I know this sort of post has been done before, but I was watching a youtube video of Orlando vs Chicago from back in 1989 and it got me wondering about all these old players on that first team. Then it got me wondering about what would the best starting five would be of Magic players all time. I was thinking about limiting it to players who were in their prime when playing for the Magic. Then the first question that popped into my head was Dwight or Shaq? Now that is a tough question, if you were assembling an All-Time Orlando First Team, who would your starting five be? See mine after the jump:

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That's what I'm talking about.

February 2007, it was the only time I got to see an NBA game. Brian hill was the coach and the Magic was trailing the Knicks with less than two minutes to go. And then came Jameer. He coldly swished a couple of deep jumpers and put the game away for Orlando. A close game won by the Magic with some exciting plays, just as I dreamt it.

Yes, the magic won that day, but then lost many close games because of Jameer shot selection. Don't get me wrong I love the guy, he plays with pride and he is not afraid of taking shots. But taking a contested fadeaway long shot is just not an efficient way of winning games. The long 2 is the less efficient shot in the game.

Against the clippers Jameer was having a huge game, you could see he was trying to prove he could beat CP3. The ball was moving, Dwight had 33, most of our late points were assisted. And then he entered into hero mode, attempting to do too much. In the last 3 minutes he missed 3 long shots, had 1 turnover, 1 assist and 2 FTs. A classic example of Jameer closing games was the last play of regulation: with the game tied, after the pick and roll Dwight was covered by CP3, but instead of passing, Nelson took an ill advised shot. We all knew he would. That's what he always does. That's what he did in the playoffs against the Celtics when facing elimination. He got the ball with 3 secs to go an instead of passing to someone closer to the basket he just dribbled the ball and took a contested shot from midcourt. That's what he does at the end of every quarter when the clock is running out : dribble, dribble, dribble, long shot.

And don't get me wrong, Is not that I hate Jameer, I hate the shot. That's the worst possible shot anyone can take. Be it Nelson, Kobe or Lebron. Yeah Jameer won us many games with that kind of shooting, Kobe won some too. But Kobe shoots 30% with the game on the line, while Lebron shoots 33%. They averages go down in clutch because they play hero and take bad shots*.

Lewis taking that open 3 against the Cavs was a good shot. Or Turk lob to Courtney Lee. Jordan to Paxon, Jordan to Kerr, Kobe to Fisher in the finals, that's the way you get the better chance to win a game: just pass it to the guy with the better chance of scoring. And who is they guy in Orlando? Dwight Howard of course!

We only needed one point and Howard had 33 in the game, he was dominating. Why not give him the ball? He is a bad FT shooter?? If he goes to the line 2 times and gets 2 out of 4, then it would be as any player taking two 2pt shots and scoring one. A 50% FG % rate in crunch time that would lead the league. Furthermore a nuclear scientist who happens to be a friend of mine (yeah, really!) gave me this numbers:

If Howard is shooting 59% from the FT line (his career average):

The odds he hits both FT are : 34,81,% (above Kobe shooting % in crunch time)

The odds he makes at least one FT are: 83,19%**

The odds he miss both shots are: 16,81%

If Howard is shooting 50% from the FT line:

The odds he hits both FT are : 25 %

The odds he makes at least one FT are: 75%**

The odds he miss both shots are: 25%

If Howard is shooting 45% from the FT line:

The odds he hits both FT are : 20%

The odds he makes at least one FT are: 69.5%**

The odds he miss both shots are: % 30.25%

So if the game is tied and you give the ball to Dwight, you either have his 50%+ FG shooting, or at least a 69% chance he makes one FT and win the game (plus the chance of a FG+1). Of course, you shouldn't force the ball to Dwight at all costs if there is an open player, but I do think he should still be our first scoring option***. In any case we shouldn't settle for long contested jumpers off the dribble, if Dwight is unavailable then we are looking for asisted shots; which are the most efficient way of winning games.

"I Can't wait to see "Trade Jameer" posts due to the last bit of the game..." slickw143

I don't want him traded, just taking smarter shots! :p

* Everyone's % goes down in clutch, but not as much as the one from most Allstars.

** This % is for the times he makes 1 out of 2, plus the times he makes 2 out of 2. In both cases he hits at least one shot. For example if his average is 59% the odds he makes one shot out of two are 48,38%. But that doesn't mean he will miss both shots 51,62% of the times. If he doesn't score 1 out of 2, that means he missed both (16,81%) or scored both (34,81,%). 16,81%+34,81%= 51.62%. 51.62% + 48,38%= 100%, covering all chances.

*** If you are down by 3 with less than a minute, then you don't want Dwight scoring 1 point. But if you are losing by 2 and still have two or three possessions left, then yeah, just go for it.

"At the end of Game 2 of the 2009 Finals, the Magic knew who to guard, and got the block."

Peter Vecsey (NY Post)

I've got to believe someone who has been around the block as long as Kobe has, sometimes in reverse, would have better shtick than: "Come to Hollywood and be Door No. 3" ...

...I sent Kobe the story and asked him to confirm, deny or both depending on the paragraph.

"Omg! I'm not getting mixed up in this kiddy drama spit, bro. Too old for that spit," Bryant responded via email.

Vecsey answered: " I understand your position. But if it's untrue, any of it, and allowed to circulate throughout the league, which is already happening, I would think you'd want to say it's not."

"Its not true," Kobe responded

As far as the denial, what else is Kobe supposed to say. Peter Vecsey should know that, but clearly skepticism was only required for the part of the story that was convenient to his storyline.

What I found most telling from this story was Kobe's first reaction to the statement. I think that says a lot about Kobe's opinion of Dwight's maturity level and in an indirect way confirms his rumored statement.

Longtime readers of Orlando Pinstriped Post no doubt know Mike from Illinois, a member of this community for nearly four years. His even-tempered, statisticlly inflected comments in these pages have drawn praise from Orlando Magic fans of all (pin)stripes, and today I'm pleased to introduce Mike as OPP's newest writer.

Mike and I will split Magic game recapping duties here on in; the shortened season, combined with my own schedule, made running the site on my own impractical. He's recapped a few games for OPP already. Please join me in welcoming him aboard.

We invite you to follow Orlando Pinstriped Post on Twitter and like Orlando Pinstriped Post on Facebook.

Tom Ziller has a breakdown on which top scorers are the most volatile. (LINK)

The least volatile are Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Lamarcus Aldridge. The three worst and most volatile of the top scorers: Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and Monta Ellis.

Howard, surprisingly, is right behind 'Melo. Seeing a big man so high on the list fights conventional wisdom, which is that since big men tend to have higher shooting percentages, their production is more reliable. While Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and Lamarcus Aldridge all seem to bolster that hypothesis with relatively low volatility marks, Howard -- a regular near the top of field goal percentage rankings -- is a blinking signal of doubt.

The Orlando Magic (13-9) had a long-overdue offensive explosion, scoring 40 fourth quarter points to break open a 71-71 tie early in the quarter on their way to the 109-103 victory over the woeful Washington Wizards (4-19). The Magic's largest fourth quarter lead was 89-77, but Washington got as close as 104-100 before the Magic finally put the Wizards away.

Three Magic players scored over 20 points, led by Dwight Howard and Ryan Anderson with 23 points apiece. Howard added 18 rebounds and 4 steals, along with a respectable 11 of 16 from the free throw line, while Anderson shot 6 of 9 from three point range. J.J. Redick, starting in place of Jason Richardson at shooting guard, was very efficient while scoring 21 points on 5 of 7 shooting.

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Full disclosure, I am a Celts fan. I put this same proposal (and poll) up on Celticsblog.com to get the feedback from other celts fans (http://www.celticsblog.com/2012/1/31/2762819/vote-rondo-jo-allen-2-picks-for-d12-nelson). To come up with it I used conversations from this blog to get something realistic. So...

How do you view this trade proposal?

Magic get: 2 2012 1st Round Draft Picks (Bos & LAC), Rondo, JO, and Ray Allen

As an Orlando fan, what are your thoughts?

Quick poll to see who you think has the worse contract and which one would have to be included in a potential Dwight Howard trade.

Turk-2 years left, $23 mil, $17 mil guaranteed, age at end of contract-35

Jason Richardson-4 years fully guaranteed at $24 mil, age at end of contract-34

Glen Davis-4 years fully guaranteed at $25.7 mil, age at end of contract-29

Chris Duhon-2 years left at $6.7, $4.7 guaranteed, age at end of contract-32

QRich-2 years left,$5.4 fully guaranteed with 15% trade kicker making it 6.25, age at end-33

Ugh, these are really ugly deals when looking at the age when they expire. I didn't realize how tough it is going to be to trade QRich. Although Turk has looked really bad these last few games, he is someone we should keep since next year is almost like an expiring deal. Because of Big Baby's age, he may eventually have some value to someone else and can be traded down the line. Duhon's contract isn't as bad, but he is a terrible PG. My vote is for JRich's deal which was bad to begin with but will have to be included in a any deal involving Dwight.

Eight points, Five assists, Two (and a half) caroms. 30 (THIRTY) minutes a game. Chris Duhon career best averages you say? Sadly, no. These numbers do not even begin to portray the poor (destitute comes to mind) play of our beloved point guard Jameer Nelson. How and Where did it all go wrong, one cares to ask?

Well, this off season as you may be aware (unless you were living under a rock or didn't care for Orlando Magic news, in which case, why are you here?) Dwight Howard made shock waves throughout the Magic Kingdom and beyond, demanding a trade to greener pastures, larger bodies of water, and [insert euphemism for larger metropolitan markets and bigger endorsement dollars here]. Speculation abounded of Dwight's wishes to tandem with one of the League's elite point guards (i.e. Chris Paul, Deron Williams, anyone NOT Jameer Nelson), effectively throwing former best buddy and Current point guard Jameer under the proverbial bus (and reversed, and drove back over again) in the process. Jameer, while known for his tough play and clutch shooting, turns out was still very human and susceptible to weird things like emotions, and was more than likely deeply wounded by Dwight's remarks, and by the ensuing (and continuing) trade fiasco.

So What, you might ask? Jameer Nelson is a professional basketball player, paid to play the school yard game he grew up loving. This year he is set to make $7.31 Million dollars (even the .31 part is more then I'd dream to make this year), so you might say to your self, Self, if I was Jameer and making (and probably rolling around and sleeping on) this amount of aforementioned money, wouldn't I just suck that ish up and go All Out every night on the court? And in most cases, you would be very right. Unfortunately, this is a flawed assumption, based out of a vacuum universe in which others' actions don't affect our own. The reality is, professional sports is just as much about Confidence as it is Ability, and Orlando's co-captain has clearly found himself in a rut.

So what has changed in Jameer's game, you might ask? An excellent question, I'm glad you asked. The answer is, frankly, Everything. Some might point to his shooting (down from his nearly 17ppg output on Orlando's march to the Finals in '08) and accompanying percentages ('08->'11 contrast... FT: 89 to 76%; 3PT: 45 to 29% FG: 50 to 39%). Defense, while in some ways unquantifiable, is still identifiable by the naked eye as consistent energy and commitment (and moving of feet) to keeping your man in front of you, and at least funneling him towards the best defensive big man of our generation. This year, Jameer might have put many Spanish matadors to shame with his propensity of letting opposing 1's drift right by into the lane for scoring opportunities.

What has been Missing in Jameer's game most significantly this year though, and what will never show up in the box scores, is his sense of Fearlessness. This fearlessness materialized to the Magic's benefit in past seasons with his clutch shooting on MANY, MANY occasions, including the playoffs (does anybody else remember '10 Jameer icing Charlotte all series long like they said something about his momma?). This fearlessness showed in Jameer's willingness in previous seasons to give up his body, whether it be charges, fighting through pick and rolls, or diving into the lane amongst the trees to create buckets. None of that has been consistent this year, and that is what made Jameer a Game Changer for the Magic. Heck, even his rebounds (down from '08 3.5 rpg) and fouls ( down from '08's total of almost 3 fouls to 2 this year) are testaments to his lack of aggressiveness, where he once regularly snuck in to pull down a board to spark a Magic fastbreak or got an extra whistle blown for tighter D and feisty hands. This fearlessness allowed Jameer to make PLAYS, unafraid to make mistakes and letting the game come to him.

This year you don't even see Nelson hooking up with Dwight for alleys, which used to be a Given at least once or twice a game, and it makes you wonder if it's out of spite or lack of connection. Whatever it is, I wish Jameer would just sit down, clear his mind, watch old game tape, whatever is needed, and remember why he is the Orlando Magic's starting point guard and fan favorite, before it's frankly too late.

This has been a troubling season so far. After a strong start to the shortened season, the Magic have regressed drastically and have appeared to have given up on the season. Since the season is apparently over for these Magic players, I have decided to track this so called Dwight saga, through memes.

It all started during the lockout:

via f.static.memegenerator.net

After Speculation, Dwight came out and requested a trade to either the Nets, Mavericks, or Lakers:

via d.static.memegenerator.net

After this request, a chain reaction of events happened. First there was Jameer Nelson:

via h.static.memegenerator.net

Then the Nets fans heard they were the number one destination for Dwight:

via c.static.memegenerator.net

And finally, other teams started making trade proposals for our superstar:

via e.static.memegenerator.net

Despite all of the drama, all the speculation, Dwight remained with the Magic until the start of the season. After a slow showing on Christmas day, the Magic were playing well. Hedo looked reinvigorated, JJ looked like the white mamba, and Ryan Anderson appeared to be blossoming into an all star. The team seemed to be handling the Dwightmare like professionals:

via e.static.memegenerator.net

Unfortunately, the winning was not having an effect on Dwight. He wanted out of here:

via g.static.memegenerator.net

Then, things started going south for the Magic. A combination of injuries and mental fatigue led to this debacle:

via h.static.memegenerator.net

Dwight, disgusted with the effort put forth in the Magic's first loss to the Celtics and the epic collapse in the second game, decided to call his team out:

via c.static.memegenerator.net

The rest of the team, fed up with Dwight and his fickle trade demands, decided to check out. The play was uninspired and probably led to the most frustrating week of Magic basketball ever:

via e.static.memegenerator.net

And so the national media frenzy has escalated. The team continues to be blown out by just about every team, every player is seemingly ineffective, and players just are not buying into SVG's system. Now I have to boycott Sportscenter and ESPN:

via g.static.memegenerator.net

Who knows how the saga will play out. There is one certainty though, Dwight Howard's days in Orlando are numbered. They way I see it, there will only be two possible resolutions: Will Otis let him walk in free agency? or will Otis trade him after the All Star Game? Either way, the Magic need to start their rebuilding plan, whether that is acquiring proven vets to stay semi-relevent or blow it up completely.

Thanks for all the good memories Dwight.