question posed, and then it’s followed by a decent commentary.

My answer to the question: not much. I think Jameer will be fine. I think calls for him to go to the bench are exagerrated. I want to suggest that we should be a little suspicious of most of these calls because they are conveyed to us in an anecdotal fashion.

We play in the EAST!!! What PG do we really have to worry about?

…Would anyone rather have Mike Bibby? Or perhaps Louis Williams, Carlos Arroyo, etc?

Anderson is earning the starting position! Bass needs to sit and regroup.

We need to run the offense and shoot only set shots.

why are the magic only playing 8 guys?

is that he grow his damn hair back

it’s quite simple, really. he’s not an elite point guard. consequently, his name is not as popular as is rondo, rose, nash, paul, d. williams or b. westbrook. he isn’t in the same class as those guys. he is not as skilled.

he is pretty good, but not that good.

Jameer’s clutch shots against New Jersey and Washington(?), we would have lost. If it wasn’t for Jameer’s 2 clutch shots against Boston on Christmas, we lose. Jameer is a very decent PG when he is very aggressive at attacking the heart of the other team’s defense. He can get in there and run circles around them. Sure he had an off game the last 2 nights, but it happens even to the best. He may not have a lot of height, but he has a lot of heart.

i dont think thats much to ask for from a former all star caliber point gaurd. im sorry but he and gil should not be splitting time. jameer is a legit backup to spell arenas and not the other way around.

We’d all have to hear endless banter about how Jameer is no good because he can’t throw a pass over a defender.

Love his style, his heart and the guts he has for taking the las shot. But he plays in clutch time as if he thought he was Reggie Miller or prime Tmac, but he is not. Ask any coach in this league if they would like that Orlando’s last shot was an off balanced 3 by Jameer, they would all take it. That is not the best shot we can get and it doesn’t make sense at all that we keep living and dying with it. I can’t recall any game when Jameer had the ball with less than 10 secs. in the clock and pass it. Even if there are 3 secs. left with the ball on the baseiline, he rather drible and shoot from mid court than pass the ball to someone closer to the basket. That’s what happened game 3 against the Celts for example. So to me he is a great player, but not such a good closer. He did win games for us, but it shouldn’t be that way, there are more efficient ways to go I guess.

Noone talks about how badly he has sucked without the ball in his hands.

anyone catch Dwight on…sigh…the Disney channel show “The Suite Life on Deck” tonight? Who cares if it’s for kids?

Both Jameer and Arenas are not playing as well due to the timeshare at the PG position. They both have to split the 48 minutes, since they can’t play well together. So thats, on average, only 24 minutes a game which isn’t that much, and they probably feel a lot of pressure to do perform well in those limited minutes.

Feels like I’ve been defending him as long as I’ve been posting here.

I think he is a top 10 point guard in the league, and was the 2nd best player in the playoffs last year. He also has a big heart, and is clutch.

I believe that Nelson and Arenas must learn to play together once Arenas gets used to our system. Like SVG said, it’s really hard for PGs to learn a new system because they are the catalyst of the team.

As for Nelson starting, I believe he should start until Gilbert gets used to the system. And if Gilbert starts producing better numbers (like in the SA game), he deserves to start, with Nelson being our 6th man. I think Gilbert can be a better player than Nelson, but he’s not better than Nelson right now. That isn’t a disrespect to Nelson, but I just believe Gilbert has the potential to be better than Nelson.

… but overall he’s a solid PG who does lots of good things for the Magic.

Whatever “out-produces” means….presumably people will see more assists/points or lower turnovers in losses (‘cause nobody complains when we win) and call for the change. But who’s to say that Gil’s numbers didn’t get higher just because he clicks with the second unit?

I don’t get the higher-per-game-stats = starter mentality anyway (cf. Manu Ginobli). But, hey, that’s just me and my crazy obsession with 5-man unit data when thinking about a team game. (and, in that regard, there is still room for analysis on the current starting 5 who are producing negative numbers as a unit….and not just against one team).

first, im surprised few people have pointed out that this is not a yes/no question on nelson. by that i mean as best i can tell people are not demanding that we trade nelson. instead, the question was about starting.

which leads me to my point…what’s the problem with bringing nelson off the bench? now, before i go any further…im still undecided on this. im clearly a fan of arenas. but, other than a few games like san antonio, i have not been overwhelmed by his play.

that being said, if nelson does not start that does not mean he does not play. very few people have made any arguments about Nelson comparatively…ie. his questionable shot selection (at times, and recently at that) would not be as bad or not have as much of an impact if he came off the bench compared to starting.

people mentioned the names terry and ginobli without saying nelson could be our version of them. so far most of you are only hoping arenas could become this person.

another point…how about the slow start the magic get off to in the 1st quarter. I think this alone is enough to consider a switch in the starting pg. i think it’s hard to argue that the magic second team has been unimpressive. while i think criticism of arenas’ shot selection is fair, im not sure there’s a valid criticism of how he’s distributed the ball. how many runs has the second team lead in the past 11 games?

the argument that nelson is not paul, rondo, rose, or williams is true. but the response that until we get one of those guys who cares is infuriating! as if trying to improve the position was a bad thing. now, this begs the question of would it be an improvement. but let’s not fault people for looking for ways to improve the team.

nelson’s defense…has been attacked. fairly i think. avg at best. i would love to see the magic add another perimeter defender. again…discussing improving the magic in this facet should not be a crime.

quick question…i know arenas is behind nelson is most statistical categories, but if you projected arenas’ stls per game based on more minutes, would it be close to, if not better than nelson?

for a few years i have thought that moving to nelson to the bench might really help us. to me it’s really about the d. again, not willing to defend switching for arenas, mainly because im still not convinced arenas is better, but it’s getting closer in my mind at least.
i just think nelson would abuse most of those back up pgs and it would be harder to exploit his lack of size if he came off the bench.