Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
ball junkie

More Redick fustration. No summer vacation plans except playing ball.

Recommended Posts

Some quotes about Mr. March Madness himself J.J. Redick from an article in this morning's Floida Today written by John Denton:

 

 

quote:
"It's definitely been difficult," admitted Redick, who will be looking for playing time today when the Magic (29-34) face the Rockets in Houston. "Accepted is not the word, but I guess I've come to terms with how this year has gone for me. Somewhere right after Christmas I just told myself that I was going to do what I could do, and even though I probably wouldn't jump ahead of this guy or that guy, I was going to work really hard on my game.

 

"The last couple of months have been easier mentally. Those first couple of months were the toughest I've been through since I wasn't playing and wasn't even dressing out for a lot of the games."

 

 

quote:
Being behind resulted in not playing for long stretches of games as he either rode the bench or was left on the inactive list. Six times he's gone at least three consecutive games without playing, including a 13-game stretch early in the season. He heads into today's game having played just 25 games, averaging 5.9 points in 15.5 minutes a night.

 

"It's one of the most difficult things to do, playing catch up like he's had to do," Magic coach Brian Hill said of Redick. "It starts with his physical conditioning and then it moves out to all of the stuff on the floor. He was getting used to the size and strength of all the guys in the NBA. And before he could contend with that, he had to get right physically. That made the process much harder than normal for him."

 

 

quote:
But slowly, Redick has pushed his way into the rotation, playing spot minutes off the bench for a Magic team overloaded at the wing positions. Playing time in a blowout might not mean much to some, but to Redick those minutes are as valuable as gold. And the coaching staff has taken notice of his progress, especially performances like the one last week against Milwaukee when Redick buried a 3-pointer without hesitation and had a no-look, touch-pass assist to Trevor Ariza for a dunk.

 

Said Hill: "He's earned our trust and we have no reservations about getting him on the floor."

 

 

quote:
Added Redick: "Early on in December and January when I was getting those spotty minutes here and there, I was just trying to fit in and blend. But now I'm trying to score, trying to put the ball in the basketball and be really aggressive.

 

"Those five or six games where I played 20 minutes helped me and I was out there a few times at crunch time. I feel a lot more comfortable as to how the game is played now. This is a totally different game than what I was used to, but I'm getting there."

 

 

quote:
He said he plans to return to Duke to play pick-up ball early in the summer. He'll most certainly play with the Magic's entry in the summer league in early July. He'll participate in Team USA's training camp in Las Vegas in hopes of making the roster for the 2008 Olympics. And if that weren't enough, he also might spend some time in Los Angeles or New York this summer in hopes of drilling against other NBA players.

 

"I'm playing summer league and I'm playing as much as I can this summer," Redick stressed. "I didn't get to play last summer, so I want to play as much as I can this summer. I won't be taking any time off. Everything that's happened this season will just make me better in the long run."

 

 

Nice article on the kid. And honestly, it's very much the truth. I know some of you guys think very highly of him and so do I. I think everyone realizes when he's on the floor it helps spread the floor for Dwight. But let's face it, he's got some work to do on his game.

 

Rumblings from down under say Otis privately thinks of J.J. as a "shooter" ala a Steve Kerr whom Mr. Smith has compared him too publicly. I'm assuming you guys understand the underlying meaning there. Kerr wasn't known for his defensive prowess. Quite frankly I think most of us here figured the same thing when he was drafted. We knew he could score but it was the other side of the floor people wondered about. The sooner he gets more adept at playing defense look for him to see more and more minutes.

 

Anyway, it was nice to see that the coaching staff now has no reservations about putting him into games and that he has "earned" it. I love the part wher he said he now is trying to score when playing and be aggressive. I think that is what all Magic fans want to see. The Redick who was Mr. Agressive at Duke.

 

Finally, you gotta love the guys dedication to get better. No summer break, just working on his game. Next year he'll be hard to hold down. And the summer league, I can't wait! I've got conections that allows me to get into the league games(don't ask) here and if Redick is playing that will make it even better bordering on great.

 

I'm still holding out hope J.J. can be a big contributor to push us into the playoffs this season.

 

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/...03110334/1002/SPORTS

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Some quotes about Mr. March Madness himself J.J. Redick from an article in this morning's Floida Today written by John Denton:

 

 

quote:
"It's definitely been difficult," admitted Redick, who will be looking for playing time today when the Magic (29-34) face the Rockets in Houston. "Accepted is not the word, but I guess I've come to terms with how this year has gone for me. Somewhere right after Christmas I just told myself that I was going to do what I could do, and even though I probably wouldn't jump ahead of this guy or that guy, I was going to work really hard on my game.

 

"The last couple of months have been easier mentally. Those first couple of months were the toughest I've been through since I wasn't playing and wasn't even dressing out for a lot of the games."

 

 

quote:
Being behind resulted in not playing for long stretches of games as he either rode the bench or was left on the inactive list. Six times he's gone at least three consecutive games without playing, including a 13-game stretch early in the season. He heads into today's game having played just 25 games, averaging 5.9 points in 15.5 minutes a night.

 

"It's one of the most difficult things to do, playing catch up like he's had to do," Magic coach Brian Hill said of Redick. "It starts with his physical conditioning and then it moves out to all of the stuff on the floor. He was getting used to the size and strength of all the guys in the NBA. And before he could contend with that, he had to get right physically. That made the process much harder than normal for him."

 

 

quote:
But slowly, Redick has pushed his way into the rotation, playing spot minutes off the bench for a Magic team overloaded at the wing positions. Playing time in a blowout might not mean much to some, but to Redick those minutes are as valuable as gold. And the coaching staff has taken notice of his progress, especially performances like the one last week against Milwaukee when Redick buried a 3-pointer without hesitation and had a no-look, touch-pass assist to Trevor Ariza for a dunk.

 

Said Hill: "He's earned our trust and we have no reservations about getting him on the floor."

 

 

quote:
Added Redick: "Early on in December and January when I was getting those spotty minutes here and there, I was just trying to fit in and blend. But now I'm trying to score, trying to put the ball in the basketball and be really aggressive.

 

"Those five or six games where I played 20 minutes helped me and I was out there a few times at crunch time. I feel a lot more comfortable as to how the game is played now. This is a totally different game than what I was used to, but I'm getting there."

 

 

quote:
He said he plans to return to Duke to play pick-up ball early in the summer. He'll most certainly play with the Magic's entry in the summer league in early July. He'll participate in Team USA's training camp in Las Vegas in hopes of making the roster for the 2008 Olympics. And if that weren't enough, he also might spend some time in Los Angeles or New York this summer in hopes of drilling against other NBA players.

 

"I'm playing summer league and I'm playing as much as I can this summer," Redick stressed. "I didn't get to play last summer, so I want to play as much as I can this summer. I won't be taking any time off. Everything that's happened this season will just make me better in the long run."

 

 

Nice article on the kid. And honestly, it's very much the truth. I know some of you guys think very highly of him and so do I. I think everyone realizes when he's on the floor it helps spread the floor for Dwight. But let's face it, he's got some work to do on his game.

 

Rumblings from down under say Otis privately thinks of J.J. as a "shooter" ala a Steve Kerr whom Mr. Smith has compared him too publicly. I'm assuming you guys understand the underlying meaning there. Kerr wasn't known for his defensive prowess. Quite frankly I think most of us here figured the same thing when he was drafted. We knew he could score but it was the other side of the floor people wondered about. The sooner he gets more adept at playing defense look for him to see more and more minutes.

 

Anyway, it was nice to see that the coaching staff now has no reservations about putting him into games and that he has "earned" it. I love the part wher he said he now is trying to score when playing and be aggressive. I think that is what all Magic fans want to see. The Redick who was Mr. Agressive at Duke.

 

Finally, you gotta love the guys dedication to get better. No summer break, just working on his game. Next year he'll be hard to hold down. And the summer league, I can't wait! I've got conections that allows me to get into the league games(don't ask) here and if Redick is playing that will make it even better bordering on great.

 

I'm still holding out hope J.J. can be a big contributor to push us into the playoffs this season.

 

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/...03110334/1002/SPORTS

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was scanning the internet this morning and I found this in an article from of all places, "The New York Times". It's a quote from Otis talking about J.J.

 

 

quote:
Redick acknowledged that his defense was a weakness.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love the optimism on JJ. But I wouldn't be surprised that if he asks for a trade next year, if Otis doesn't answer this logjam at the guard soon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the great article on JJ. I've always been a huge Redick fan and enjoy reading articles on him. In fact, I have his jersey in all three colors and wear them whenever I go to the gym to play ball. The harassment I endure by doing this doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I feed off of it. I love the fact that people hate Duke and Redick, while I cheer for and admire both of them. If I have a T-shirt on, you can bet it says Duke on the front, either alone, or with a #4 on the front and back. I've patterned my game after JJ's and players surrounding me will refer to me as JJ (I take this as a huge compliment, especially after I've buried 5-6 from 3pt land). Clearly, I'm a huge fan. I have Duke magnets and a Duke plate frame on the back of my Land Cruiser and a shiny DUKE plate with big bold blue letters on the front. I have a Duke flag flying at the enntrance of my home and all sorts of Duke items in my office. On my bookshelf, I have 6 Redick cards framed. I have pictures of him from the Duke/Bucknell game that I attended (right behind the press table in Jan. 06). Videos of JJ from You Tube saved in my Favorites Folder. It goes on and on. I'm enthralled by the guy, his shooting, is competitiveness, desire to win and mental toughness.

So, when I tell you that I really question the success that JJ will experience at the NBA level, it may come as a surprise. I hope I'm wrong because I would love to see him rise and become a star at this level. However, I just don't see it happening anytime soon. First, he looks like a boy among men on the court. He lacks size, strength and quickness relative to nearly everyone else on the floor with him. His ballhandling skills are weak, he doesn't seem to have the ability to beat anyone off the dribble. From what I've seen to this point, driving the lane is even an issue. Defensively, forget about it; I've seen him beat off the dribble way too many times. This won't improve anytime soon as either you have the quickness to effectively defend or you don't...unfortunately, my man JJ doesn't have it. Let's all just face it....JJ Is What He Is...a SHOOTER. You can't turn him into something he's not. Man do I love his J-shot though. From foot position to sqauring his shoulders to his head position, hand mechanics, follow through....just his form period. Because of this fact, he will never be the guy to lead Orlando to the playoffs and a world championship. His role will always be as a shooter, averaging probably no more than 10 pts a game, at best. He will always be just an average or less than average player. I don't like saying it but that is reality. So, for all of those who continue to think that JJ Redick is the man who can take the Magic to the top...forget about it now and save yourself all the anguish. At Duke, JJ played in a system that was designed around him. Heck, go to "Goduke.com" and look at the stats from last season. JJ shot the ball, on average, 12 times more than the next guy during any given game. Considering you had a guy like Sheldon Williams down low, that's quite a disparity in shots taken. When you take 20+ shots a game, you should average 20+ points per game; of which, JJ did at 26.8. However, the offense at Orlando, or anywhere else for that matter, will never be designed around a straight up shooter (I understand he became more than just a shooter in his Sr. year at Duke but in the NBA he's just a shooter). As a result, JJ will most likely never see a night in the NBA where he takes 20 shots. As a result, he's just not going to be a scoring threat in the NBA. He understands he's going to be a role player and that's not going to change, he knows this. Hell, anyone who knows the game recognizes this. He also knows that he needs to improve his game within this limited role. If he doesn't improve, then he will struggle to get minutes.

Reality is reality and sometimes the truth hurts, but it is the truth...

Still a huge Redick Fan,

Blue Devil #4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man do I miss watching him play at DUKE this time of year...I'm still trying to get over the fact that he's no longer playing at DUKE. It might take a couple more seasons for me to be able to move on....

Blue Devil #4

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

quote:
Originally posted by FENDI:

I love the optimism on JJ. But I wouldn't be surprised that if he asks for a trade next year, if Otis doesn't answer this logjam at the guard soon.

 

I agree. I also think he already toned out the idea of making it here, and getting himself ready for a team that would give him chance to play, like Adam Morrison got.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

J.J. should put some weights all over his body and run in them to improves his quickness. Dribble with two balls instead of one to improve ball handling for both hands. He needs to time himself on getting from one side of the court to another in a limited amount of time.

 

Fundamentals come to mind such as dunking, turnarounds, fade aways, and lean in shots. I know Redick has the capability of an outstanding player if he can improve on these abilities.

 

There also comes the matter of consistency. He needs to take all the guards and challenge them to any offensive contest(best 1 out of 7). I'm 100% percent sure Jonathan will win but he will improve his teammates will be the beneficiary.

 

Redick has a glistening future with this Orlando Magic ball club.

 

GO MAGIC!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

quote:
Said Hill: "He's earned our trust and we have no reservations about getting him on the floor."

 

 

Don't just say it coach, put him in the game!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×