What more do you want from J. Nelson ? (commentary)

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

I don't want Meer benched for Arenas. Last night, it was tough seeing him get lit up by RW. He had no chance. He also tried to do too much at times. I hope we can get JR more involved in the offense. I dream of CP3. Go Magic!

 

I don't know if anyone can defend RW when he's on. He's lit up every top PG in the league this year.

[Soul Bro 1,419]

I don't know if anyone can defend RW when he's on. He's lit up every top PG in the league this year.

 

No doubt. Still painful.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

No doubt. Still painful.

 

agreed.

[Give Me Redick All Day 109]

I'm pretty sure, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but Durant was the reason we lost last night. Add to that, an unbelievably rare trip dub from Westbrook.

 

I know, I know, that's a stretch, but still...

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

I think the pace of halfcourt play is usually too slow when Jameer is in his dribble first mode. Especially when he is dribbling around and no one is moving or setting screens to get anyone else open. Often it ends up with an ill-advised pass or shot. And when Jammer's shot is not falling he can't compensate by turning into an assist guy or shut-down defender.

 

I still have a bit of a grudge against Jameer for coming back as the starter for the Finals. We did fine without him getting there, and who knows how we would have done in the Finals if Rafer had started with Jameer as a backup. It seemed a little selfish of him back then, and I sense some of that in what is happening now.

 

All that said, Jameer is the best we have, and sometimes we will have to live with what he produces. But he better watch his back, because in Arenas we have a real contender for the position.

 

With regard to that part that I bolded, doesn't that have more to do with the team than with Jameer? Stan has talked about the teams energy and movement, they need to be moving and setting screens because that is our offense. Jameers job is to be aggressive and either move the ball or break down the defense so that those guys that should be moving are getting the defense into either a mismatch or getting an open shot.

 

With regard to the finals, we did do fine getting there but, our best chance against the Lakers would have been with Jameer playing like he did during the regular season when he killed them. That was their weakness and for all of the good things that Rafer did, he could not shoot as well or break down a defense as well as Jameer could. Stan gambled on Jameer and it didn't work but we were so close that if it had worked we could have won the title.

 

Jameer is not perfect, if a trade came up where we could grab either of the 2 pg's that we just played I would drive him to the airport myself but those guys are not easy to pry away. I would still go with Jameer and any of his worts than I would with Arenas and his shooting percentages and shot selection. Arenas is big enough and quick enough to get into the lane and get fouled, something we have been dieing for and yet Jameer is the guy who is more likely to go at the basket and Gilbert is more likely to pull up in midrange and shoot a jumper in traffic. I just don't get it.

[~O~ 565]

I would ask him to practice his shooting before a long road trip since this is the second time its come to this.

[ball junkie 277]

I don't want Meer benched for Arenas. Last night, it was tough seeing him get lit up by RW. He had no chance. He also tried to do too much at times. I hope we can get JR more involved in the offense. I dream of CP3. Go Magic!

 

I only watched the 1st half but........from what I saw it was basically child abuse what Westbrook did to Nelson....but I have never (and won't start) blaming a loss on one person or the refs (etc.)

 

Marc, your last post was excellent.....I agree with every word of it.

 

Especially the part about your willingness to trade Jameer for the right player and why Arenas doesn't attack the basket.

[jacklj13 16]

gil in not ready to start but that does not negate the fact we need better pg play. at some point the magic are going to have to deal with the fact that it will be almost impossible to win it all with nelson at pg.

[A BETTER DJ 12]

Not directed at just Meer... when one of our guys is having a VERY off night shooting they should not dribble down the court and put up a quick outside shot early in the clock in a close game when there are people on the floor that are on fire. It doesn't matter who it is, in a close game we need the people that are hot taking the shots in crunch time, and the guys that are not making their outside shots need to go to the hole.

 

As far as trading Meer? Are they nuts? We have the best PG combo in the league... it's not even close!

[ball junkie 277]

Respect for point guards doesn’t come easy.....by Zach Lowe of SI.com

 

 

There is a weird trend going on in Orlando, where some fans have grown tired of a point guard who is shooting 40 percent from three-point range, dishing assists at a career-high rate and proving he’s willing to share ball-handling duties with Hedo Turkoglu.

 

Jameer Nelson is too short!

 

He’s hurting the team on defense!

 

He’s not shooting as well as he did two years ago!

 

Bench Nelson and start Gilbert Arenas!

 

This is misguided, and not only because Arenas is shooting 37 percent with the Magic and Nelson’s reliable three-point shot allows him to credibly play off the ball while Turkgolu handles it. It reminds me a lot of the early-season hand-wringing in New York over Raymond Felton. It was about only six weeks ago that folks were getting on Felton for his allegedly shaky pick-and-roll play — even as the Knicks were one of the half-dozen most efficient pick-and-roll teams in the league. Now Felton is one of the darlings of the league, directing a dangerous pick-and-roll attack and contending for an All-Star spot.

 

Orlando and New York fans aren’t alone in scrutinizing their point guards a bit harder than they do players at other positions. Talk to fans in Detroit, Indiana, Portland, Toronto, Charlotte, New Jersey and many other places, and you’ll hear praise of a point guard immediately qualified by a list of his flaws.

 

And it’s fine to be hard on your players; they’re pros, and they’re making a ton of money. They should be really good at a lot of things!

 

But the rise of the point guard in the NBA has created a strange dynamic where fans look at what the best point guards are doing and ask themselves, “Why can’t my guy do that?” I’ve written before about how the early-season criticism of Felton — delivered even as the Knicks were scoring well — seemed to be based on the fact that he wasn’t Steve Nash or Deron Williams or Chris Paul or Derrick Rose or Rajon Rondo. The criticism of Nelson feels about the same.

 

 

But what is Nelson (or Felton) supposed to do? Become Chris Paul? Become one of the top three point guards in the league?

 

That’s not going to happen. And your favorite team is not going to suddenly find the next Paul or Rose in January. The Hornets and Jazz ended up with Paul and Williams because they were awful in 2004-05 and got extraordinarily lucky in how the lottery unfolded. Andrew Bogut was in the same draft, and the Bucks did what most teams would have done with the No. 1 overall pick: They took a cornerstone big man. Then the Hawks screwed up and took Marvin Williams at No. 2, leaving fans in New Orleans and Utah (picking at No. 3 after a draft-day trade with Portland) to argue for years to come about who had the NBA’s best point guard.

 

And Rose? The Bulls got him after winning the first pick despite having only the ninth-worst record in the league and a 1.7 percent chance of winning the draft lottery.

 

Rondo? The Celtics swiped him from a Phoenix team perpetually looking to save cash. Danny Ainge had targeted him for months (at least) despite Rondo’s shaky jumper and well-known concerns about his attitude. Ainge was one of the few GMs who looked at Rondo and saw an unconventional star. Nobody thought Steve Nash would be this good when the Suns nabbed him with the 15th pick in the 1996 draft.

 

It takes a rare combination of luck, draft acumen and being absolutely horrible at the right time in order to land an all-world point guard. Just because we’re in the golden age of the point guard doesn’t mean the pretty good one who’s on your team is a worthless hack. Especially not ones like Nelson.

 

http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/01/14/respect-for-point-guards-doesnt-come-easy/

[Marc Acres 3:16 418]

gil in not ready to start but that does not negate the fact we need better pg play. at some point the magic are going to have to deal with the fact that it will be almost impossible to win it all with nelson at pg.

 

Why? Tell me why please. I need to understand this, I need to understand why we can't win with him as our pg when other teams in NBA history have won titles without an all star pg, without a tall pg, without a pass first pg, without a defensive pg. Do we need to have an All-NBA first teamer at every position on our team to win a title? Please explain.

[Emory889 353]

Why? Tell me why please. I need to understand this, I need to understand why we can't win with him as our pg when other teams in NBA history have won titles without an all star pg, without a tall pg, without a pass first pg, without a defensive pg. Do we need to have an All-NBA first teamer at every position on our team to win a title? Please explain.

 

Because John Paxson, Kenny Smith, and Derek Fisher were all super dominant pass first, great defending point guards Marc. Jesus.