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The Orlando Magic's 96-94 win over the L.A. Lakers yesterday stands out for several reasons, but perhaps none as prominent as Matt Barnes' physical play and willingness to engage L.A.'s Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher in almost literal combat. As I wrote in my recap, Barnes' altercations with those two led him to become a trending topic on Twitter the world over. For a veteran of seven teams in seven seasons with career averages of 7.2 points and 4.3 boards, that's quite an accomplishment.

Now, Twitter wasn't the only place in which Barnes--whose own wildly entertaining account you can follow here, incidentally--drew attention. Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz published this piece shortly after the game ended explaining why Barnes is his new favorite Magic player, saying Barnes "punched" Bryant "on the red carpet," to use a Hollywood analogy. Veteran beat writer Brian Schmitz blogged that Orlando must do anything it can to keep Barnes this summer, when he can become a free agent, "even if it means going deeper into the tax or trading away somebody else." OPP commenter ggrant wrote, "Matt Barnes is damn near my favorite player right now." On the other side, Lakers fan koberules wrote, "Hey, friendly competition is cool, but he just took it over the limit." So there's no question that Barnes made an impression.

Likewise, there's no question that Barnes played a key role in Orlando's win yesterday, with 10 points, 6 boards, a steal, a crucial three-pointer with just more than a minute to play (after which he mean-mugged his way to the bench), and the aforesaid defense of Bryant. But I fear we're in danger of missing the point with our lionization of him. You won't read about Barnes' own stats in those posts I just linked, for instance, but only about his physical play. And that's a bit problematic.

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Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is a four-time All-Star, a two-time All-NBA first team selection, an Olympic gold medalist, and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. He's either the best or second-best center in the world, depending on whether you classify Tim Duncan as a center or power forward. And he's only 24, which seems to indicate his best is yet to come. So believe me, I know how off-putting it might seem that I think he's underrated. But I do.

The criticisms most often levied at Howard are, in no particular order, that he is unskilled offensively and too mentally weak to lead a team to a championship. I take issue with both, because they're outdated, false, and reductive.

It's true that Howard's year got off to a rough start. He wasn't as sharp defensively as he was in prior seasons, arriving late on rotations and giving silly fouls as a consequence. And the addition of Vince Carter has robbed him of some touches, so his year-long numbers (18.5 points and 10.1 shots versus 20.6 and 12.4 a year ago) are down. So I guess I can understand, to a certain extent, how a national columnist could look at them and assert that Howard's as good as he's going to be, and then look at the off-court stories about him--that he filmed some movies and commercials over the summer, that he refuses to wage war with Shaquille O'Neal through the media, that he updates his Twitter account regularly--and conclude that he's lazy or not fulfilling his potential.

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Vince Carter's performance last night was something else.

Yeah, obviously. 48 points, 34 in the second half, to help the Orlando Magic surmount a 17-point deficit and defeat the New Orleans Hornets. Gaudy, gaudy numbers. Here's a brief highlight film, which is worth watching simply for the overhead shot at the 0:33 second mark alone. Carter's three-pointer does not touch the rim. Just drops straight through the net.

But in this game, the numbers aren't everything. I mean, you can look at the box score and figure that something special happened, sure. But watching it? This man who missed 72% of his shots last month draw nothing but nylon on seemingly every jumper he put up? This man who's missed more than half of his layups this year convert in traffic? Unreal.

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Tonight's matchup between the Orlando Magic and the Milwaukee Bucks will mark the last game of the decade for both teams. For the Magic, it's been 10 years full of peaks and valleys but there's no doubt that the city of Orlando, at this point, is satisfied with the direction of the franchise. 

Last night, the Orlando Magic laid waste to the New Orleans Hornets, 121-86, in a game only visible to the people who attended. Not even NBA.com has a highlight reel, which is fairly remarkable, as it somehow produced a highlight reel for the Magic's preseason game against the Miami Heat, which wasn't televised in Orlando or in Miami. Curious.

The real downside to not being able to see the Hornets game was completely missing Ryan Anderson's stellar performance. I noted in the game recap that Anderson led all scorers with 22 points, but I hadn't yet realized how impressively he had done so until I read this story by Brian Schmitz. He writes:

So it turns out it was Vince Carter who was the "throw-in" in the Magic's trade this summer with the New Jersey Nets.

Ryan Anderson laughed at the notion, but he stole the show on a Tuesday night in Wichita, Kan., when, actually, he and Carter carried the Magic to a 5-0 preseason record with a 121-86 trouncing of New Orleans.

Anderson scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter, including 14 straight.

14 straight points, and 22 overall? From a guy only 5 months removed from being of legal drinking age? Holy smokes, I wish I had seen that. NBA.com's play-by-play account of the game is the next-best thing to a highlight reel, and sure enough, Anderson went berserk in the third quarter. In a five-possession sequence, lasting from the 8:19 mark to the 6:07 mark, he drilled 4 three-pointers (each with a hand from Jameer Nelson) and made a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound. 14 points in just over 2 minutes, on 5 shot attempts. The Magic's lead ballooned from 69-52 to 83-57 during this time. Un-flippin'-real.

So the bad news is that just about everyone missed seeing Anderson's (potentially meaningless) coming-out party. The good news? There's a chance for him to repeat it. With Stan Van Gundy likely to sit Rashard Lewis for the remainder of the preseason in order to better prepare for life without him during his 10-game suspension, Anderson and fellow newcomer Brandon Bass will see extended minutes at power forward. And thanks to two nationally televised preseason games in the coming weeks--Monday's match against Chicago is on WGN, available in many nationwide markets, while ESPN will carry next Friday's finale against Atlanta--Magic fans should have plenty of opportunities to see the team's youngest player continue to shine in exhibition play. With any luck, it'll continue into the regular season.

For people who put stock in such things--and I'm not sure there are many of them, since it is preseason--Anderson's cumulative preseason averages are 14 points and 4.3 boards in just over 20 minutes on 45% from the field and 50% from three-point range. His effective field goal percentage is a sky-high 62.5%. He is indeed making a strong case for inclusion in Van Gundy's rotation even after Lewis returns from his suspension, and may wind up starting ahead of Bass--who's having not such a bad preseason himself, with averages of 13 points and 5.5 boards on 65.3% shooting--in Lewis' absence.

Fact or Fiction presents both sides of key issues the Orlando Magic will face in the upcoming NBA season.

Can Mickael Pietrus maintain his playoff performance heading into the new year?

FACT: Mickael Pietrus has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his young career, first with the Golden State Warriors, and now with the Orlando Magic. When Pietrus isn't battling bouts of inconsistency or dealing with injuries, he can be a useful player coming off the bench for a team. Look no further than during the 2009 NBA Playoffs, as Pietrus became an x-factor off the bench for the Magic during the squad's run to the Finals and began to earn some of the full Mid-Level Exception he received during the off-season last year. Pietrus made his presence felt and Orlando benefited when it mattered the most.

FICTION: However, there's a reason why the FACT portion of the write-up is short.

Pietrus played out of his mind, offensively, in the postseason. Granted, Pietrus was finally healthy since the start of the regular season and that certainly aided in his ability to perform more to his potential, but even then, his numbers were staggering.

It's impossible for Pietrus to continue to shoot that efficiently in the upcoming season. As has been stated for Jameer Nelson before, Pietrus will surely regress to the mean but the question is, what will his statistics look like? Well, Pietrus' percentages have been declining the last three seasons but he should see an uptick in his numbers for this year. It's tough to predict what Pietrus' stats will be but it doesn't seem too outlandish to suggest he could revert back to somewhere around his 2006-2007 form with the Warriors, when his eFG% (56.7%) and TS% (59.0%) were above-average. Probably not at those high statistics, but better than his career numbers (somewhere in the middle, I would suspect). The key is his field-goal percentage, which needs to hover around 48%-50% for his advanced shooting percentages to be very good. 

If Pietrus can somewhat replicate his production from '07, there's no reason why he can't be an efficient player. In the end, it comes down to Pietrus not getting hurt much. If Pietrus can stay on the court, convert better around the basket, maintain his current three-point percentage (36%) & free-throw percentage (71%), look out.

Verdict: In a word, no, but it doesn't mean Mickael Pietrus can't play well.

Just not that well over a period of time.

With grateful acknowledgement to 3QC user derekk, who suggested this topic.

Fact or Fiction presents both sides of key issues the Orlando Magic will face in the upcoming NBA season.

Despite the roster shake-up, the Magic offense will remain stylistically similar.

FACT: For all the hubbub about the new players for the Orlando Magic, there is an offensive system in place that has proven to be successful and there's no reason why head coach Stan Van Gundy would skew away from it. If history has taught us anything during Van Gundy's tenure with the Magic, it's that he's excellent at adjusting and adapting to whatever situation or scenario pops up. Vince Carter's arrival to Orlando alleviates concerns about Hedo Turkoglu's departure. Why? Because Carter can do what Turkoglu did, but in a better & more efficient manner.

As such, the Magic's pick & roll game should be as good, if not, better with Carter. The playbook (little less pick & rolls, little more isolations) and the focus (going from small forward to shooting guard) will change, but don't expect the end result to be different. 

Turkoglu/Howard = lethal. Carter/Howard = potent.

Brandon Bass? His arrival does nothing to change the fact that Orlando will continue to run its 4-out/1-in offense, which carried the team to the NBA Finals this past season. Bass may get the opportunity to start at the beginning of the year with Rashard Lewis sidelined, but that may be more the exception than the rule. Having Lewis at power forward is what makes the Magic's offense special and it wouldn't make much sense to play more conventionally for the sake of it, unless specific matchups dictate otherwise. Still, Lewis will see time at small forward.

As for Bass, think of him as a much better version of Tony Battie.

Ryan Anderson, Matt Barnes, and Jason Williams will bring skill-sets to the table that Orlando is already familiar with: ball handling, defending, shooting, etc. For Anderson, he's an individual that Stan hasn't had before off the bench - a "four-spreader", in the mold of Lewis. The fact that Anderson can back-up Lewis or play alongside him could be a trump card Van Gundy uses during the season. When comparing personnel from last year to this year, Anderson is the only discernible difference. As for everyone else - different players, same system (for the most part).

Orlando, quite frankly, shouldn't be any different on offense. What's scary is that this year's team may have a roster that's more flexible & versatile than last year's team, which is hard to believe when you think about it. Smarter, too. In speaking with a source close familiar with the team's plans, it was stated that the Magic coaching staff marvels at the basketball IQ of new players on the roster. Encouraging news.

FICTION: The only way the Orlando Magic change, stylistically, on offense is if Brandon Bass were to start the majority of the season at power forward. That's it. Or if, somehow, Marcin Gortat were to play alongside Dwight Howard in the starting lineup (the odds of that happening, however, are very low). Not many scenarios.

Verdict: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

Expect more of the same from the Orlando Magic this year, stylistically, but certainly prepare for improvements and tweaks to Stan Van Gundy's offensive philosophy - for example, don't be surprised to see a little bit of the triangle offense displayed.

Stuff like that.

With grateful acknowledgement to 3QC user kerem, who suggested this topic.

Fact or Fiction presents both sides of key issues the Orlando Magic will face in the upcoming NBA season.

The Orlando Magic will have three All-Stars by the mid-season break.

FACT: It has been well publicized that with the arrival of Vince Carter via trade, the Orlando Magic now have four players who have been named to the All-Star team in their respective careers - the other three being Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Jameer Nelson. With the exception of Nelson, each individual has been an All-Star more than once - Carter (8 times), Howard (3 times), and Lewis (2 times). 

Switching gears, quickly. 

Now, it's no secret that there is a strong correlation between being named an All-Star and playing on a winning team - whether or not that's fair is irrelevant in the context of this post. What that means for the Magic in the upcoming season is that there is a strong possibility that the team will have more than one player listed as an All-Star on the Eastern Conference roster. The rationale being that since Orlando will presumably be among the league leader in wins, the coaches will recognize the players on the squad for helping to accumulate the many victories. 

Dwight Howard will assuredly receive overwhelming fan support (barring injury or worse) and become an All-Star starter at center for the third consecutive season. 

Which leaves Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis. 

Last year in New Jersey, Carter still played at an All-Star level but unfortunately for him, he wasn't named to the squad primarily due to the fact the Nets weren't a winning team. That and because Carter's teammate, Devin Harris, had an outstanding first half of the season and rightfully deserved to be honored more. However, one has to figure that if Carter can continue to play at a high standard with the Magic, he stands to have a great chance to be named to the All-Star team. 

Nelson & Lewis, then, would presumably "compete" to be named Orlando's third member. Given the number of All-Star caliber forwards in the East, it would seem that Nelson might have a slightly larger margin of error to be named as a reserve due to the position he plays. This isn't to underscore Lewis' ability, though. 

FICTION: It hasn't been stated but it's worth mentioning; there are a number of All-Star caliber guards in the Eastern Conference, so Jameer Nelson's chances of making the team are slim to none if he declines in productivity. For example, Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz has yet to make an All-Star team due to the position he plays in the Western Conference. No one doubts Williams' ability as a player or questions he isn't All-Star caliber, but that speaks more to the depth at the guard position in the West. Nelson has the same issue, which will be exacerbated by the fact that he'll be competing with a teammate - Vince Carter - for a roster spot in the East. 

As for Rashard Lewis, his chances will be affected at making the squad due to the fact he'll be out for the first 10 games of the regular season because of suspension. Now, it's not impossible to be named an All-Star if one were to miss a little bit of time during the first half of the year, but it certainly becomes much more difficult to accomplish such a feat. As a result, Lewis' margin for error is also slim to none.

Verdict: It's extremely difficult to predict who will and who won't make the All-Star team, because there are so many external variables that need to be taken into account. That being said, Dwight Howard is about as close of a lock that you'll get so the Orlando Magic will surely be represented at the All-Star game in Dallas.

Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis?

Tough to say. If one were to look at recent history, franchises in the NBA that are championship-quality usually have multiple players make All-Star teams. The Magic followed that trend by having three players selected. Will it be the same case this season for Orlando? Not sure, it depends on how the individuals perform. 

Odds are good to very good that the Magic will have a second player chosen.

A third? Unless Orlando has the best record at the halfway point of the year, it doesn't seem likely. But of course, anything is possible. It has happened before.

With grateful acknowledgement to 3QC user RussL, who suggested this topic.