Denton: Magic-Bobcats Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
November 10, 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.
Vince Carter was out of the game, then he was in the game and then he was coming off the bench for just the eighth time in his NBA career.
When Carter did play Tuesday night in Charlotte, he was very good for an Orlando Magic team that needed just the lift the eight-time all-star provided.
Back from a sprained ankle that had kept him out of the past three games and four of the previous five, Carter shot the ball well from the perimeter and sparked Orlando to a 93-81 defeat of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Carter, Orlando’s key acquisition in the offseason, hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in 25 minutes as the Magic improved to 6-2 overall. Carter’s return helped the Magic bounce back from a humiliating 102-74 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
Carter wasn’t expected to play after experiencing pain in his ankle in Monday’s workout in Charlotte. But he decided to play after a strong workout before the game, and he was given clearance by athletic trainer Tom Smith. But it was Carter’s decision to come off the bench as J.J. Redick remained in the starting lineup.
``(Carter) didn’t go through the walk-through. And I got a text from Tom in the afternoon that said to make it official that Vince is out,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``Then, I got here to the arena and I was doing the (dry-erase) board and Vince said he was going to go give it a shot and see how he felt. He felt better and I was totally surprised. He made the decision not to start. I was going to start him. He wasn’t comfortable doing that having missed practice (on Monday), so that’s why he came off the bench. That wasn’t my decision.’’
Barring any lingering pain in the ankle, Carter will be in the starting lineup tonight when the Magic host the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) in a rematch of last spring’s Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland re-tooled the roster that was routed by Orlando in six games, adding Shaquille O’Neal to pair with LeBron James.
Wednesday’s game is sure attract plenty of national attention with ESPN televising the game and several national publications such as Sports Illustrated and The New York Times expected to be on hand at Amway Arena. But before we move full bore into the showdown against the Cavs, let’s look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Tuesday’s defeat of Charlotte:
THE GOOD
---- The Magic were determined to make up for Sunday’s loss and were focused and ready from the start Tuesday night. With more shots falling and its defense tighter, Orlando had a 12-point after one quarter and pushed it to 22 in the second quarter with Carter coming in off the bench.
Clearly, this was a different team than the one that stumbled through the 28-point loss two nights earlier.
``Coming off the devastating loss we had the other day in Oklahoma City we wanted to come out with a little more energy,’’ Magic point guard Jameer Nelson said. ``We did in the first quarter and the second quarter, but we kind of let down in the second half.’’
---- Give Carter credit for not wanting to mess up the Magic’s mojo after being unable to make it though practice on Monday and skipping Tuesday morning’s shootaround to get treatment on his ankle.
Said Carter: ``I wasn’t in shootaround. I didn’t want to disrupt what was going on, especially since I wasn’t out there.’’
But he made his presence felt not long after getting into the game, hitting a 3-pointer just two minutes after coming into the game. Carter had three 3-pointers in the second period. And after Charlotte got within 79-71 by the start of the fourth period, Carter pumped in consecutive jumpers and found Marcin Gortat for a three-point play off a pick-and-roll play.
``If we want to be the team that people are talking about and perceive us to be, we have to go out there and prove it,’’ Carter said. ``It’s not just going to happen.’’
---- Brandon Bass, another of the Magic’s top free-agent signings over the summer, was visibly upset after a poor performance on Sunday night. Bass was determined to be more aggressive this time and actively seek out shots.
He had 12 of Orlando’s first 19 points by making all six of his jump shots. Bass calmly took passes from Howard and buried mid-range jumpers when the Bobcats paid too much attention on the low post.
Bass didn’t play much in the second half as the Bobcats went to a smaller lineup with Boris Diaw at power forward. But Bass was instrumental in helping the Magic get off to a strong start.
``He played a really good first quarter. That was key to helping us get off to a good start,’’ Van Gundy said of Bass. ``They were trying to load up on Dwight and he got a lot of shots right there at the free throw line and elbow and some around the basket. It was a very good first quarter.’’
---- Howard didn’t dominate with his scoring, but he was very effective in other ways Tuesday as the Magic beat Charlotte for the eighth time in the past nine tries.
He finished with six assists – one short of his career high of seven. He repeatedly found Bass for open shots, hit Mickeal Pietrus (12 points) and Matt Barnes (nine points) for slashing layups and found Nelson (nine points) and Redick (eight points) for wide-open 3-pointers.
THE BAD
---- Up 16 points at the half, Orlando’s ball movement ground to a halt in the third quarter and the Bobcats got back in the game. Some slippage in the Magic’s pick-and-roll defense allowed Raymond Felton to repeatedly get into the lane and torch the Magic for 12 third-quarter points.
---- Charlotte traded Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler in the offseason to save money and to find a defensive player who could contain Howard inside. After all, Dwight torched the Bobcats for 45 points, 19 rebounds and eight blocks last fall in Orlando.
But Chandler was no match for Howard in this game in large part because he couldn’t stay on the floor. He picked up two fouls in the first 3:13 of the game and had to give way to Nazr Mohammed. And in the third quarter, Chandler was hit with a technical foul after pushing Howard in the back on a tip-in try.
Chandler played just 11 minutes, compiling just two points, three rebounds and one block to go with his five fouls.
THE UGLY
---- Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace was at his attacking best, routinely getting to the rim. The problem, however, was that Wallace missed three dunks. On the final one, he fell hard to the floor, living up to his nickname of ``Crash.’’
Wallace came into the game leading the NBA by averaging 13.8 rebounds a game, but he managed just nine rebounds on this night. Howard, the youngest rebounding champion in league history and the NBA’s leader each of the past two seasons, finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
---- Gerald Henderson’s 3-pointer that was wedged between the rim and the backboard was a fitting end to the night for the offensively challenged Bobcats. They are the NBA’s lowest-scoring, worst-shooting team and Tuesday’s 81-point effort won’t help matters. Charlotte missed 15 of 17 3-pointer, including Henderson’s hideous line-drive of a shot.
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 DentonNovember 10, 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.
Vince Carter was out of the game, then he was in the game and then he was coming off the bench for just the eighth time in his NBA career.
When Carter did play Tuesday night in Charlotte, he was very good for an Orlando Magic team that needed just the lift the eight-time all-star provided.
Back from a sprained ankle that had kept him out of the past three games and four of the previous five, Carter shot the ball well from the perimeter and sparked Orlando to a 93-81 defeat of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Carter, Orlando’s key acquisition in the offseason, hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points in 25 minutes as the Magic improved to 6-2 overall. Carter’s return helped the Magic bounce back from a humiliating 102-74 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night.
Carter wasn’t expected to play after experiencing pain in his ankle in Monday’s workout in Charlotte. But he decided to play after a strong workout before the game, and he was given clearance by athletic trainer Tom Smith. But it was Carter’s decision to come off the bench as J.J. Redick remained in the starting lineup.
``(Carter) didn’t go through the walk-through. And I got a text from Tom in the afternoon that said to make it official that Vince is out,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``Then, I got here to the arena and I was doing the (dry-erase) board and Vince said he was going to go give it a shot and see how he felt. He felt better and I was totally surprised. He made the decision not to start. I was going to start him. He wasn’t comfortable doing that having missed practice (on Monday), so that’s why he came off the bench. That wasn’t my decision.’’
Barring any lingering pain in the ankle, Carter will be in the starting lineup tonight when the Magic host the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) in a rematch of last spring’s Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland re-tooled the roster that was routed by Orlando in six games, adding Shaquille O’Neal to pair with LeBron James.
Wednesday’s game is sure attract plenty of national attention with ESPN televising the game and several national publications such as Sports Illustrated and The New York Times expected to be on hand at Amway Arena. But before we move full bore into the showdown against the Cavs, let’s look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Tuesday’s defeat of Charlotte:
THE GOOD
---- The Magic were determined to make up for Sunday’s loss and were focused and ready from the start Tuesday night. With more shots falling and its defense tighter, Orlando had a 12-point after one quarter and pushed it to 22 in the second quarter with Carter coming in off the bench.
Clearly, this was a different team than the one that stumbled through the 28-point loss two nights earlier.
``Coming off the devastating loss we had the other day in Oklahoma City we wanted to come out with a little more energy,’’ Magic point guard Jameer Nelson said. ``We did in the first quarter and the second quarter, but we kind of let down in the second half.’’
---- Give Carter credit for not wanting to mess up the Magic’s mojo after being unable to make it though practice on Monday and skipping Tuesday morning’s shootaround to get treatment on his ankle.
Said Carter: ``I wasn’t in shootaround. I didn’t want to disrupt what was going on, especially since I wasn’t out there.’’
But he made his presence felt not long after getting into the game, hitting a 3-pointer just two minutes after coming into the game. Carter had three 3-pointers in the second period. And after Charlotte got within 79-71 by the start of the fourth period, Carter pumped in consecutive jumpers and found Marcin Gortat for a three-point play off a pick-and-roll play.
``If we want to be the team that people are talking about and perceive us to be, we have to go out there and prove it,’’ Carter said. ``It’s not just going to happen.’’
---- Brandon Bass, another of the Magic’s top free-agent signings over the summer, was visibly upset after a poor performance on Sunday night. Bass was determined to be more aggressive this time and actively seek out shots.
He had 12 of Orlando’s first 19 points by making all six of his jump shots. Bass calmly took passes from Howard and buried mid-range jumpers when the Bobcats paid too much attention on the low post.
Bass didn’t play much in the second half as the Bobcats went to a smaller lineup with Boris Diaw at power forward. But Bass was instrumental in helping the Magic get off to a strong start.
``He played a really good first quarter. That was key to helping us get off to a good start,’’ Van Gundy said of Bass. ``They were trying to load up on Dwight and he got a lot of shots right there at the free throw line and elbow and some around the basket. It was a very good first quarter.’’
---- Howard didn’t dominate with his scoring, but he was very effective in other ways Tuesday as the Magic beat Charlotte for the eighth time in the past nine tries.
He finished with six assists – one short of his career high of seven. He repeatedly found Bass for open shots, hit Mickeal Pietrus (12 points) and Matt Barnes (nine points) for slashing layups and found Nelson (nine points) and Redick (eight points) for wide-open 3-pointers.
THE BAD
---- Up 16 points at the half, Orlando’s ball movement ground to a halt in the third quarter and the Bobcats got back in the game. Some slippage in the Magic’s pick-and-roll defense allowed Raymond Felton to repeatedly get into the lane and torch the Magic for 12 third-quarter points.
---- Charlotte traded Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler in the offseason to save money and to find a defensive player who could contain Howard inside. After all, Dwight torched the Bobcats for 45 points, 19 rebounds and eight blocks last fall in Orlando.
But Chandler was no match for Howard in this game in large part because he couldn’t stay on the floor. He picked up two fouls in the first 3:13 of the game and had to give way to Nazr Mohammed. And in the third quarter, Chandler was hit with a technical foul after pushing Howard in the back on a tip-in try.
Chandler played just 11 minutes, compiling just two points, three rebounds and one block to go with his five fouls.
THE UGLY
---- Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace was at his attacking best, routinely getting to the rim. The problem, however, was that Wallace missed three dunks. On the final one, he fell hard to the floor, living up to his nickname of ``Crash.’’
Wallace came into the game leading the NBA by averaging 13.8 rebounds a game, but he managed just nine rebounds on this night. Howard, the youngest rebounding champion in league history and the NBA’s leader each of the past two seasons, finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.
---- Gerald Henderson’s 3-pointer that was wedged between the rim and the backboard was a fitting end to the night for the offensively challenged Bobcats. They are the NBA’s lowest-scoring, worst-shooting team and Tuesday’s 81-point effort won’t help matters. Charlotte missed 15 of 17 3-pointer, including Henderson’s hideous line-drive of a shot.
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.
