Denton: Van Gundy Deals With Injuries
By John Denton
November 17, 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 – It would be one thing if the Orlando Magic had simply been hit with a rash of injuries, but it’s how this combination of injury, illness and suspension has piled up like cars in a freeway accident that has most frustrated coach Stan Van Gundy.
The latest bit of tough luck came on Tuesday when the Magic found out that starting point guard Jameer Nelson needs surgery to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. Nelson, an all-star last season, is expected to have surgery on Wednesday and will miss four to six weeks.
Nelson’s injury came a day after Orlando had just gotten all-star forward Rashard Lewis back from a suspension. So 11 games into the season the Magic have had their projected starting lineup of Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, Lewis and Nelson together on the floor just one time.
Shockingly, nine of the Magic’s 13 players have missed at least one game because of an injury, illness, suspension or family issues. And that’s certainly done a number on the Magic’s chemistry and consistency.
``We literally haven’t had two games in a row where we’ve had the same people available,’’ said an amazed Van Gundy, whose 8-3 Magic host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. ``It’s different people we have had out and have had available every game.’’
Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Pietrus have missed game time because of the flu, while Nelson and Matt Barnes played with colds because the Magic were already shorthanded. Carter and Ryan Anderson were down with sprained ankles. Adonal Foyle has yet to dress after having arthroscopic knee surgery. Anthony Johnson missed a game because of a death in the family and Lewis was suspended for the first 10 games of the season by the NBA.
The Magic played last Friday without all three of their power forwards, they’ve played the 6-foot-8 Bass at center, they’ve used Barnes at three different positions and they’ve had to experiment with Gortat at power forward.
``We’ve had to find different ways and have guys play a lot of different roles,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It seems like absolutely every problem that could have come up somewhere down the line has been there for us already.’’
Van Gundy said the Magic are well-equipped to handle Nelson’s loss with veterans Jason Williams and Johnson on the roster. When Nelson was lost last February with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, the Magic had only Johnson and GM Otis Smith pulled off a trade for Rafer Alston. That move helped to steady the Magic and ultimately helped the franchise reach the NBA Finals.
No such trade is expected this time around. If Nelson misses four weeks, he will be out for 13 games and if his injury requires six weeks he will be unavailable for 19 games. Van Gundy said while there’s no good time for injuries, he would prefer them to come now rather than down the stretch as the Magic are preparing for the playoffs.
``If Jameer needs the full six weeks, we’ll still have 52 games to play and that will be plenty of time for us to get going again,’’ Van Gundy said. ``We have a different team now, so I’m not sure the experience of being without Jameer last year will help us a lot. But for the returning guys there is probably a confidence level that we can be successful playing without Jameer.’’
Van Gundy said he also can use Carter, a shooting guard, at point guard late in games because he wants the ball in his hands while running pick-and-roll plays. That’s just the position the Magic are in now, Van Gundy said.
``It’s been really strange and we’re just 11 games into the season,’’ Van Gundy said. ``But it is what it is, teams go through these sort of things and you just have to play the games.’’
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 17, 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 – It would be one thing if the Orlando Magic had simply been hit with a rash of injuries, but it’s how this combination of injury, illness and suspension has piled up like cars in a freeway accident that has most frustrated coach Stan Van Gundy.
The latest bit of tough luck came on Tuesday when the Magic found out that starting point guard Jameer Nelson needs surgery to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. Nelson, an all-star last season, is expected to have surgery on Wednesday and will miss four to six weeks.
Nelson’s injury came a day after Orlando had just gotten all-star forward Rashard Lewis back from a suspension. So 11 games into the season the Magic have had their projected starting lineup of Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus, Lewis and Nelson together on the floor just one time.
Shockingly, nine of the Magic’s 13 players have missed at least one game because of an injury, illness, suspension or family issues. And that’s certainly done a number on the Magic’s chemistry and consistency.
``We literally haven’t had two games in a row where we’ve had the same people available,’’ said an amazed Van Gundy, whose 8-3 Magic host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday. ``It’s different people we have had out and have had available every game.’’
Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Pietrus have missed game time because of the flu, while Nelson and Matt Barnes played with colds because the Magic were already shorthanded. Carter and Ryan Anderson were down with sprained ankles. Adonal Foyle has yet to dress after having arthroscopic knee surgery. Anthony Johnson missed a game because of a death in the family and Lewis was suspended for the first 10 games of the season by the NBA.
The Magic played last Friday without all three of their power forwards, they’ve played the 6-foot-8 Bass at center, they’ve used Barnes at three different positions and they’ve had to experiment with Gortat at power forward.
``We’ve had to find different ways and have guys play a lot of different roles,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It seems like absolutely every problem that could have come up somewhere down the line has been there for us already.’’
Van Gundy said the Magic are well-equipped to handle Nelson’s loss with veterans Jason Williams and Johnson on the roster. When Nelson was lost last February with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, the Magic had only Johnson and GM Otis Smith pulled off a trade for Rafer Alston. That move helped to steady the Magic and ultimately helped the franchise reach the NBA Finals.
No such trade is expected this time around. If Nelson misses four weeks, he will be out for 13 games and if his injury requires six weeks he will be unavailable for 19 games. Van Gundy said while there’s no good time for injuries, he would prefer them to come now rather than down the stretch as the Magic are preparing for the playoffs.
``If Jameer needs the full six weeks, we’ll still have 52 games to play and that will be plenty of time for us to get going again,’’ Van Gundy said. ``We have a different team now, so I’m not sure the experience of being without Jameer last year will help us a lot. But for the returning guys there is probably a confidence level that we can be successful playing without Jameer.’’
Van Gundy said he also can use Carter, a shooting guard, at point guard late in games because he wants the ball in his hands while running pick-and-roll plays. That’s just the position the Magic are in now, Van Gundy said.
``It’s been really strange and we’re just 11 games into the season,’’ Van Gundy said. ``But it is what it is, teams go through these sort of things and you just have to play the games.’’
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.
