The Magic? My new favorite team to watch
Yes, Stan Van Gundy paces the sidelines with all the body language of a neurotic car salesman on the verge of losing a sale. But I’m telling you, the guy can coach — and if being neurotic means you can’t coach, well, Larry Brown should have been retired decades ago.
Orlando executes and it’s fun to watch. Seriously, the Magic play the game together and with great purpose. Obviously, they are well prepared and stick with the game plan. They defend hard at one end, rebound the ball and on offense, play what’s going to become, I think, the new NBA prototype for basketball offense.
The Magic have a beast on the inside. A guy who still has miles to go before he’s totally polished at the low post, but Dwight Howard has so much strength and energy, he’s still just about impossible to stop. Then Orlando surrounds him with unselfish perimeter shooters, guys who will pass up a decent shot so a teammate can get an even better one.
With Howard inside demanding so much attention, the three-point shooters around the edges are getting wide-open looks. And then it becomes a numbers game. You know, that old stuff about shooting 40 percent from three-point range is like shooting 60 percent from two-point range.
The Magic run a lot of pick-and-roll and are also pretty good at getting people the ball heading to the basket. It’s not all Howard dunks. Orlando has players who can go to the basket hard and pull up for makeable short jumpers if necessary.
Hey, I’m an old-school guy. I’ve always preached the importance of getting the ball inside. I’ve always emphasized the value of getting the best big man. I think that’s all still true, but it has to be done in concert with solid three-point shooting.
We’ve witnessed the disappearance of the medium-range jumper and moaned about it a little. But the fact is, it’s justified. They give you three points for those shots behind the line, why shoot two feet in front of the line?
The new model of offense, I think, will not devalue the post player. You still have to find that guy who can command double-teams on the inside. But then the ball comes all the way out for open threes, which you simply have to make on a consistent basis. If you can’t make them, you better go find some players who can because it’s going to be hard to keep up without a sufficient number of three-point goals.
I’ve been one of those guys, for years, saying you can’t win championships with jump shots. With three-pointers. Now I’m not so sure. Getting points three at a time makes for some pretty efficient offense. And there are getting to be a lot of people — even BIG people — who can make those shots.
Now all you have to do is find the Dwight Howard part of the model. He guarantees you not just those three-pointers, but OPEN three-pointers.
By the way, who else has the best chance of developing an offense like that in the NBA? The Trail Blazers, I’d say. They’re pretty good from distance now and they have the beast inside in Greg Oden. And really, Howard isn’t that much more skilled one-on-one than Oden. He’s just more confident and stays out of foul trouble better. But it took him a few years to get there.
Can the Magic take it all the way? Sure they can. Will they? It’s still too early to tell. It may depend on whether whoever comes out of the West, probably the Lakers, has any energy left for another series.
It’s been so long since a team has come from out of nowhere — basically, not one of the chosen teams the league has marketed as a championship contender — to win it all that I can’t yet picture them doing it. And please, don’t think the Orlando defense isn’t a huge part of all this, it is terrific and the Magic wouldn’t be this far without it. But I’m fascinated by the offense.
I’ve seen the future of NBA offense and the future is Magical.
Coaches, NBA, Trail Blazers, characters | Dwight Jaynes | May 27, 2009
Dwight Howard, Dwight Jaynes, Greg Oden, NBA playoffs, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, Stan Van Gundy
Its really amazing watching the Magic. I agree, Nate is drawing up plays right now. “Oden passes to Webster, from downtown… GOT IT!”
I agree completely. This sort of offense is perfect for Portland. Get a big inside to draw defenders and leave the perimeter open. If they stay outside, you feed the big man. If they collapse, you rain down open 3′s. With a healthy and more experienced Oden, and hopefully a healthy Martell to complement Roy and Rudy, our team is perfect for this. Not to mention what Aldridge and Outlaw bring (if he stays). I think Blake is solid from 3pt land and does a decent job of running Nate’s offense. We just need another solid PG that Nate is comfortable with.
how could anyone NOT like a team that is coached by a ron jeremy look-alike? or as jim rome calls him “stan van jeremy”
dude’s a gamer.
If you want to see another team that ran basically the same offense look no further than the Sonics teams of the later Payton years, took the Spurs to 6 games and probably gave them the most trouble ont heir way to a title. They didn’t even have a Dwight Howard, they inverted things and used Payton as their primary post player with Rashard Lewis, Vlad Radmanovic and Brent Berry on the perimeter.
They were coached by a guy named Nate IIRC…
My Memory may be off, they may have had the Spurs series with Ray Allen after trading Payton, it was in the era somewhere
I agree and disagree with you Dwight. I agree with you that Orlando is a fun team to watch, and the sideline antics of Van Gundy crack me up as well. But the Orlando executes part, not so much, unless taking a lot of 3′s and making a lot of 3′s constitutes execution. Van Gundy looked like he wanted to barf a few times last night because of the lack of execution.
Weren’t Drexler/Olajuwon Rocket’s basically this same style of play, with Horry, Cassell, Ellie, and Johnson raining three’s? From Basketball Reference:
’93-’94 Rockets:
Offensive Rating: 105.9 (15th of 27)
Defensive Rating: 101.4 (2nd of 27)
3PA: 1285
3PM: 429
3P%: .334
’08-’09 Magic:
Offensive Rating: 109.2 (11th of 30)
Defensive Rating: 101.9 (1st of 30)
3PA: 2147
3PM: 817
3P%: .381
Granted, considering the Magic took and made twice as many 3 pointers this was the natural progression from those Rockets teams. Thoughts?
Maybe when Howard devlopes a move anywhere close to a “Dream-Shake” you can put them in the same class.
What about a “Dream-Steamroller”?
Nice “Dream-Steamroller”! Wasn’t that Sabonis?
Actually, Sabonis’ wife…
Boom-chaka-laka!! Too Funny!
I am officially joining the tin foil hat crowd. The NBA is actively trying to fix this series in favor of Cleveland. They are desperate for a Lebron-Kobe matchup. Chris Andersen does his birdman “soar” and struts after every block. The NBA has no problem with that. Dwight Howard pumps his arms after succesfully making a shot admist a mugging, and he gets T’d up.
Dwight this is exactly what I was thinking even after Cleveland’s game 2 win. With Greg Oden and LaMarcus this team can run this offense to a new level and it’s the type of offense that broods confidence in big men, because you’re basically telling the other team that we believe in that our big can win the game for us, even if our three point shooting is a little off.
Orlando has no chance of winning a title dwight! Get a clue.
“Dwight Howard has so much strength and energy, he’s still just about impossible to stop.” Did you even watch the Boston series?? Perkings was pushing him around like a rag doll. Dwight just because a 55 year old big Z makes Howard look like Wilt the Stilt does not mean he is. This artcle is comical!
Mike — don’t troll. It’s not nice.
In design I think Portland is similar to Orlando…I remember Howard when he first came in the league…he is so much better now, and I can’t wait for Oden to get that NBA experience…
Van Gundy is showing what a valuable coach he is…he settles his team, and he has them believing in each other…
I still believe we should go after Turkoglu. I think Rudy and him leading the second unit would be unstoppable
Why would Turkoglu want to go from starting and playing 35 minutes a game to coming off the bench and playing for 20-25?
who says he would play only 20 minutes? In fact, he is a decent ballhandler who I could see help carry the load for Roy. He also can create hhis own shot and is not afraid to penetrate
Remember that last second shot he made to beat us at the Rose Garden? He is a winner and we should go after guys like that who know how to close
trolling? I don’t think so there dwight. You must of not watched the Boston series much huh? your boy superman didn’t do much. And if the coach of the year (mike Brown) would bench Z and leave wallace on him he would do even less!
Three things:
1. Orlando is a bad match-up for Cleveland
2. Orlando is hitting open shots while Cleveland is not
3. Orlando is a better defensive team by far than they are given credit for.
While this series was very close to being a sweep, it was also only two R.Lewis shots away from being Cleveland up 3-1.
The problem with Orlando’s offense is it relies heavily on hitting perimeter shots. It took 18 3-pointers made to win a home game in overtime. Kudos to them, but difficult to do.
The downside of taking so many 3s in general is that you allow defenses to rest, you don’t draw as many fouls, get players into foul trouble, etc. If not for Orlando having the most dominant inside presence on the glass, they would be dead in the water with this strategy.
The problem for Cleveland is they should have learned something from Boston. Z should be benched and a more mobile unit should be on the floor while not doubling Howard, and force him to take that awful hook shot. They should be staying home on the shooters.
Bottom line, though, is you can’t read too much into this series beyond simple matchup issues for Cleveland, some poor coaching strategy by Cleveland, and one team being very hot while the other team is very cold outside of LeBron. Even with all that said, this series is actually extremely close still.
mike, saying that a team with a 3-1 series lead to get into the NBA finals has “no chance of winning a title” is trolling. Do the Cavs have a shot?
With only 4 teams left, I’d say the Magic are one of very few teams that DO have a shot to win a title this year.
You know the scary part? Orlando is playing without their all-star point guard. I saw the game out here and Jameer Nelson gave us a ton of problems.
So they lose him and come up with Rafer Alston late in the year, and Rafer delivers like last night? That is remarkable. And what happens when they get Jameer back next year? How good will they be then?
You could say Aaron Brooks had a real impact on the playoffs. He helped knock us out and he freed up Rafer Alston to go save Orlando and light up Cleveland.
And how did the Magic game out here end? With Hedo hitting a 3-pointer that he banked in at the buzzer leaving the Magic celebrating wildly at the Rose Garden. Apparently it was a sign of good things to come.
Dwight,
One BIG problem: what makes you think Oden will ever become as much of a force as Howard?
Sure, the potential is there but the success of Oden is a giant question mark at this point in his career. Other thing, I really don’t think you can compare the two big men — Howard can move extraordinarily well for a big man, something of which Oden probably will never be able to do.
You can fantasize but this style of play hinges solely on the ability of Oden to pick up his game, and right now, I believe the verdict is still out about Oden’s abilities.
ac8888, that’s correct the verdict is still out on Oden. But to call it a fantasy is a little bit of a stretch. Oden before micro-facture surgery was as mobile as a young dwight howard.
They say it typically takes about 2 years to come back from a micro-facture surgery. Therefore, it wouldn’t be prudent to finalize a judgement on the capacities of Greg Oden’s mobility.
Greg showed flashes last season of the beast he can become, and if a return in his mobility is achieved, this is very feasible. The return in Greg’s mobility would result in 5 noticable per game catergories; his fouls would decrease, his blocks would increase, his minutes would increase, his rebounds would increase (which is just amazing as it is now), and his points would increase. Again all of this is contingent on Greg regaining his mobility and recovering further from micro-facture.
Dwight,
Do the Blazers have a veteran big-man working with Oden this offseason the way the Lakers had Kareem working one-on-one with Bynum?
And if not, why?
I never understood the whole “jump shooting teams don’t win titles” argument. This theory went out the window with the advent of a little line called the 3-point line. I mean look at Boston last year, sure they were a pretty balanced team but the 3 point shooting put them over the top. Anyway I agree with what you are saying. I have often thought Howard is terribly overrated as a post player but he defenitely gets double teams and frees up shooters. As far as his one-on-one post moves go though I think he is in the middle of the pack in the NBA.
I hope the Blazers can find a big guy coach too. I wonder what Clifford Ray is up to? Bynum’s game has improved so much. He actually has some legit post moves and he is probably top 10 in terms of centers with an actual post game.
ean,
People don’t give Orlando enough credit outside of their 3pt shooting. Orlando is winning this series right now because they are on fire from 3pt range but they were also one of the best defensive teams in the league this season and have an absolutely dominant inside presence.
If it wasn’t for their defense and Dwight Howard, they would be the Suns or Warriors. Orlando was #2 in the NBA in defensive efficiency during the regular season under Hollinger’s rankings and that is a direct result of Howard’s presence in the middle which allows their perimeter players to stay home on their guys and release for fast breaks.
Jump shooting teams will always have difficulties winning consistently in the playoffs (a Blazer concern) until they develop all aspects of their game. Orlando has and they don’t get enough credit. However, as close as Cleveland was to being swept in this series, Orlando was almost as close to being down 3-1 if not for two difficult R.Lewis 3-pointers later. Don’t read too much into a couple of close games that could have gone either way.
dont really have too much input besides the fact that it is absolutely hilarious that people think orlando has no shot at winning a title. they beat philly, beat boston (in boston), and are now up 3-1 on the team everyone thought was unbeatable. i understand the matchup problems but to think that this team has no chance against the remaining western conference teams is ridiculous. they split with denver and swept the lakeshow…no chance?
I say the Blazers bring in Hakeem Olajuwan to coach Oden. I’m serious. Straight up.
Why couldn’t this happen? What’s Olajuwan up to these days? Allen’s got the money to make it happen. It just makes too much sense.
Got a super-promising yet under-performing young big man?
Why not bring in one of the three best centers of his generation (and one of the best centers ever) to coach him, teach him a few tricks…
And if not Olajuwan, someone…
Why isn’t this happening?
If you have a child who is underperforming at school you’d probably try to find them a tutor or someone to help them turn their work around.
Why is this any different?
If the Blazer front office does not bring a big man to assist Greg it is simply because they want to give him an off season to himself and see what he does with it.
To use the kid scenario previously used, it is like having a kid who has been a whiz at writing, but your kid got sick was unable to attend school or do much learning on their own except for getting better. Their first year back you want them to jump right back to where they were and when they stumble a bit because they have lost study habits or the time off has thrown off their subject-verb agreement. That summer instead giving them a tutor you just encourage them and see what they’ll do on their own to get better.
Maybe the next year even with much improvement you offer a great tutor to help your kid with the explanation that you believe that they have great potential and they have proven it through out their life.
It’s the same with Greg. The Blazers probably want to see what he’ll do on his own and then maybe next year get someone to work with him, that’s been there and done that ( like Olajuwan, Robinson, or some other great center like Bill Lambeer).
Maybe I am missing something (I mean that genuinely–I am guessing that there are a lot of you on here who have watched way more Blazers ball than I have), but it seems to me that the fatal flaw in the “Blazers should run the Magic offense” argument is accounting for LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge is not Rashard Lewis–he may be generally a good jump shooter, but he doesn’t have the same range or wing aptitude generally (he seems to me–I live in NOLA–to be more like a taller David West than a Rashard Lewis). So Aldridge can’t really play that role, and that role is crucial to what Orlando does. But Aldridge is also far too good to play out of position, or to remove from the equation…
mike,
“Perkings”?
Did you even watch the Celtics series? Can you read?
Please get a clue.
The thing I find funny is how everyone thinks this is a new concept… what the hell do you think the Spurs did for 3 championships? Their clutch time lineup for their last 3 rings something like Parker/Ginobili/Bowen/HORRY/Duncan… They played a small PF/big SF who can shoot the 3 ball with their one post presence… This is a formula offensively that has already netted 3 championships in the past decade.
Its actually not even a concept. Its just good teams that do everything well. The Spurs were one of the best defensive teams, had one of the greatest inside presences of all time, had good point guard play and had good shooters. Its not a matter of having some crazy offensive philosophy. Its just a bunch of good players playing together.
You can’t duplicate what Orlando is currently doing or what San Antonio did without many quality players and a dominant inside presence. Easier said than done.
I think its why Portland selected Oden over Durant, though, so hopefully Oden starts putting it together.