Orlando Magic Signs Promising Guard E'Twaun Moore

The Orlando Magic, according to the Orlando Sentinel, have agreed to sign guard E’Twaun Moore to a two-year deal.

In reading that, Moore’s name isn’t one that jumps out of the page at you. But maybe there is some up-side to the deal.

First it starts as a numbers game.

Before bringing in Moore, the Magic have 16 players listed on its roster. Only four of those players—Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, J.J. Redick and Ish Smith—are guards. The team could use some extra depth at either of the guard positions.

Since college he’s played mostly as a two-guard but he did spend some time in blowouts with the Boston Celtics last year playing a little bit of point guard. The Magic will give him a shot at playing both positions and his flexibility coming off the bench will help his case.

Also Moore is only 23-years-old and has been in the league for only one season. He’s a young player that still has time to develop. He didn’t see many minutes with the Celtics in his rookie season but the 2012-13 Magic season will likely be a league-wide try-out for a lot of guys to see if they can play in the NBA.

What may be hidden behind Moore’s 8.7 minutes per game and 2.9 points per game as a rookie and his second-round draft pick status may suggest, Moore was a pretty accomplished college player at a pretty big basketball school.

Moore was a four-year player at Purdue University. There he became the school’s third highest scorer (2,136) and finished first in three-pointers made (243), games (140), games started (137), minutes played (4,517) and wins (107). He led the Boilermakers in scoring his first three years on the team and was a AP honorable mention All-American.

In the summer league in July Moore led the Boston Celtics squad in points per game.

He wasn’t a high pick or expected to do much for Boston last year but people have started to wonder how high his ceiling is.

Moore can shoot the ball—something Orlando teams in recent years loved to do—and in college he was able to score in a variety of ways and spots on the floor. But in an article for ESPN Boston Chris Forsberg wrote that Moore was fearless and “unflappable”, a trait that endeared him to the Boston front office.

The Orlando Magic will be a proving ground for young players this season. And with what Moore did this summer as well as his college resume, he does seem like a good player to give a bigger opportunity to and take a chance on.

Photo Credit.
AP Photo/Amy Sancetta

Jameer Nelson Is Orlando Magic Team Leader, for Better or Worse

After playing second fiddle to Dwight Howard ever since the two arrived on the Orlando Magic roster as rookies in 2004, Jameer Nelson is finally starring in the lead role for the Orlando Magic—for better or worse.

Just this past off-season, Jameer Nelson re-signed with the Magic for a three-year deal. It was a surprising move, considering the Magic were looking to trade Dwight Howard and move into a rebuilding phase. Why commit to a 30-year-old point guard who has been in decline for the past three seasons?

The answer is simple: leadership.

Ever since Nelson broke onto the mainstream basketball scene as a senior at St. Joseph’s, people have raved about his leadership abilities and his heart.

Nelson was the leader of an underdog St. Joseph’s team in the 2003-2004 season that went 27-0 in the regular season and finished 30-2 and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. It was the best season in school history. Nelson won the Wooden and Naismith awards. A Sports Illustrated article by Michael Bamberger called him, “the best player in the nation.”

In Orlando, he started on the bench and earned his playing time and made All-Star Steve Francis expendable. He’s worked hard on the court and plays good defense.

He had his best season in 2008-2009, averaging 16.7 points per game, 5.4 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game and shooting 50.3 percent from the floor while earning his one and only All-Star selection. And while the Magic made it all the way to the NBA Finals that season, Nelson got hurt and missed the second half of the season and the majority of the playoffs.

He hasn’t been the same player since then. His past three seasons have been three of the four worst shooting seasons of his eight-year career. He had his lowest points per game average in five years. With the Magic still fielding a competitive team with Dwight Howard, there was much rumor and speculation that an upgrade needed to be made at point guard.

This year, the Magic have low expectations, much like his St. Joseph’s team did. And while he doesn’t have Dwight Howard to execute the pick-and-roll with him and toss alley-oops to, he also didn’t have him at St. Joseph’s either.

The Magic won’t be expecting Nelson to guide the Magic as far as he did St. Joseph's. But they do want him to bridge the gap between that Magic team that made the finals and the next Magic team they hope will do the same.

His backup is the young and unproven Ish Smith, so it’s likely Nelson will get a lot of minutes; really making this his show to run.

Nelson is there to provide a veteran presence to a young team. He is there to be a steady, consistent performer on a team without much direction currently. He is there to show the new guys what you can achieve with heart and hustle and how to act like a professional.

Gone are the wishy-washy, indecisive and immature (remember all those silly technical fouls?) ways of Howard. Nelson’s high-character attitude will be counted on to mentor the younger players and help them through what could be a frustrating season.

Does Jameer Nelson being the team’s best player mean that they’ll win a lot of games? Probably not.

But they won’t ever quit, and that will be an important attitude moving forward.

Photo Credit.
AP Photo/John Raoux

Should the Orlando Magic Sign Greg Oden?

While the Orlando Magic traded away a former seven-foot No. 1 draft pick, there have been rumblings of another former seven-foot No. 1 draft pick possibly coming to Orlando to play for the Magic.

When the Magic traded away Dwight Howard as part of a four-team deal, they lost a franchise center. The package the team got in return made it clear that this team is in full-rebuilding mode. It seems bottoming out and getting another crack at the top pick in the NBA Draft wouldn’t be an unwelcome event for management.

But as the team looks to the future and life after Dwight Howard one player that there have been rumors of coming to Orlando and working to take Howard’s place in the lineup is former top-pick Greg Oden.

Oden, like Howard, has been a bit indecisive about his future in the NBA. In an interview with Grantland writer and former Ohio State teammate Mark Titus, Oden said he plans to take the 2012-2013 season off in order to properly rehab his knee.

“I just want to play basketball. I could've signed with a team after Portland cut me and just sat on the bench and collected paychecks, but that's not my style,” he said. “That just seems really unethical. Besides, money doesn't matter to me. I've got enough money. All I want is to get 100 percent healthy and get back on the court.”

According to the Tribune-Star in Terre Haute, Ind. playing in 2012-2013 isn’t totally out of the question.
It says that his agent, Mike Conley Sr., said the Oden was talking to the Miami Heat about joining their team.

Oden spoke on that, saying, “What I told Mike was ‘Look, I want to get back with a team. I want to play. If there’s a chance that later on in the [NBA] year, if I feel good or if I’m healthy enough to play, I would love to play this year.’ That’s the conversation we had. I think some people kinda blew that up and took his words and kinda changed them around. I know I need to get healthy first before I do anything.”

In response to this chatter, OrlandoMagic.com’s John Denton wrote that the Orlando Magic were reportedly one of a few teams to be interested in Oden’s services.

If Oden were to get healthy and he was still committed to playing basketball—two strong “ifs” right now—could Oden be a viable replacement for Howard at center?

After all the injuries, cell phone pictures and overall disappointment from his production, many forget that coming out of college in 2007 they hype for Oden was even bigger than it was in 2012 for Anthony Davis.
ESPN NBA writer Chad Ford said at the time, “In a league devoid of big, traditional centers — Oden’s numbers add up to a perfect 10,” and “Oden’s agility, flexibility, balance and explosiveness are remarkable for a player his size. He’s a 2 guard in a center’s body.”

Oden was marked as an exceptional shot blocker with a solid low-post game. Even looking back at the draft and knowing the success that No. 2 pick Kevin Durant had and will continue to experience, Chad Buchanan—the team’s acting GM in 2012 and former Director of College Scouting—said in February that he would still have drafted Oden, standing by the team’s decision.

“I was very excited,” he said. “A chance to draft a player who could potentially get your franchise to your ultimate goal. Looking back on it, we were all excited. We had visions of Greg being a great player for us for years to come.”

Looking at the Magic roster, two of the prime contenders to get major minutes at center are second-year pros Gustavo Ayon and Nikola Vucevic. As rookies in the lock-out shortened 2012 season, Ayon, 27-years-old, played in 54 games starting 24 of them, averaged 5.9 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, 0.9 blocks per game and shot 53.6-percent from the field.

Vucevic, 21-years-old, played in 51 games with 15 starts, averaged 5.5 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, 0.7 blocks per game and shot 45.0-percent from the floor.

That’s not to say either couldn’t develop further, especially the much younger Vucevic. But in Oden’s 82-game career, despite being constantly hampered by injuries, Oden averaged more minutes per game than either player, has career averages of 9.4 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 57.7-percent.

Take a look at his numbers before his injury in the 2009-10 season. Oden had started every game and had increased his shooting percentage, free-throw shooting percentage, points per game, rebounds per game and block per game compared to his rookie season. It suggested a player on the rise.

With the Magic in full rebuilding mode, would it hurt to take a flier on Oden?

In numerous articles it has been speculated that the Magic took back such a paltry offering in return for Howard in order to bottom out and receive a high draft pick to rebuild around. And that could still happen.
But in bringing in Oden the team could add another former No. 1 pick, a guy that was supposed to be a franchise-changer.

With the right deal, the upside is that with a change of scenery and training staff—Oden said he felt rushed to return in Portland—and with a franchise that seems to want to be patient with its roster Oden could finally heal properly and return to the court. From there he could either develop into the franchise player everyone had hoped he would become (yes, a long-shot but it would be the best-case scenario) or a solid center that gives you a double-double night -in and night-out.

Worst case, Oden never heals and continues to be hurt and the team cuts its losses, which should be very low considering Oden doesn’t have too much contract leverage; he hasn’t played since December 5, 2009.

The Orlando Magic could be the right opportunity for Oden to continue his basketball career. It all starts with new GM Rob Hennigan’s emphasis on being patient with this team and continues with an opportunity for playing time because of a need for good players.

Oden always was a good player.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Don Ryan

Dwight Howard Trade: Coming to Terms with It from the Viewpoint of a Little Kid

The majority of people who get involved in sports media start as huge sports fans, usually at a young age.

That statement holds true for me as well.

So when I flipped on SportsCenter and watched a snippet of Dwight Howard speaking at his press conference following his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers the fan in me couldn’t help but come out, specifically the little kid in me.

Now, Dwight Howard has done nothing to me personally. He seems like a nice guy, even if he does have a little trouble making up his mind. He gives back to the community. The adult and objectionable journalist in me understands that this man made a decision on what he wanted to do with his life that was perfectly legal.

The biased little kid in me, however, felt betrayed. That little kid thought back to the last time he felt so strongly against a player: when the Phillies traded third baseman Scott Rolen.

When Scott Rolen made his Major League debut with the Phillies, the team that drafted him, I was in first grade. It was the first year I started paying attention to professional sports and the Phillies were my team. I listened to the game broadcasts on the radio on the beach in afternoon games and watched the games on television by night.

The next year was his official rookie season and it was the first time I saw a baseball game live. It was 1997, the first year there was Interleague play. It was the Phillies against the New York Yankees at Veterans Stadium. Curt Schilling against Hideki Irabu. Scott Rolen was playing third base and it was an incredibly hot day out. The Phillies won. It’s a day I’ll always remember, and Rolen played a part in it.


He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1997 and I couldn’t be happier that my guy on my team was getting recognized; and this was when the Phillies were the cellar-dwellars of Major League Baseball.

Over the years I would watch Rolen come up with big hits, make incredible diving stops and showcase his arm and throw a runner out. One year for Halloween I even wore a Phillies hat and jersey and taped “Rolen” and “17” on my back as my costume.

Then in 2002 he was traded. He had made it clear he was unhappy in Philadelphia, that he didn’t think the management was making the right moves in order to win, told everyone he would leave the team via free agency and rejected a huge contract offer.

Not wanting to lose him for nothing, the Phillies traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals. And just like that he was no longer my guy. He was a traitor.

I felt jilted, rejected. What my thirteen-year-old self thought was that by Rolen refusing to play for the Phillies it meant that he was refusing to play for me, in front of me. All those memories we “shared” of me watching him, growing up with him, rooting for him were for nothing. He threw them away by forcing his way out.

I booed him when the Phillies played against him. When I would play baseball video games and Rolen would come up to bat I would bean him in the head. It was how I treated someone that betrayed me.

Now over time my feelings have softened. The Phillies moved on without him, brought up a bunch of other guys that they drafted that I could grow up with (Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell and Cole Hamels) and won a World Series. Now when I see Rolen make his patented diving stop and throw across the diamond I forget the hate, smile and think back to the good times I had watching him do it in a Phillies uniform.

Now back to Dwight Howard. I have been an Orlando Magic fan since the first grade as well (I marveled at Shaq’s skill and fell in love with his fun-loving ways). Shaq was one of my favorites and Dwight Howard was just as special.

He played the game with so much power but always had a smile on his face. There were the Superman moments at the Slam Dunk contest. I defended him to my friends about how he should be the league MVP. Just all his sillyness, impromptu dance competitions and thunderous slam dunks. I went to an Orlando Magic-New Jersey Nets game in New Jersey with my girlfriend in January 2011. We watched Dwight come out of the game—an Orlando blowout—and hang out on the end of the Magic bench with Jameer Nelson and secretly eat a hot dog. When the game ended he walked past our section and threw his shoe into the stands and it landed a seat over from our seats (what a mob it was of people fighting for that!).

But then there was last season. The trade rumors. The refusal to sign an extension. The famous smile was gone. It didn’t look like Howard was having fun anymore. There was the bickering with Stan van Gundy. And then there was the back injury that sidelined him for the end of the season and the Magic crashed and burned out of the playoffs.

The end was coming and I had come to terms with that as a fan. Maybe it was the fact that he was gone for the end of the season and playoffs and that you hadn’t heard from him himself in the media that I just got used to him being around.

But then he popped up in this press conference. He was smiling. He was making jokes. “Hey,” I thought to myself, “he wasn’t doing this last year.”

And then he said, “I’m happy to be a Laker. I’m so excited.”


The little kid in me perked up. “You’re happy? You found someone better? Was me rooting for you not enough?”

Silly, yes, but sometimes we can’t hide those moments when sports bring out the little kid in us: all the joy in winning, the disappointment in losing, and the childish response to grown men making perfectly normal decisions on choosing where to work and what organization will make them happiest—really the same decision I am attempting to make in my professional career.

Just like anything in pop culture—movies, television, music—we invest time in sports, we invest interest in sports, we allow ourselves and our emotions to escape and run free in sports and what we invest in are the memories: the moments that put us in awe, where we were and who we experienced them with.

All summer in my house my family has asked me where Dwight was going. When he was traded my mom and one of my brothers texted me. We talked about the memories we had watching him play or his interviews and we laughed.

Memories and shared experiences that were brought on by sports and in this case, Dwight Howard. So in this case I’ll allow the kid in me to come out a little and tell him it’s ok to feel a bit spurned. I’ll let myself feel that strongly because it means that there are some strong emotions and memories tied to Dwight being in Orlando.

And creating those memories in the first place is the great thing about sports in general.

Photo Credits.
Dwight Howard:  AP Photo/Reed Saxon
Scott Rolen: AP Photo/Chris Gardner

Dwight Howard Trade: Magic Fail Again at Getting Fair Value for Franchise Player

Since the start of the new millennium the Orlando Magic have been lucky enough to have, at different times, two franchise players: Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard.

Both players were All-Stars with unbelievable talents that the team attempted to build around. Both led the team to the playoffs—in 12 seasons since the 2000-01 season the Magic have made the playoffs nine times—and Howard even led the team to the NBA Finals in 2009. Both were MVP-worthy players that the fans adored.

Both McGrady and Howard also grew very unhappy in Orlando and demanded to be traded. Those wishes were granted now that Dwight Howard has been traded to the Lakers in a four-team deal.

The Magic look to recoup just as they did when they dealt McGrady and lost Shaquille O’Neal in free agency before him. Trading away franchise players is never a fun task for any organization, but how have the deals worked out for Orlando?

Magic trade Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to Rockets for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato

At the time this deal was completed it was often viewed as a fair trade. In retrospect, Orlando was the clear loser in this deal.

Francis was the centerpiece the Magic received in this deal. In his first game with Orlando he hit a layup at the buzzer to lead the team past the Milwaukee Bucks. But after 23 games with the Magic, Francis also grew upset because the team dealt Mobley, who Francis had played each of the previous six seasons with.

“I can't put it into words,” he said at the time. “Playing with a guy, living with a guy, just knowing that every day when I wake up that's something I can count on, that I'm going to be in practice or in a game with Cuttino. Him not being here is going to be tough for me. I don't know what I'm going to wake up for.”

Mobley was a talented offensive player who was sent to Sacramento with Michael Bradley for the defensive-minded Doug Christie—another failed move.

Francis finished the season with 21.3 points per game, a shade under his career high, then was traded to the New York Knicks at next season’s trade deadline for Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway’s expiring contract.

Cato was also traded in February of that second season after the deal to Detroit for Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo.

The Magic got three players for Tracy McGrady—who was named to four more All-Star games in six seasons with Houston—and all were gone within two years. None brought in draft picks or franchise altering players. The Magic didn’t make the playoffs either season. Also, Howard would be Houston’s starting power forward the next three seasons, a solid addition to the lineup.

Magic trade Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark to Lakers and Jason Richardson to 76ers. Magic receive Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington from Denver, Nikola Vucevic and Moe Harkless from Philadelphia, Josh McRoberts and Christian Eyenga from the Lakers and a lottery protected first-round draft pick from the Lakers, 76ers and Nuggets.

The Magic trade away the league’s best center and multiple Defensive Player of the Year award-winner. Howard wanted out and things were getting ugly. The Magic also relieve themselves of expensive contracts given to Richardson and Duhon.

What they get in return is a bit uncertain, however. The Magic didn’t land the second or third-best player in the deal (Andrew Bynum or Andre Iguodala in whatever order you like). They didn’t get an All-Star in return. They didn’t wind up getting Pau Gasol, like some earlier versions of the deal suggested. They also couldn’t shed Hedo Turkoglu’s awful contract, one that they originally refused to give him when he left after the 2009 NBA Finals trip before Orlando traded back for him.
 

They got Arron Afflalo, a nice defender who was also Denver’s second-leading scorer last season with 15.2 points per game last season.  His points per game totals have risen the past few years. But will Orlando be balanced enough for him to succeed, or will he be the key guy that team’s focus on and he struggles?

Since the 2001-02 season Al Harrington has never averaged fewer than 10.5 points per game. He’s another solid scorer who is a good secondary option for a contending team. But it’s hard to imagine the Magic contending this year and some in the media are already saying he could be moved by the February trade deadline for an expiring contract. He’s 32-years-old and has three years left on his deal.

Eyenga is 23 and only played in seven games last year. Harkless is a first-round rookie with a lot of athleticism. Vucevic and McRoberts are average low-post players that will compete in a crowded frontcourt with Glen Davis, Gustavo Ayon, Justin Harper, Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O’Quinn for playing time. Vucevic seems to have more upside than McRoberts.

  

The first-round draft picks are nice, but will be spread out over the next few years, will most likely be later in the first-round and are lottery-protected (for the best center in the league the Magic couldn’t even get unprotected picks?) There are also talks that the picks could also be traded in the future. Without knowing who will be available or what future trade packages they can get for them, the value is really up for debate.

It’s obviously easy to rate the McGrady deal in hindsight and who knows if any of the young players (mainly Harkless, Afflalo and Eyenga) could blossom into bigger roles than with their previous teams.

But with the way the McGrady trade panned out and with the initial reaction towards the Howard deal, it’s apparent that Orlando has struggled in getting fair value in return for their franchise players.

Photo Credits.
Dwight Howard:  AP Photo/John Raoux, File
Tracy McGrady:  AP Photo/Ed Betz
Arron Afflalo:  AP Photo/ Jack Dempsey, File

Oklahoma City Thunder: Are They the Best Team in the NBA?

There’s still the matter of the NBA Championship, and without a title the Oklahoma City Thunder really hasn’t won anything yet.

But after a thrilling series victory over the San Antonio Spurs, is the Thunder the best team in the NBA?

Fans have salivated over this team for the past few years now as they play a good and exciting brand of basketball.

The team as a whole and the individuals are good at both ends of the court. Offensively the team has Kevin Durant, the league’s scoring champion the past three seasons. The team is extremely fast and gets up and down the court with ease. Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden are all able to hit the big shots and carry the team through stretches.

As a unit, they were third in the league in points per game (103.1) and one of only three teams to average 100 points per game.

Defensively they have Serge Ibaka, the NBA leader in blocks per game (3.65) and Durant, who was eighth in the league in defensive rebounds per game (7.4). They tied for third in the league in opponents’ field-goal percentage (42.7-percent).

The team’s bread and butter is playing good defense and creating turnovers so they can use their speed and athleticism to get out on the fast break and hit easy baskets.

But the Thunder team is more than just stats and talent. This team has matured, put it all together this year and finished games.

After losing in the first round to the Lakers two years ago and losing in the conference finals last year to Dallas the Thunder learned from those losses, developed as a team and came back strong in the playoffs this year.

In the 2012 NBA Playoffs the Thunder knocked off the Dallas Mavericks who were the reigning NBA Champions. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers, the winners of the two championships before that and that had Kobe Bryant. They defeated the Spurs, winners of four championships since 1999 and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs the past two seasons.

Oklahoma City is the first Western Conference team in the past 14 years not named the Mavericks, Lakers or Spurs to reach the NBA Finals.

The saying is that to be the best you have to beat the best. Oklahoma City has beaten the best.

Now if they are to win the championship they’d have to beat either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat, three of the past four Eastern Conference representatives in the NBA Finals.

Looking at what Oklahoma City has done in the standings, in the stat book and against the league’s elite teams is the time now for the Thunder?

It looks like the young upstarts with loads of potential have finally reached the summit and have earned the right to be called the best team in the league. 

Photo Credit.

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

Rajon Rondo is 2012 NBA Playoffs MVP

Every year in the NBA Playoffs a new hero rises to the occasion and creates a new path of stardom for himself.

Last year Dirk Nowitzki shook off all the previous “soft” labels and carried the Dallas Mavericks against the Miami Heat trio to win the franchise’s first NBA Championship.

In 2008 long-time Celtic Paul Pierce finally added his own banner to the rafters next to the ones won by Boston-legends Larry Bird and Bill Russell. In 2004 Chauncey Billups pushed the name-less Detroit Pistons past the star-studded and future Hall of Fame-bound Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup to win the championship, earn the Finals MVP honors and establish himself as one of the most clutch players in the league.

You don’t even have to win it all to get your name recognized. Last year James Harden hit countless big shots for the Oklahoma City Thunder which made him a part of the team’s “Big Three” this season, joining scoring forces Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

This year the player that’s making all the noise in the playoffs—with respect to Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and LeBron James—is Rajon Rondo.

Rondo has been an afterthought for most of his NBA career.

He was a first-round draft pick, but he couldn’t shoot. He was an NBA All-Star point guard, but surely Derrick Rose, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook were all better. He won an NBA Championship but the main guys on that team were Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

And this year the Celtics were supposed to be too old and not deep enough to compete. When they matched up with the Miami Heat certainly this would be the end of a team on, as The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan put, “Year 5 of the Three-Year Plan”.

Yet Rondo has made himself and the Celtics relevant this postseason.

In the playoffs he’s upped his points per game, assist per game averages and steals per game averages (17.4 ppg, 11.9 apg, 2.3 spg). And he’s saved his best efforts for the Heat.

He’s led the Celtics with 24.0 points per game this series, including going for a career-high 44 points in Game 2.

In that same Game 2 he played every minute of the game, including overtime (53 minutes total). He’s totaled a double-double in the past three games of the series and in Game 4 he had 10 assists by halftime.

He’s attacking the rim and making his shots. He’s drawing double-teams. He’s feeding the open guy with ease.

The Celtics have needed him, too. Ray Allen is having the worst playoffs of his career and the Celtics don’t have a natural back-up point guard because blossoming Avery Bradley injured his shoulder and is out for the playoffs.

After being mentioned in countless trade rumors all season Rondo is showing that the Celtics are now his team. He’s taken over on the court and has drawn some attention off it as well.

At halftime of Game 4, ESPN sideline reporter Doris Burke conducted a court-side interview with Rondo and asked him how the Celtics were exploiting the Heat defense and he responded, “Them complaining and crying to referees in transition.”

Some may say he has aggravated the Heat and will draw their ire, but a lot of other NBA fans would agree that’s how the Heat players operate.

Whatever the case, Rondo is showing his fearlessness. He isn’t afraid to make bold plays. He isn’t afraid to call out his opponents for what he thinks is poor sportsmanship. This is his team and his series and he will impose his will on it.

If it draws him some Dirk-like admiration for taking down the Heat, that isn’t such a bad thing either.

But if it wasn’t for Rondo it’s hard to imagine the Celtics would’ve ever gotten this far, let alone two wins from returning to the NBA Finals.

Photo Credit.
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Orlando Magic: Is Mike D'Antoni the Best Fit for the Head Coaching Job?

The Orlando Magic firing general manager Otis Smith made sense. The team rid itself of a person who made questionable moves regarding the roster and ultimately did not get the job done.

The writing was also on the wall for head coach Stan Van Gundy. The team terminating him signifies that priority number one is to keep Dwight Howard on the team. While the franchise center may not have asked Magic CEO Alex Martins to fire Van Gundy, as both have claimed, the poor relationship from the start had obviously deteriorated.

A choice needed to be made—Van Gundy or Howard—and ownership, right or wrong, went with the player.

The Magic are invested in winning with Howard. The front office makes personnel moves centered around who he will work best with, both on the bench and on the court.

With Howard on the court, the team thrives on teams doubling the center and the ball getting kicked out to a bevy of shooters on the wings. They made the NBA Finals with a similar approach only three seasons ago and even last season had the third-best record in the conference for most of the season.

Without him the team struggles to find that space, evident in the playoffs against Indiana. Individually the talent is mediocre. There are a few solid supporting players but without Howard the roster is not good enough to contend for a playoff spot, let alone a championship.

The bigger issue is that the team is full of bad contracts that would be extremely difficult to maneuver. Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Glen Davis are locked in to contracts that are not friendly to trade. So improving the roster will be very hard, with the 19th pick in the first-round and the mid-level exception the best options to add some much needed firepower to the offense.

So if it will be difficult to improve on the individual talent on the roster why not put in a system that will work to get the most out of them?

That’s where Mike D’Antoni steps in.

The 61-year old coach is known as being an offensive-minded coach who loves to push the ball in transition and shoot from outside frequently.

The Magic is a team that, while Dwight Howard is the centerpiece, actually relies more on its outside shooting.

Putting D’Antoni in charge of the offense really would only tweak the way they got those shots off.

Things with the Phoenix Suns didn’t end up in a championship mainly because there just was not enough size or emphasis put on defense. But when Howard is healthy—which is most of the time—Orlando has the best center in the league who is the only player to win three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards in league history. From the ’07-’08 season to the ’10-’11 season the team was always a top 10 team in defensive efficiency.

New York didn’t end well for D’Antoni but there were certainly some strenuous circumstances that ultimately cost him his job. In the beginning there just wasn’t a lot of talent and the salaries that were acquired in the previous regime would take some time to correct those mistakes.

There were a lot of injuries this past season, which always hurts a team.

The Knicks acquired Carmelo Anthony, who is a talented offensive player. But the system that works best for Anthony is an isolation offense as opposed to D’Antoni’s ball movement and shooting offense. Then when Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin were all on the court together there were struggles in sharing the ball and not enough practice time for them to gel as teammates.

With Orlando it is obvious that the team is at its best when it’s moving the ball and shooting three-pointers. They have a star player in Howard, but he isn’t necessarily the focal point of the scoring.

Bringing in D’Antoni would keep the Magic a shoot-first team. Howard would get open for more looks running the pick-and-roll. And if Howard misses games due to suspension or injury then Orlando would still be able to find open looks from beyond the arc—unlike in the playoffs—because the offense would push the ball in transition resulting in fast breaks and more space.

Also if the team were to bring in D’Antoni there is an increased chance they could sign Steve Nash with the mid-level exception to run their offense at least for a year.

After Jameer Nelson’s struggle of a season the Magic organization was rumored to be looking to upgrade the point guard position. Nash was a name often linked to the team. He’s still playing at a high level despite his advancing age and if he flourished under D’Antoni’s system, winning two MVP awards.

He’s also done pretty well in Phoenix the past few years with a roster arguably less talented than the one Orlando has. And with Nelson rumored to be interested in declining his player option and becoming a free agent, point guard could be an even bigger concern for the Magic.

A Nash and D’Antoni reunion in Orlando would be interesting, but D’Antoni also has experience coaching a number of Orlando’s players. He worked with Quentin Richardson, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark in Phoenix, Chris Duhon in New York and Howard himself as an assistant on the USA team that won gold in the 2008 summer Olympics.

There’s no guarantee that D’Antoni is the best coach available or that it will work out in Orlando, but there’s no guarantee with any of the other coaches on the market either.

There’s no guarantee that Howard will stay (and if he doesn’t then maybe the team should look into a different option for a coach), but he is on the team right now and all signs point to the Magic committing themselves to retaining him.

So with little flexibility the best way for this team to contend may be to let D’Antoni run his offense with one that already is loaded with sharpshooters and finally give him a defensive presence to rely on.
 

Photo Credits.

Mike D’Antoni: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Dwight Howard (left): AP Photo/John Raoux

Steve Nash (right): AP Photo/Matt York

2012 NBA Playoffs: The Maturation of Big Baby

Has “Big Baby” grown up?

When Orlando Magic man-child Dwight Howard was shut down for the rest of the season, playoffs included, with a back injury a huge void was left in the post.

The minutes would go to Glen Davis, a six-foot-nine-inch, 289 pound forward who was often considered a soft jump shooter rather than a tough post presence.

But in the past month, Davis has been one of Orlando’s best and most consistent players.

In the Magic’s 81-77 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs, Davis put up the numbers and did all the little things that go unnoticed in the box score that helped the Magic win the game.

Davis played 40 minutes against Indiana, scored 16 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots.

Davis started at center and was forced to defend Pacers All-Star Roy Hibbert. Hibbert stands at seven-feet-two-inches, but Davis outperformed him in almost every facet of the game.

The former Georgetown standout did have nine blocks, but he only scored eight points (averaging 12.8 this season) and shot 3-11 from the field (down from his 50-percent shooting percentage this season), meaning Davis did a good job bodying him up on defense.

Hibbert did grab 13 rebounds, but that equals Davis’ output despite the five-inch height advantage.

Davis was also instrumental in key moments at the end of the game.

With about 27 seconds left in the game with Orlando ahead by only one, an unusually cold Ryan Anderson shot an ill-advised three-pointer that clanged off the rim. “Big Baby” was there to grab the rebound though, his sixth offensive rebound of the game.

Then with 10 second remaining in the game, the Pacers were inbounding the ball at half-court down by only three. The pass went to Indiana leading-scorer Danny Granger, who was confronted by Davis. Granger dribbled across the three point arc looking for a shot but Davis played good, tight defense on him and forced Granger to travel, giving Orlando back the ball and all but assuring the team victory.

It wasn’t just this one game where Davis has stepped up, however. He’s been great for the team the entire month.

For the season, Davis is averaging 23.4 minutes per game, 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and is shooting 42-percent from the field.

In the month of April, however, Davis has upped all those totals. In 12 regular season games during the month Davis has averaged 31.4 minutes per game, 16.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and is shooting 50-percent from the field. His free-throw shooting percentage has also improved, as he’s shooting 70-percent from the charity stripe this month compared to 68-percent this season; it’s also more reliable than the 49-percent Howard was shooting from the line.

In 13 starts Davis is averaging 15.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

“He's playing great basketball. Glen has shut out all the distractions. He's not trying to do anything except play the game as well as he can possibly play it. That's it,” Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy told the media in the beginning of April.

Davis has said that he understands his role better now and Van Gundy has pointed out that the big man has become more of a team-oriented player rather than one worried about his own stats and agenda. A new attitude coupled with what looks like a forward in better shape than the beginning of the season has fans hopeful that the 26-year-old is starting to turn the corner.

Losing Howard was a huge blow to this team because everything they do on offense and defense revolves around the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. But with Davis hitting open shots, defending the rim and bodying up his opposing center it gives the team a legitimate low-post presence.

The Magic have had some rough games this season, especially without Howard in the game but as Davis blooms into a big-time contributor at the end of the season he also gives the team a real chance to do some good things in the playoffs this year.

Photo Credits.

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Orlando Magic Finally Giving Daniel Orton an Opportunity

Daniel Orton was a five-star recruit while in high school but the three years after graduation have not been very glamorous. It’s been a challenging road for him, but he may have finally caught the break he needed.

With Dwight Howard missing time because of a herniated disk and Glen Davis injuring his right knee in Sunday night’s game Daniel Orton saw minutes that he hasn’t gotten since high school and was productive.

In Orlando’s 100-84 victory over Cleveland Sunday night—which clinched a playoff spot—Orton played 29 minutes, scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds, blocked three shots and had a team-high five steals.

He was a very productive player for the Magic and stepped up when his team needed him. It was good form to see from a player who has not been relied upon in recent years.

Orton committed to Kentucky in 2009 and came off the bench to back up DeMarcus Cousins. He averaged only 13.2 minutes per game, 3.4 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. He did have 1.4 blocks per game but his other numbers were low. Still, he opted to go to the NBA Draft.

The Magic selected him with the 29th overall pick, making him a first-rounder and hoping he could add some size behind Dwight Howard.

There were many concerns about Orton. Despite his soft shooting touch and shot-blocking abilities, Orton was not considered a tough back-to-the-basket forward. There were even bigger questions about his conditioning and the health of his knees, which proved to be an issue.

A still raw prospect, Orton was sent to the New Mexico Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League to get more experience. He endured a season-ending knee injury in his second game.

Before even playing a game for the Magic, the team declined his option for a third season, so he will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

This season he has only played in 10 games. He’s averaged 7.4 minutes per game, 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds. But now he has a legitimate opportunity to prove what talents he currently has, his work ethic to improve on them and what potential he does have.

“Defensively, he was great on rotations and he’s a sharp kid. If he’d really decide to really, really work at it and everything, I think he showed that he’s capable of some things, especially on the defensive end,” head coach Stan Van Gundy told the media after the game. “But even offensively, I thought he did a good job in our pick-and-roll game. He knows how we want to play; he’s trying to play that way. I’m really happy for him.”

Without many big bodies, Orton will be needed to be a big body that protects the rim on defense. He needs to be productive on offense as well, because that team is built around getting the ball to the post and then kicking it out for the open jump shot. If Orton can’t make teams play him honestly, then the defense will just lock on the shooters and the offense, heading into the playoffs, will be at its worst.

Currently he has to play a big role for the Magic helping them as they prepare for the playoffs and filling in for Howard and Davis.

He’s also auditioning for a future in this league, one that he hopes will be brighter than the path his young career has started on.

Photo credits.
AP Photo/John Raoux

NBA: What Happened to the Rivalry Between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony?

They were two young stars with unique and special abilities on the basketball court. They had recently played in a high-attention scholastic contest against each other. They were both selected in the same draft.

The LeBron James-Carmelo Anthony was supposed to be the best individual rivalry since Magic-Bird.

But while the relationship between Bird and Johnson is dramatized in a new Broadway play, Anthony and James will meet for the 15th time in their careers and do so without much fanfare.

James and Anthony first met in a USA developmental camp in 2001. Much like how Johnson raved about Bird after they played together on a college All-Star team playing in an international tournament, James couldn’t stop talking about how Anthony. The two squared off in a high school showcase game the following year that pitted the player regarded as the best senior in the country (Anthony) against the one that was the best junior in the country (James), a game Anthony’s team would win.

After Anthony spent a year at Syracuse and James finished his high school career both were selected in the 2003 NBA Draft, James first overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Anthony third overall to the Denver Nuggets.

The rivalry was supposed to take off from there. Both were top draft picks and successful scorers. They both played small forward and could match up against each other.

The similarities continue throughout their careers as both played together on the previous gold-medal winning Olympic team and inspired much dislike from fans after the ways both players went about changing teams.

The rivalry, however, always felt forced, unnatural.

The first game against each other would be a perfect indication of how the rivalry would develop over the years.

The hype for the first NBA game against each other was high but it was for a meaningless game in early November in which both players failed to really make an impact on the game. Anthony played 39 minutes but only scored 14 points on six for 17 shooting. James played 41 minutes and did have 11 rebounds and seven assists, but he only scored seven points and shot a measly 27-percent from the field. The Nuggets won that game 93-89.

The Magic and Bird rivalry started off so strong because they were thrust into an already existing rivalry that was larger than themselves.

The Celtics and Lakers was an already established rivalry. They were the most successful franchises in NBA history that had some memorable battles for the NBA championship as well as individual player subplots. There was a rivalry before Magic and Bird and there was one after them.

Denver and Cleveland were only linked together because of James and Anthony. They haven’t met with much on the line and with both superstars moving on to new teams, there’s not much too exciting about the match-up now.

Johnson and Bird motivated each other because they both knew they would have to go through the other to win the championship, something both had the most burning desire to do multiple times. With Anthony and James, winning just hasn’t been part of the equation.

Neither player has a ring, and while LeBron has lost in the finals twice, Anthony hasn’t been nearly as “successful” in the playoffs as James has. Anthony has played in the playoffs every year since his rookie season, but has only made it out of the first round once (in the 2008-09 season the Nuggets made it to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Lakers 4-2).

With James on the Heat and Anthony on the Knicks, both are now in the Eastern Conference and the possibility of them playing each other in the playoffs increases, including this year where a first-round match-up seems like a strong possibility.

If the two can play each other with greater stakes the rivalry may intensify, but until then the matchups will be second-rate.

While Anthony’s teams haven’t matched the success of James’ teams, Anthony also hasn’t achieved the individual honors that LeBron has.



Over his career James has averaged more points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game and also has a better shooting percentage than Anthony. James has been on the All-Defensive First Team three times while Anthony is criticized for not taking his defensive responsibilities seriously. James won the Rookie of the Year award the first year both players were in the NBA and has been an All-Star three more times.

James has outscored Anthony 10 of the 14 times the two have met. He is a two-time league MVP (with a good chance to win the award again this year) while Anthony has never won the award. In fact, Anthony has finished in the top 10 in MVP voting only once in his career (sixth in 2010).

Finally, do these players even buy into the idea that they are rivals?

The NBA, for better or worse, has become quite the “buddy-buddy” league, where players have known each other for long periods of time and are good friends. With the recent phenomenon of creating “super teams”, where the best players team up with other elite players in an effort to win a championship together, the superstars in the league today have been criticized for not having the competitive drive to want to beat each other.

If James and Anthony don’t consider themselves rivals, then how can the public see it that way?

James and Anthony are obviously two talented basketball players. They bring a lot of star power to the game and are certainly entertaining to watch play on the same court together.

But the rivalry that was marketed by the NBA when they first entered the league never really grew further than that.

Photo Credits.
James and Anthony: AP Photo/Alan Diaz
Johnson and Bird: AP Photo/Lennox McLendon