Earl Clark's Defense is Key to Orlando Magic Playing Time
by Evan Dunlap on Dec 16, 2011 9:49 AM EST
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In general, Orlando Magic fans reacted positively to the news Orlando re-signed Earl Clark on Thursday, welcoming the young forward's athleticsm, energy, and defense. Clark appeared in only 33 of a possible 56 games after the Magic acquired him from the Phoenix Suns last December, but many of those same fans contended coach Stan Van Gundy needed to make him a regular part of his playing rotation.
Though Dwight Howard, Glen Davis, and Ryan Anderson are the only power-position players sure to log heavy minutes in the coming season, Clark has a great opportunity to carve a role for himself on this team, perhaps becoming an everyday player for the first time in his career. As is usually the case with Van Gundy, the key to playing time is defense. From Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
"We want Earl to guard the 3s and 4s who are primary scorers, seeing if he can guard Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki … the bigger wings and the 4s," Van Gundy said. "That's where I see Earl coming in and getting his minutes."
The NBA has no shortage of high-scoring forwards against whom Clark could see time. In the Southeast Division alone, Orlando must contend with LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and Andray Blatche. The rest of the East is similarly gifted, with Paul Pierce, Danny Granger, David West, Amar'e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and Andrea Bargnani also matching up with Orlando more than twice in a regular, 82-game season.
Van Gundy gave Clark chances last season against several of the above players, as well as scoring champion Kevin Durant and NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki.
Though it's true Orlando already has one 6-foot-10 player who can defend small forwards--that'd be starter Hedo Turkoglu--Clark is longer, quicker, and has better footwork. Though Turkoglu's a bit better defensively than his reputation suggests, his diminished jets force him to sag off his man more than a more athletic defender would. Putting Clark in Turkoglu's place gives Orlando a better shot at blanketing opposing high-scoring wings.
Until he develops some sort of offensive utility, Clark won't play heavy minutes. But he can still count on seeing the court nightly if he's able to continue developing as a defender. Very rarely will Orlando face a team without at least one forward capable of scoring big.
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Ball handling and passing...
He’s got huge potential on the defensive end, and a decent jumper…but that’s about it right now. I actually wish he did what they make kids do when they first start playing: dribble a basketball everywhere they go. If Clark could just get a better handle on moving with the ball, and develop his passing skills, he’d be much more comfortable (and effective) on the offensive end.
Either way, it looks like he and Harper will be duking it out for minutes, which is a great thing as their both young and have talent.
by The BBQ Chicken Madness on Dec 16, 2011 10:05 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Better than most PF, I can see that.
But his “natural” spot is supposed to be SF. He’s been moving more towards PF because of a combination of the Magic (and the league) is short on talented bigs and his limitations at the 3 on an NBA-level.
His mold is very much LeBron-ish: a big powerful SF. But he seems to lack the ball handling ability and court vision to be a threat to score consistently and effectively from the wing. Maybe he doesn’t “lack” it so much as doesn’t seem to utilize it often enough.
So instead he’s been adding bulk and developing his defense…a willingness to alter his game that I have to admire. Shows maturity. It’s great if it gets him minutes, but I’d really love to see him work his way more into the backup 3 spot by becoming that much better on defense, but also contributing something to the offense, even if just a little.
by The BBQ Chicken Madness on Dec 16, 2011 12:07 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
At Louisville, his ball handling was very good
He would turn it over when he got too complex but he can definitely take most guys his size off the dribble.
Yeah, he doesn't need to score heavily.
Just needs to move and control the ball effectively. Other than that as Stan says it’s all about the D.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
There's real potential there.
If Clark can develope a more stable offensive game (see: consistantly compotent), then I like the idea of a “defensive stopper” unit consisting of Q at the 2, Clark at the 3, Davis and Howard in the frontcourt. If Q can get back to shooting near his career averages, then the offense wouldn’t be totally shut down, and the defense would be ridiculous.
Q on the opposing 2 gaurd. A 6’10", long, athletic Clark at the 3, Davis and his bulk/defense at the 4, and Howard anchoring the paint…that’d be a nightmare for opposing offenses.
by The BBQ Chicken Madness on Dec 16, 2011 12:12 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I agree, those 4 would be awesome
Problem is a chain is only as strong as its weakest link (AKA Nelson/Duhon)
We couldn't get CP3 but manage to keep EK3
by karpito on Dec 16, 2011 11:09 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Earl would be in much worse shape if offense were the key to playing time.
I like to watch.
by MoveThoseChains on Dec 16, 2011 1:57 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Definitely
Last season, his TS% of 46.8% and eFG% of 44.1%, as bad as those were, were his career highs for a season. Hopefully, he can improve on those numbers.
If he can do a decent job defensively, that will make up some for his inefficiency on offense.
Chicago Blackhawks... 2010 Stanley Cup Champions
Chicago Bears... 2010 NFC North Champion
Orlando Magic... 1995 and 2009 Eastern Conference Champions
by Mike from Illinois on Dec 16, 2011 2:34 PM EST up reply actions
smallville
His jump looks good. His form is fine. Needs better accuracy and it seems like arc on his shot. Needs confidence on the offensive side, don’t be afraid. Either way he is still better than whoever we would have drafted last year in the draft while also being a lil cheaper.
Roll Bass and War Ryno for me
He's probably got a red light from Stan
which makes him gun shy on O
With the 15th pick, the Miami Dolphins select John Stamos....'s brother
I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?
by Souwantmyname on Dec 16, 2011 5:06 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, but he's always been "on the cusp".
I’m a fan, but I no illusions that his “potential” isn’t becoming “reality”. We keep seeing flashes of talent. That’s also what the Suns saw…the hope is that those flashes can become the norm. If that happens…he’ll be starter quality.
Here’s actually a good video from his Suns days…amusingly enough against the Magic (blowout win for the Magic):
I really, really, REALLY hope he can take that next step. Add a bit more to his defense and he’ll being considered “elite” on that end, mainly due to his physical abilities. And if he can get more consitant on the offensive end…it’d be a HUGE help to the Magic in the backup SF role.
by The BBQ Chicken Madness on Dec 16, 2011 3:01 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
ready for this season to start!
Let’s goooooooo Magic!
by DaytonaJim00 on Dec 16, 2011 6:32 PM EST via mobile reply actions
yeah really
it can’t start soon enough for me
by INTOTHEMEATGRINDER on Dec 16, 2011 7:19 PM EST up reply actions
$6.3 million trade exception for Marcin Gortat expires Monday Dec. 19
Teams can keep spending on it until they use it up, or they can let any remaining balance lapse after a year. It can be used only in a trade (they can’t use it to sign a free agent), and they can’t overspend with it
A number of past trades created trade exceptions that were set to expire between July 1 and December 9 — when all business was halted because of the lockout. When the labor dispute was settled, the sides agreed to extend the deadline on these trade exceptions. Any trade exceptions due to expire from July 1 to Dec. 15, 2011, now expire Dec. 16 — today. As a result, we could see a flurry of trade activity before the close of business.
Most exceptions go unused.
The real problem was giving up Gortat last season.
Can we just start playing games on the court already?!
The problem was giving him up for so little...
by Memphissleek on Dec 17, 2011 1:03 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
it was such a bad trade.. We gave the Suns VC expiring contract and took hedo's contract offtheir hands and still gave up Gortat
Otis Smith is a GD idiot
With the 15th pick, the Miami Dolphins select John Stamos....'s brother
I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?
by Souwantmyname on Dec 17, 2011 10:53 PM EST up reply actions
And a draft pick. :D
"...sometimes your eyes lie to you..." ~SVG | I'm on Twitter
by magicfaninTN on Dec 17, 2011 11:49 PM EST up reply actions
He averaged 14.4 ppg here last season,
and he never once came close to 20 ppg with Steve Nash, so he’s certainly not going to do it here either. He’s never cracked 48% shooting in his life (44.2% for his career), and his TS% is league average at best (53.1% career) and falling, especially with his new inability/unwillingness to drive or draw fouls. Oh, and he’ll be 31 next month, right about when wing players tend to fall off a cliff. And now the Magic are going to pay him $6 million a year until he’s 35! You’re seriously trying to say this is a good thing?
I like to watch.
by MoveThoseChains on Dec 18, 2011 6:03 PM EST up reply actions
He averaged 19.3 before being traded to the Magic
But yeah, he never averaged close to 20 ppg while with Steve Nash.
If the Magic must trade Dwight to the Lakers, it better be for Gasol & Bynum and 2 picks, and the Lakers better take Duhon & Turkoglu (I'll miss you, Hedo!!!)l.
by funny80sguy on Dec 19, 2011 12:23 PM EST up reply actions
I think he was acquired for the sake of team continuity and he will be valuable as a trade chip as we approach the deadline and he becomes eligible to be traded.
If you look at reports of best available free agent shooting guards in the offseason you see that he was at the top two or three of a lot of people’s list.
Notice how no one cares or made a big deal that the Magic re-acquired him. Guarantee if he had been signed by Chicago or others the storyline would have been what a difference maker he was going to be and how is Orlando going to ever fill the void etc…
Richardson might not be the best shooting guard in the NBA, but the Orlando Magic swingman is the best shooting guard that isn’t restricted on the market today. That ranking, by the way, is courtesy of Tom Ziller from his post featuring the top NBA free agents.
by MagicLA on Dec 19, 2011 12:57 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Are we even trying to bring somebody else in to play with dwight?????
?????? or we are just going with what we’ve got and wait till Dwight bounces next year like shaq did?
Patience.
Trades won’t likely happen until teams see how they perform once the season gets going.
Also, it took the Lakers 7 months to get Pau Gasol after Kobe’s trade demand in 2007. While the lockout robbed the Magic of anything close to that amount of time, there are still 3 months of maneuverability before the trade deadline.
Can we just start playing games on the court already?!
Unless there's another team out there willing to be fleeced as badly as the Lakers fleeced the Grizzlies in the Pau Gasol trade
the Magic don’t really have the assets to do much. They already traded their best ones to get……Turkoglu?
I like to watch.
by MoveThoseChains on Dec 18, 2011 6:06 PM EST up reply actions
If only John Gabriel or Nick Anderson or something was GM of another team.
Can we just start playing games on the court already?!
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