Orlando Pinstriped Post

Rashard Lewis' Greatest Hits

2010-09-10T12:00:45Z

Tom Mihalek - AP

In the three seasons since Rashard Lewis joined the Orlando Magic, the team has posted a winning percentage of .691 and won six playoff series. And while one can't attribute Orlando's improvement in that span solely to Lewis--coach Stan Van Gundy came aboard the same summer, and the development of franchise cornerstone Dwight Howard is also key--it's frankly impossible to overlook Lewis' contributions to the team. Today, OPP looks back at his five best games as part of an occasional, retrospective series highlighting top Magic performances. And, potentially underscoring Lewis' contributions to the team, all five of these performances come from the postseason, despite the fact that I did not limit this exercise to the playoffs.

Game No. 5: Apr. 30, 2009, at Philadelphia 76ers
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	3FGs
W, 114-89	40	29	7	5	0	2	11/22	0/3

Here, we see Lewis cleaning up for Howard. The blowout victory--on the road, no less--completed the Magic's comeback from a 2-1 series deficit against the 76ers, but heading in, Orlando appeared to be in trouble, as Howard received a league suspension for elbowing Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert in the previous game. Lewis became the focal point of the Magic's offensive attack, and the result proved lethal. Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young provide Philadelphia with solid defense, but neither could contain Lewis in the low post, where he effectively replaced Howard in the offense. Only three of his 22 shot attempts came from beyond the arc, which attests to the adjustments Van Gundy had to make in the wake of Howard's suspension; in his Magic career, 50.5% of Lewis' shots have come from long range.

The attack was an exercise in precision. Lewis used his post moves to score around Young, or attacked him off the dribble when muscled out of his spot. When Philly double-teamed, he made on-point passes to the open man on the weak side. He wasn't dominant, nor was he the sole reason Orlando emerged victorious that night. But he was indeed a huge factor in the Magic's advancing.

If you're interested, I recommend taking another look at this piece I wrote before the game about the opportunity Howard's suspension afforded Lewis. It's one of the posts I'm most proud of in my blogging career.

Game No. 4: May. 7, 2008, vs. Detroit Pistons
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	3FGs
W, 111-86	43	33	6	5	2	0	11/15	5/6

For Orlando, the bright spots were few and far-between in their 4-1 loss to the Detroit Pistons in this Eastern Conference Semifinals series, but Lewis' incredible eruption in its lone victory inspired hope that it could overcome the 2-0 deficit it faced entering the game. Lewis proved in the Philadelphia game highlighted above that he can be effective while limiting his three-point looks, but on this night, his three-pointer was key. 33 points on the night, on an estimated 19 shooting possessions. Remarkable efficiency. Indeed, in the last three postseasons, Lewis is one of five players to score 30-plus points with 15 or fewer field-goal attempts and 10 or fewer free-throw attempts. What's more, he broke out in a rather unexpected way; he didn't score more than 27 points in any of his 81 regular-season games with the Magic, but here he is, in his eighth playoff game in Magic blue, dropping 33.

Game No. 3: May 8, 2009, vs. Boston Celtics
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	3FGs
W, 117-96	41	28	6	3	1	0	9/17	3/7

Perhaps Lewis' raw numbers here don't wow you. I get that. 28 points is well above his average, sure, but in a vacuum? An All-Star forward dropping 28 on 9-of-17 shooting in a playoff game is reasonably routine. But, as always, context matters here. And in this context, Orlando had stolen home-court advantage from the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with an eye-opening win in Game 1. Though they were on the business end of the hammer Boston dropped in Game 2, they had an opportunity heading into this game to take a commanding 2-1 lead.

Which is exactly what happened, thanks largely to Lewis.

Again, a fairly nondescript game by NBA standards, and if you'd rather list this one a few slots back, I wouldn't necessarily contest it too much. But considering that the Magic faced a stiff test against Boston on the road to their first NBA Finals appearance in recent team history, and considering that Lewis keyed a rather significant win in that series, I've listed it here.

Game No. 2: May 20, 2009, at Cleveland Cavaliers
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	3FGs
W, 107-106	42	22	7	3	0	0	9/13	3/4

But even after toppling the Celtics, the Magic still had to get past the Cavaliers in order to reach the Finals. The first 30 minutes or so of that series, however, did little to inspire confidence in the Magic's pursuit of that goal. They trailed by 15 points at halftime and looked utterly lost. But the defense on everyone except LeBron James tightened, the three-pointers started dropping, and Orlando had narrowed the gap to four points headed to the fourth quarter.

And then Lewis took over. He made all five of his shots in the period, scoring 12 of Orlando's 29 points. And, more than that, hit the game-winning three after a well-executed rocker step forced the defending Anderson Varejao to shift his weight back ever so slightly. Mo Williams' runner on the Cavs' ensuing possession almost found the bottom of the net--this detail is too often overlooked, in my opinion--which means Orlando truly won the game by mere millimeters. Regardless, Lewis sparked the most impressive postseason comeback in modern Magic history, and capped it off with the clinching bucket to boot. On the road, too.

Game No. 1: June 7, 2009, at L.A. Lakers
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	3FGs
L, 101-96 (OT)	45	34	11	7	1	0	12/21	6/12

I don't think you can argue against this game being tops among Lewis' performances with the Magic. There ought not be any debate here. The Magic lost this game in overtime--memorably, Courtney Lee's wide-open lob layup attempt at the end of regulation was well off the mark--but we aren't necessarily counting wins and losses in these evaluations. Understand that this game is an unmitigated disaster, along the lines of the Game 1 blowout, without Lewis' white-hot shooting. He tallied 34 points to lead all scorers, which still stands as his highest mark in a Magic uniform. And yet the raw numbers don't do enough justice to how crucial he was to Orlando in this hard-fought defeat. Thankfully, we have Popcorn Machine, in addition to our own brains, to fill in the traditional box score's gaps. Lewis scored 18 of the Magic's 20 second-period points, on 7-of-10 shooting, while his teammates sputtered to a 1-of-13 mark. The Magic trailed the Lakers by a mere five points at intermission, and rallied in the third quarter to make the game more competitive. As in, having a two-point lead with 47 seconds remaining.

Lewis' highlights from the night, which Eddy Rivera helpfully posted last week at MagicBasketball.net, are at once uplifting and disheartening for Magic fans. No Magic player has matched Lewis' scoring output in this game in nine games of NBA Finals play, and had Orlando managed to knock off L.A. on this night and take Game 3 at home, as they did, it may well have hoisted a championship banner on opening night last fall. As it stands, Lewis almost single-handedly won a Finals game for his team, which helps to demonstrate why the team committed a maximum-salary contract to him over six seasons in the summer of 2007.

Where Dwight Howard Going the Extra Mile Happens

2010-09-10T04:15:13Z

If I'm going to make a post showing hardhat-clad Dwight Howard mugging with a urinal, it wouldn't make much sense for me to ignore a story about the Orlando Magic center granting a dying woman's wish with a two-hour visit at her home. The story's gotten a lot of play in the last few days--here it is at Ball Don't Lie, for example, while OPP user AB's triple double posted it in a FanShot--so you may have seen it already, but I don't see the harm in highlighting it again.

Mike Bianchi covered the story for the Orlando Sentinel here, while John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com posted his recap here.

I don't presume to know Howard personally--we've chatted a few times in a professional capacity--so I can't and won't argue that this gesture proves he's somehow enlightened or superior to mere mortals; using Kevin Durant as an example, Tommy Craggs recently wrote about the perils of the media lionizing athletes in this essential piece at Slate. But I will say that it's difficult for general NBA fans, or even just general human beings not to feel a bit better about Howard after reading about his generosity here.

2010-11 Orlando Magic Preview - Can Tinkerbell Get Them To Grow Out Of NeverLand? :: Around The Association - Golden State Of Mind

2010-09-09T22:38:13Z

2010-11 Orlando Magic Preview - Can Tinkerbell Get Them To Grow Out Of NeverLand? :: Around The Association - Golden State Of Mind

Poor Man's Commish, from our sister-site Golden State of Mind, previews the Orlando Magic. The outlook is not optimistic. Of note: the author refers to team GM Otis Smith as "Tinkerbell" and believes the Magic erred in building their team around Dwight Howard; they need an "alpha dog," which Howard isn't.

Where Dwight Howard Making a Different Sort of Flush Happens

2010-09-09T17:00:51Z

Fernando Medina - Orlando Magic; used with permission

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Yesterday, the Orlando Magic hosted the Drano Royal Flush at their new arena, the Amway Center, in order to test the new toilets at the building. Here's more on the event from the Magic's press release:

The new Amway Center in downtown Orlando met another milestone as the traditional "Royal Flush" was held September 8, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. at the construction site. The purpose of the Drano "Royal Flush" event was to observe sanitary sewer flows, water consumption and pressure in and around the arena. Approximately 443 toilets were flushed simultaneously; there are 18 men’s and 19 women’s restrooms in the new Amway Center, compared to just four of each in the old facility.

Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse has more on the event here, including this quote from Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy:

"I don't think so," Van Gundy quipped when asked if he was part of the promotion. "But a lot of people here still think I'm a piece of crap."

FIBA World Championships Open Thread: Team U.S.A. vs. Russia

2010-09-09T12:00:42Z

Team U.S.A.'s march for the gold medal at the FIBA World Championships continues today when it faces Russia (11 AM, ESPN), which figures to present quite a challenge. As John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes, Russia's size will make it a tough matchup for Team U.S.A., which has but one true center, Tyson Chandler, on the roster. Schuhmann also notes that Russia boasts the fifth-best defense of the tournament so far, thanks largely to its ability to defend the three-point line.

Though Russia's team lacks star power--Andrei Kirilenko isn't participating--it does have Knicks rookie center Timofey Mozgov, who's proven useful so far. Pete Thamel of the New York Times has more on the 7-foot-1 Mozgov here.

Discuss the game live in this thread. This is the knockout round, so a loss for Team U.S.A. will send it home. Today's winner advances to the semifinals, where it'll face the winner of the Lithuania/Argentina match. Here's the official bracket from FIBA's website.

Carmelo Anthony, Orlando Magic Not Linked in Latest Trade Report

2010-09-09T06:11:15Z

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Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports that Denver Nuggets All-Star Carmelo Anthony would prefer Denver deal him to the Chicago Bulls or the New York Knicks. For this site's purposes, the report is more interesting for which team it doesn't mention, rather than the teams it does. Indeed, the Orlando Magic are nowhere to be found in Spears' report, which indicates that ESPN's panel of experts may have been onto something a few weeks ago when it didn't list the Magic among contenders to land Anthony.

Three weeks ago, Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported that the Magic topped Anthony's list of possible trade destinations. But the talk linking Anthony to the Magic has calmed considerably since then, with teams like the New Jersey Nets, Houston Rockets, L.A. Clippers--in addition to the Bulls and Knicks--appearing more prominently in the rumor mill.

Anthony ranks fifth among active players in scoring average, with 24.7 points per game. His volume scoring--albeit at mediocre efficiency--has made him one of the league's most prominent players, but he's apparently had enough of Denver and wants to move on. As he can become a free agent next summer, he holds a bit of leverage: the Nuggets may have to deal him if it becomes apparent they'll lose him for nothing as a free agent, and he can discourage a trade to a team he doesn't like by promising not to re-sign with it this summer. A trade partner would thus have to appeal to Anthony while still having enough assets to persuade the Nuggets to make a deal. If you take Berger at his word--and there's no reason not to, really--the idea of playing for a contending team alongside another bona fide superstar is a draw for Anthony. What's far less clear is if the Magic can put together a trade package that'd accommodate the Nuggets.

For more on Anthony, I recommend Eddy Rivera's evaluation at MagicBasketball.net.

Off-Day Open Thread: Which Orlando Magic Player Combination Do You Most Look Forward to Using in NBA Jam?

2010-09-08T12:00:44Z

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that EA has released the rosters for Eastern Conference teams in the new version of the NBA Jam videogame. Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, and Rashard Lewis are the Orlando Magic players available, though the team also boasts two legends in Nick Anderson and Scott Skiles.

Today, our question is simple: which potential combination--remember, NBA Jam is a two-on-two, arcade-style game--of Magic players are you most excited to use in the new game? There are ten possible combinations, and I've listed each in the poll attached to this post.

I don't own a Wii, nor do I intend to buy the game bundled with NBA Elite 11 for my X-Box, so it's unlikely I'll ever actually play the new NBA Jam, which is OK with me because I prefer simulation-style games. But if I do play, my first combination will be Howard and Anderson.

And Stein? It's not cool to use derisive quotation marks around the word "legend" in reference to Anderson, who's among the most beloved and significant players in Magic history.

Orlando Magic Hire Adonal Foyle as Director of Player Development

2010-09-07T20:34:24Z

Gregory Shamus - Getty Images Sport

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The Orlando Magic named Adonal Foyle their Director of Player Development this afternoon, they announced via a press release. Foyle played the final three seasons of his career with the Magic, and announced his retirement last month. At the time, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel wrote that Foyle "could be an idea fit" in this role. Apparently, the team agrees.

According to the release, here's what the Director of Player Development position entails:

In his role, Foyle will provide support for the overall development of the players, act as a conduit between players and management, and give assistance to the basketball operations department.

I can't think of a better candidate than Foyle to fill the position. He has clout with almost all the current Magic players, having been their teammate for at least a season. He's a guy they'll trust and respect. This is a tremendous hire. Congratulations to the Magic and to Foyle are in order.

Dwight Howard's Greatest Hits

2010-09-07T12:01:16Z

John Raoux - AP

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Dwight Howard has spent all six years of his professional career in an Orlando Magic uniform, appearing in 540 of a possible 543 regular- and post-season games during that span. His durability and skill have made him one of the league's top three players. Today, OPP looks back at his five best games as part of an occasional, retrospective series highlighting top Magic performances.

Game No. 5: Jan. 12, 2010, at Sacramento Kings
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	FTs
W, 109-88	41	30	16	5	3	3	9/15	12/17

Howard injected life into a January affair against a surefire lottery team this evening with a performance that would have made Hakeem Olajuwon proud. He was everywhere on both ends of the court, and the Kings predictably didn't have an answer. Going in, one should have expected Howard to impose his will, but he outperformed any reasonable estimation of what his final numbers might be.

What's more, the Magic needed every bit of what he gave them. Despite the lopsided final margin, the Kings led, 78-76, heading into the final period. Howard tied the Magic in scoring in that period--he and Mickael Pietrus both had nine--while also throwing in nine rebounds and two blocked shots. The Kings, as a team, had seven rebounds in the final frame.

There's also this fact, which I noted at the time:

Howard became the first player since Tim Duncan in January 2009 to tally at least 30 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks in a game. Adding 3 steals to those criteria shows he's the first player since LeBron James in January 2008 to post such numbers.

This game would be a resume-topper for a number of the league's centers, but in my estimation, it's merely Howard's fifth-best. We'll look at nos. 4 through 1 after the jump.

Game No. 4: Feb. 24, 2010, at Houston Rockets
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	FTs
W, 110-92	34	30	16	3	0	1	11/11	8/12

Just 22 seconds into this game, it appeared as though Howard would finish with a modest line, as he picked up two fouls in that span. But that time on the bench must have done him some good, as he managed to score 30 points without missing a shot attempt from the floor. He became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1969 to score 30 points and grab 15 boards while shooting 1.000 from the field (with a minimum of 10 shot attempts).

Though the Magic had this game pretty well in hand throughout, I had to rank this performance ahead of his all-around destruction of Sacramento due to his perfection from the field. Eddy Rivera broke his night down in better detail than I could ever hope to in this post, which I recommend to anyone, but particularly those people who find Howard's offense lacking.

Game No. 3: Nov. 12, 2008, at Oklahoma City Thunder
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	FTs
W, 109-92	38	30	19	3	0	10	12/21	6/13

The Oklahoma City Thunder played this game without Kevin Durant, their top player, so they really didn't stand a chance, at least not on offense. But if Nick Collison, Joe Smith, and Johan Petro could manage to leverage Howard out of his favorite spots on offense, maybe they could bottle the Magic up enough to make the game competitive. But they couldn't, so they didn't, and Howard rolled to the first--and, to date, only--triple-double of his career. Here's what Kelly Dwyer wrote about the game:

Dwight Howard had 30 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 blocks in this game. Mentioning anything else would be doing you a disservice.

Indeed. About all I can add is that the Magic let Howard play a few garbage-time minutes in the fourth quarter, hoping to get him to an even 20 rebounds for that tidy, 30-point, 20-rebound, 10-block line. That final board eluded him, though, so he had to settle for 30, 19, and 10. "Settle."

Since the 1986/87 season, Olajuwon's the only player to post similar numbers in a regular-season game. Coincidentally, he did it against the Magic in 1989, with 32, 25, and 10.

Whom did Howard victimize with his blocks? Rookie Russell Westbrook took the brunt of the punishment, as Howard sent 3 of his offerings back, equalling the number of shots Westbrook converted on the night. He sent Desmond Mason and Earl Watson away twice each. He dismissed Robert Swift, Collison, and Smith once each to round it all out, with Smith being his last victim.

Game No. 2: Feb. 17, 2009, vs. Charlotte Bobcats
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	FTs
W, 107-102 (OT)	47	45	19	0	1	8	16/23	13/18

I assure you I have a perfectly legitimate reason for not listing this performance as the best of Howard's career. But before we get to that game, let's first appreciate all Howard did on this particular night. Really. 45 and 19 is a heckuva line, even before considering the blocks. And he did it against Emeka Okafor, who rated 10th in the entire league in points-per-possession allowed that season, according to Synergy Sports Technology. And as the final score indicates, Orlando needed what he gave it that night. This game was close throughout, with Charlotte holding a six-point lead after the third quarter and neither team leading by more than nine points. In addition to scoring 11 of Orlando's 27 fourth-quarter points, he gave the Magic something that didn't show up in the stat-sheet: a bone-crushing screen on the Bobcats' Gerald Wallace on the Magic's final possession of regulation, which freed J.J. Redick to sink the game-tying three-pointer.

Also consider the context: this game was Orlando's first after the 2009 All-Star break and fifth since losing Jameer Nelson for the season due to a separated shoulder. The Magic had gone 3-1 prior to this contest, but it had become clear that the point guard rotation of Anthony Johnson, the recently acquired Tyronn Lue, and Hedo Turkoglu wouldn't be tenable. This gutty, Howard-led win restored a bit of faith, at least among the fanbase. As it happened, Chris Paul's New Orleans Hornets eviscerated the Magic the next night, which may have influenced the team's decision to acquire Rafer Alston the very next day.

Game No. 1: May 30, 2009, vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Result	Mins	Pts	Rebs	Ast	Stl	Blks	FGs	FTs
W, 103-90	41	40	14	4	0	1	14/21	12/16

If you wanted to flip-flop this game with the last one, I can't say that I'd blame you. But I couldn't rank a 40/14 outing to clinch the Magic's first NBA Finals appearance in 14 years any lower than first on this list. The outcome here wasn't in doubt after halftime--the Magic led the Cavaliers by 18 at intermission--which meant each of Howard's baskets in the second half was like icing on the cake. A suitably raucous Amway Arena crowd cheered Howard's every move as he buried Cleveland, one possession at a time. Here's what I wrote about Howard in my recap that night:

He dribbled through or spun around single coverage. He split or passed out of double teams. The Cavs had no answer for anything he did. None. In the most important game of his professional career, he rose to the challenge.

Not that pouring it on the Cavs' frontline of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, Anderson Varejao, and Smith was a surprise at this point, as Howard had averaged 23 points and 12.8 rebounds on 71.8% True Shooting in the five Conference Finals games leading up to this one.

In short, though, this performance is clearly the Magic's best from that game, which one could argue is their most significant win in recent memory: the other contender for that title is their first NBA Finals win, which came 10 days later.

Pruiti: Mickael Pietrus Struggles at the Foul Line

2010-09-06T21:00:35Z

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Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook got to wondering about why good three-point shooters sometimes struggle at the foul line. He outlines his theory with this series of videos featuring Orlando Magic small forward Mickael Pietrus. He identifies three reasons why some outstanding three-point shooters are below-average from the line, which I've paraphrased:

They don't get to the foul line enough;
they're accustomed to taking jump-shots, and not set-shots, which is what they must do at the foul line;
they don't get the benefit of establishing a catch-and-shoot rhythm at the line like they do in a live-ball situation.

Give the vids a look, but be prepared for some discomfort, if you're anything like me; watching Pietrus fade back on his free-throw stroke makes me wince. Also? Make NBA Playbook part of your daily routine.

The Miami Heat's Free-Agent Success is Not the Orlando Magic's Free-Agent Failure

2010-09-03T12:00:45Z

The Orlando Magic's biggest additions this summer are Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson. Their rivals to the south, the Miami Heat, added Chris Bosh and LeBron James. So clearly, the Magic's offseason was a failure. Fran Blinebury of NBA.com put it this way last month:

How do they convince themselves that Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson compare with LeBron James and Chris Bosh?

Quite obviously, they don't, because they are not delusional. Blinebury's view--and it's not unique to him, if some of the comments at this site since mid-July are any indication, so please don't think I'm trying to hammer him--utterly fails to consider the different circumstances the Magic and Heat faced this summer. Cashed-out Orlando won 59 games and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season. Miami, meanwhile, had a historic amount of salary-cap space with which to work. Mark Deeks explains how Pat Riley managed to pull it off here.

Let us not get it twisted: Miami's goal this summer was to play catch-up with the Magic, Boston Celtics, L.A. Lakers, and the rest of the league's elite. Orlando's core players were already in place. In Dwyane Wade, Miami had but one. That's a huge distinction.

Remember, the Magic made over their roster in 2007 with the addition of Rashard Lewis, using the salary-cap space that freed up once Grant Hill's contract expired. They further adjusted it last summer by trading for Vince Carter. Given their salary structure, and the constraints the NBA salary cap imposes, there's no way they could have reasonably expected to land a premiere free agent this summer. Instead, they split the mid-level exception on Duhon and Richardson, drafted Daniel Orton, re-signed Jason Williams, and called it a summer. In more abstract terms, they added two rotation players, drafted a project, and retained a third-stringer. Minor tweaks to an already elite roster.

Also consider that the Magic may not have even wanted to overhaul their roster this summer. John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com explains GM Otis Smith's thinking:

Otis Smith remained true to his word that he likes this team and wasn’t planning major moves this offseason. And without question Smith isn’t the reactionary type, so he wasn’t about to scrap his plans just because the Heat made a couple of major moves this summer. Smith is of the belief that the Magic were the best team in the East last spring, but simply suffered through a bad series in the Eastern Conference Finals and ran into a red-hot Celtics team.

Blinebury fairly points out that the Magic may well no longer be the best team in their own state anymore. I don't take issue with that assessment. But the idea that the Magic are inferior to the Heat simply because their free-agent additions are worse doesn't fly. Orlando started the summer far more talented, but also more constrained, than the Heat did. The summer finishes with the teams markedly more even. That's not failure on the Magic's part, but rather a success on Miami's.

Perhaps a better contrast to the Magic's summer is that of the Boston Celtics, who had fewer options than the Magic did entering free-agency; both teams had mid-level exceptions, but the Celtics didn't have a bi-annual exception. The Magic did, but have yet to use it. As Zach Lowe points out, Boston added a variety of talented players at reasonable cost "without giving up a single basketball asset," and the only rotation player they lost was Tony Allen.

Predict the 2010-11 NBA playoff teams - Rufus on Fire

2010-09-03T02:59:48Z

Predict the 2010-11 NBA playoff teams - Rufus on Fire

David Arnott of Rufus on Fire invites everyone to vote for which NBA teams will make the playoffs this year. It's a safe bet to include the Orlando Magic, yes?

Orlando Magic News for September 2nd: Debating Chris Duhon's Value, Jameer Nelson's Shot Selection, and Amway Center's Toilets

2010-09-02T21:00:31Z

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Basketball Prospectus | Articles | SCHOENE on the Summer
Marc Normandin of Basketball Prospectus is bullish on Orlando Magic point guard Chris Duhon, signed in free agency this summer, being a solid value this season after toiling as "a replacement-level player last season" as a New York Knick:
it's easy to see why he will improve. The roster around him is significantly different than what he was playing with in New York thanks to Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Vince Carter, three scorers whom Duhon can feed.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade rank as top free-agent bargains of 2010 - Ian Thomsen - SI.com
But as Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated writes, the analyst Rich Steinlauf sees Duhon as one of the worst signings of the summer in terms of value. "His salary of $3.5 million is at least $1.5 million too much," says Thomsen, "according to Steinlauf."
NBA HD: Visualizing Shot Selection by Position | Hardwood Paroxysm
Tom Haberstroh's latest NBA HD post at Hardwood Paroxysm concerns shot-selection by position. His findings show that Magic point guard Jameer Nelson's shot selection was the most typical of that of any point guard in the league, which is to say Nelson's mix of shot locations is most similar to the overall positional average.
Magic to conduct Amway Center toilet test Sept. 8 – Orlando Magic BasketBlog
The Orlando Sentinel's Matt Humphrey points out that the Magic have turned toilet-testing at the Amway Center into an event, known as the Drano Royal Flush. It occurs to me that this event should be less a testing and more a celebration, as the old Amway Arena had but four bathrooms. Four.

Advanced Metrics Handbook, Vol. 3: Pace

2010-09-02T12:00:46Z

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Part of an occasional series explaining some of the advanced statistical terms employed at Orlando Pinstriped Post. Today's topic: pace.

The Golden State Warriors have put up impressive scoring numbers since re-hiring head coach Don Nelson in 2006. In the four seasons since then, the Warriors have ranked second, first, second, and second in points per game, with an overall scoring average of 108.7 points per game. He's an offensive genius!

Or maybe not. The biggest problem with per-game statistics, especially on the team level, is that they fail to account for pace, which refers to the number of possessions a team uses per game. The famed North Carolina coach Dean Smith is said to have defined "possession" as, roughly, what occurs during the time one team has the ball without giving it back to its opponent. As we'll see below, pace uses traditional boxscore statistics to estimate the number of possessions each team uses. On a single-game level, one can comb through play-by-play data to count the possessions individually, but pace is a solid, shorthand way to get an accurate figure from larger sample sizes. From there, we can learn more about teams' tendencies and true aptitudes.

The formula:

0.96 * (FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TO - OReb

In plain English:

Pace counts the myriad ways a possession can end: via a shot attempt, a free throw, or a turnover. It adjusts for possessions that extend after a shot attempt by disregarding offensive rebounds, and accounts for technical and and-one free throw chances by multiplying total foul-shot attempts by 0.44.

What it's for:

Pace levels the playing field, so to speak, when it comes to evaluating teams. It doesn't penalize slower, more methodical teams for their style of play, which often hurts their per-game scoring numbers; similarly, it doesn't reward the run-and-gun teams for their style of play, which inflates their per-game stats. Pace is incredibly useful for making apples-to-apples comparisons between teams, as well as considering teams individually.

Pace is the basis for two other key advanced metrics: offensive rating and defensive rating, sometimes referred to offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency, or as points per 100 possessions and points allowed per 100 possessions, respectively. Dividing the number of points scored (or allowed) by the number of possessions, and multiplying that result by 100, used yields a given team's offensive (or defensive) rating, the most accurate way to measure teams' effectiveness on both sides of the ball.

Furthermore, it's important to note that there isn't a correlation between pace and offensive aptitude. Slow-paced teams like the Portland Trail Blazers (87.7 possessions per game last season, 30th) and San Antonio Spurs (91.7, 11th) field quite impressive offenses when one accounts for pace; the Sacramento Kings (94.0, 6th) and Minnesota Timberwolves (96.1, 3rd) are counter-examples, as they play at a fast pace without much good offense to show for it. Ultimately, it comes down to players making shots, and coaches designing gameplans that maximize their players' strengths.

Remember: pace is a descriptive statistic, not an evaluative one; offenssive rating and defensive rating are the evaluative ones. Having a fast pace isn't necessarily good or bad, but having a low offensive rating is bad. Please understand the difference.

The takeaway:

The Warriors indeed put up some eye-popping per-game numbers on offense, largely due to their ranking 1st, 2nd, 1st, and 1st in pace in those years. But when one takes the air out of those stats by adjusting for pace, it becomes clear that Golden State is no great shakes at that end. Referring again to the four seasons since Nelson took over, the Warriors have ranked 20th, 4th, 9th, and 14th in offensive rating.

Within this franmework, we can evaluate players as well. Is scoring 25.5 points per game on the world's fastest team, as Monta Ellis did last year, more impressive than scoring 21.5 per game for the slowest, as Brandon Roy did? Probably not. Adjusting for pace is a crucial basketball concept, and one that more broadcasters and mainstream media types would do well to adopt.

Steering the discussion toward the Orlando Magic, whom this site ostensibly covers on an everyday basis, it's apparent that pace doesn't much affect the Orlando Magic's standing with regard to offense or defense. Here's a look at how the Magic have ranked on offense and defense, both on a per-game and pace-adjusted basis, since coach Stan Van Gundy took the helm in 2007:

Season	Offense (Rank)		Defense (Rank)
Season	Trad.	Adv.	Trad.	Adv.
2007/08	104.5 (6)	111.3 (7)	99.0 (11)	105.5 (6)
2008/09	101.0 (10)	109.2 (11)	94.4 (6)	101.9 (1)
2009/10	102.8 (6)	111.4 (4)	95.3 (4)	103.3 (3)

Orlando Magic News for September 1st: J.J. Redick Starting, the Magic's Moves, and the Amway Center Experience

2010-09-01T20:00:36Z

More photos » Reinhold Matay - AP

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Fact or Fiction: J.J. Redick Will Become a Starter This Season | Magic Basketball
At MagicBasketball.net, Eddy Rivera lays out the arguments for and against J.J. Redick joining the Orlando Magic's starting five this season. Here's how that situation could arise:
If J.J. Redick is starting for the Orlando Magic at the shooting guard position on the eve of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, then one of three things probably occurred: Vince Carter a.) slid over to the small forward position, b.) was traded, or c.) was benched.
Rising stars to watch in the 2010-11 season | NBA.com
Shaun Powell of NBA.com, meanwhile, says "it's only a matter of time before [Redick] replaced Vince Carter, or at least gets more minutes in the rotation. Powell pegs Redick as a "rising star to watch" in the coming season.

Vote: Grade the Orlando Magic’s offseason – Orlando Magic BasketBlog
Josh Robbins invites readers to vote and comment on the Magic's offseason moves, which included the signings of Chris Duhon and Quentin Richardson, as well as the drafting of Daniel Orton and Stanley Robinson.
Amway Center Pricing Takes Shape
Philip Rossman-Reich of Orlando Magic Daily discusses how the Magic fan experience might change this season as the team moves from Amway Arena to Amway Center.

Off-Day Open Thread: Who is the Orlando Magic's Biggest Rival?

2010-09-01T12:00:44Z

Jim Rogash - Getty Images

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If you're at all familiar with my work, you know I don't often veer into topics charged with emotion. But I think it's relevant to discuss, with the NBA season looming, who the Orlando Magic's biggest rivals are. For once, it's actually a question worth considering.

The term "rival" comes up far too often in sports, I believe. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have a storied, decades-long rivalry, and play in the same division, for instance, but the Yankees are a cut above the Red Sox right now; the Tampa Bay Rays pose a more immediate threat to their chances of repeating as World Series champions than the Red Sox do. In a rivalry, what I look for is competitors at roughly the same level, preferably among the elite. I mean, the L.A. Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves might have bad blood stemming from the Timberwolves' hilarious tanking effort to avoid having to deal a draft pick to the Clippers, but because neither of those teams matters much in the NBA landscape, you'll have a hard time convincing me I should care.

Having established my preferences here, we should now take a look at the contenders for the Magic's biggest rival.

Boston Celtics

Head-to-Head Record Since 2007: 7-4 regular season, 6-7 postseason, 1-1 in postseason series.

Overall Head-to-Head Record: 41-42 regular season, 9-8 postseason, 2-1 in postseason series.

Narrative Evaluation: The Magic and Celtics are linked pretty tightly since both franchises made major moves in 2007. In Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Boston infamously added two Hall-of-Famers, while the Magic brought head coach Stan Van Gundy and Rashard Lewis. Though they didn't meet in the postseason that year--the Celtics dispatched the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals, one round after the Pistons sent the Magic home--they've had some memorable battles in the ensuing seasons. Boston took a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2009, but the Magic charged back to take that series, which included blowing the Celtics out on their home floor in Game 7. Boston got its revenge this year, though, jumping out to a 3-0 lead on the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals and ultimately knocking them out in 6 games.

Additionally, Celtics forward Paul Pierce made headlines during the 2009 Finals when he likened the Magic to a "poodle" against the "german sherperd [sic]" L.A. Lakers, and vowing that the "rotwieler [sic]" Celtics would give them what-for next year. Magic fans laughed and pointed to the imaginary scoreboard, but Pierce backed up his tough talk this spring with some remarkable performances against the Magic.

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins also has a contentious relationship with Dwight Howard, most famously when asked for his response to Howard's winning an Olympic gold medal in 2008. He retorted, "What's his impression of me after I won a ring? I don't watch people like that. I'm not a fan of everybody." Since the two often guard each other, and get quite physical, things can get heated in a hurry.

As far as competitiveness is concerned, it's hard to get much closer than the Magic and the Celtics have been since 2007. In the 24 meetings (counting the postseason) between the teams in that span, the Celtics have scored 2206 points to the Magic's 2197. A one-possession margin decided six of those 24 games. When the two teams play, you really ought to tune in.

L.A. Lakers

Head-to-Head Record Since 2007: 4-2 regular season, 1-4 postseason, 0-1 in postseason series.

Overall Head-to-Head Record: 12-31 regular season, 1-4 postseason, 0-1 in postseason series

Narrative Evaluation: Playing in opposing conferences means these teams don't play quite often, but given the fact that the Lakers ended the Magic's championship hopes with a 4-1 victory in the 2009 NBA Finals, they merit consideration here. Adding salt to that wound is the fact Jameer Nelson, who torched the Lakers in the Magic's regular-season sweep of L.A. that year, was hardly himself in the Finals series after returning from a shoulder injury which ended his regular season on February 2nd. Oh, and there's the matter of Courtney Lee missing a difficult lob layup attempt which would have won Game 2 of the Finals in regulation for Orlando. Instead, the Lakers took the game in overtime.

Orlando fan-favorite Matt Barnes signed with the Lakers this summer, which should a) improve L.A.'s depth at small forward and b) make its games against the Magic this season that much more interesting. But because the only way these two teams will meet in postseason play is if they both come out of their respective conferences, it's tough to peg them as rivals. Frequency of play, in addition to the hostility and emotion while playing, matters when discussing rivalries.

Miami Heat

Head-to-Head Record Since 2007: 9-3 regular season

Overall Head-to-Head Record: 40-43 regular season, 2-3 postseason, 0-1 in postseason series

Narrative Evaluation:

The Magic/Heat rivalry has proven fairly one-sided in Orlando's favor since 2007, but the Heat's appearance has more to do with their future roster than the one that's struggled against Orlando in the recent past. Indeed, among the 18 players the Heat have under contract, only Joel Anthony, Mario Chalmers, Udonis Haslem, Jamaal Magloire, and Dwyane Wade have suited up as members of the Heat against Orlando.

But in adding LeBron James this summer, Miami has certainly vaulted itself into championship contention, and made its relationship with the Magic more interesting. James' incredible showing in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals wasn't enough to get his Cavaliers over the hump against the Magic, but it did establish him as an individual rival of Orlando's. And it's valid to compare him to Howard, insofar as they're both among the best players in the league who entered it just one year apart.

Chris Bosh hasn't enjoyed much postseason success in his seven-year career, but he's among the most prolific Magic-Killers in recent memory. His career averages against the Magic? 23.2 points and 10.0 rebounds, including five games of 30-plus points.

And, of course, there's Wade, who has six games of 30-plus points against the Magic in his career, and holds the two highest-scoring performances against the Magic since 2007: 50 points in 37 minutes in February 2009 and 48 points in 52 minutes in December 2007. All told, the Heat's new trio have combined for 15 of the 55 games of 30-plus points against the Magic since 2007... and that was when they were starring for their own teams. Together? They won't combine for 90 in a single game against the Magic, but they have three scorers who've proven they can handle Orlando's defense. Combining their skills should make for a fantastic rivalry for years to come, and it's likely that they'll match up in the playoffs at least once in the next five seasons.

There's also the issue of how the Heat almost blocked the Magic's hiring of Van Gundy. As he held a consultant position with the Heat prior to accepting the Magic's coaching offer, Heat boss Pat Riley demanded compensation from the Magic to release Van Gundy from his Heat contract. The Magic agreed to Riley's terms, conveying the 39th pick in the 2007 Draft, as well as the right to swap first-rounders in the 2008 Draft, to Miami. Though Van Gundy's success with the team since has made that price more than worth it--the players selected with those picks are Stanko Barac and Darnell Jackson--Riley's ransom, however reasonable, did little to smooth relations between the two Florida teams.

Going back further, the Magic had one of their most memorable playoff series in their history against the Heat in 1997, forcing a decisive Game 5 in Miami after falling into an 0-2 hole. Penny Hardaway scored 83 points in the next two games when the Magic tied the series despite the absence of Rony Seikaly--whom I remind you is the third-best center in Magic history--who went down with an ankle injury in Game 3. They sorely missed him in Game 5, when the Heat's starting frontcourt of Jamal Mashburn, P.J. Brown, and Alonzo Mourning mustered 34 rebounds; the Magic, as a team, snared but 37 caroms.

There's also a long list of players who've worn both uniforms, which Shaquille O'Neal headlines. Seikaly, Hardaway, Dan Schayes, Isaac Austin, and Jason Williams are also on that list, which Orlando's Quentin Richardson will join this year.

Conclusions:

One can make a strong case for any of the teams here being the Magic's biggest rival; as with most things, the selection comes down to personal preference and, in this case, idiosyncratic interpretations of the word "rival." Don't let the length of the contenders' respective write-ups influence your poll vote. Speak your mind, and let's hear about it in the comments section.

Poll

Which team is the Orlando Magic's biggest rival?

The Boston Celtics

361 votes

The L.A. Lakers

46 votes

The Miami Heat

283 votes

Other (please explain in comments)

7 votes

697 votes | Poll has closed

Orlando Magic News for August 31st: Another Carmelo Anthony Trade Scenario, D-League Musings, and More

2010-08-31T23:00:46Z

More photos » Steve C Wilson - AP

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SLAM ONLINE | Trader’s Market: Melo Pt. 2 - Southern Hospitality
Sandy Dover says the Orlando Magic are contenders to land Denver Nuggets All-Star Carmelo Anthony via trade because they can offer salary relief (Vince Carter's partially expiring contract) and solid talent (Mickael Pietrus, whom Dover calls the "real treat" for Denver in the deal). He believes pairing Anthony with Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and Rashard Lewis could help the Magic "go to the NBA Finals."
Grading NBA Teams’ Usage of the D-League: Southeast Division | D-League Digest
Four well-respected experts agree: the Magic earn an F for their non-use of the NBA's D-League so far. Eddy Rivera points out that the Magic don't have much need for the D-League, since they're a contending team, but Matt Hubert counters with this bit:
Sure, they’ve been successful on the court the past few seasons, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Other top teams like the Lakers, Celtics and Spurs have made much better use of the D-League as a developmental tool than Orlando.
Dwight Howard to visit Haiti and host charity event for Haiti – Orlando Magic BasketBlog
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel passes along word that Howard will support earthquake relief for Haiti in a variety of ways.
charitybuzz | Test Your skills with Superman Himself, Dwight Howard
As we posted in this FanShot earlier, Howard is also supporting Usher's New Look, another charity, by auctioning off a game of HORSE.

Test Your skills with Superman Himself, Dwight Howard

2010-08-31T21:55:58Z

Test Your skills with Superman Himself, Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard is auctioning off a game of HORSE with him to benefit Usher's New Look.

Happy Birthday, Chris Duhon!

2010-08-31T18:00:47Z

More photos » John Raoux - AP

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Orlando Magic point guard Chris Duhon turns 28 today. Duhon finally signed with the Magic as a free agent this summer after nearly joining them in 2008. Despite Duhon's choosing the Knicks over the Magic that year, Magic GM Otis Smith's interest in Duhon never wavered, and he jumped at the chance to ink the veteran to a four-year deal earlier this summer. Duhon figures to back up Jameer Nelson this season, and he'll do so in a no. 25 jersey, which has upset Magic fans who believe the team should retire it for Nick Anderson.

Many happy returns, Chris.

Volume, Not Percentage, the Key to Improving the Orlando Magic's Potency from the Foul Line

2010-08-31T12:00:55Z

Bruce Maddox - Orlando Pinstriped Post

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Yesterday, Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse filed this story about Ted St. Martin, the world record-holder for consecutive free throws made without a miss, in which St. Martin guarantees he can teach any of the NBA's worst foul shooters--including the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard--how to convert at a 90 percent rate from the stripe. St. Martin wonders why he hasn't been given the opportunity to work with NBA teams on their shooting:

"Think of all the games in the NBA that have been lost by poor free-throw shooting. It's something that's easily fixable. It's not rocket science. It's simple stuff,'' he said. "I guess, the NBA just thinks I'm too old, too short, to teach it. It still puzzles me.''

He certainly seems qualified, given his body of work, which is why John Krolik is puzzled that no NBA team has given St. Martin a look.

In this excerpt, Povtak explains the potential impact better foul shooting might've had on the Magic's season:

If the Magic, for example, shot 90 percent from the free-throw line last season, they would have averaged 107.4 points instead of 102.8 points. It's safe to assume they would have won several more games.

But certainly it's unrealistic to expect any NBA team to shoot 90 percent from the line over the course of a given season; in the last 10 seasons, only 17 teams have topped 80 percent, with the 2002/03 Dallas Mavericks leading the way at 82.9 percent. Povtak certainly knows that, and I only believe he chose that 90 percent figure because it aligns with St. Martin's claims about the impact his teaching could have.

The real issue with regard to the Magic's foul shooting isn't the team-wide percentage, but rather how the shot attempts are distributed. Howard takes a ton of free throws at a horrid rate, accounting for 816 of the Magic's 2176 attempts last season all by himself, and shooting only 59.2 percent. Six of the Magic's other rotation players bested the league average of 75.9 percent, with a seventh, Jason Williams, only coming up three-tenths of a percent short.

Let's take a visual look at the impact Howard's had on the Magic's free-throw shooting since entering the league in 2004, and move along from there.

This first chart takes a year-by-year view pitting Howard against the Magic's cumulative team percentage, his team's percentage independent of his, and the cumulative league average; I consulted www.basketball-reference.com to find these data, and all others in this post, unless otherwise noted.

And here's a look at Howard's impact on the Magic's free-throw shooting overall. It's six seasons' worth of data.

Clearly, it'd benefit Howard to improve from the foul line. But it'd also benefit him to, say, have a three-point shot, and the handle of a point guard. Unfortunately, he's about as likely to add those facets to his game as he is to ever be a 70 percent free-throw shooter. Six seasons and 4239 free-throws into his career, and he's a 59.9 percent shooter, and he hasn't topped 59.5 percent in the last four seasons. While he could certainly make some incremental improvements, by and large he is who he is from the foul line at this point; he's darn near his peak with regard to foul shooting.

The larger issue is that the Magic no longer have a high-volume, foul-drawing scorer from the perimeter to augment them at the stripe, though J.J. Redick made great strides in that area last season. To make that point, here's a list of Magic players, not counting Howard, to average five free throws per game since Howard entered the league. Five is admittedly a somewhat arbitrary number, but it seems appropriate in light of the fact that the average player takes just 2.4 per game, according to Hoopdata. More than doubling the average rate seems good enough for my purposes here:

2004/05: Steve Francis (7.8), Grant Hill (5.1)
2005/06: Francis (6.3)
2006/07: Hill (5.0)
2007/08:
2008/09: Hedo Turkoglu (5.1)
2009/10:

Vince Carter ought to have been that guy last season, averaging precisely 5 attempts a game as a New Jersey Net in the season preceding his joining the Magic, but he faltered to 4.1 attempts per game, the second-worst figure of his 12-year career. Now, it's a team-wide effort to draw enough fouls to offset Howard's stroke, if indeed that's even a concern; the Magic were an elite offensive unit last season. But it'd be much easier if Orlando employed that one specialist instead of relying on the trio of guys to step up their foul-drawing games on any given night.

I know that the Magic's offense under coach Stan Van Gundy skews heavily toward pick-and-roll, draw-and-kick action, which results in plenty of three-pointers. But it seems to me that point guard Jameer Nelson and power forward Rashard Lewis could drive the ball to the basket a bit more often, seeking contact.

For all his speed and quickness, Nelson has never averaged more than 2.9 foul shots per game in his career, and in a five-game, 154-minute stretch last April, managed no trips to the line.

Lewis, meanwhile, averaged 5.5 and 5.3 free throw attempts per game in 2005/06 and 2006/07 as the Seattle SuperSonics' slashing complement to Ray Allen, though he also added 4.7 and 6.5 three-point attempts, respectively, in those years. He's older and decidedly more perimeter-oriented now, but I do think he has more driving in his game than he's shown, or has been asked to show, since joining the Magic.

St. Martin is unrealistic to expect an NBA team convert 90 percent of its free throws, but he's on the mark when he says that many games can come down to foul shots. The Orlando organization knows that much all too well. Nick Anderson's four late misses in the Magic's Game One loss to the Houston Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals came to define his career and, in turn, led Chris Ballard to spotlighting him in the chapter about foul shooting in last year's The Art of a Beautiful Game. Howard and Turkoglu missed six of their 12 free throws in the fourth quarter in Game Four of the 2009 NBA Finals, which the L.A. Lakers won in overtime to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. And, this last season, Carter missed two free throws late in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals which would have brought the Magic to within a point of the Boston Celtics. Though we can fairly attribute Turkoglu's and Carter's misses to chance, their shortcomings really highlight Orlando's need for more reliability at the stripe.

But really, there's not an easy remedy. Howard seems unlikely to reach 65 percent overnight; Carter hasn't demonstrated that he still has the aggressive mentality or requisite athleticism to earn five-plus free throws per game; Redick hasn't played enough to reach that mark, and even then, he'll still have to add more drives to his game; and Nelson and Lewis simply aren't asked to draw contact too often.

The Magic, I believe, are still championship contenders, largely due to their work on the other side of the ball. And I do expect a bounce-back year from Carter. But certainly I'd feel better about their chances if they had a dynamic player who could earn several trips to the line each night.

UPDATE: Oddly enough, I never made the point I set out to when I started writing this post. Initially, I intended merely to say that the Magic's free-throw woes are overstated due to Howard's high-volume inaccuracy, and that he's typically on the floor with at least two other above-average foul shooters. Really, that's it. Should have taken 20 minutes. But instead I spent nearly two hours researching the other, more complex point around which the post ultimately centers.

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Advanced Metrics Handbook, Vol. 3: Pace

Orlando Magic News for September 1st: J.J. Redick Starting, the Magic's Moves, and the Amway Center Experience

Off-Day Open Thread: Who is the Orlando Magic's Biggest Rival?

Which team is the Orlando Magic's biggest rival?

The Boston Celtics

The L.A. Lakers

The Miami Heat

Other (please explain in comments)

Orlando Magic News for August 31st: Another Carmelo Anthony Trade Scenario, D-League Musings, and More

Test Your skills with Superman Himself, Dwight Howard

Test Your skills with Superman Himself, Dwight Howard

Happy Birthday, Chris Duhon!

Volume, Not Percentage, the Key to Improving the Orlando Magic's Potency from the Foul Line