SB Nation - Marcin Gortat

Orlando Magic 102, Houston Rockets 87

Ben Q Rock — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:14:11 -0000

Dwight Howard once again led the Orlando Magic to an ugly, grind-it-out win at home as they defeated the Houston Rockets, 102-87, for their third straight victory, and first home win over the Rockets since April 8th, 2002, when now-Rockets guard Tracy McGrady scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Orlando. Howard scored 13 points, corralled 20 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots in just 32 minutes, shutting the Rockets down in the paint and forcing them to take jumpers for much of the night. Vince Carter had yet another poor shooting night, missing 10 of his 16 shot attempts, but nonetheless led Orlando with 18 points. Rashard Lewis scored 15 points and made four three-pointers for the second consecutive game, while Jameer Nelson also scored 15 on an efficient 6-of-11 shooting. He propelled the Magic on a decisive 15-0 run in the third quarter, scoring 8 points and dishing an assist to Lewis for a three-pointer during that stretch. Ryan Anderson became the latest Magic backup to shine, scoring 14 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 18 well-played minutes, which Magic coach Stan Van Gundy deemed "a very good effort." Reserve power forward Carl Landry paced the Rockets with 20 points on 11 shots, so Van Gundy subbed Howard in for Marcin Gortat, and Howard responded. Van Gundy pointed out that the Rockets "went to [Landry] once [against Howard], he shut that down and that stopped [the Rockets from looking for him.]"

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Rockets	91	96.0	42.7%	20.7	13.3	11.0
Magic	95	107.9	52.4%	15.3	24.4	16.9
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

The third quarter was when Orlando really broke the game open after allowing the Rockets to trim a 12-point lead to just 3 at halftime. Houston scored 13 points on 4-of-20 shooting in the period. Rockets coach Rick Adelman said "we just had a real poor third period" and "we couldn't get anything going [...] and they kind of took control." Indeed the Magic did, as previously described. Specifically, Houston missed 8 shots and committed 2 turnovers during their 6-minute scoreless stretch, in which Orlando increased its lead from 1 to 16. The Rockets' offense is opportunistic, predicated on ball movement and finding the open man. There weren't many men open during that stretch, though Adelman did say of his team's overall shooting performance, "I didn't think they were bad shots." I'm not one to challenge anyone with a resume like Adelman's, but I don't consider a contested Trevor Ariza long two-pointer off the dribble is a good shot. Ariza, the former Magic forward, shot 1-of-10 and struggled to create his own shot all night. He fared better in a complementary role with the L.A. Lakers last season. He hasn't had the opportunity to complement anyone in Houston, with franchise center Yao Ming out, so it's far too early to say the Rockets' decision to sign him was a bad one. Yet the early returns aren't promising.

The main reason for Houston's perimeter-oriented attack was indeed due to Orlando's defense of the paint, although the Rockets are perimeter-oriented to begin with during Yao's prolonged injury absence. Sure, Howard did more than his share, and Gortat fared well up until Landry got hot in the fourth quarter. But overall, the Rockets shot 19-of-40 in the paint for 39 points. Adelman attributed the Rockets' overall offensive struggles to their inability to "get anything going to the basket." Aaron Brooks has a slight quickness advantage on Nelson, and blew by him for the Rockets' first points of the game the first time he challenged him in the first quarter, but Nelson generally tended to keep Brooks from getting to the rim. Brooks countered by draining 3-of-5 three-pointers during the Rockets' stellar second period, but managed only 2 points on 0-of-4 shooting in the second half.

A message written on the team's whiteboard after the game described of what the Magic were most proud: allowing 35 points in the entire second half. Van Gundy mentioned it in his post-game comments, and Carter cited the stat in his post-game availability as well. Said Carter, "defensively, that's where we're trying to make our mark." Once again, the Magic succeeded in that area. In their three-game homestand since allowing the Miami Heat to score 104 points on 86 possessions, the Magic have limited their opponents to 269 points on 287 possessions for a defensive rating of 93.7. Howard, in particular, is leading the charge. Said Howard, "I tell the guys, 'Hey, I got your back. Continue to play good defense, I'm going to be behind you to erase the mistakes.' And that's what it takes." He emphasized the importance of his own "blocking shots and rebounding," using a version of that phrase three times in responding to one question. Van Gundy said he's encouraged Howard, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, to try harder on that end: "We made the point that he had backed off [rebounding and blocking shots] early in the year, and he has stepped it up in a big way now." Since the Magic's two-game losing streak to the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns two weeks ago, Howard's averaging 16.7 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per contest.

The Magic's offense was a more balanced attack, with five players scoring in double figures; Orlando moved to 14-2 on the season when that occurs. They weren't too far away from placing 7 men in double-digits, with J.J. Redick scoring 9 and Matt Barnes adding 8. However, it wasn't a great performance in terms of efficiency, and Van Gundy said, "we've still got to do a little better job of getting [Howard] the ball." He added that he "wasn't really upset with the shot selection," though. Turnovers, and not shooting, contributed more to Orlando's mediocre offensive outing. Nelson and Carter had 4 apiece, accounting for half the Magic's turnovers, which Houston converted to 16 points. Counting tonight, Orlando has performed worse than their season average in turnover rate in each of their last five games, something Van Gundy wants them to correct very soon.

Orlando will practice early tomorrow to give players enough time to finish their holiday shopping, then will face the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day. Though Van Gundy and the players had plenty to say about that game when asked, it didn't appear as though the Magic were caught looking ahead with a poor performance tonight.

Ryan Anderson's Adventures in Offensive Rebounding

Ben Q Rock — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:00:15 -0000

by Gregory Smith - AP

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The book on Orlando Magic power forward Ryan Anderson reads that he is a three-point shooter, first and foremost. Prior to Monday's game against the Utah Jazz, he had attempted 100 of his 169 total shot attempts from behind the three-point line, or 59.1%. That's a more pronounced split than last season, with the New Jersey Nets, when three-pointers accounted for 46.4% of his field goal attempts. He digs the long ball for good reason, as he's connected on 37% of his treys so far in his brief career. Looking simply at those stats, it'd be fair to conclude that he's a specialist.

But there's more to the stat sheet than the 3FG/3FGA columns. Eddy's written before about how Anderson is far from the next Pat Garrity and could have a bright future in this league, and I wondered shortly after the Magic acquired him if he might develop into a Troy Murphy-like player. The reason is rebounding, and something I've noticed looking at the nuanced Anderson highlights OPP community member leeebear has shared here, as well as in-person in the Magic's game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Anderson is a gifted offensive rebounder, especially when it comes to grabbing his own misses. The man shows remarkable sticktoitiveness. But no matter whose mess he's cleaning up, he tends to get good results.

Before the Magic's game against the Jazz last night--again, I'm emphasizing this fact to indicate that the data are one game out of date--Anderson's snagged a modest 27 offensive boards in 22 games, or 1.2 per game. What's striking is that he's tallied an offensive rebound in only half of his appearances, which I can't explain. On the Magic, he ranks behind only Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat in offensive rebound rate; in overall rebound rate, he places behind those two as well as small forward Matt Barnes. Interesting that, in both metrics, he outperforms the more traditional power forward Brandon Bass, whose presence many pundits (whether they qualify as observers or experts is questionable, given that Anderson had moderately outperformed Bass in rebounding even prior to this season) predicted would be a boon to Orlando on the glass.

But back to my point: he scored via a putback or a drawn shooting foul 12 times. We can increase that figure to 13 if we include an assist he dished to Bass immediately after an offensive rebound on December 2nd against the New York Knicks. Moreover, 9 of his 27 offensive rebounds have been of his own misses--sticktoitiveness!--and he's converted 6 of those 9 into scoring chances for himself. Summarily, he presents two threats to opponents in offensive rebounding situations: first, that he's going to grab one; and second, that he'll put the ball right back up and in (and potentially draw a foul trying) once coming up with the board. We also know he's a solid three-point shooter who can put the ball on the floor if chased off the three-point line; I refer you to leeebear's videos for more evidence of that. His combination of volume three-point shooting and offensive rebounding skill is more-or-less unprecedented: basketball-reference.com shows that only Korleone Young showed similar prowess to Anderson in both categories in an entire season, and that was in 15 minutes over 3 games with the Detroit Pistons in the lockout-shortened 1999 campaign. I'll let you decide if I put too many endpoints in that search, and I welcome your suggestions on improving it, as it seems perhaps too reductive.

The next time Anderson checks in, try to pay attention to his work on the offensive glass, and see how he gets after it. There's a 50% chance he'll come up empty in any given game--which, again, is very strange--but there's also a chance he'll do something productive when he does track down an offensive rebound. And that skill, combined with his long-distance shooting touch and youth (he doesn't turn 22 until May) makes him a very special player. Perhaps the "certain national writer" who told SLAM that the trade that brought Anderson and eight-time All-Star Vince Carter to Orlando "will be remembered as the deal where the Nets gave up Ryan Anderson" was onto something.

Game 28 Preview: Blazers vs. Magic

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

More photos » by Gary Dineen - NBAE/Getty Images

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)

Create A Caption #43: Round 1

erivera7 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:00:32 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

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Marcin Gortat is reacting to something.

What exactly?

Rules:

I'm sure everyone here is familiar with a "create a caption" competition, but in case someone here doesn't know what this type of contest is .. basically a picture is provided and you, the reader, attempt to come up with a quick sentence describing what's occurring in the photo. The line can be funny, stupid, witty, etc.

I'll be a judge but I like to have another collective voice determining the winner, that way there's a bit of a consensus among the community. What I prefer for everyone here to do is this .. if you like the caption a fellow member has come up with, "recommend" it. That will be 'your vote', in essence. If you don't know how to "recommend" a comment, go to the comment you like, click on 'actions', then click on 'rec'. You can "recommend" multiple captions/comments, if you want.

So for a quick recap ..

- Write a quick sentence describing what's occurring in the photo.

- If you like a caption/comment that's been written, "recommend" it.

- After you "recommend" a caption/comment, write something (like +1, for example) to indicate you like the sentence an OPP member has written.

- The contest will last four days, so whichever caption/comment gets the most recommendations, wins. In case of a tie, I'll determine the winner.

- There will be two rounds in the competition. In the first round (Friday/Saturday), submissions are made and votes are tallied. At the end of the second day, the submissions that garnered four or more "recs/votes" will advance. In the final round (Sunday/Monday), votes are tallied for the eligible submissions.

- Winner will be announced Monday afternoon or evening.

- The contest is subject to change.

Let the contest begin!

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

tenaciousT — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:04:32 -0000

NBA –arama

After making my preseason predictions, I said I'd check how things were going from time to time. It's time. Let's take a look around the east, see what’s going on, and fess up to a few big misses. A number of predictions are on target...so far. Preseason predictions are in parentheses followed by current record

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics (63-19) - 20-4
Thought they were going gently into their assisted living facilities, eh? Tut tut, my skeptical friends. The ‘assisted living’ comes courtesy of one Rajon Rondo, point guard extraordinaire. Rondo plays one gear higher than the rest of his starting unit.

11 game win streak says they are rounding into shape after starting strong, stumbling, then slowly righting the ship. The only major surprise was/is the lack of 48 minute intensity, and rebounding woes. They still look like one of the best teams in the NBA to challenge the Lakers. Back with a vengeance? They are back. Vengeance comes later.

Toronto (35-47) - 11-17
International crisis or communication breakdown?
Some expected more, but they are about where I expected and for the same reason – defense. Bargnani is part of the dilemma. He is a skilled big, but not an interior presence. With a domestic vs. international player rift surfacing recently, the Raps played their best defensive game of the season afterwards. Hedo’s not fitting in like they hoped…yet.

Jose Calderon has disappointed so far in what was supposed to be his big year. The rebuilt roster should be better later in the season, but aren’t built for prolonged defense. They are giving up 103.5 over their last 5 games, which 5 points better than before.

New York (31-51) - 8-16
After a 3-14 start, the ‘D’Antonies’ are 5-2 in their last 7 games. Another team without interior defense. They looked under every rock for a bona fide PG but the right one – the draft. Biggest current embarrassment is choosing Jordan Hill over Brandon Jennings in the draft. This was going to be a learning year anyway, right? Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Eric Maynor, Jeff Teague were also still out there. Any of those better than Chris Duhon? Maybe some are already.

D’Antoni, frankly, has disappointed as well. I’ll confess, I thought Darko Milicic was a good risk for a team starved for bigs that block shots and play defense. Go figure. Jordan Hill may end up being a good player some day, too. Winning started by benching Nate Robinson. Coincidence? Sharp shooter Gallinari continues to impress, adds some board work.

76ers (41-41) – 6-19
Okay, this is one that’s not going as I thought it would. Oye.
Injuries are only part of the problem. Is Brand a lesser player now? Or is he just on the wrong team? Maybe it’s all bad karma for Elton leaving a good situation in Clipperland. (Yes, I did just say that.) Louis Williams (injured), Marreese Speights, and Thaddeus Young give hope for the future. It’s so bad that Iverson is back. Yeah, I know.

New Jersey (26-56) – 2-24
Say no more. Accident on the Jersey Turnpike. Tie up for miles, but not for years. No, they are not this bad. Bad luck continues with Yi Jianlian getting 50 stitches (yes 50) in his mouth courtesy of a Sean Williams elbow in a recent practice. The sooner this team can exit the swamp the better. Still, Brook Lopez will become an even better player if this season doesn’t kill him first. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts are all good young talent.

Central Division

Cleveland (58-24) – 19-7
They are much better after starting 0-2 and 3-3. Not dominating like last season, but still a force. Shaq shooting a career low 49%, though they are now winning with him. Most lopsided team scoring distribution I have ever seen for a top team. Only three players in double digits and one of them is Shaq at 10.8 per.

Second best FG% defense and 4th best points allowed means they are still dangerous and in the hunt. Though Shaq is mostly a sideways or backwards move, if they get to the finals he helps against Lakers’ frontline. Shaq can’t slow down an already very slow team…can he? I feared this team more last year. Stop LeBron and you stop the Cavs. Am I wrong?

Stat of note: Cavs lead league in points in paint defense (34.1)

Milwaukee (35-47) – 11-12
Early season surprise coming back to earth lately. Many thought I had them too high. But Skiles always seems to get players to overachieve for a few years, until his tough guy ways get tired. Brandon Jennings makes a big splash with 55 point game but is tailing off since then. Still, he is the real deal and will figure things out.

Bucks are first in shot attempts and dead last in free throw attempts, which pretty much goes hand in hand. No one on this team gets to the line, except Jennings and Hakim Warrick.

Side Note: Toronto is known as the international team. But even they can’t compete with Milwaukee. Current starters are from 5 different countries: Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, and U.S. Positively cosmopolitan for a city Shlitz beer made famous.

Detroit (36-46) - 11-14
I guess they are a bit better than I thought. Will this last? Even with key players injured, they put together a recent 5 game winning streak. They are still working a new system with a new coach. Loss of Tayshaun Prince hurts, Gordon is playing hurt, and Rip Hamilton is still in and out.

Still, the biggest surprise is the renaissance of "I’m retiring" Ben Wallace. Back up to 30 minutes and 10 rebounds a game, he can still defend, too. Detroit is 2nd best in points in paint defense. Can he do it all year and where is his help?

Pistons have the 3rd best total rebounding and 3rd best offensive rebounding differential in the league. Rodney Stuckey’s career year (19.3 pts) is offset by lower shooting %. He should stop taking three pointers altogether (21.4%)

Indiana (30-52) – 9-14
Danny Granger’s team is without Danny Granger for a while. With mediocre stats everywhere, just what do they do better than most NBA teams? Foul. They are 3rd in league with 2.2 foul differential.

Mike Dunleavy returns to a system that uses him to his best advantage and not a minute too soon. If the Pacers win 36 games, and that’s possible, that means O’Brien would have coached three straight 36-46 records here. Hey I have to find something interesting, don’t I? T.J. Ford is underwhelming again.

How are they doing attracting more fans? The past three years they went from 30th to 28th to 27th this season in attendance. They are a team with more integrity, but a few more wins wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Chicago (41-41) - 8-15 No one expected this meltdown. The loss of Ben Gordon’s 4th quarter points, Tyrus Thomas’ injury, Kirk Hinrich playing hurt, John Salmons’ underachieving season are all contributors, but all are secondary to Derrick Rose’s lack of noticeable improvement.

The chant for Vinny Del Negro’s head grows louder and I’m not against it. But I’d ask…who hired a rookie head coach for this team in the first place? That is where the blame should lie. Del Negro did reasonably well last season, but the wheels are falling off the wagon now.

Deng is playing well and Joakim Noah is continuing his rise up the food chain, but it’s nowhere near enough. I am fast becoming a Joakim Noah fan. Plays with passion, toughness, and heart.

Southeast Division

Orlando (60-22) -19-6
Fools go where wise men fear to tread – the paint against the Magic. They are crazy deep and probably Boston’s biggest problem in the East. Jameer Nelson returns soon and that’s not good news for opponents. Right now they are better offensively (5th rated) but worse defensively (9th rated) than last season, while giving up 2.2 more points.

This is a great situation for Vince Carter, who is playing 5 minutes less, but leads the team in scoring (19), while still hoisting up 17 shots per and will be a solid 4th quarter option for the Magic.

D. Howard is getting one less block a game, but shooting a career high in FG% (63.4%) While they probably over paid a bit for Mickael Pietrus ($5.3 mil), he continues to be a valuable piece to this team. Ryan Andersen has quietly been a nice addition. Marcin Gortat – the unhappy multi-millionaire.

Atlanta (48-34) - 18-6
This team is playing even better than I thought….and I thought this would be a good team. Woodson said the next thing is to learn how to win on the road. The Hawks are 7-4 so far this season and that is a huge step forward. Three of those road wins were against very tough home teams - Dallas, Boston and Portland.

For a team that could lose their leader (Joe Johnson) and their coach next season, they are moving from pretender to contender. Their youthful exuberance could make up for whatever they are missing. Al Horford and Josh Smith are unique young players and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson provide the veteran leadership. They are pasting the lesser teams and are 3rd in the league in average winning margin at +8.4 points. Just behind the Celtics and Lakers. Hmm…

Miami (38-44) – 12-11
Dwayne Wade is to this team what LeBron is to the Cavs. Probably more so. Jermaine O’Neal is actually playing pretty well, but is a shell of his earlier self. We knew going in that the Heat go as Wade goes. Michael Beasley is improving and Haslem is solid.

They stretched the Lakers to a (lucky) Kobe Bryant banked buzzer beating 3 pointer over Wade’s outstretched hand. That probably defines their season as well as anything. With $50 million coming off the books in 2010, this team (hopefully) gets a complete rebuild. With a player option for $17 million, whether Wade stays or not remains to be seen.

Charlotte (33-49) - 10-14
Solid defensive team (2nd in points allowed) that has trouble scoring (27th). Deliberate offense (pace: 28th in NBA) helps keep opponents’ numbers down. 5-5 over the last ten, they added controversial, but multi-talented Stephen Jackson. It gives the team a focal point (and… gulp…leader) Larry Brown has great experience handling prima donna players and Raymond Felton is playing better since Jackson’s arrival.

Gerald Wallace, the last original Bobcat, was plucked from deep on Sacramento’s bench. Time to test him for HRH (Human Rebound Hormone). He has gone crazy boarding, up from 7.8 last season to 12.2 this year. I’d like to know the last time an established player made that kind of jump. He continues to ply his game for a team going nowhere.

Talented DJ Augustine has perplexingly gone backwards this season. Tyson Chandler, who could have been an earlier version of Joakim Noah, is showing how much Chris Paul helped his game.

But we forget just how bad this team was before Larry Brown arrived.

Washington (41-41) - 7-16
In preseason I wrote…. "everyone’s favorite ‘move up’ team." What I didn’t write was that it would take some doing to keep all these scorers happy with shots and minutes. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case. And things aren’t getting better. They are on a 6 game losing streak as I write this.

I never saw a happier, more hopeful team in the losers’ locker room than the one that ended its season against the Celtics last year. They all knew a much better year was coming. They had their version of a big three returning. But ubuntu doesn’t live here. Tragic because there is a lot of talent here. Flip Saunders has to sort this out, but I’m not sure where he starts.

I’ll end by (again) making my pitch for an unsung role player buried on the Wizards bench. Dominic McGuire would make a great (and cheap) Celtic.

There you have it. I apparently thought way too much of the Sixers. Comments welcome on all teams.

Orlando Magic 118, Toronto Raptors 99

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

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

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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 16th: Hedo Turkoglu Returns to Orlando; Bill Simmons Comments on Grant Hill

erivera7 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:29:57 -0000

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Dwight Howard doesn’t know what kind of reception Hedo Turkoglu will receive tonight
Josh Robbins asks Dwight Howard about Hedo Turkoglu's return to Orlando as a member of the Toronto Raptors.

Dwight Howard was asked today how he thinks Magic fans will receive Turk.

"I don’t know," Howard said. "A lot of people loved him here. We miss him. I’m happy to see that he’s healthy and he’s still playing. So, hopefully he has an OK game tonight and we still come out on top."
Orlando Magic officials will continue to support their players' participation in international competitions
.. and states how members of the Orlando Magic organization, including head coach Stan Van Gundy, don't mind that their players compete internationally.

Orlando Magic officials will continue to support their players' participation in international competitions even though center Marcin Gortat and former Magic small forward Hedo Turkoglu returned from September's European championships fatigued.

Gortat played for his native Poland in EuroBasket 2009 and said the additional games weren't physically exhausting but left him a bit "burned out" mentally. Turkoglu sat out the Toronto Raptors' first four preseason games so he could rest after he played for Turkey.

"It doesn't change my opinion at all: To me, guys should be playing basketball all summer anyway and working," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I've said before even if I thought it was a detriment to our players, I would never discourage them from playing. In my opinion, as an athlete you can't have a bigger honor than representing your country."
Mickael Pietrus sits out of shootaround as Magic prepare to face Raptors again
Tania Ganguli shares news on Mickael Pietrus' health.

That stomach bug thing is going around.

Mickael Pietrus sat out of shootaround this morning with it. He’ll be a gametime decision just like Vince Carter was. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said he will start either J.J. Redick or Matt Barnes if Pietrus can’t play.
Bill Simmons: The lost pages from my book "The Book of Basketball," via the December 28, 2009 issue of ESPN The Magazine
Bill Simmons of ESPN The Magazine reveals the lost pages in his book - "The Book of Basketball" - and mentions former Magic player Grant Hill.

The trip made me think of Grant Hill. In 1997, Fila blew him away with a massive $80 million deal meant to splash the company into the basketball market. With Nike and Reebok heatedly bidding for NBA stars, Fila went a different route: It threw the bulk of its basketball marketing budget behind Hill. But after staying healthy for six seasons, Hill injured his ankle and missed much of the next decade. Could his shoes have contributed to his woes? In any case, Fila doesn't sponsor NBA players or compete in that market anymore.

Yes, it could be coincidence, and yes, Fila surely was careful in customizing its shoe for Hill. But if a publishing company that printed only a couple of books a year tried to sign me, would I think, Do they have enough experience to publish mine? Damned right I would. The whole thing is weird. Keep in mind, it's usually bigs who battle chronic foot and ankle issues, not athletic swing guys. After my visit, I realized "What if Grant Hill had signed with Nike?" was a natural for my "Greatest What-Ifs?" chapter. Hill was headed for Level 3 or 4 of my Hall of Fame Pyramid, but he didn't make it. What if his career detour wasn't just bad luck? It's a great hypothetical, you have to admit.

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.

Tracking Defensive Plays in the Magic’s 106-98 Victory Over the Pacers

jonnichols — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:43 -0000

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For my previous piece on the Orlando Magic, I charted hustle stats such as deflections, loose balls, missed blockouts, etc. While these things are all important, perhaps the area in which hustle is most important is defense. Although it takes more than just good hustle to be a good defender (as a certain Mr. Dwight Howard will show us later), effort is one of the keys to being a good defensive team. Therefore, I decided to track defensive plays in last night's contest between the Magic and the Pacers (this time, I only kept track of the Magic's stats). I imagine most (if not all) NBA teams track these on their own, as well as companies such as Synergy Sports.

To see the numbers, click the link below:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AvNKNGJ_AHijdFVaanJkQ2xSSG5DU3ZNcUVPRHpfSkE&hl=en

The rest of this article will explain what those numbers mean. I will also provide a few observations and notes about the contest.

The first column is "Forced Misses." This is pretty self-explanatory, although I should explain a few things. First, forced misses don't only occur on an individual's man-to-man assignment. A help defender who forces a missed shot would receive the credit. Second, I conservatively rewarded a few forced turnovers as forced misses. These were situations in which a player caused his opponent to turn the ball over (through traveling, bobbling the ball, etc.) by applying good pressure and staying in good position.

The second column is "Baskets Allowed." This is also self-explanatory, with one caveat. If a player made a bad defensive play that eventually led to someone from the opposing team scoring, he was the one credited with an allowed basket. For example, on one play, Jason Williams allowed his man to penetrate into the lane with ease, forcing the Magic to help and rotate. The Pacers swung the ball and ended up with an easy three-pointer. Although Williams' man did not receive any points or assists for the play, Williams was penalized for allowing the basket.

The third column is "Good Help D." This occurred when a player came off his man to either help a beaten teammate or to make a good play such as causing a turnover. When Dwight Howard met the opponent in the lane and forced a miss, he was credited with a "Good Help D." When Ryan Anderson strayed from his man for a second and reached in and knocked the ball loose from another player, he also received credit for good help defense. As you can see by now, many of these statistics are subjective (which is both a great thing and a bad thing).

The fourth column is titled "BB/MD." This stands for blow-bys/middle drives. This occurred any time a Magic player allowed his man to drive right past him without the use of a screen (in certain cases, when there was a switch on a screen and the new defender allowed the opponent receiving the screen to drive by, a BB/MD was assessed). A BB/MD did not have to result in a made basket to be counted.

The fifth column is titled "Lost Man." This was recorded every time a player failed to stay on his man, resulting in score. This occurred most frequently in one of two ways: either a player simply wasn't paying attention and allowed off-the-ball movement (such as a backdoor cut) for a score, or a player failed to chase his man quickly enough through screens.

The sixth and final column containing raw data is "Silly Fouls." While obviously the most subjective of the six categories, it was generally pretty easy to determine. Fouls that occurred off the ball and away from the play were the biggest culprits.

The rest of the data is computed based on those six categories. I included each player's minutes played to serve as a reference point. "FG% Allowed" was calculated as follows: Baskets Allowed / (Baskets Allowed + Forced Misses). This statistic does not mean the field goal percentage of the man-to-man assignment. Because Forced Misses and Baskets Allowed are not always credited on a man-to-man basis, FG% Allowed is a bit more complicated. Obviously, a lower percentage is a better percentage.

The final six columns are the six raw categories calculated on a per-minute basis. Like last time, I calculated them in the form of "minutes per stat" as opposed to "stat per minute." This is to avoid presenting very small numbers. For positive stats such as Forced Misses and Good Help D, a lower number is better (in other words, a player achieves these stats more frequently and therefore in less minutes on average). For negative stats such as Baskets Allowed and BB/MD, a higher number (or no number at all) is better.

Finally, some observations:

As amazing as this might sound, Dwight Howard's impact was possibly even stronger than the box score indicates. He altered a ton of shots in a night in which many of his teammates seemed to struggle defensively. He was able to help his teammates and alter the Pacers' offense considerably. It didn't hurt that the opposing centers weren't looking to challenge him very often.
Other than Howard, Anthony Johnson and J.J. Redick had the two best defensive performances. Despite his age and perceived lack of speed compared to T.J. Ford, Johnson was able to play solid one-on-one defense and force a lot of misses. It's not surprising he ended up playing 27 minutes despite coming off the bench. Redick, although not challenged as often as Johnson, also made a few good defensive plays and forced some missed shots.
The only blemishes on Redick's defensive stat line were the silly fouls. He certainly did not agree with the calls, but three times he was called for defensive fouls away from the ball while fighting for position. He was the only Magic player to record a silly foul.
The man Johnson replaced, Jason Williams, struggled on the defensive end. He had a difficult time preventing Ford from penetrating and generally played poor pick-and-roll defense. The Pacers built an early lead partially by attacking him.
The Magic's two highest-paid players were mediocre at best on defense. Vince Carter's performance, which wasn't terrible, can possibly be excused because of his great offensive play. But Rashard Lewis complemented his offensive struggles with some defensive struggles. He allowed seven baskets while only forcing three misses, and he let his man blow by him into the lane four times. Lewis made some defensive strides last season, and he must be careful not to relapse this year.
Ryan Anderson struggled a bit on defense, although not because of a lack of effort. He allowed five baskets (second-most on the team behind Lewis), but did have a nice steal.
Marcin Gortat won't be happy about the measly six minutes of playing time he received, but he was generally pretty effective on defense when he was on the court.

I enjoyed tracking the individual defensive performances of the Magic, and I think this type of information sheds a great deal of light on what's going on beyond the box score. Although I don't know what Synergy Sports or the Magic track defensively about their players, I imagine data such as these are of interest to them simply because they're so useful. I plan on doing this exercise again soon.

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.