Denton’s Tuesday Notes
By John Denton
October 27, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic have an alluring season-opener on Wednesday night at Amway Arena, facing a Philadelphia 76ers team that gave them fits in a tough, hard-fought six-game playoff series last spring.
But more than a few Magic players have taken notice of how Orlando was left out of tonight’s NBA season-opening game. That prestigious honor, instead, went to the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic, of course, beat both of those teams last May en route to winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the NBA Finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers, last season’s NBA champs, will be holding their ring ceremony in Tuesday night’s late game. But what gives with the Magic, the reigning East champs, being left out of tonight’s season-opening festivities?
Magic captain Dwight Howard said the sleight stems from the fact that many aren’t picking Orlando to repeat as East champs. That, Howard said, just gives the Magic more motivation to prove people wrong heading into the season. After all, few picked the Magic last season and the franchise still advanced all the way to the NBA Finals.
``It’s (the media’s) job to pick and choose who is going to win, but it’s our job to go out and prove them wrong by winning games,’’ Howard said. ``I now there are some people out there who aren’t picking us to win and that’s the way it goes. But (the media) has been wrong a lot before. We’ll just continue to play the game we know how to. All we can do is win games and that should prove to people that we’re pretty good.’’
DYNAMIC DEPTH: The Magic have a Noah’s Arc of a roster – as in two of everything.
Orlando has not only the NBA’s best center in Howard, but they also have the league’s best back-up in Marcin Gortat. They will be able to weather Rashard Lewis’s 10-game suspension to start the season because of the depth that Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass provide at power forward.
Mickael Pietrus, a breakout star in the playoffs last spring, is the likely starter at small forward, and he’ll be backed up there by gritty newcomer Matt Barnes. Vince Carter gives the Magic more scoring punch this season at shooting guard, and when he’s resting there’s J.J. Redick, whom coach Stan Van Gundy calls one of Orlando’s best defenders because of his mistake-free play.
And unlike last season when Orlando started the season with just two point guards, there is plenty of depth this season there behind captain Jameer Nelson. Jason Williams, back from a year out of basketball following a brief retirement, gives the Magic speed and passing, while Anthony Johnson is a dependable and tough third point guard.
All that quality depth gives Van Gundy plenty of options during games and certainly makes for some fiery practice sessions. Orlando’s depth is one of its biggest weapons on a team full of firepower already.
``We have so many weapons that sometimes there’s very little drop-off when the second unit comes into the game,’’ said Anderson, who has likely played his way into the starting lineup with his stellar shooting from the 3-point stripe. ``Because we have so many players who can do so many things it can make it tough for teams to match up with us. We have (power forwards) who can play (small forward). Matt (Barnes) can play three positions, Brandon (Bass) can play (power forward) and (center). That kind of flexibility could help us in the long run, especially if we have some injuries this season.’’
ETC: Van Gundy isn’t yet ready to announce his starting lineup against Philadelphia, but the likelihood is that it will be Anderson and Pietrus around Howard, Nelson and Carter. The thinking is that Anderson plays a style closer to that of Lewis, and Bass can stay in his role as a sixth man. Van Gundy has said that Howard’s desire to ``move from block to block’’ offensively is easier to do when Anderson is spacing the floor to the 3-point line. … Van Gundy’s biggest concern heading into Wednesday’s opener against Philadelphia is how the Sixers’ style of play tends to make teams turn the ball over. Limiting turnovers was one of Van Gundy’s main points of emphasis during the preseason. ``We were really today just sort of talking to them about what the game will be like, how they try to scramble the game up with a lot of pressing and trapping, and a lot of zone defense,’’ Van Gundy said. ``The one thing you know that Eddie Jordan’s teams aren’t going to do is just come out and play straight up man-to-man. You’re going to see a lot of different things, you have to recognize situations and make good decisions. If we stay under control that type of defense is good for us because it spreads the floor out and gives us a lot of room to operate, which has always been beneficial to us. That’s predicated on us staying under control and making good decisions.’’ … This rumor was spreading throughout the Magic’s practice facility like wildfire on Monday – Redick and Anderson are working in their spare time to put out a ``hip-hop super group.’’ Redick said the two have already created the title for the first single, ``Waste Management,’’ but the writing for the song is coming along much slower. ``Subpar, Afterthought and No Profits,’’ are other working titles to songs, Redick joked. Redick said that Gortat, known for his affinity for fast cars, has offered to be a producer and provide several flashy vehicles for the first video. Laughed Redick: ``We kind of decided that’s not the direction we wanted to go with our first video. We sort of have full-time jobs, so we don’t have a lot of time right now to work on our rap careers. But it’s coming, trust me.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonOctober 27, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic have an alluring season-opener on Wednesday night at Amway Arena, facing a Philadelphia 76ers team that gave them fits in a tough, hard-fought six-game playoff series last spring.
But more than a few Magic players have taken notice of how Orlando was left out of tonight’s NBA season-opening game. That prestigious honor, instead, went to the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Magic, of course, beat both of those teams last May en route to winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the NBA Finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers, last season’s NBA champs, will be holding their ring ceremony in Tuesday night’s late game. But what gives with the Magic, the reigning East champs, being left out of tonight’s season-opening festivities?
Magic captain Dwight Howard said the sleight stems from the fact that many aren’t picking Orlando to repeat as East champs. That, Howard said, just gives the Magic more motivation to prove people wrong heading into the season. After all, few picked the Magic last season and the franchise still advanced all the way to the NBA Finals.
``It’s (the media’s) job to pick and choose who is going to win, but it’s our job to go out and prove them wrong by winning games,’’ Howard said. ``I now there are some people out there who aren’t picking us to win and that’s the way it goes. But (the media) has been wrong a lot before. We’ll just continue to play the game we know how to. All we can do is win games and that should prove to people that we’re pretty good.’’
DYNAMIC DEPTH: The Magic have a Noah’s Arc of a roster – as in two of everything.
Orlando has not only the NBA’s best center in Howard, but they also have the league’s best back-up in Marcin Gortat. They will be able to weather Rashard Lewis’s 10-game suspension to start the season because of the depth that Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass provide at power forward.
Mickael Pietrus, a breakout star in the playoffs last spring, is the likely starter at small forward, and he’ll be backed up there by gritty newcomer Matt Barnes. Vince Carter gives the Magic more scoring punch this season at shooting guard, and when he’s resting there’s J.J. Redick, whom coach Stan Van Gundy calls one of Orlando’s best defenders because of his mistake-free play.
And unlike last season when Orlando started the season with just two point guards, there is plenty of depth this season there behind captain Jameer Nelson. Jason Williams, back from a year out of basketball following a brief retirement, gives the Magic speed and passing, while Anthony Johnson is a dependable and tough third point guard.
All that quality depth gives Van Gundy plenty of options during games and certainly makes for some fiery practice sessions. Orlando’s depth is one of its biggest weapons on a team full of firepower already.
``We have so many weapons that sometimes there’s very little drop-off when the second unit comes into the game,’’ said Anderson, who has likely played his way into the starting lineup with his stellar shooting from the 3-point stripe. ``Because we have so many players who can do so many things it can make it tough for teams to match up with us. We have (power forwards) who can play (small forward). Matt (Barnes) can play three positions, Brandon (Bass) can play (power forward) and (center). That kind of flexibility could help us in the long run, especially if we have some injuries this season.’’
ETC: Van Gundy isn’t yet ready to announce his starting lineup against Philadelphia, but the likelihood is that it will be Anderson and Pietrus around Howard, Nelson and Carter. The thinking is that Anderson plays a style closer to that of Lewis, and Bass can stay in his role as a sixth man. Van Gundy has said that Howard’s desire to ``move from block to block’’ offensively is easier to do when Anderson is spacing the floor to the 3-point line. … Van Gundy’s biggest concern heading into Wednesday’s opener against Philadelphia is how the Sixers’ style of play tends to make teams turn the ball over. Limiting turnovers was one of Van Gundy’s main points of emphasis during the preseason. ``We were really today just sort of talking to them about what the game will be like, how they try to scramble the game up with a lot of pressing and trapping, and a lot of zone defense,’’ Van Gundy said. ``The one thing you know that Eddie Jordan’s teams aren’t going to do is just come out and play straight up man-to-man. You’re going to see a lot of different things, you have to recognize situations and make good decisions. If we stay under control that type of defense is good for us because it spreads the floor out and gives us a lot of room to operate, which has always been beneficial to us. That’s predicated on us staying under control and making good decisions.’’ … This rumor was spreading throughout the Magic’s practice facility like wildfire on Monday – Redick and Anderson are working in their spare time to put out a ``hip-hop super group.’’ Redick said the two have already created the title for the first single, ``Waste Management,’’ but the writing for the song is coming along much slower. ``Subpar, Afterthought and No Profits,’’ are other working titles to songs, Redick joked. Redick said that Gortat, known for his affinity for fast cars, has offered to be a producer and provide several flashy vehicles for the first video. Laughed Redick: ``We kind of decided that’s not the direction we wanted to go with our first video. We sort of have full-time jobs, so we don’t have a lot of time right now to work on our rap careers. But it’s coming, trust me.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
