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Do Magic's Big Deals Improve Their Team?

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The key here, Gilbert and Jameer can distribute the ball.

 

Seriously, man. Just stop. You are going to loose this argument if you tell me Orlando will distribute the ball better with Hedo starting than with Arenas. Hedo is a very good distributor for a forward. Arenas is good for a point guard.

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The key here, Gilbert and Jameer can distribute the ball.

 

Seriously, man. Just stop. You are going to loose this argument if you tell me Orlando will distribute the ball better with Hedo starting than with Arenas. Hedo is a very good distributor for a forward. Arenas is good for a point guard.

Arenas averages 5.6 assists a game for his career. He can't pass. Ball movement dies whenever he's in the game.

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I dont know if I'd go THAT far...but that one pass tonight on that fast break was AWFUL

Talking about the one to J-Rich? Agreed. He's a pure scorer and I think he's a good fit coming off the bench. I'd like to see him drive and kick more though. I noticed several times tonight where he missed a wide open Redick.

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Talking about the one to J-Rich? Agreed. He's a pure scorer and I think he's a good fit coming off the bench. I'd like to see him drive and kick more though. I noticed several times tonight where he missed a wide open Redick.

I think so....that unnecessary bounce pass that went wild? He was driving quite a bit in the ATL game if I'm not mistaken, I definitely want to see more of that

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I think so....that unnecessary bounce pass that went wild? He was driving quite a bit in the ATL game if I'm not mistaken, I definitely want to see more of that

Yeah. Arenas needs to collapse the defense on the dribble and kick to open shooters to be the most effective. A couple of my friends who are Wizards fans had mentioned that he doesn't really run the break well, so that along with his defense remains a chief concern of mine. He can create a lot of match-up problems at PG simply because of his size. The thought of him matching up against Nate Robinson, or Steve Blake down the road makes me want to pull out Kool and the Gang.

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Hedo averages 2.9 assists per game for his career. Look it up. His best season, he still didn't meet Arenas' worst as a starter. Arenas is a good passer. He's not a great one, but he is good. For god's sake, Nelson's career high is well under six. there are 2 types of great passers in this league: guys like Grant Hill who never put up huge assist numbers but always seem to make the right pass, and guys like Rondo and Nash who put up huge numbers because they ALWAYS have the ball until they find someone a shot. This offense will never accommodate the later, and Orlando doesn't have the former. So we are comparing two guys who are good passers, but not great. Well, Turk can pass to Dwight Howard, I'll give you that. He's good on the pick-and-rolls, but what else? Can he find open guys on the break? Can he find guys running back door cuts? He's not terrible at these things, for a forward, but Arenas does all of the above, and at a good level. And unlike Turk, he can break down the front of a teams defense, not just the wings. Breaking into the heart of a defense is so huge. Breaking in from a wing is good when you can, but it limits your passing options. Notice how smooth the offense was when Rafer was cutting into the top of the key. You force at least 3 defenders to react to you, and you can go in any direction you want.

 

Like I said, do not keep this up.

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Hedo averages 2.9 assists per game for his career. Look it up. His best season, he still didn't meet Arenas' worst as a starter. Arenas is a good passer. He's not a great one, but he is good. For god's sake, Nelson's career high is well under six. there are 2 types of great passers in this league: guys like Grant Hill who never put up huge assist numbers but always seem to make the right pass, and guys like Rondo and Nash who put up huge numbers because they ALWAYS have the ball until they find someone a shot. This offense will never accommodate the later, and Orlando doesn't have the former. So we are comparing two guys who are good passers, but not great. Well, Turk can pass to Dwight Howard, I'll give you that. He's good on the pick-and-rolls, but what else? Can he find open guys on the break? Can he find guys running back door cuts? He's not terrible at these things, for a forward, but Arenas does all of the above, and at a good level. And unlike Turk, he can break down the front of a teams defense, not just the wings. Breaking into the heart of a defense is so huge. Breaking in from a wing is good when you can, but it limits your passing options. Notice how smooth the offense was when Rafer was cutting into the top of the key. You force at least 3 defenders to react to you, and you can go in any direction you want.

 

Like I said, do not keep this up.

The hell? It's not a competition I'm just stating my opinion. Of course Arenas is going to have more assists HE'S A PG! Arenas can't run the break well either so that's a moot point. We don't run many back door cuts so I'm not terribly concerned with that either. I'll take my rotation over yours not only because the offensive ramifications but defensively as well. Could you imagine a defensive back-court with Arenas and Jameer?

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Sorry, didn't mean to get competitive on you. Old habits...

 

Anyway, I actually think Jameer and Gil would be a good defensive backcourt. Gil is a better defender than people give him credit for, and he can put pressure on the passing lanes. This, to me, is Orlando's biggest weekness defensively. They rely too much on one-on-one defending and let good perimeter players to get in a rhythm by allowing them to catch balls comfortably and not trying to trap them ever. Hedo cannot trap, big as he is. He just fouls when forced to play D tight inside someones arm length. His strength defensively is his own length, which is great defending guys who are dribble-drivers, but he lets players get a lot of comfortable jumpers. Gil can stick with 2's as well as JRich, and JRich can defend 3's better than Hedo. So logically, the Arenas line-up is better defensively.

 

Understand, that's most of the time. Some guys Hedo seems to really like guarding. I actually think he guards Labron as well as anyone Orlando has thrown at him. He gets called for a lot of fouls, but who doesn't against Labron. Conversely, Hedo should under no circumstances be left in a room with Paul Pierce, because Paul has renamed him Toby and sold his kids for more field hands. Gil can play effective D against Ray Allen, and JRich won't get abused any more than most against Pierce.

 

And to say one more thing of Gil's passing on the break. I live in Richmond, VA, which is a DC market to be sure. So I see a lot of Wizards games, and Gil may not be Jason Kidd, but he can run a break just fine.

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