November 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.
Hey everybody!!! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and the holiday was certainly made better by that second-half whipping that the Magic put on the division-rival Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night.
The manner with which Orlando beat Atlanta, outscoring the Hawks 54-25 following a fiery Stan Van Gundy halftime speech, had to have helped the Magic rid themselves of Wednesday’s frustrating 99-98 loss to the Miami Heat.
Since when did forcing Dwyane Wade into an unsightly airball become a bad thing? And it’s a shame that NBA referees weren’t allowed to go to the video monitors for a review of Michael Beasley’s follow-up dunk to check for goaltending.
Well, enough looking back. Let’s look ahead to this week’s mailbag and see what questions the fans have. Dan Savage had the great idea of handing a pair of free tickets for submitting a question, so we’ll pick a winner in the coming days and notify the winner.
Keep those questions coming because you never know when we’ll pass out some freebies again real soon. Away we go with the questions:
QUESTION: Do you think that getting used to Vince Carter dominating the ball is the reason for Rashard Lewis’ slow start? Or do you think it is rust from his suspension? – Jean Freemont
J.D.: I really think that much of Rashard’s struggles so far about not being in the flow and Lewis’ lagging conditioning. He worked out diligently while he was out for those 10 games, but like he said, there’s nothing like being in game shape. Lewis is still saying that his legs feel ``heavy,’’ and you can see how his shot is somewhat flatter than last year. That should change as he gets more games under his belt.
I think there very well could be something to the adjustment going from Turkoglu to Carter. Turk was a better playmaker, but Carter is clearly the better scorer. You could see how that would change things dramatically for Lewis, Mickael Pietrus and even Dwight Howard to a certain extent.
This team is really still learning one another, and all of the injuries and illness early in the season didn’t help things. It might be midseason before you see the chemistry truly clicking.
QUESTION: How much does the team practice? They all have so much stamina and control the ball well, I wanna get that good! – Cuddliesrow@aim.com
J.D.: One of the biggest adjustments for players and coaches who come from college to the NBA is the lack of substantial practice time at the pro level. When you’re playing 82 games and travelling to different cities all the time, it leaves little time for practice. Sometimes, NBA teams can go weeks at a time without a true practice session between games.
On days of games, teams usually have ``shootarounds,’’ which are usually 90-minute walk-through sessions designed to go over the game plan and get players out of the bed. When teams are on back-to-backs, they either go through the game plan in a hotel ballroom or arrive early at the game.
QUESTION: What do you think about J.J. Redick coming back next year? And what should Stan Van Gundy do with Brandon Bass? (I say don’t play him, let him learn to shoot threes, and then unleash him in the playoffs!) – Jrodsheezy@gmail.com
J.D.: Ummmm, Jared. I think I’ll hold off on bringing up that idea to Van Gundy or B-Bass. That might not go over too well with either one of them.
As for the first question, I think J.J. has found a home here and has become an important part of Orlando’s regular rotation. He’s improved his strength, defense and passing dramatically and when he’s aggressively seeking out shots he can really help provide some scoring punch to Orlando’s second unit. I think J.J. wants to be here for a long time, and I know that Van Gundy wants him around backing up Vince Carter at shooting guard.
As for Bass, that’s a tricky one. He’s still going to play against teams with bigger, stronger frontlines. I was actually surprised that Van Gundy didn’t use him in the Miami game because he could have provided some much needed scoring punch to a Magic offense that was spotty throughout that game.
It hurts Bass that he doesn’t have 3-point range, something that Van Gundy prefers with his power forwards because that keeps bigger foes from double-teaming Howard. But what has cut into Bass’ playing time more than anything has been the veteran’s struggles defensively and on the boards. His easiest way to play his way back into the rotation is by rebounding the ball better.
QUESTION: Hey JD, I have two questions that I am hoping you can answer both. Why are the Magic having such a difficult time making free throws? And while the Heat were in town on Wednesday, Wade made a comment on wanting to play with Howard. I know it’s early, but do you think it’s possible to make room to bring Wade to Orlando next year? Carter, Lewis, Howard, Nelson and Wade sounds like an unstoppable FIVE for Orlando next year. Thanks. -- Steven Santiago
J.D.: I think I’d hold off on buying that blue D-Wade jersey for a few months. Wade did indeed say that he’d love to play with Dwight Howard because he knows how much easier life is with a dominant big man on the low block. And Wade’s comments were consistent with what Howard has always said. Of all his NBA friends – of which include Toronto’s Chris Bosh and Utah’s Carlos Boozer – it is Wade that Howard has said he’d most love to play with.
The two undoubtedly would be a dynamic duo – think multiple championships for the Magic – but there’s such a remote possibility that it would ever happen. Because Miami would never execute a sign-and-trade deal with the rival Magic, Wade would have to come to Orlando via a mid-level contract. And if he were to accept some $50 million less he’d be the first athlete in the history of sports to do so. Like I said, it’s extremely remote.
QUESTION: Does Coach Van Gundy think that the refs are picking on Dwight or Dwight needs to learn control? This might take a little more work since he can’t publicly complain about calls. -- Erick Brookins, Titusville
J.D.: Van Gundy has been quite vocal that he thinks elite wing players and elite centers are officiated differently. Whereas wing players aren’t allowed to be touched on drives to the hoop, Howard often incurs pushes, whacks and bumps on the low post. Those rules won’t be changing any time soon, and Van Gundy said that it’s up to Howard to make the adjustments.
Howard has been extremely frustrated with the way he’s been called so far, so much so that it has sapped some of his aggressiveness and happy-go-lucky mentality. But he’s a smart player and a dominant player and eventually he’ll figure out that he can’t challenge every drive to the rim and can’t back down foes under the basket. You just win that a first-team All-NBA pick and the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year would get the benefit of doubt when it comes to the whistle a little more often.
Well, that’s all we’ve got time for this week. Thanks everyone for submitting the questions. Keep them coming and let’s overflow next week’s mailbag with more questions. Take care. -- JD
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.
