2023-24 Orlando Magic Thread | Page 7

Denton: Magic-Bulls Postgame Analysis

ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic’s coaching staff have shown Vince Carter endless amounts of film, they have given him statistical goals for his shooting percentage and they’ve talked repeatedly about the standout guard seeking out shots and attacking the rim more this season.

The Magic sought the changes after they felt that Carter too often deferred to others last season and then disappeared for long stretches of the Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Boston Celtics.

And five games into this preseason, Carter seems to have taken those points of emphasis and looked like somewhat of a re-born player at the ripe old age of 33.

Carter scored 21 first-half points by consistently stroking on-balanced jump shots and getting to the free throw line as the Magic smashed the Chicago Bulls 105-67 for their 19th consecutive preseason victory over the last three seasons.

Who says veteran NBA players can’t make a few changes? Carter worked so hard on getting himself in tip-top shape this summer that his legs got stronger and not weaker even though he’s about to enter his 13th NBA season. The usual theory is that the legs are the first thing to go on a veteran basketball player, but Carter did so much track work, squats and lunges that his vertical leap increased two inches to 31 inches. Not quite to where it was in 2000 when he won the NBA’s Slam Dunk competition in breathtaking fashion, but Carter can feel a distinct difference in his leg strength now.

``That’s what they say,’’ Carter said of the improvement in his vertical leap. ``I’ve never been a big fan of those tests, but everybody expects me to do it and I’m like yada, yad, yada and get it over with. But I feel stronger and I’ve really tried to take care of my body. I feel like all the work I put in are really going to help me this season.’’

The Magic (5-0) have won their five preseason games so far by an average margin of 24.2 points. Playing before another sellout Amway Center crowd of 18,846, the Magic never trailed and once led by as many as 47 points.

``We’ve just talked about making sure that we come in and get better every day,’’ said Magic guard J.J. Redick, who hit seven of eight shots and two 3-pointers for 16 points in 28 minutes. ``Regardless of what the score is out there, we’re just trying to keep working and keep getting better.’’

Magic superstar center Dwight Howard had 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots, while reserve Marcin Gortat added 14 points, eight rebounds and three more blocks as Orlando dabbled with its ``Twin Towers’’ lineup. And starting power forward Brandon Bass played well for a third consecutive game with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Here’s a look back at what went right, what went wrong and some final observations from yet another Magic preseason romp:

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Magic’s complete decimation of foes in the preseason just keeps on coming. The Magic haven’t lost a preseason game since October of 2008, winning the last six of that preseason, all eight in 2009 and now five in a row this preseason.

What is truly incredible is how the Magic have absolutely taken apart foes in the preseason. Of the 19 straight victories in the preseason, 11 have been by double digits and the overall margin of victory is a whopping 19.3 points per game. Along the way, the Magic have won preseason games by 38, 28, 35, 30, 37, 38 and 54 points last Sunday night against New Orleans in the first-ever game at the Amway Center.

On Saturday, the Magic led by 12 points after one period, by as much as 28 points in the first half, by 37 points at the end of three quarters and by as much as 47 at one point.

Carter opened Saturday’s game with a hard drive to the rim that resulted in two free throws. The standout guard scored nine of the Magic’s first 13 points. And he had 17 of the Magic first 33 points by hitting three 3-pointer and five of his first six shots.

Carter’s only questionable shot – one that was of the off-balanced, fade-away variety – came when he glared over at the Magic bench and took a spinning shot from the low block that rimmed out.

For the game, he made six of nine shots, buried three 3-pointers and got to the free throw line six times (all makes). For the season, he’s shooting a dazzling 55.8 percent from the floor and 52.6 percent from the 3-point line. By comparison, he shot just 42.8 percent from the floor and 36.7 percent from the 3-point line last season.

``It was a long summer of putting up shots and getting a lot of reps in and focusing on what has to be done,’’ Carter said. ``I just tried (on Saturday) to take the initiative to come out and make my mark in the game and make it easier for all of our other guys. And then I just let them take it from there.’’

When the lights were turned down Saturday night for the pregame introductions, there were more than a few Magic executives who held their breaths for what would come next. After all, the Amway Center lights were turned off rather than being turned up Thursday night, resulting in a 24-minute delay to the tipoff. But the preseason kinks were worked out just fine Saturday and the lights came back on perfectly.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Howard has vowed to cut down on his interactions with the referees this season and in turn lower his technical foul counts. And he had done a much better job with that in the first four games.

But Howard’s first technical foul of the preseason came just after halftime Saturday night. Howard seemed to have clearly blocked Joakim Noah shot, but was whistled for a foul by referee David Jones. Howard didn’t appear to overly object to the call, but when he continued to complain as the teams lined up at the free throw line, referee John Goble whistled Howard for his first technical of the preseason.

Howard was otherwise brilliant, making six of 11 shots and three of five free throws. As usual, the two-time Defensive Player of the Year was more concerned with how well the Magic are defending so far this preseason.

``For the most part, the defensive intensity has been there from everybody,’’ Howard said. ``We’re closing out hard, we’re talking and we’re helping each other. We’re doing all of the right things. And we just have to keep going.’’

The Bulls hired head coach Tom Thibodeau in the offseason largely because of his abilities as a teacher of great defense. But from the looks of things the Bulls might need an offensive coordinator.

Sure, the Bulls lost in overtime to Dallas a night earlier in Chicago, but Saturday’s offensive effort was downright abysmal. The Bulls had just 10 points in the first quarter and they made only 25.6 percent of their shots (10 of 39 shots) in the first half. And at one point of the third quarter, the Bulls had scored just 25 points in the first 28 minutes of the game.

For the game, the Bulls shot just 31.1 percent and missed nine of their 11 3-point attempts.

Things got so bad that star Bulls point guard Derrick Rose once slammed the ball to the floor and yelled at his teammates to play harder. Unfortunately for Rose, things only continued to get steadily worse.

``It’s a learning experience, but I told guys that this can’t happen again,’’ said Rose, who had seven points in 12 minutes. ``Some guys will get cursed our or whatever. We just showed no fight. That is what is going to happen when you go out there unprepared.’’

FINAL OBSERVATIONS

After somewhat of a lost first season in Orlando, Bass is slowly earning the trust of head coach Stan Van Gundy and playing his way into the rotation. He fully understands now that the only way that he’s going to get consistent playing time is by rebounding and he’s snagged seven, nine and 10 rebounds in his last three preseason games.

On the offensive end of the floor, he made seven of nine shots and had a monstrous dunk over Omer Asik that had Howard screaming congratulations to him as the two ran back up the court.

Using Gortat some at power forward has allowed him to show off more of his game. Gortat has been stellar this preseason by dunking the ball in traffic and making hook shots with both hands. Said Gortat: ``My shot wasn’t bad last year, but I wasn’t able to show it much. Now, I’m getting more opportunities to play and shoot the ball. I’m hoping to continue to show coach that I can help out in there.’’

Rashard Lewis got his second start of the preseason at small forward and once again frustrated an elite wing player with his defense. He held Danny Granger to a four of 14 shooting night last week and on Saturday Luol Deng made just two of nine attempts.

Lewis has voiced his concerns about the defensive end while playing small forward, but so far he seems to be handling it quite well.

Magic are going 81-1!

Believe: The Magic will be the best team in the league ... at least in the regular season.

Orlando has been incredibly dominant in the preseason, winning its seven games by an average of 25 points. Using a standard statistical formula for expected wins, Orlando's preseason point differential translates to 81-1 record over an 82-game season. So which game will they lose?

OK. So the Magic probably won't break the '95-96 Bulls' record of 72 wins. But Orlando's dominant preseason is a reminder that they were statistically the best team last season, outscoring their opponents by 9.3 points per 100 possessions (Cleveland ranked second at +7.3). The playoffs were -- and are -- a different story, but this team is primed to be a regular-season juggernaut again.

With Dwyane Wade out for most of the preseason, the Heat may need some time to find their rhythm, while the Lakers and Celtics are more likely to deal with injuries and also pace themselves to stay fresh. The Magic will hit the ground running next week and have proven that they can sustain quality in a season.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/john_schuhmann/10/21/numbers-game-preseason-trends/