SB Nation - Brandon Bass

The Orlando Magic's Offense Has Been Efficient But There is Room for Improvement

erivera7 — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:37:15 -0000

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If there's a difference between the Orlando Magic of last year and this year, it's the offense. Granted, last year's offense when the Magic had a healthy Jameer Nelson during the regular season ranked 5th in Offensive Rating. But it took a ridiculous shooting display from Nelson over a period of time for Orlando to be as potent as it was on the offensive side of the ball. It didn't seem like Jameer could sustain that type of performance for the entire year but one will never know - he may have, he may have not. As such, when Nelson did get hurt this past season, the Magic's offense couldn't keep pace because the personnel wasn't equipped to make up for the loss of production.

This year, the Magic rank 5th in Offensive Rating once again but there's room for improvement and a reason for that is the improved supporting cast on the team (as well as the impending return of Nelson from injury, etc). When one considers the inefficient shooters general manager Otis Smith jettisoned during the off-season (Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, Hedo Turkoglu) and who he brought in to replace them (Brandon Bass, Vince Carter, Jason Williams, among others), it's no surprise Orlando is a much more potent offensive team. What's scary for the Magic is that the team, offensively, isn't playing at its maximum. One major reason for that has been the sub-standard play from Carter on offense, who has been in a shooting slump lately. Carter hasn't been efficient and although it hasn't affected Orlando much, in terms of team-wide production, it has held the team back from fully realizing its offensive potential. Still, it's a long year and usually the numbers even out when everything is said and done.

Here's a list of the Orlando Magic players who have been efficient on offense:

	TS%	eFG%	Offensive Rating
J. J. Redick	61.6%	57.6%	123
Jason Williams	56.8%	54.9%	121
Ryan Anderson	58.3%	55.0%	115
Dwight Howard	64.5%	63.2%	115
Brandon Bass	56.6%	54.4%	114
Rashard Lewis	57.6%	53.6%	114
Anthony Johnson	53.6%	50.0%	110
Jameer Nelson	54.4%	50.8%	109
league average	53.9%	49.6%	106.6

Impressive.

If Carter (and to a lesser extent, Nelson) returns to form on the offensive side of the ball sooner rather than later, then the Magic could live up to Pro Basketball Prospectus 09-10's projection, which is that the team will finish the regular season with the most efficient offense in the NBA.

Orlando Magic Practice Report: Stan Van Gundy Concerned with His Team's Focus, as Well as Portland's Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge

Ben Q Rock — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:46:50 -0000

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The Orlando Magic haven't played the Portland Trail Blazers in over a year, but are still well prepared to take them on tonight. Coach Stan Van Gundy effusively praised Portland shooting guard Brandon Roy and big man LaMarcus Aldridge, as well as the Blazers' overall effort and energy level; his Magic charges echoed those sentiments. The team is on-point and ready to go, having lost three of their last five games to drop to 4th place in the Eastern Conference, and second in the Southeast Division. Said Van Gundy, "the bottom line is that we're fourth in the East right now, and that's not where we want to be."

The biggest takeaways from today's shootaround are these: Van Gundy believes the team has lost its focus, which happens a few times throughout the season; he used the phrase "autopilot" at one point to describe his team's effort and focus. Complacency is also a concern of his.

Interestingly, he also said Jameer Nelson, who's missed over a month due to left knee surgery, practiced today and will go again tomorrow if he experiences no swelling or pain. If all goes well, Nelson will return Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, which will be the five-week mark of Nelson's surgery, right in the middle of doctors' initial projection of a 4-to-6 week recovery time.

Stan Van Gundy:

What makes Portland a tough team to play?

Well, I think ... two great players in Roy and Aldridge, which is normally where it starts with teams, and a team that plays with a real good pace and energy. They defend very hard, they've got great overall size, so they've got a lot of very good things going.

I'd like to add here that, in a later conversation with Magic play-by-play man Dennis Neumann, Van Gundy said that although Brandon Roy is an All-Star, he's still "overlooked" in the NBA. He also praised LaMarcus Aldrige, calling him the league's most underrated player, and singling out his ability to run the floor, his mid-range jumper, and his proficiency in the pick-and-roll as his strongest suits.

Have you been able to diagnose why your team seems to come out a bit flat?

Well, we've done that in three of the last four games, and so it's just everybody's gotta take the responsibility of being ready at the beginning of the game, being focused, and playing a lot harder. I think that our focus has not been as good, we have not been as tuned-in getting ready to play in games, and we haven't come with great intensity. So I think it's, you know, each individual guy's responsibility to come out and be ready to play.

On the team's lack of focus and the importance of the week ahead:

I think there's times in every season, unfortunately, where you get.. where you hit lulls in terms of your focus and things like that, and you've gotta try and get back and refocus and the whole thing. And you get in stretches, you're playing a lot of games, and you're putting it on autopilot and coming out without an intentional focus on what's going on, and it catches up to you. Hopefully we will come with much more intensity tonight, much more energy, and a clearer focus. We've got four very, very difficult games here right up until Christmas, four games in a week here that are all up against good teams, so it'll be a good test for us to see how far we can come in these four games.

On the team's health:

Yeah, everyone seemed good today and even Jameer practiced this morning. With thirteen guys out there, it got crowded.

On how Nelson looked in practice:

Well, we were basically preparing for Portland so we weren't going up and down the floor, but he looked good. He got in and battled.

On if he'll return to game action on Wednesday, as previously scheduled:

Well, I haven't heard anything differently. I'm sort of at the mercy of what the medical people tell me. They have told me it would be Wednesday at the earliest. The plan is after going through today, both his workout and our workout, the plan is for him to practice tomorrow if he doesn't have pain or swelling after today's workout, and we'll see where we are. But they have told me at this point that Wednesday will be the earliest [he could return].

Several Magic players stayed a bit after shootaround to work on their individual games. I watched these sessions in between Van Gundy's availability session and the players'. Here's what happened:

Brandon Bass worked on short (5-7 foot) jumpers, then practiced midrange shots from either baseline, where his shots hardly so much as touched the rim on their way in; he was just about automatic. He also worked on making a jab-step before elevating for a jumper, and his post moves from the left block, finishing with either a righty hook or a turnaround jumper.
Dwight Howard shot free throws, with assistant coach Patrick Ewing rebounding and occasionally taking notes on a small black pad he stowed in the pocket of his gym shorts. Howard is animated while practicing, but still focused. At one point, he expressed mock-outrage at Ewing ("Look what you made me do!") for reasons I couldn't discern. Later, he yelled the audible equivalent of his frequent YUUUUUAAAAA Twitter messages, running to midcourt and back in exultation.
J.J. Redick worked on mid-range jumpers, free throws, and three-pointers. Anthony Johnson worked through a similar routine a bit more extensively.
Redick, Johnson, and Howard did their workouts on the court's "main" baskets, with Bass shooting on one of the four "side" hoops. Bass moved to the basket Howard occupied once Howard retreated to the locker room.
Patrick Ewing Jr. sat on the sidelines wearing sandals and Magic practice gear, with tennis shoes nearby. It looked like he went through the team's workout this morning, but there's absolutely no indication that the Magic have any plans to add Ewing, whose draft rights are owned by the New York Knicks.

After the jump, partial transcripts of the media's conversations with Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard.

Jameer Nelson:

Before I turned my recorder on, Nelson said he was looking forward to watching the Magic win tonight than he was about making his own return to the court.

When did you know you'd be able to go today?

Probably about a week ago.

A week ago?

Yeah, I can't tell you guys all my information. I keep a lot of things to myself. [Laughs]

Rashard Lewis:

On the importance of this stretch of their schedule in the wake of some recent unimpressive showing:

You know, every game is important, especially playing at home. You always wanna take care of your home court. Gotta play some tough teams, protect our home court. We're trying to get ourselves prepared, to get better every game, to get better as a team.

On what makes Portland a tough team to play:

You know, they're a great team. They play together, they play fundamental. They have a lot of guys playing well. Brandon Roy's a tough player, they added Andre Miller, LaMarcus Aldridge is a great player... so they have a number of guys that they can go to to win ballgames, and they always play hard.

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel asked Lewis, and a few other players, about Paul Pierce's recent suggestion that the NBA raise the rims three inches. Lewis said three inches "was a lot" and would make the game "more fundamental. He added that if he were commissioner, he would shorten the season to sixty games and extend the All-Star break to a full week. He added, with a laugh, "I'm tired!" If he's tired, it's not showing up in his play, as he's connected on 40% of his three-pointers over the last five games.

Dwight Howard:

On the importance of this stretch of their schedule in the wake of some recent unimpressive showing:

We want to continue to get better as a team. We're playing against some pretty good teams in this stretch, and we all know that each game is important, each possession is important. We want to get five good wins at home.

On what makes Portland a tough team to play:

They're very active. They got a lot of guys who can score. It starts with Brandon Roy, LaMarcus... and then they got guys who can spot up and hit threes. So they're a very tough team. They run a lot, do a lot of movement, and it's going to be tough.

On how he feels at the end of the third quarter when he plays the first 36 minutes of a game, as he's done in each of the Magic's last 2 games:

I felt great last game. You know, if Coach wants me to play 48 minutes, then I have to 48 minutes. You know, I just wanna do what I can to make my team... to get my team a win. And if that's playing 48 minutes, then I have to play 48 minutes... I can only do so much, but I can do whatever I can. My teammates need me to be dominant, and to be dominant for however long it takes.

Dan Savage of OrlandoMagic.com asked Howard if he had a chance to watch Blazers center Greg Oden play at all this season before he was injured. Howard smiled silently for four seconds before saying, in a near-whisper, "No, I didn't. Sorry." He said that it's hard for him to watch West Coast teams play, and that the West Coast games broadcasted via the NBA's newest mobile app that lets the user watch them on their phone doesn't get good service here.

Game 28 Preview: Blazers vs. Magic

Dave — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:41:52 -0000

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Uh oh.

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Game Time: 4:00 PM TV: Comcast

OK, now things get interesting. The Magic carry an unfortunate (for us) combination of being 18-7 on the year, having just lost their last game, and playing at home where they are 9-2. Their home losses came to Cleveland and Miami so it's not like just anyone gets to waltz in and request a win. They're good, they're stacked, and unless they completely take us for granted the Blazers will have a hard time winning this game. Granted it's happened before for Portland in Orlando, but it's always hard when you're fielding a team that's trying to be something and facing a team that's full of people who already are the something you're trying to become.

Obviously your first thought when you think "Magic" is Dwight Howard and rightfully so. Name a way he's not destroying the league this year. He's averaging 18 points and almost 13 rebounds. He gets over 2 blocks per game, shoots over 63% from the field, and is drawing 11 foul shots per game. Even though he's only hitting 59% of those free throws he's causing foul trouble for everyone who comes against him...a definite headache for the Blazers at the moment. He's completed the metamorphosis from incredibly raw talent to legitimate NBA superstar. There are no answers for him when he gets the ball where he likes it. He's the main reason Orlando has the 4^th most efficient offense in the league. He's also the main reason the Magic rank 2^nd in the league in points in the paint allowed and 1^st in defensive rebounding percentage. He's a two-way player, one of the wholly unique talents playing today.

The Magic have surrounded Howard with a bevy of perimeter players. Vince Carter leads the pack, also leading the team in scoring at 19 per game. He's not the VC of old but he can still hit a jumper and he can still pour it in when needed. He's scored 25+ six times this season already. Rashard Lewis didn't play until mid-November and had a hard time with adjustments when he did return but he's had a good month, is hitting the three-pointer, and is hitting 20ppg himself fairly routinely now. Those two have got the heavy scoring covered.

With Jameer Nelson out Orlando has dug Jason Williams out of mothballs. Though he's no longer any kind of Chocolate, save perhaps "stale", he still knows how to pass the ball and he's not shy about shooting the three either. Small forward Mickael Pietrus, former Golden State energy-producer, rounds out the starting lineup. Guess what? He can hit threes as well. In fact the only guys who can't drain the long ball on this team are Howard, forward Brandon Bass, and (this year anyway) forward Matt Barnes. Unless you're facing one of those three you better be ready to close out and get a hand up.

The Magic field ancient-yet-capable reserve Anthony Johnson at point guard, shooters J.J. Reddick at off-guard and Ryan Anderson at power forward, Barnes at small forward, and 6'11" rebounder Marcin Gortat for a few minutes at center. Both Gortat and the aforementioned Bass could be getting more time elsewhere. This team is pretty deep and they use everybody. They seldom lack for energy and they never lack for offensive threats.

Unless the ball is going to Howard the Magic attack is primarily perimeter-oriented. They don't score on the break and they don't score in the paint if Howard isn't taking the shot. They will give Dwight the first chance to break you down, which he'll likely do if you try and guard him one-on-one. If you send help they have you. It's simple, as old as the hills, and extremely effective. They draw a lot of fouls and shoot a TON of threes, generating extra points even in their measured game.

They'll practice the same basic plan on defense. They make up for spotty individual defenders at the wing positions by getting back, not letting you break, then shutting down the middle and daring you to hit outside. Even if you drain a couple what are the odds of you matching them the whole game?

The Magic are excellent defensive rebounders. Many of their offensive misses bounce long or are shot by Dwight Howard with nobody else coming to clean up so they're not a great offensive rebounding unit. But they don't need to be. They turn the ball over a smidge too much but it doesn't burn them most nights.

Keys to the Game

Being realistic this isn't a game the Blazers should win. There's too much need for them to double against Howard and too little capability to rotate or close out when they do so. They're going to have to stop perimeter players with guys who are too big or too small. Their own offensive players haven't always been able to dominate weaker defenders. The #1 plan should be to try and get Howard in foul trouble. When he sits you can start watching those shooters more carefully. Obviously this means some kind of penetration, as Joel Przybilla is unlikely to create problems for Howard on his own. The Blazers have to pick their poison defensively. I don't see any way they can cover everybody. I think in this case my druthers would be to stop the perimeter guys and make Howard beat us. He can go for 50. He can destroy us. But if you're going to take a chance on somebody having a bad night why not go for broke and put your eggs in one basket instead of hoping all of those shooters miss on the same night. Sometimes Howard doesn't get the ball as much as he should in those situations as the other players get impatient. Above all the Blazers have to show energy all night. It's not like they can't hang with this team. They'll just have to put themselves in a position where a few things going right can make a difference. The only way to do that is to play hard all game and see what transpires late.

You can see how Orlando views this game at OrlandoPinstripedPost.

Enter tonight's Jersey Contest form here.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Orlando Magic 118, Toronto Raptors 99

Ben Q Rock — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:09:03 -0000

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The Orlando Magic used a team-wide hot shooting performance against the Toronto Raptors' perpetually porous defense to cruise to a 118-99 win Wednesday night. Rashard Lewis led all scorers with 21 points--including 5 three-pointers--while Matt Barnes scored 20 points on 10 shots off the bench. Dwight Howard approached a triple-double with 18 points, 14 boards, and 8 blocked shots before checking out as the game got out of hand. Orlando held Toronto's Chris Bosh to 20 points, while former Magic player Hedo Turkoglu chipped in 14 (on 2-of-9 shooting) and Jarrett Jack added 13.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Raptors	94	105.4	46.6%	18.0	22.7	10.7
Magic	87	134.9	66.7%	24.0	27.6	16.0
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

The game transpired more or less like you might have figured it would based on these teams' reputations going in. The Raptors hung with the Magic early on, but the Magic created just enough separation with an 8-0 run late in the first quarter--fueled by a tough Vince Carter layup and back-to-back treys from Jason Williams--to take a 27-19 lead, and Toronto never really challenged after that. It wasn't always a question of effort, but rather ability; Orlando got whatever it wanted, the Raptors couldn't keep pace with the Magic's blistering shooting, and so it continued for the next 36 minutes. After a while, the Raptors appeared to just say, "screw it," and they mailed in the rest of the game. The way things went for the Magic, you can hardly blame them.

Okay, well, you can, to an extent, but I think you see my point. Things came entirely too easily for Orlando. The misses came on well-executed plays, open, and in rhythm, at least until garbage time, when Marcin Gortat started launching just any old thing he wanted. And by "old thing," I mean "15-footer early in the shot clock."

Howard missed 1 shot all game, and it was an off-balance tip-in attempt. Barnes shot 7-of-10, and one of those misses came on an inexplicably blown dunk with nobody around. Several of J.J. Redick's shots rattled around and out... and on it goes. Nary a blemish for Orlando offensively, at least not when the game really mattered. Turnovers were a bit of an issue, with Anthony Johnson--who scored a lively 13 points off the bench--twice losing the ball off his knee on his way to the hoop. and with the odd push-off against Howard or Redick. Overall, though, what is your chief complaint if you're the Magic? Maybe it's that Mickael Pietrus struggled in his 17 minutes, shooting 1-of-5 with 2 turnovers as he tried to battle through illness. Maybe it's that the Raptors came up with 6 steals, despite being the league's worst turnover-forcing unit. Maybe it's that Bosh scored 20 in 30 minutes, on 7-of-11 shooting. Still, his touches were few and far between, as the Magic dared Jack (13 points on 15 shots) and Andrea Bargnani (12 points on 12 shots) to beat them. A sound strategy, which they executed.

That sentence more or less summarizes the Magic's night. They had a game plan on both ends, they put it in motion, and they prevailed with ease. Really, I'm more impressed with the Magic's defense of the Raptors than I am with their offensive assault against them. A team as gifted as Orlando should light up the scoreboard against a sieve like Toronto. But the Raptors had the league's 4th-most efficient offense coming in, and Orlando shut it down. Howard's rejections helped, sure--and some of them could have been fouls or goaltends, if we're honest, but not nearly enough to swing momentum in Toronto's favor--but rarely did the Magic get burned on that end. So Antoine Wright peels himself off the end of the bench and scores 7 straight points late in the 4th: who cares? Two contested looks in the lane and a three-pointer for a career 29.3% long-distance shooter. You're happy giving those looks up.

Finally, how about Brandon Bass tonight? Coach Stan Van Gundy dusted off Orlando's sparingly used free-agent signee, who played both power forward and center, and he responded. 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 blocks (?!), and the usual energy and aggression in just over 9 minutes for Bass, who's probably a rotation player on just about every other NBA team. I see no reason or him to take minutes from three-point ace Ryan Anderson on a regular basis, but it's always good to know that your 11th man can come in immediately and make an impact.

Sorry if I seem more peppy than usual, but again, there's very little wrong with the way the Magic played tonight. A solid win against a worthy offensive foe, and a chance to rest up on the first night of a back-to-back set. Orlando jets to Miami to play the Heat--themselves fresh off a win against Toronto--tomorrow night.

Orlando Magic News for December 15th: More on Dwight Howard's Flap with Troy Murphy; Also Starring Hedo Turkoglu and Marcin Gortat

Ben Q Rock — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:03:57 -0000

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Orlando needs an enforcer
In the wake of last night's mini skirmish between Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Indiana Pacers forward Troy Murphy, Austin Burton of Dime Magazine contends that the Magic need to pair Howard with "an enforcer" to discourage teams from fouling him so hard.

[Stan] Van Gundy has a choice to make. Giving [Brandon] Bass and [Marcin] Gortat more time alongside Dwight takes a three-point threat off the floor and limits Orlando’s offense somewhat, but leaving Dwight to fend for himself is a recipe for an injury or an incident. Dwight is a lone wolf out there, and I’ve been watching enough nature shows lately to know that when a wolf doesn’t have the protection of a pack, somebody is going to get hurt.

I'm not sure what taking a shooter off the floor would accomplish apart from making it easier for defenses to collapse onto Howard. But okay.
Dwight Howard doesn’t think NBA ruling will change how teams foul him
Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel talked to Howard about the rough treatment he faces on a nightly basis.

This is something the Magic have been battling all season. Most recently, before Monday night’s game, they felt the Clippers fouled Howard above the neck, as well. Earlier this season Howard was fined for comments on his blog when he criticized officiating. Howard doesn’t think the NBA’s ruling will mean more flagrant fouls will be called on his opponents. Nor does he think that will change how opponents guard him.

"It’s not going to happen," Howard said. "Just gotta continue to play. It’s going to happen. They can’t go away from it."

Because he’s too big and too strong.
Keeping calm on the court
On his blog, Howard explains how getting hit makes him feel, and why it's important for him to maintain his composure.

After the jump, news not related to hacking, including an assessment of the Magic's decision to sign Hedo Turkoglu in 2004 and the likelihood that they trade Gortat.

Shaq, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol among big names traded in 2000s
Mark Montieth of Sports Illustrated names the Magic's signing Hedo Turkoglu in 2004 the 4th-best NBA free-agent move in the entire decade.

The versatile forward had five productive seasons in Orlando, earning the Most Improved Player award in 2007-08 and playing a crucial role in its run to the Finals last season -- nice return for his six-year, $36.8 million mid-level exception deal (Turkoglu opted out of the final year and became a free agent last summer). The five-year, $53 million deal he got from Toronto as part of a sign-and-trade with Orlando last July is a different story -- and so far not a promising one for the Raptors -- but he paid off for the Magic.
Examining Today's Eligible Trade Bait
Bethlehem Shoals of The Baseline writes about the Magic's (un)willingness to trade backup center Marcin Gortat, who became trade-eligible today.

Gortat is very much desired around the league, and it almost seems like [Otis] Smith's keeping him just so someone else doesn't get him. Smith isn't about to platoon him with Howard, so in essence, Gortat's being held captive. The question is, why would he trade Gortat on the player's timetable, and not when he decides the Magic have a need to fill? Think about it this way: Miller's good, but can be devalued. Gortat is doing everything he can, however inadvertently, to drive down his value, but it's not going to work. He ain't going nowhere unless, say, the Magic lose a major piece in what's looking like a championship season.
Decade’s Best: Dunk
Brad Graham of SLAM names Vince Carter's "dunk of death" over Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics the best dunk of the decade...
Touch the Sky: The NBA’s Top 5 Alley-Oop Finishers
... while Burton says Howard is the league's best alley-oop dunker.

Orlando Magic News for December 12th: Dwight Howard's Status Amongst Centers in the NBA; A Few Good Lists

erivera7 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:37:08 -0000

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Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum on John Hollinger's lists of the top 12 young centers in the NBA
John Hollinger of ESPN Insider lists the top centers in the NBA.

1. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
Orlando's overpowering center is unquestionably the dean of the league's young centers, leading the Magic to the Finals last season while winning the defensive player of the year award. This season he's redoubled his effort, shooting a sizzling 64.8 percent from the floor (second in the league) and ranking third in rebounding (12.0). Howard, 24, boasts the league's top defensive rebound rate among centers at 29.0, while his 10.5 free throw attempts per game rank second only to Dwyane Wade's 11.0. Sure, it would be great if Howard could make more than 58.3 percent from the stripe, but that's the only weakness in the man who has replaced Shaquille O'Neal as the league's most dominant physical specimen.
NBA Sophomore Rankings: Who's No. 1?
David Thorpe of ESPN Insider ranks the top sophomores.

7. Ryan Anderson, Magic | Previous rank: 7
With Rashard Lewis back in the lineup, Anderson's playing time has plummeted. And now so have his shooting percentages: He has made only three of his past 17 3s, and 21 of his past 58 shots overall. It typically takes years of experience to become a solid outside shooter with limited minutes and touches, but that's the task he's faced with.
NBA: Weekend Dime: Players Soon To Be Trade-Eligible
Marc Stein of ESPN.com runs down the players that will soon be trade-eligible and ranks the ones most likely to be made available by their teams. Not surprisingly, Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass are listed.

It was widely assumed in July when Orlando retained Gortat from Poland amid a flurry of pricey offseason maneuverings that Smith had a deal in place to dispatch him after Dec. 15. You don't hear that theory anymore.

Even though Gortat is averaging a measly 6.8 minutes per game in December playing behind Dwight Howard, Smith regards him as indispensable Howard insurance.

The updated assumption in GM circles, then, is that Gortat won't be made available in trades until the summer, after the Magic see how far this high-dollar, all-in approach takes them. [...]

Rival teams say it's not Orlando's style anyway to initiate a lot of trade chatter. The Magic apparently often prefer, as one personnel man put it, to "entertain what other people propose."

So give this one time to develop.

Tracking Hustle Plays in the Magic’s 126-118 Victory Over the Warriors

jonnichols — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:00:17 -0000

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A week ago I tracked the hustle plays in a game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Tracking hustle plays is presumably something most, if not every, NBA team does. After all, box scores are pretty limited. Even if we use the play-by-play data to do thorough analysis, it still doesn't include things such as diving for loose balls, deflections, missed blockouts, etc. But teams would like to know these things, so they must track it themselves.

I decided to track the hustle plays during last Saturday's game between the Magic and the Golden State Warriors. During the game, I kept track of five things. First, I tracked players going for loose balls. In my experience with a college team, we only record plays where a player dove for a loose ball. But since this is the NBA, and effort is often lacking, I include all plays in which a player ends up with the ball, regardless of whether or not he dove. A second thing I track is drawn charges. You can somewhat glean this from the play-by-play data, but it is much easier to just record it yourself.

Thirdly, I kept track of good sprints. I define these as plays in which a player creates a play for himself or others by sprinting the floor and forcing the defense to adjust. For this game featuring the fast-paced Warriors, I had to be more selective in my criteria or else we'd have a lot of good sprints. A fourth thing I tracked for this game was deflections. This is relatively easy to define and track. Basically it includes any deflection that is not recorded as a steal, rebound, etc. Finally, I kept track of missed blockouts. These were most noticeable when they led to an easy offensive rebound, and they were much more rare in this game than in my first one.

Of course, these aren't all the hustle plays that players can make. Traditional box score stats such as offensive rebounds and steals often reflect hustle plays. Defense is also largely a product of effort, but that is something I will track another time.

Below is a link to a spreadsheet that contains the hustle stats for the Magic-Warriors game. On the left side of each tab is the raw numbers. On the right side are the per-minute numbers. Instead of presenting them as "statistic per minute," they are presented as "minute per statistic." I did this because the numbers are so low. As it turns out, this method is not too difficult to grasp conceptually. For positive statistics such as deflections, a lower number is better (a blank number means the player did not record any deflection at all, which obviously is bad). For negative statistics such as missed blockouts, blank numbers are the best and low numbers are the worst.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AvNKNGJ_AHijdHo3UEZHLUtnMVlUY2NDQ1Q1MEpSa0E&hl=en

I have a few observations about the data:

Marcin Gortat, Brandon Bass, and Matt Barnes showed great effort off the bench. All three were active on the boards and had active hands. Per minute, they were all special in terms of the number of deflections they had.
The Magic did not draw a charge all game, and they certainly had some opportunities. Vince Carter in particular had three opportunities in which he failed to draw a charge. In the first, he was just late and recorded a foul. In the second, he turned his shoulders and avoided contact (Monta Ellis was coming like a speeding bullet). In the third, he watched Ellis blow by him. A charge on any of the three would have been an excellent play, but they certainly were possible.
Overall, though, Carter was not lazy. He recorded a few deflections and went for loose balls.
Dwight Howard created a few opportunities by running the floor. Barnes had an easy dunk after he sprinted down the floor after a dead ball and caught the Warriors sleeping.
Anthony Randolph had a great game and killed the Magic with his effort. He crashed the boards, ran the floor hard, got to loose balls, and even drew a charge. My only complaint was the amount in which he flopped. He was forced to guard Howard for extended periods of time, though, which is something he shouldn't be asked to do. Perhaps he figured flopping was his only option.
Vladimir Radmanovic showed more hustle than I thought he would, but his defense certainly wasn't spectacular at all times.
Except for a mistake by Stephen Curry, both teams did a good job of putting a body on each man when going for the defensive rebound.

The Magic did not win this game because they outhustled the Warriors. In terms of effort, both teams were solid and about even. The Magic won, obviously, because of a huge run late in the fourth quarter in which they hit their shots and the Warriors made silly plays.

Up next I'd like to track the defense of the Magic. With a few games in the data set, we may be able to rate the defense of Magic players in other ways besides Defensive Rating, plus-minus, etc.

Orlando Magic News for December 9th: Vince Carter, Fun Facts, Stan Van Gundy's Three-Point Marksmanship, and More

Ben Q Rock — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:00:17 -0000

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First-Quarter Report: Teams' Identities Have Developed, for Better or Worse
The Sporting News' Sean Deveney, perhaps best known to Orlando Magic fans as the guy who picked them to finish behind the Washington Wizards in the Southeast Division this season, writes that the Orlando Magic's addition of Vince Carter has proven to be the best move of the offseason so far.

Offseason payoff: Vince Carter, Orlando. The Magic are still working Carter into the offense, trying to find the right balance between getting him to be aggressive and dominate, and getting him to be one of the cogs on a very talented team. But so far, things have gone well, as Orlando sits tied for the best record in the East.

"Vince is going to be fine," [Dwight] Howard said. "He's been great for us, and the more he gets used to what we do, he is only going to get better."

From Basketball-Reference: Carter leads the Magic in scoring at 19.3 points per game, has a Player Efficiency Rating of 18.2, and has connected on 35.1% of his three-pointers. And despite leading the Magic in Usage Rate at 29.2%, he turns the ball over on only 8.2% of his possessions, second on the team only to Brandon Bass. The only other players to exceed Carter's usage with fewer turnovers this year are Chris Bosh, Josh Howard, Kevin Martin, and Dirk Nowitzki.
Earlier this afternoon, the Magic distributed a list of notes to the media. Here's the first fact:

At 17-4, Orlando has equalled its best start in franchise history (1994-95, 1995-96). The Magic have never been 18-4.

To save space, I've posted the rest of the fact sheet after the jump.
Stan Van Gundy to get shot at 3-point contest trophy
J.E. Skeets makes an important announcement:

The Orlando Magic's Stan Van Gundy will seek to become the first NBA head coach to capture the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout crown, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 13, at American Airlines Center, as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

No word on if Magic forward Rashard Lewis, last year's runner-up, will also take part.
The Biggest Aberration?
In a post concerning Gerald Wallace's incredible spike in rebounding this year, Kevin Pelton tries to figure out what the biggest statistical aberration in NBA History is. Former Magic guard Nick Anderson appears in his findings.

A better candidate of a very different kind is Nick Anderson's free throw shooting. Free throw percentage tends to be very stable, especially after a player's first couple of years, which makes what happened to Anderson so bizarre. He was never much of a free throw shooter for a guard, but settled in around 70 percent before inexplicably sinking to 40.4 percent during the 1996-97 season. The odds of a player of Anderson's true ability (about 70 percent) shooting so poorly are nearly 1 in 50,000.
Steve Nash Internet Day!
Visit our friends at Bright Side of the Sun as they honor Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash with Steve Nash Internet Day.
Twitter / tribjazz
UPDATE: Former Magic training-camp invitee Morris Almond is headed to the D-League, reports Ross Siler, who covered Almond when he played for the Utah Jazz:

Former Jazz first-round draft pick Morris Almond will be joining the NBA D-League's Springfield (Mass.) Armor tomorrow.
Kendrick Perkins is core of Celtics' defense, low-post scoring
UPDATE 2 (from Eddy): Want to know why Kendrick Perkins has success defending Dwight Howard? Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated explains.

Perkins' mettle in the low block was validated by his yeoman effort in rooting Dwight Howard out of his favorite spots in last year's Celtics-Magic series in the second round of the playoffs. Unlike most players, Perkins doesn't use a forearm when guarding opponents who operate with their backs to the basket. "If you use the forearm, you don't have enough balance when they spin or fade away," he said. Instead, he uses hands for sensory information; the outside hand placed on an opponents' tailbone to determine where he's going (and, if possible, to guide him), while the inside hand stabs for steals.
NBA ticket revenue slides 7.4 percent (UPDATE)
UPDATE 3 (from Eddy): Ken Berger of CBSSports.com provides an update on the NBA ticket revenue for teams in the NBA.

The Atlanta Hawks (15-6), long challenged in the attendance department but off to their best start in a decade, have seen a league-high 26.8 percent increase in net gate receipts – to $468,036 per game, up from $369,157 at this point last season. Atlanta is selling an average of 10,573 tickets per game, up from 7,900 at this point last season. The other top gainers in net gate receipts are the Denver Nuggets (up 20.3 percent), Orlando Magic (up 17.7 percent), Portland Trail Blazers (up 12.3 percent), and Cleveland Cavaliers (up 11.8 percent).

Again, make the jump to read the rest of the fact sheet the Magic sent this afternoon.

Orlando has won eight straight on the road, the longest road winning streak for a single season. Overall, the record is nine (last two in April '07 and first sevent in November '07). Under Stan Van Gundy (two-plus years), the Magic are 64-30 on the road. At 10-2 on the road this year, the Magic will look to eclipse its seasonal franchise record for road wins (27 each of the last two years).

Orlando has won 23 straight games in which it has scored 100 points. The streak dates back to Feb. 24, 2009.

Orlando has had five or more players score in double-figures in 12 games this year (11-1 record when it happens).

Orlando has made 10 or more three-pointers 13 times this year and is 11-2 when it does so.

Orlando has had 20-plus assists nine times this year and is 9-0 when it does so.

When Orlando outrebounds its opponent the Magic are 13-0.

Over Stan Van Gundy's two-plus seasons Orlando is 91-20 (10-2 this year) when holding opponents under 100 points.

Over Stan Van Gundy's two-plus seasons Orlando is 114-34 (12-3 this year) when holding opponents to less than 50 percent shooting.

Dwight Howard now has 25 career 20+ point/20+ rebound games (two already this year). The Magic are 6-2 when Vince Carter scored 20-plus points this year. Rashard Lewis is averaging 18.3 ppg. over the last six games, while shooting over 50 percent from the field overall and three-point range, compared to 12.6 ppg. and a 33 percent field goal mark the first five games he played this season.

Word of the Day: Fantasy

Ben Q Rock — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:16:51 -0000

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fantasy (n.) - imagination unrestricted by reality.

Two weeks ago, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade made headlines when he told Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse that he would prefer to play with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard if he had his choice of any superstar teammate. Not LeBron James, not Chris Bosh, but Howard.

His comments have kept Magic fans up at night, dreaming of trade packages Orlando could send Miami this summer, when Wade becomes a free-agent. Would the Heat accept Vince Carter's expiring contract, Marcin Gortat, and a combination of future draft picks? What about Brandon Bass instead of Gortat?

Problem is, Wade's comments don't actually mean anything. I found this recent Tweet by Ric Bucher instructive:

Snarky Snap take: Enough w/the "Player X says he'd like to play w/Player Y" stories. It's only news if X says he wouldn't want to play w/Y.

I hate to get all preachy, but Magic fans really don't need to worry about Wade's free-agency plans. Putting aside the fact that Heat GM Pat Riley would never trade the best player in franchise history to an in-state rival--from which Riley demanded compensation to let Stan Van Gundy out of his contract as a consultant so he could sign on to coach the Magic--there are far more important things happening on the court right now. Orlando has tied the best start in its history with a 17-4 record. There's nothing wrong with looking ahead to the summer of 2010, as the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, and the Heat have done for several years by shedding salary and by signing players to short-term deals in order to clear salary-cap sapce. But for an elite team like Orlando, the foremost goal next summer is to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Breaking Down the Orlando Magic with Synergy Sports

erivera7 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:00:42 -0000

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Ed. note: Fixed an error in the 'Isolation' table, as of 1:03 p.m. EST.

A little less than a month ago, I looked at the statistics for the Orlando Magic after the first 10 games in the regular season. The purpose of the write-up was to take a quick look at how some of the players on the Magic had performed at that point. I figured, now, it would be a good moment to examine the numbers for Orlando with 20 games elapsed this year. This time, I'll be looking at stats from Synergy Sports Technology. Specifically, data that is used by NBA teams.

For instance, sifting through Synergy will give you a nugget like this: the Magic rate "Excellent" in offense from the category of 'After Time Outs' (1.02 points per possession) with a percentile-based rank of 91% - statistics compared to the rest of the league, to be specific. So in this case, the numbers support the notion that head coach Stan Van Gundy does an excellent job of drawing up plays that convert into scores after timeouts.

Other nuggets of information are that Ryan Anderson does an excellent job of scoring off of offensive rebounds or that Brandon Bass is the only player on the roster, so far, who does better than average at defending post-ups.

Spot-Ups, Pick & Rolls, and Post-Ups

Excluding 'Transition' offense, the majority of the offensive plays for the Magic come from the categories of 'Spot-Up' (25%), 'Pick & Roll Ball Handler' (16%), and 'Post-Up' (15%). Orlando rates "Excellent" in 'Spot-Up' (1.06 points per possession) with a rank of 86%, "Very Good" in 'Pick & Roll Ball Handler (0.90 points per possession) with a rank of 78%, and "Average" in 'Post-Up' (0.85) points per possession) with a rank of 46% - granted, those are a ton of numbers to try to digest so let's break things down to try to make sense of all that information.

The Magic's offense is mostly known for its 4-out/1-in offensive sets and its pick & rolls, with both play-types having a number of variations to it. As such, it makes sense that Orlando would excel with its spot-up shooting because when Dwight Howard is in the post, he's the focus of the 4-out/1-in offensive set. Howard can go to himself on the offensive side of the ball or he can kick it out to one of the four shooters standing around the perimeter. One of them, then, can either attempt a shot or swing it around the perimeter. Because defenses are scrambling to cover everyone, if the ball movement is good, a player is bound to be open and have a good chance at making a bucket. Here's a list of Magic players and how each of them rates in the 'Spot-Up' category:

	Percentage of Time	Points Per Possession	Rank	Rating
Mickael Pietrus	17%	0.98	59%	Good
Matt Barnes	13%	0.54	5%	Poor
Rashard Lewis	13%	1.27	92%	Excellent
J.J. Redick	13%	1.12	79%	Very Good
Ryan Anderson	12%	0.95	54%	Good
Vince Carter	10%	1.16	83%	Excellent

Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, or Jason Williams are the primary pick & roll ballhandlers. Usually the pick & roll is used so that one of the aforementioned players engages on offense and looks to score. Fairly self-explanatory. Even though J.J. Redick isn't listed, he excels in the pick & roll, with statistics comparable to Williams (1.07 points per possession, "Excellent", 90%). Here's a list of Magic players and how each of them rates in the 'Pick & Roll' category:

	Percentage of Time	Points Per Possession	Rank	Rating
Vince Carter	29%	1.04	84%	Excellent
Jameer Nelson	26%	0.97	67%	Very Good
Jason Williams	22%	1.06	88%	Excellent

Lastly, the post-up. More often than not, Howard will be posting up and it will be occurring, the majority of the time, within 4-out/1-in offensive sets. As has been mentioned before, Howard can go to himself on the offensive side of the ball and if he does, good things usually happen. Here's a list of Magic players and how each of them rates in the 'Post-Up' category:

	Percentage of Time	Points Per Possession	Rank	Rating
Dwight Howard	69%	0.97	64%	Good
Brandon Bass	10%	0.92	57%	Good

More after the jump.

Say No to Isos

For the Magic, the only play-types the team is "Average" in is 'Post-Up' (15%) and 'Isolation' (7%). That's it. In every other category, Orlando rates "Good" or higher. Isolations aren't not a strength (0.87 points per possession) for the Magic, given that the squad rates in the middle-of-the-pack in that category with a rank of 50% - thanks, mostly, to Nelson (see numbers below).

Even though Orlando can score in isolation if need be, it's not the prescribed manner by which Van Gundy wants the players to execute on offense. Inside-out, not one-on-one, is the mantra for the Magic on the offensive side of the ball (thus, working the basketball through the post can't be ignored). But if push comes to shove, again, there are individuals on the team who can create shots on their own. Van Gundy has said a number of times that the best teams in the NBA have at least one player who can get shots at will and to have someone like that on the Magic, particularly Carter, is good. Here's a list of Magic players and how each of them rates in the 'Isolation' category:

	Percentage of Time	Points Per Possession	Rank	Rating
Vince Carter	30%	1.00	81%	Very Good
Jameer Nelson	20%	0.74	25%	Below Average
Brandon Bass	10%	0.88	57%	Good

Pick & Rolls an Achilles' Heel on Defense, As Expected

Although the defense for the Magic has steadily improved since the start of the regular season, the defensive effort against the pick & roll could certainly improve. Last year, Orlando was one of the best squads in the Association at defending the pick & roll but this year, the Magic aren't doing as good of a job - giving up too many points (0.88 points per possession) and sporting a rank of 22%, which is "Below Average." The Los Angeles Lakers, by comparison, allow 0.78 points per possession, 61%, which falls in the "Good" strata.

The main issue, as Van Gundy told me at practice last week, has largely been the rotations. Three or four players will make the right rotation but one player will be a little bit late and the team is in trouble, as a result. When a squad like Orlando is incorporating a number of new faces to Van Gundy's defensive schemes, breakdowns like these will occur. It's inevitable. The key is looking for signs of improvement and look no further than the Magic's victory against the New York Knicks a few days ago, in which the team's pick & roll defense was excellent. Like Orlando's defensive efficiency, the pick & roll defense should improve as the regular season progresses. Here's a list of Magic players and how each of them rates in the 'Defending the Screener in a Pick & Roll' category:

	Percentage of Time	Points Per Possession	Rank	Rating
Jason Williams	29%	0.83	62%	Good
Jameer Nelson	20%	0.93	38%	Average
J.J. Redick	13%	1.10	14%	Poor
Mickael Pietrus	11%	1.00	25%	Below Average
Matt Barnes	10%	1.34	3%	Poor
Vince Carter	10%	0.77	75%	Very Good

As one can see, the issue hasn't been Howard or Marcin Gortat in defending the pick & roll, but rather the wing players for the Magic. In terms of individuals who were with Orlando last year, Pietrus and Redick aren't playing to their capabilities on the defensive side of the ball so their dip is a bit of a surprise.

Again, that aspect of the defense should improve as the regular season progresses.