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By John DentonFeb. 23, 2016
PHILADELPHIA – As Mario Hezonja’s production and precision have risen of late, so too has the amount of playing time that the blossoming Orlando Magic rookie guard has received.
But when he played just nine minutes in Sunday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers – and never got back into the game in the second half – some had to be wondering as to why there was a sudden reduction in Hezonja’s minutes.
Sticking to the same message that he’s had all season, Magic coach Scott Skiles said he would be doing Hezonja a disservice by playing him without holding him accountable for his errors while on the floor. Hezonja was barely out of Sunday’s game before Skiles let him know about his missteps.
``Mario checked in, took a shot fading out of bounds with 4.5 seconds left on the shot clock, he let (C.J.) Miles go by him twice and score and when they were in the penalty he fouled Solomon Hill when he wasn’t supposed to let him go right,’’ Skiles said. ``We keep trying to impress upon him – and all of our guys – when you come in off the bench you’ve got to be ready to go. You can’t come in and make one, two, three, four and five mistakes and think you are going to be able to stay in (the game). It just doesn’t happen that way.’’
Sunday’s slip-up was the exception to the rule of late for the 20-year-old Hezonja, who has made great progress since being the No. 5 pick in last June’s NBA Draft by the Magic. In the nine games prior to Sunday, Hezonja had played an average of 22.6 minutes a night and scored 9.2 points per game. He had a career-best 17 in a win against Boston, and he followed it up with 16, 14 and 12-point efforts.
Skiles said it is important with first-year players such as Hezonja to try and point out errors right away so that they can be teaching moments. As such, he said that he, ``followed (Hezonja) right to the sideline and I said, `How can I play you in the game?’ I went through all four things that had just happened and then I asked him.
``He understands and he’s had a lot of really good moments lately. It’s not likely I have any fear of putting him in the game or a lack of trust with him,’’ Skiles continues. ``Not to oversimplify it, but I’m trying to bring him up right. From my own personal experience, I’ve never seen it work where you just throw young guys out there and they play no matter (how many mistakes) and they’re just magically just going to become great pro players. There are a lot of guys who come in already great. But if there are guys who are trying to develop, there has to be some level of accountability. That doesn’t mean you’re yanking guys in and out of the game, but there has to be some level of accountability.’’
AIR GORDON: In the first two games since he captured the attention of the basketball world with his high-flying exploits in the Slam Dunk Contest, Aaron Gordon has heard a much louder ovation from Magic fans at the Amway Center. Most all of those fans also were waving some of the 30,000 posters given away to commemorate Gordon repeatedly leaping over the Magic mascot, Stuff, for one jaw-dropping dunk after another.
Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia was Gordon’s first on the road since the dunk contest. The 20-year-old forward is eager to see the reaction that he gets from opposing fans following a stunning performance that landed him a controversial runner-up finish in the dunk contest. Gordon, who said he’s yet to decide whether he will compete again next season, pushed eventual champion Zach Lavine to two extra dunks after being tied following the first four stuffs.
In the days leading up to the event, ``Air’’ Gordon said that Vince Carter’s 360-degree windmill jam in 2000 was one of his favorites of all time. When told on Tuesday that Carter proclaimed this year’s event to be one of the greatest dunk contests of all-time, Gordon said: ``That’s huge coming from Vince. If I would have had two more (dunks) prepared, it would have been an even better show than it was.’’
Other than picking up an extra 150,000 followers on the social media site Instagram, Gordon said life hasn’t changed too much since his stunning performance in the dunk contest. And if he does, he said he’ll keep everything in stride as best he can.
``I’m much more comfortable now because we’ve played so many games and I’ve been in the NBA for a good amount of time now,’’ said Gordon, who came into Sunday’s game averaging 9.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.08 steals in his 13 starts. ``I just feel comfortable with my surroundings.’’
TWO-WAY PLAYER: Over the course of this season, Evan Fournier has proven himself to be one of the Magic’s most versatile and productive offensive players. Not only has he started games at shooting guard and small forward, but he’s third on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game. Including Sunday’s 23-point effort against Indiana, he’s led the team in scoring 10 times and he’s scored 20-or-more points 12 times.
But Fournier has also shown his grit as a defender this season, having some success against some of the NBA’s best scorers. Fournier frustrated All-Stars James Harden and Jimmy Butler early in the season and he’s also had good defensive nights against Joe Johnson, Andrew Wiggins and Jae Crowder.
Quite possibly Fournier’s finest defensive effort of the season came on Sunday when he held Indiana superstar Paul George to seven-of-19 shooting. George finished with 20 points, but 15 of those came in the third quarter alone. George had just one field goal in the game’s final 12 minutes, allowing Orlando to stay within striking distance.
``That’s nice to be able to compete against the best,’’ Fournier said of the faith that the Magic coaching staff in him asking him to check George. ``That’s definitely a challenge that you have to embrace, not be scared about it and give 100 percent. Some of the guys, you just aren’t going to be able to stop them. I did a pretty good job of Paul George, but after watching the videos he just missed a lot of shots too. I was in front of him, but some nights he is going to make those and some nights he’s going to miss.’’