My "Who they should play like" Magic Breakdown

[InsideoutO 0]

For fun i've been thinking about with the guys we currently have what will be the best rotation and what do specific players need to do with their game to keep us in the championship hunt Ill start with PG and work my way to C. They guys I think are on the right track I will write little to nothing about;

 

PG/Jameer Nelson - Meer is doing what he should be. He is easily our biggest threat off the dribble to penetrate. I used to worry about his assist numbers and court vision but as every season passes I see in our offense his is much more effective drawing fouls on the drive and taking jump shots off picks. I really wish we could pick up a bigger PG to back him up just to see what he can pull off as a 6th man playing off the ball at the 2.

 

SG/J.J. Redick - Yes J.J.... Assuming we match I dont think VC makes it to the all-star break as the starter. J.J. needs to continue to be hungry and have this want to improve that he seems to carry. He needs to model his game after Rip Hamilton and Ray Allen. Before every game he should watch highlights of those two playing whatever defender he will be up against that night and pick which of the two did better against said defender and emulate them to a T. I would love for us to somehow pick up Rip after this last year of his contract at the vet min or on the cheap Just so we could have him mentor J.J. and let them cover each other at practice. We need J.J. to become Rip Hamiltonesk this year and I think it is completely possible. I could see J.J. having a breakout year this year.

 

SF/Rashard Lewis - cut 10-15 pounds and hopefully get alittle speed back. Even at 10 pounds lighter Shard is going to have the strength advantage over most of the other 3's in the league, his speed however might be an issue. I think he needs to work on catching in the mid-range and working inside or outside from there. His main weapon is still gonna have to be his 3 point shot, but in order for us to be successful he will have to put together some type of dribble penetration or mid-range jumper to add to his game. I would love to see him become our leading scorer and go back to the numbers he had his last two years in Seattle.

 

PF/Ryan Anderson - The sooner Gortat gets moved the better off Anderson will be. Anderson has0 the ability to be a traditional 4 and the ability to play stretch 4. I Would love to see Ryan play similar to Rasheed Wallace. He had shown glimpses last year of what could be the perfect 4 in our system. Hopefully dude is hitting the weights hard this off-season. If he could put on 10-15 pound of upper body muscle I think come training camp he would start to see his strength and hopefully realize with his size and touch he has the ability to get low post position against some 4s. He has a shot which makes him capable of putting together a mid-range game. The dream scenerio for me with Ryan Anderson is he starts to rely more on his ball handling advantage over most 4's and ability to get post position and hit midrange and inside jumpers/lay-ups/hooks. If this became his main source of offense but with the ability to step out and hit a 3 whenever he feels the urge I think he could have an awesome year. I think its between Anderson and Redick as far as who has the "break out" year this coming season.

 

C/Dwight Howard -

I really and truly hope D12 understands that not only did the conference just get stronger but it happened right in our division. He had the Olympics to blame for the last few summers. The Olympics are over, last year he seemed to spend some time improving but he also shot a movie and did alot with adidas and gatorade. The same seems to be happening this summer. He spent a week with the dream I think and then jetted off to China, did another movie, a bunch of ads, and alot of other non basketball related things. I hope this is just me not really knowing what the kid is doing to improve his game but I really think he needs to spend more then a week or even a few weeks with Hakeem. Hakeem is Dwights ticket to an offensive game. He has the athletic ability to do all the things Hakeem did with a basketball and I think of all the great bigs Dwight has his best shot of emulating Hakeem. I wouldnt mind him spending some time with the Admiral as well. I think Dwight has gotten as much as he can out of Ewing. I truly dont ever see Dwight having the same type of offensive game as Ewing he just isnt that type of player. He has the speed and part of the finess of Olajuwon matched with the strength of The Admiral. So please Dwight, spend more time with these two guys in the off season. Demand that the Magic bring one of them in as an assistant coach(pref Olajuwon). Just work on your game! We can beat the heat, but its going to take a Dwight who brings more to the offensive side of the floor then you did last year.

 

Ill add the bench later if anyone is interested at all in this thread.

[Nelson3 0]

Not bad thread. Nothing really going on.

[InsideoutO 0]

PF/Brandon Bass - When we got him from Dallas I thought he was going to quickly become the starting 4 with Shard going back to the 3. With his mid-range game and frame Bass has the potential to be THE traditional 4 that gives Dwight the help he needs on the boards and the ability to rotate to Dwights man when Dwight goes for the block as a help defender. He seemed like a soft spoken guy with very little ego. Now however, I am starting to lean toward the dude just being dumb. When he did get time in the playoffs last year he looked completely lost on offense and had no idea what rotations to make on defense.

 

Moving forward to the 10-11 season we have a guy who has all the physical gifts and athletic abilities we need in a guy who can be a key for us off the bench against bigger lineups. Bass of all our bigs can benefit the most from Patrick Ewing. I think his offensive game is best suited to being a smaller Ewing. He really needs Ewing or ANY assistant to take him under their wing and teach him the system. I do still see Brandon Bass as being a very good player for us off the bench as long as someone can get him in tune with the team. Also I would like to see him become an enforcer. When teams are coming hard at Dwight we send Bass in and let him draw a few rough fouls against the opposing bigs that are hammering Dwight. We have to protect our Franchise guy and I think that is something Bass can bring to the table. Imagine if Dwight was a wing player and got hammered like he does?!? If anyone else took some of the hits Dwight takes on a nightly basis they would be out more games then they played every year. So Bandon, beg a coach to take you under their wing, look to Patrick Ewing first. Learn the Magics system and when given the opportunity show everyone why you deserve minutes. Again Gortat being gone will greatly benefit Bass just as much as RA. Bass should see some time at Center I would think depending on match ups. Daniel Orton is only 6'8 granted he has a huge wingspan but he will be our backup center so I can see Bass getting minutes at the 5 as well with Gortat gone.

[Nelson3 0]

quote:

Originally posted by InsideoutO:

PF/Brandon Bass - When we got him from Dallas I thought he was going to quickly become the starting 4 with Shard going back to the 3. With his mid-range game and frame Bass has the potential to be THE traditional 4 that gives Dwight the help he needs on the boards and the ability to rotate to Dwights man when Dwight goes for the block as a help defender. He seemed like a soft spoken guy with very little ego. Now however, I am starting to lean toward the dude just being dumb. When he did get time in the playoffs last year he looked completely lost on offense and had no idea what rotations to make on defense.

 

Moving forward to the 10-11 season we have a guy who has all the physical gifts and athletic abilities we need in a guy who can be a key for us off the bench against bigger lineups. Bass of all our bigs can benefit the most from Patrick Ewing. I think his offensive game is best suited to being a smaller Ewing. He really needs Ewing or ANY assistant to take him under their wing and teach him the system. I do still see Brandon Bass as being a very good player for us off the bench as long as someone can get him in tune with the team. Also I would like to see him become an enforcer. When teams are coming hard at Dwight we send Bass in and let him draw a few rough fouls against the opposing bigs that are hammering Dwight. We have to protect our Franchise guy and I think that is something Bass can bring to the table. Imagine if Dwight was a wing player and got hammered like he does?!? If anyone else took some of the hits Dwight takes on a nightly basis they would be out more games then they played every year. So Bandon, beg a coach to take you under their wing, look to Patrick Ewing first. Learn the Magics system and when given the opportunity show everyone why you deserve minutes. Again Gortat being gone will greatly benefit Bass just as much as RA. Bass should see some time at Center I would think depending on match ups. Daniel Orton is only 6'8 granted he has a huge wingspan but he will be our backup center so I can see Bass getting minutes at the 5 as well with Gortat gone.

Good job. +1

[ninjapj 35]

nice write up..i don't think shard needs to lose any weight though, dudes lean already..

[SolidSn/\ke007 61]

quote:

Originally posted by ninjapj:

nice write up..i don't think shard needs to lose any weight though, dudes lean already..

Agreed plus against Miami we're probably going to have to play some kind of zone...maybe 3-2

[magicfan83 23]

I'm driving the start Anderson bandwagon this offseason. It's pretty lean so far.

[SolidSn/\ke007 61]

quote:

Originally posted by magicfan83:

I'm driving the start Anderson bandwagon this offseason. It's pretty lean so far.

If we make no moves i'm on it...Read somewhere that Ryan has been as RDV lifting weights everyday so at least he's trying to put on some lbs thats what i like to hear...Heard Dwight and Shard trained with Hakeem as well but that was weeks ago who knows what they're doing now

[Stock 3]

The Tan Aquatic With Stewie Zissou !

[Stu Bronsilino 313]

It's funny because i feel the same way about the 4 spot, we have some really good pieces there, but they are just slightly off...ryan anderson and bass write-ups were spot-on.

 

would love it if ryan spent the whole summer hitting the gym, and bass spent the whole summer hitting the effin' books...get him a tutor for crying out loud! he needs some smart high school or college kid with a good basketball IQ with him at all time, quizzing him, with flashcards lol

 

i hope wheneverbass's agent had that meeting with otis and he came out feeling up and that brandon would stay in orlando that otis was basically saying: look man, we want to play him more, but **** he's gotta smarten up!

[MilitaryMagic 0]

Quality thread, thanks for the write-ups InsideoutO.

 

This coming season will be interesting, a transition season. It's up to SVG to make some tweaks to his strategy, as it is apparent the Shard-as-4 strategy requires a better shooting guard than we have had on this team. Not to knock JJ, or even VC, but neither of them present the real threat we need to isolate and score against their defender. Without that threat Shard can't do anything special from the 4 and his advantage as a 3 goes to waste.

 

Like you say in the OP, if we resign JJ both he and Anderson should start. VC is out of the picture IMO. So seeing how much potential those two have will be the biggest key to the season.

 

Think about it - we moved Courtney Lee and now we have a spot for JJ to start (in theory) and a system-fitting PF to start. As a side note, that trade wasn't bad no matter what VC does. It's not like Courtney Lee is lighting it up in Jersey.

[KillingInTheNameOf 63]

Question: How does moving Gortat help Anderson?

 

Jameer: Needs to push the ball & attack basket consistently, end of story.

 

I'm sure Dwight is salivating over the prospect

of Ryan Anderson & JJ Redick in the starting lineup...

 

Take off the blinders. Isn't this the same fan base that mocked LeBron's supporting cast in Cleveland for 2 years & correctly predicted their playoff limitations? The same fan base questioning Miami's superiority over Orlando because Mario Chalmers & Udonis Haslem are currently penciled in to join their 3 franchise players in the starting lineup?

 

But, two players w/blatant matchup problems vs. elite players/teams and zero defensive versatility magically maintain Orlando as a legitimate championship contender?

 

I think you'd have to ignore defense all together as OP did to even begin to think this is realistic.

 

Every weakness that has been exploited by opponents for 3 seasons in the playoffs would be exponentially worse with a starting lineup of Anderson-Lewis-Redick-Nelson. JJ can't stay on the court against the likes of S-Jax & Joe Johnson. Anderson can't play against Boston because he's a liability. Solution, make them starters???

 

This unit is weaker defensively, has less defensive versatility, less ability to create off the bounce, & less athleticism. Promising...