Orlando Magic Open Practice Impressions

[Ryan the Magic Fan 253]

Was at the Practice and here is my thoughts on each players performance:

 

1 Von Wafer: Showed some very good talent as an attacking offensive mind set player. Would love to see him as our main off the bench threat.

3 Earl Clark: Loved him, and would honestly start him over Hedo right now at the SF spot. Showed consistent effort on both sides of the ball, a developing jumper, and good rebounding. Came away more impressed with him then anyone. Start Clark.

5 Q Richardson: Kind of invisible but showed a good knack to getting open.

7 JJ Redick: jumper was off, but showed very good ball movement and passing.

11 Glen Davis: Solid rebounding and defense and fantastic energy. Jumper was off, but I expected that to happen with all the excitement going on.

12 Dwight Howard: Was scary serious in the scrimage, to the point he nearly took JJ's head off with one of his elbows on a rebound. Free throw stroke was off, jumper looked good though. Received two big time ovations when he was announced and when he spoke at the end.

13 Gabe Pruitt: Kind of invisible as well, but I think right now I will have him be the off the bench PG over Duhon.

14 Jameer Nelson: not much scoring wise, but my buddy who is not a fan of the Magic commented on how well he moved the ball and orchestrated the offense, saying that if he did it like this more often, the Magic would be much harder to deal with. We both wondered if this is because Hedo was not on his side.

15 Hedo Turkoglu: Worst player of the day. Dude looked horrible. Down, right, horrible. If this is what he is gonna bring then I want him burried on the bench behind Liggins and Clark. The ball simply does not move when he is in the lineup.

20 Larry Hughes: Showed surprising quickness at his age with some nice little moves and some savy old vet defensive plays. I was impressed.

21 Daniel Orton: Horid on offense but solid on both defense and rebounding for a young rookie. Ran the floor really well and showed no problems moving with his knee. Will see him spell Dwight if he can play solid D.

23: Jason Richardson: Shooting stroke looked great, and also looked good attacking the basket. If he can return to 20 ppg J Rich that he is capable of, Magic are a different team.

25 Chris Duhon: Second worse performance of the day behind Hedo. The further down the bench he is, the better.

32 Justin Harper: a little dissipointing but what are you gonna do. Showed a nice shot, but got routinely beat on defense and rebounding. Deffinitely needs to put some muscle on that frame.

33 Ryan Anderson: More of the same. Good shooting stroke thats sometimes on or off. Solid effort on defense and rebounding to make up for his lack of athleticism. Still not enough to be considered a starting PF.

34 Deandre Liggins: Showed great defensive ability and hustle on the court chasing down loose balls and rebounds.

 

Final thoughts: I would take this starting lineup into OKC based on this performance (I know it's only one scrimage, just sayin)

 

PG- Jameer Nelson / Gabe Pruitt

SG- Jason Richardson / JJ Redick / Q Richardson

SF- Earl Clark / Von Wafer / Deandre Liggins

PF- Glen Davis / Ryan Anderson

C- Dwight Howard / Daniel Orton

 

Yes I would leave Hedo off the active roster. I think he is that much of a hindrance to this team. His work ethic is terrible, his defense is pathetic, his shot selection god awful, and his decision making worse then all of them. I saw this movie before and the ending doesn't change.

[KandiKane 136]

Agree with most of what you said. I streamed it and I would just add these things to what you have written:

 

Von Wafer: Also loved his defense. He put a lot of effort in and had great footwork.

Liggens: Thought he also was great taking the ball to the hoop. Very relaxed and made great decisions.

 

I think Pruitt will be waived still with Hughes making the roster. I could also see Hughes or Wafer getting Duhon's mins. Hughes did great playing PG today.

[crisby pancakes 126]

Cheers Ryan

 

Us fans over the pond in Blighty haven't heard too much about the current team so good to know how the new additions are getting on.

 

Certainly agree with Kandi in taking Hughes. The team definitely needs another vet presence with the 3 youngsters that are on the roster right now. Pretty alarming how bad Hedo is stinking it up but then he surely realises he will be involved with any Dwight trade that may occur further down the line and if he's not going to be here then maybe that's another reason for Stan to not include him in the rotation! (fingers crossed.)

 

Have to admit, don't know much about Von Wafer, hear him being mentioned at the 1, 2 and 3 positions so not sure where he actually plays best (I do no he can score a bunch though.)

[KandiKane 136]

Cheers Ryan

 

Us fans over the pond in Blighty haven't heard too much about the current team so good to know how the new additions are getting on.

 

Certainly agree with Kandi in taking Hughes. The team definitely needs another vet presence with the 3 youngsters that are on the roster right now. Pretty alarming how bad Hedo is stinking it up but then he surely realises he will be involved with any Dwight trade that may occur further down the line and if he's not going to be here then maybe that's another reason for Stan to not include him in the rotation! (fingers crossed.)

 

Have to admit, don't know much about Von Wafer, hear him being mentioned at the 1, 2 and 3 positions so not sure where he actually plays best (I do no he can score a bunch though.)

 

Wafer is a SG... He is that in height and he plays as a wing. I think though he could be used with any of the other SG on the roster to form a two guard front instead of the traditional Pg and Sg.... and that would be much more effective than using Duhon at PG. His defense impressed me, I can not talk to much about off the ball... too early and not a real game to be able to tell on that. But his man-to-man was great.