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Vaughn Provides Big Assist to Gordon

Dan Savage
Director of Digital News

By John Denton

Dec. 17, 2014

BOSTON – With several teams around the NBA this past summer, there was a great interest to see if shooting guard Ben Gordon – a two-time 20-point-a game guard and a sixth man long-considered to be the NBA’s best scorer off the bench – had anything left in the tank.

So what better way for the Orlando Magic to find out if Gordon still had it – more importantly, if he still had that beautiful, high-arching jump shot that is almost indefensible even by players much taller than him – than to put him through a workout with head coach Jacque Vaughn actually down on the floor with him?

So during Gordon’s July audition with the Magic there was Vaughn – a former point guard in the NBA for 12 seasons – down on the floor and zipping passes to the shooting guard on various places all over the floor. Gordon came to the workout extremely prepared, having put in hours of shooting practice beforehand. But he is still convinced to this day that Vaughn’s crisp passes helped him put on a dazzling shooting performance that landed him a two-year contract with the Magic.

``Jacque had some great passes and he still has the ability to put the ball right on a dime,’’ Gordon recalled with a chuckle. ``It was real easy to shoot the ball in that workout with those passes. I definitely remember that day. The way he was zipping the ball to me, that’s one of the reasons that I had such a good workout.’’

Gordon, 31, turned out to be a tremendous find for the Magic, a team that was searching for some veteran moxie and scoring off the bench. Gordon has brought both of those elements to the Magic (10-17), who play the Celtics (8-14) tonight at the TD Garden at 7:30 p.m.

Gordon is coming off back-to-back games of 16 and 12 points, games where he drilled a combined five 3-pointers and made 10 of his 15 shots. He’s averaged 7.8 points on a stellar 47.9 percent shooting for the season and he’s been even better over his last 10 games (9.7 points per game and 56.7 percent shooting).

Gordon’s play thus far has run counter to his dismal final two seasons in Detroit and his disappointed run in Charlotte. He was so disenchanted with his lack of role and consistent playing time with the then-Bobcats that he was waived last winter following the NBA trade deadline.

Gordon’s resurgence in Orlando has allowed him to show the rest of the basketball world that he can still be a factor coming off the bench. The 2005 Sixth Man of the Year winner feels vindicated somewhat in that he’s proven that he can still bring instant offense to a team with the way he’s been able to play for the Magic so far this season.

``Just not being able to play a lot (the last few seasons), people had a tendency to write me off and speak negatively about me for reasons that I don’t know,’’ Gordon said. ``During those times I was still always working hard and working on my craft. Now, I’m getting the chance to play and show what I can do and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’m going to continue to work hard and help us win games.’’

The 6-foot-3 guard has been a big reason why the Magic have won more games this season. In Orlando’s 10 wins, Gordon has cracked double figures in scoring in five of them. He’s played better in wins (8.9 ppg. and 59.1 percent shooting) than losses (7.3 ppg. and 43 percent shooting), showing that he can still impact a team in a big way with his ability to generate instant offense off the bench.

``He’s showing everybody that he can go out there and get buckets real fast,’’ Magic forward Tobias Harris said. ``He’s been a spark for us off the bench by giving us production. He’s taken that role to the next level. When Ben is making shots and getting our bench going that just gives us another added weapon.’’

Gordon’s influence as a veteran leader has spread to players like Harris, who has greatly improved his 3-point shooting by working out before and after practice with Gordon to improve the consistency of his form. Harris entered this season having never shot better than 33 percent from beyond the 3-point line, yet he’s made 37.9 percent of those shots this season.

Gordon also spoke up following Monday’s 95-82 loss in Toronto – a game where Orlando led by eight points at halftime, but came unglued in a 13-point third quarter. Gordon was critical of the team’s happy-go-lucky attitude during that halftime session, stressing that one area of growth needed for the young Magic is more seriousness throughout games so that there are no lapses. Gordon said he mentioned that topic to several of his younger teammates following the game.

``I came in (Monday) night and said at halftime that we tend to get a little bit comfortable at halftime. It’s understandable because we were playing good and guys were feeling good, but I’ve tried to tell them there’s another 24 minutes. This year, we’ve had a lot of our struggles in the third quarter. I’ll just continue to remind guys to stay focused and that the game is 48 minutes and not 24. They have good intentions, but with us having a younger team I think they don’t fully grasp the focus that we have to have the entire game. That’s where we need to continue to grow.’’

Gordon was excited entering this season because he and Vaughn sat down and clearly defined what his role would be this season. Unlike his final two seasons in Detroit and throughout much of his time in Charlotte, Gordon knows when he’ll be entering games off the bench and what he’s being asked to do.

The Magic want him to anchor the scoring on the second unit and he’s been given the green light to attack offensively. To show that, Gordon is getting up a shot every 2.6 minutes he’s in games. To put that in perspective, center Nikola Vucevic gets up a shot every 2.3 minutes, while Harris attempts a shot every 2.4 seconds. Victor Oladipo is at 2.7 minutes, while Evan Fournier gets an attempt every 2.8 minutes and it’s a shot every 4.7 minutes for starting power forward Channing Frye.

Gordon pointed out recently that his best years in the NBA came when he’s played for Scott Skiles, Vinny Del Negro and Vaughn – all former NBA players. Gordon feels that those coaches have a better understanding of how important it is to define roles for players. Vaughn has done that for Gordon, and he’s known since that first workout back in July that Gordon could provide a big-time spark for the Magic this season.

``His shooting had never gone away from him. From my first workout with him that I put him through, it was seeing him make shots and he can still do that,’’ Vaughn said. ``And there’s something to us believing in a guy. When he feels wanted, there’s something to that.

``Hopefully he’s found some comfort with us and some confidence with us,’’ Vaughn added. ``We said that we believed in him from the beginning and we’ve shown that and he’s responded with his play.’’

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.