News feed from nba.com.
News feed from nba.com.
Denton: Magic-Bobcats Postgame Analysis
Related Articles
By John Denton
October 14, 2010
ORLANDO – Not even when the Orlando Magic rest star players Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter do they lose in the preseason.
Incredibly, the Magic pushed their preseason winning streak to 18 games – an unbeaten run that stretches all the way back to October of 2008 – with Thursday’s night’s 86-73 defeat of the Southeast Division rival Charlotte Bobcats.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and his players put little stock into winning the games don’t officially count in the record books. And their importance is apparently so insignificant that Elias Sports Bureau doesn’t even keep statistics on preseason winning streaks.
But there’s clearly something to be said for the professionalism of the Magic (4-0) and they way they consistently pour maximum effort into these preseason games. To Orlando, there’s always something to be gained out of a game and Van Gundy has never paced the sidelines once without trying to win the game.
``The reason that we win all of these games is so that Stan doesn’t kill us the next day in practice for losing,’’ joked Magic center Marcin Gortat, who started in place of Howard and had seven rebounds and three blocked shots. ``Through winning we’re learning great habits and knowing that everybody on the team has to bring 100 percent every night. If we’re going to win a championship, everybody has to involved and bring that full effort to every game.’’
To truly appreciate what the Magic have done during a streak in which they won six preseason games in 2008, all eight exhibitions in 2009 and four in a row this preseason, you have to delve deep into the numbers. The Magic have won preseason games by 38, 28, 35, 30, 37 and 54 points last Sunday night against New Orleans in the first-ever game at the Amway Center. More of the victories have been by double digits (10 of them) than single digits (nine), and the average margin of victory during the win streak is a whopping 18.33 points.
And yet when the regular season opens on Oct. 28 at Amway Center against the Washington Wizards and Gilbert Arenas – whose disdain for the preseason is widely known after he recently faked an injury -- the Magic’s record will be 0-0 and they will be once again playing games that matter.
``We’ve talked a lot about getting better every day. Even (this past) Monday after we had a big night and opened the arena, we got right back to work,’’ said Redick, who had 12 points, three 3-pointers, six rebounds and three assists. ``We’ve talked about building habits and your level of work and commitment, and those are habits that you build now. Stuff like that matters when the playoffs come.’’
When informed that the preseason streak had climbed to 18, Van Gundy sarcastically quipped, ``That’s a really big number; I’ll probably go out and celebrate. Or maybe I’ll hold off until tomorrow.’’
Van Gundy gave Howard, Carter and Lewis the night off and didn’t start Jameer Nelson and instead opened the game with Gortat, J.J. Redick, Ryan Anderson and Chris Duhon. Reserve power forward Brandon Bass played his second straight solid preseason game with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds. And he scored more points with his energy plays, such as four offensive boards, two blocked shots and a steal.
``My plan is to continue to improve every night and just play defense, go after every rebound and run the floor and the offense will take care of itself,’’ Bass said. ``My role, when I get the opportunity, has to be defense, rebounding and playing with energy.’’
Here’s a look back at what went right, what went wrong and some final observations from another preseason win for the Magic:
WHAT WENT RIGHT
A big part of the of the Magic’s preseason success, of course, is their remarkably deep roster. Van Gundy pointed out that while most teams are using players likely to be cut from the NBA in the preseason, the Magic have solid and proven veterans as reserves.
Even with arguably their three best players out, the Magic still hit 12 3-pointers, held a plus-five advantage on the boards and never trailed after the first quarter.
``This team was built to win a championship and the hope is that when teams will be afraid of us because we are a very dangerous basketball team,’’ said Anderson, who had 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals in 26 minutes. ``Nights like this shows that we can go with multiple lineups and still play well. And that could be very important to us with any injuries that might come up.’’
Facing a Charlotte team that doesn’t have much shooting and prefers to attack the rim with hard drives to the hoop, the Magic’s defense took eight charges in the game.
``The one that (the preseason win streak) does say is that even in the preseason our guys aren’t taking nights off,’’ said Van Gundy, whose Magic are 24-2 in preseason games in four seasons. ``There aren’t many NBA games anywhere that you see teams taking eight charges and in the preseason you never see it with veteran guys. But I was really proud of our effort and how hard we played.’’
Bass not only had the statistical line of the night, but he also had the verbal line of the night to the media after the game. When asked how many games the Magic could win this season without Howard, Lewis and Carter, Bass cringed.
``I don’t know and I don’t want to know,’’ he said with a laugh. ``I don’t ever want to have to play a game without those guys.’’
WHAT WENT WRONG
Amway Center is the most modern, technologically advanced arena in the NBA, but it’s still the preseason for the dazzling $380 million facility as well. When the game lights didn’t immediately come back on following pregame introductions, the tipoff was delayed 24 minutes. There was still plenty of light from the auxiliary lights and the video ribbon boards around the arena, allowing players to shoot around to stay loose.
Van Gundy suggested that the game be moved to the practice court and shown on the massive Jumbo Tron, while Charlotte coach Larry Brown wanted to play with a running clock throughout to make up for the 24-minute delay. Redick and Anderson kept themselves entertained with a game of H-O-R-S-E.
Said Van Gundy: ``With all of the new technology in the building there are going to be some kinks to work out. Better to have it now than during the season.’’
FINAL OBSERVATIONS
It came as little shock that volatile Charlotte guard Stephen Jackson and mercurial forward Tyrus Thomas were whistled for technical fouls during the game for arguing with officials during the game.
One of the NBA’s points of emphasis this season is to curtail some of the complaining to the officials, and they have promised to call more technical fouls this season. NBA Players Association president Billy Hunter objected to the new rule on Thursday to Yahoo Sports.
``We’ve all got to make adjustments. It's just something I’ve got to deal with,’’ Jackson said. ``Everybody always says, `Well, they’ve got a target on you.’ It’s part of the game. I’ve just got to be smarter about what I say and what calls I want to talk about, and not get techs.’’
Howard, who has vowed to cut down on his Ts this season after having troubles each of the past two seasons, had an interesting take on the new rules.
Said Howard: ``I went to a private school growing up. We had a lot of crazy rules, rules that we didn’t agree with, rules that we necessarily didn’t think were good. But we just had to do them. So they want us to cut down on talking to the refs, as hard as they may be, because basketball is very emotional, we just have to try our best. It’s going to be tough, especially when you get to the playoffs or even during the regular season and some very, very closes games get very physical and you're battling and you might get hit with a cheap foul and you want to say something to the ref. But you’ve just got to realize it might look bad.’’
The Magic attempted 35 3-pointers in the game, a sure sign they were without Howard and their other best two post players (Lewis and Carter). Quentin Richardson (15 points) and Mickael Pietrus (12 points) each got up nine 3-point shots, while Redick put up seven shots from beyond the arc.
The Magic hit at least two 3-pointers in every quarter on Thursday. They had five in the first quarter, allowing them to dig out of an early five-point hole and take the lead.
John Denton writes for OrlandoMagic.com. E-mail John at
jd41898@aol.com. Submit a question to John for his mailbag segment at
AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
