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.
By John DentonOct. 28, 2014
NEW ORLEANS – With Victor Oladipo out indefinitely following surgery to fix a facial fracture, the Orlando Magic likely will look to a variety of players to provide the scoring punch and energy usually displayed by their injured second-year standout.
And it wouldn’t come as a total shock if it’s a reserve that plays starter’s minutes for the Magic while filling in for the hard-luck Oladipo.
A couple of 21-year-olds used to playing off the bench – Evan Fournier and Maurice Harkless – split the eight starts at the shooting guard slot during the preseason. It was Fournier, who was acquired in a trade with the Denver Nuggets last June, who go the start at shooting guard in Tuesday night’s season-opener for the Magic.
But it’s veteran guard Ben Gordon, a proven scorer in the NBA over his 10-year NBA career, who could get the bulk of the Oladipo’s minutes even though he’s not expected to be used as a starter.
Gordon, 31, has mostly made his name in the NBA by being one of the league’s best Sixth Man contributors. In Gordon’s 688-game NBA career, only 269 of those games have been as a starter. Gordon has averaged more than 15 points a game five times and he’s shot at least 40 percent from 3-point range in nine of his 10 NBA seasons.
Gordon said that it doesn’t matter to him whether he plays as a starter or comes off the bench, but clearly he’s grown accustomed to being a go-to scorer while in a reserve role. There’s an art to being an effective sixth man, and Gordon said he has no plans from straying from what has worked for him in the past.
``Me personally, I’m not a guy who likes to sit on the bench, so I’ll sit on the side, foam roll (to loosen his leg muscles) and stretch a little bit,’’ said Gordon, who has a career scoring average of 15.6 points per game. ``During games, I’m always up and moving around and I have the hot packs on. I just try to keep myself loose so that it doesn’t take me a few trips to get (ready). I like to feel like I’m loose already.’’
Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said that he respects Gordon’s track record of production as a super sub, and he’s unlikely to change the veteran guard’s role even though the Magic are searching for production without Oladipo.
Gordon said that his thinking won’t change regardless of what role that he’s playing for the Magic.
``I think it’s more of a mindset,’’ Gordon said. ``When you’re role is really defined and you know exactly what the team wants from you and that’s the be aggressive right away, look for your shot and look to make plays, that makes it a lot easier.’’
CHEERING UP OLADIPO: Oladipo missed three weeks of training camp with a sprained MCL in his left knee and then took an accidental elbow to the face just minutes into last Thursday’s practice. The hit fractured a bone that required corrective surgery on Saturday and the procedure went as expected, according to a Magic spokesman.
Ultra competitive and itching to jump-start his second NBA season, Oladipo has admitted struggled with being out and away from this team this month. Several Magic players went to Oladipo’s house on Sunday for a night of food, fun and laughs designed to pick up the spirits of the shooting guard. Oladipo’s mother and sisters were in town and they prepared a feast for the Magic players in attendance.
``It was amazing. We all went over there and we were playing video games. (Oladipo) was comfortable around us after he warmed up a little bit. His face was swollen, but we’re his friends and we don’t care about that stuff as long as we have him in good spirits,’’ Magic power forward Kyle O’Quinn said. ``He wants to be with us right now, but he can’t. It was good to have his mom cooking and giving that good family feeling. I think that’s what he needed most.’’
RAVE ROOKIE REVIEWS: The book on Magic forward Aaron Gordon coming out of college was that he was an ultra-athletic player who thrived on defense and in open-court, but lacked much of a jump shot.
Gordon, the youngest player in the NBA this season at 19 years old, worked all summer to build a reliable jump shot and expand his range out to the NBA’s 3-point line. Not only did Gordon shoot the ball especially well in the preseason, he showed off his basketball IQ by thriving in Orlando’s defensive sets and he had several spectacular dunks while attacking the rim.
Magic coach Jacque Vaughn was complimentary of the way Gordon played in the preseason, feeling that the rookie has established a blueprint for how he needs to play this season.
``Before you can really expand your game you need to show that you can play very solid and that’s what I’ve been trying to do,’’ Gordon said. ``I know that I’m a very good basketball player and when I play solid I know I can surprise even myself.’’
ETC: The Magic’s home-opener at the Amway Center is Thursday night against the Washington Wizards. Tickets remain for both that game and Saturday’s home game against the Toronto Raptors and the Magic are making a push to try and sell out both games. … It might feel like some sort of cruel joke after what they endured last season, but the Magic start the season by playing 16 of their first 23 games on the road. Orlando was just 4-37 away from the Amway Center last season. It didn’t beat a Western Conference team on the road and didn’t win a game west of the Mississippi River all season. Vaughn has stressed to his team all training camp that if it can be better defensively and more consistent at pushing the pace that it can be much more successful on the road. … In an attempt to combat New Orleans’ 7-footers Anthony Davis and Omer Asik, Orlando started its big lineup with Nikola Vucevic at center, Kyle O’Quinn at power forward and Tobias Harris shifted to small forward. For O’Quinn, the promotion to the starting lineup is a continuation from last season when he started the final 19 games and played the best basketball of his career. Said Vaughn: ``Kyle has taken a lot of strides and his ability to play multiple positions helps him. His ability to shoot the basketball, pass the basketball and have some physicality to play (center), it’s been good for him. He’s matured and has grasped playing different positions.’’ … New Orleans coach Monty Williams got a chance to work with Magic forward Tobias Harris this past summer when the Magic forward was picked to the USA Basketball Select Team. Williams, a former Magic player himself, was impressed with Harris’ business-like approach and his ability to score in a variety of ways while practicing against Team USA’s Senior Team. Said Williams: ``He’s a good player. He loves to go left and pull up and he can get to the basket too. He shoots it better than I thought. I didn’t get to see him in Milwaukee but I’ve seen him a lot (in Orlando) because I watch a ton of (the Magic games). He’s got good size and he can shoot the ball.’’