Denton: Magic-Pistons Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
November 6, 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 NBA’s deepest roster top to bottom could very well reside in Orlando, but these days that depth and bevy of weapons is being severely put to the test.
With Vince Carter dressed in a cream-colored jacket and out injured, Rashard Lewis still suspended, Anthony Johnson away tending to a family matter and Ryan Anderson resting a sprained ankle, the Magic had just eight players available for much of Friday’s second half against the Detroit Pistons.
Orlando stormed out of the gates with some hot early shooting and built a 19-point bulge, but then had to hold on down the stretch for a somewhat tense 110-103 defeat of the Pistons at soldout Amway Arena.
``I think we did a lot of fouling and we have to learn how to move our feet better defensively,’’ said Magic star Dwight Howard, who scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. ``We’re short a few guys, but we have to figure out a way to stay on the floor.
``We have to try to be great every night, but some nights are going to be ugly games,’’ Howard continued. ``The fourth quarter of this one was pretty ugly, but we still got a good win.’’ Eight was enough for an Orlando team that has yet to have its full complement of weapons this season.
Orlando had to weather a scoring storm from Detroit power forward Charlie Villanueva, whom the Pistons signed to a five-year, $35 million free-agent contract over the summer.
Villanueva had just six points through three quarters, but he proceeded to make his first eight shots of the fourth period. His 18 quick points got the Pistons to within 96-90, but Orlando followed up Villanueva’s first miss of the period with a clutch Matt Barnes shot that sealed the victory.
Orlando exacted a bit of revenge for last Tuesday’s bizarre 85-80 loss to the Pistons in Detroit. Coming into Friday, Orlando had lost 20 of the past 25 regular-season games to the Pistons, but the Magic put that streak to rest with its torrid start.
Here’s an inside look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the Magic’s fifth win in six tries this season:
THE GOOD
---- The Magic were locked and loaded for this game after riding a clunker out of the Motor City late Tuesday night. That focus was apparent in a spectacular first quarter when the Magic made their first five 3-pointers, shot a scorching 73.7 percent and led by 17 points.
``We started good, but we’ve got to learn how to put our foot on people’s neck and twist it,’’ said Magic forward Brandon Bass, who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. ``We can’t let a team like this get confidence against us.’’
---- Howard was very good at every phase of the game Friday night – even though he fouled out for a second time this season. As impressive as his 22 points and 12 rebounds were, he had other equally impressive moments.
Howard passed for three assists, the final one a layup to Matt Barnes (18 points, nine rebounds and three assists) for a game-sealing bucket. Howard also had two blocked shots, the first one giving him 825 for his career to make him the Magic’s all-time leader in that category.
Completing his night was his eight of nine shooting from the free throw line. Over the last four games, Howard has made 33 of 41 free throws and he’s boosted his percentage to 69 percent – close to his stated goal of 70 percent for the season.
On the blocks record, Howard said: ``It’s cool, but I’ve gotta get some more blocks so that nobody can ever come close to that record.’’
---- Villanueva showed why Detroit GM Joe Dumars believed in him so much, putting on an offensive display to keep the Pistons within striking range. He scored 28 points, 22 of them coming in the fourth period.
THE BAD
---- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was in rare form after the game, ripping into his players for being content with simply winning. This is part of what makes Van Gundy a great coach – he refuses to allow the Magic to become content or complacent.
On a night when there was plenty to be proud of offensively with the 110 points from the available eight players, Van Gundy chided his team for its poor effort defensively and its tendency to foul too much. He also pointed to the Boston Celtics as the gold standard in the East because of their willingness to defend. (Little did he know that the Celtics were beaten Friday night by the Phoenix Suns).
``Defensively, I’d like to see us make a more consistent effort. We’re not doing it or we can’t do it,’’ Van Gundy said. ``Right now, my biggest question is whether or not we’re serious about being a great team. Right now, we look pretty content to cruise along and do enough to hang on and win an early regular-season game and I’m just not happy with that.’’
---- Adding to the Magic’s depth woes was the fact that they were also deep into foul trouble. Four players had at least four fouls with Howard fouling out and J.J. Redick being in and out of the game with five fouls.
That, also, made Van Gundy furious.
``We just foul, foul, foul and it’s not changing,’’ he said.
THE UGLY
---- Anderson had a tremendous start to the game, making four of his first five shots and two 3-pointers for 11 first-quarter points.
But Anderson’s night ended early when he rolled his right ankle in the third period. He limped out of the game, barely able to put any pressure on his ankle. His availability for Sunday’s game in Oklahoma City is very much in doubt. Brandon Bass, one of Orlando’s key summer acquisitions, would start at power forward if Anderson is unavailable to play.
---- Carter once again couldn’t play because of his sprained left ankle, but he did work out hard Friday morning at the shootaround.
Johnson left the team following a death in the family, but is expected to rejoin the Magic in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Lewis missed the sixth game of his 10-game suspension. He’ll be back Nov. 16 for a home game against the Charlotte Bobcats.
Van Gundy, for one, can’t wait to get his full team back on the floor. Regardless of how many healthy bodies the Magic have, Van Gundy expects the team to play with more fire defensively.
``We’re not deep when we don’t have any (available) people,’’ he said. ``You can say we’re deep, but we ended the game with eight guys and that’s not deep. We will have AJ back on Sunday, Vince is a maybe, we don’t know about Ryan and I don’t know what we’ll have.
``But that’s not the issue. We have no control over that. We can play better and defend better with eight guys, we just can. That’s the issue with me. I have no control over guys getting hurt. We do have control over the foul trouble. We have a lot of work to do.’’
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 6, 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 NBA’s deepest roster top to bottom could very well reside in Orlando, but these days that depth and bevy of weapons is being severely put to the test.
With Vince Carter dressed in a cream-colored jacket and out injured, Rashard Lewis still suspended, Anthony Johnson away tending to a family matter and Ryan Anderson resting a sprained ankle, the Magic had just eight players available for much of Friday’s second half against the Detroit Pistons.
Orlando stormed out of the gates with some hot early shooting and built a 19-point bulge, but then had to hold on down the stretch for a somewhat tense 110-103 defeat of the Pistons at soldout Amway Arena.
``I think we did a lot of fouling and we have to learn how to move our feet better defensively,’’ said Magic star Dwight Howard, who scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. ``We’re short a few guys, but we have to figure out a way to stay on the floor.
``We have to try to be great every night, but some nights are going to be ugly games,’’ Howard continued. ``The fourth quarter of this one was pretty ugly, but we still got a good win.’’ Eight was enough for an Orlando team that has yet to have its full complement of weapons this season.
Orlando had to weather a scoring storm from Detroit power forward Charlie Villanueva, whom the Pistons signed to a five-year, $35 million free-agent contract over the summer.
Villanueva had just six points through three quarters, but he proceeded to make his first eight shots of the fourth period. His 18 quick points got the Pistons to within 96-90, but Orlando followed up Villanueva’s first miss of the period with a clutch Matt Barnes shot that sealed the victory.
Orlando exacted a bit of revenge for last Tuesday’s bizarre 85-80 loss to the Pistons in Detroit. Coming into Friday, Orlando had lost 20 of the past 25 regular-season games to the Pistons, but the Magic put that streak to rest with its torrid start.
Here’s an inside look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the Magic’s fifth win in six tries this season:
THE GOOD
---- The Magic were locked and loaded for this game after riding a clunker out of the Motor City late Tuesday night. That focus was apparent in a spectacular first quarter when the Magic made their first five 3-pointers, shot a scorching 73.7 percent and led by 17 points.
``We started good, but we’ve got to learn how to put our foot on people’s neck and twist it,’’ said Magic forward Brandon Bass, who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. ``We can’t let a team like this get confidence against us.’’
---- Howard was very good at every phase of the game Friday night – even though he fouled out for a second time this season. As impressive as his 22 points and 12 rebounds were, he had other equally impressive moments.
Howard passed for three assists, the final one a layup to Matt Barnes (18 points, nine rebounds and three assists) for a game-sealing bucket. Howard also had two blocked shots, the first one giving him 825 for his career to make him the Magic’s all-time leader in that category.
Completing his night was his eight of nine shooting from the free throw line. Over the last four games, Howard has made 33 of 41 free throws and he’s boosted his percentage to 69 percent – close to his stated goal of 70 percent for the season.
On the blocks record, Howard said: ``It’s cool, but I’ve gotta get some more blocks so that nobody can ever come close to that record.’’
---- Villanueva showed why Detroit GM Joe Dumars believed in him so much, putting on an offensive display to keep the Pistons within striking range. He scored 28 points, 22 of them coming in the fourth period.
THE BAD
---- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was in rare form after the game, ripping into his players for being content with simply winning. This is part of what makes Van Gundy a great coach – he refuses to allow the Magic to become content or complacent.
On a night when there was plenty to be proud of offensively with the 110 points from the available eight players, Van Gundy chided his team for its poor effort defensively and its tendency to foul too much. He also pointed to the Boston Celtics as the gold standard in the East because of their willingness to defend. (Little did he know that the Celtics were beaten Friday night by the Phoenix Suns).
``Defensively, I’d like to see us make a more consistent effort. We’re not doing it or we can’t do it,’’ Van Gundy said. ``Right now, my biggest question is whether or not we’re serious about being a great team. Right now, we look pretty content to cruise along and do enough to hang on and win an early regular-season game and I’m just not happy with that.’’
---- Adding to the Magic’s depth woes was the fact that they were also deep into foul trouble. Four players had at least four fouls with Howard fouling out and J.J. Redick being in and out of the game with five fouls.
That, also, made Van Gundy furious.
``We just foul, foul, foul and it’s not changing,’’ he said.
THE UGLY
---- Anderson had a tremendous start to the game, making four of his first five shots and two 3-pointers for 11 first-quarter points.
But Anderson’s night ended early when he rolled his right ankle in the third period. He limped out of the game, barely able to put any pressure on his ankle. His availability for Sunday’s game in Oklahoma City is very much in doubt. Brandon Bass, one of Orlando’s key summer acquisitions, would start at power forward if Anderson is unavailable to play.
---- Carter once again couldn’t play because of his sprained left ankle, but he did work out hard Friday morning at the shootaround.
Johnson left the team following a death in the family, but is expected to rejoin the Magic in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Lewis missed the sixth game of his 10-game suspension. He’ll be back Nov. 16 for a home game against the Charlotte Bobcats.
Van Gundy, for one, can’t wait to get his full team back on the floor. Regardless of how many healthy bodies the Magic have, Van Gundy expects the team to play with more fire defensively.
``We’re not deep when we don’t have any (available) people,’’ he said. ``You can say we’re deep, but we ended the game with eight guys and that’s not deep. We will have AJ back on Sunday, Vince is a maybe, we don’t know about Ryan and I don’t know what we’ll have.
``But that’s not the issue. We have no control over that. We can play better and defend better with eight guys, we just can. That’s the issue with me. I have no control over guys getting hurt. We do have control over the foul trouble. We have a lot of work to do.’’
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.
