Orlando Magic Season Preview 2012-2013
Back in 2005, when Orlando Magic opened up Amway Arena for the Select-A-Seat event, I remember seeing all the players around. I had my basketball signed by Jameer Nelson, Nick Anderson, Keyon Dooling, Grant Hill, and many others. Magic fans were awaiting the arrival of the Big guy, Dwight Howard. He came in with a goofy smile, balloon created hat, signing autographs. I was five spots away from getting his autograph, I was bummed, but fans behind me were visibly upset, “oh, you so busy Dwight?” my kid waited this long for nothing? I screamed out, respect him, he’s going to bring a title to Orlando one day! He looked in my direction, and put up the peace sign. Now fast forward to 2012 and Dwight is traded, waving a Purple and Gold jersey all the while seemingly going down a eerily similar path blazed by Shaquille O’ Neal. He has not signed the extension yet, matter of fact, in the Orange County Register, he said “People don’t understand, I didn’t choose to come here; I got traded here, I lost my rights to walk to any team.” also, he added L.A. is the best situation he's been in and they have the opportunity to do something great, and he’s happy about it. It will be interesting to see if he re-signs with the Lakers next year. I like the route the Magic took to get cap relief and draft picks, but, to see the guy in a Lakers Uniform is very disgusting, but I look at what Orlando Magic is doing, and while this may be a struggle the next few years, I understand the new management has a vision that us Magic fans have yet to see. In this article, it will preview the Magic’s season, who I think should start and be in the rotation, and a final analysis of Orlando’s season.
The Orlando Magic are starting anew, a new coach, new General Manager, new scouts, a lot of new everything. From the few games that were played so far during this preseason, there has been plays ran from the high post, high pick and roll, creating offense from the mid post, and run back door plays. Vaughn’s Motion offense seems to preach fluency on the offensive side of the ball, likes to have three point shooting from the sides, instead of the arc, where as Stan Van Gundy ran a pick and roll and pick and pop system, and based his philosophy off post play to open up the three point shooting, or give our post threat a one on one match-up, the 4 out, 1 in offense. during the preseason, the Magic are averaging 24 assists per game, and 97.5 per game. Nelson and Moore, the PG tandem, has 10.1 assists together and 4.33 turnovers. Gustavo Ayon, the Spanish-bred center who is known for his passing, averaging 3.2, shown some nice flashes in putting the ball in the right place. Vaughn’s defense so far in the preseason seems to involve a lot of zone, 2-3 zone, and 3-2 zone during the games that were broadcast over the past few weeks, still analyzing for ways how Vaughn is pressuring the ballhanders, His offense will be very solid, on the other side of ball, the glaring weaknesses are what the Howard took with him, rebounding and interior post defense. Since there are so many new faces, I will take a stab who should be starting and in the rotation, and why, which player may surprise some people, and how many games do I see the Magic winning.
The starting lineup will be Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis, and Nikola Vucevic, but below are the ones who should start in my opinion.
Starting Lineup
PG- Jameer Nelson
SG- JJ Redick
SF- Hedo Turkoglu
PF- Glen Davis
C- Gustavo Ayon
Nelson, Turkoglu, and Davis you could say were already locked to be starters, including Afflalo and Honestly, Redick and Ayon won’t start, but here’s why I think they should open the season against the Denver Nuggets. JJ has been playing exceptionally well. Redick is averaging a second best 5.0 this preseason in assists, while scoring 13.7 ppg. he’s the smartest player on the Magic as far as Basketball IQ, not to mention, he’s another 3 point threat, this has to do with JJ winning it, and seizing the opportunity while Arron Afflalo was out with an Hamstring injury, but came back to play the last two games. JJ should at least start the season, and see can Afflalo can work his way into the starting lineup. Now who gets the following act behind Dwight Howard? How about getting Ayon a nod here, last year, the 27 year old rookie that has a 1.61 assist-to-turnover ratio, the big men in front of him you ask? Marc Gasol with 1.71, and Pau Gasol at 1.69, and leading was Boris Diaw with 1.83. In 20 MPG, Ayon grabbed 4.9 rebounds, and if that was on a per 36 minutes scale, he would average 8.8 RPG. While Nikola Vucevic has the higher ceiling, of the two, coming off averaging 5.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG on .45% FG, in 16 MPG with the Philadelphia 76ers. Davis, Nelson are looking to be our primary options, I think the “Goose” would a better clean up player, operate passing the ball from the mid and high post to our slashers to create the back door opportunities. Ayon recently injured himself in the Spurs game with a sprained thumb, and will be out for two weeks, once again, this is off
opinion.
Arron Afflalo, E’Twaun Moore, Andrew Nicholson, Nikola Vucevic, Al Harrington
Those names should be in the rotation, sure when Afflalo catches up the grasp of what Vaughn wants to do, he will take the starting SG slot back from Redick, which Redick can come to the bench and help Moore with another facilitator operate Vaughn’s motion offense, it was an assumption that Ish Smith would have that spot, but injuries are plaguing him as well, and Moore has done a great job this preseason, and is a lock for the backup Point Guard. Nikola is having a nice preseason averaging 8.6 PPG and 7.8 RPG will get the starting nod for the season due to Ayon’s injury, solid mid-range game, who’s still a work in progress. Al Harrington is battling a knee injury, and projecting his debut in mid-November, I expect him to back up Turkoglu, or if Coach Vaughn wants to go small, play him as a stretch four. This brings the attention to Andrew Nicholson, the 19th pick from St. Bonaventure, who at first, there were a lot of doubts about this young player, with a few prospects that was still available at the time, Sullinger and Jones III being available. Hennigan saw something we didn’t, which now it’s present, this kid has great offensive IQ, plays very well on the high post, and wonderful footwork around the basketball, he’s averaging 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG on 42% shooting, and 3.4 RPG. Injuries open up more playing time and possibly during the regular season for Nicholson. Moe Harkless is battling from injuries and DeQuan Jones, the undrafted rookie from Miami is taking advantage of the opportunity fighting for a roster spot, and he’s opening eyes in the preseason with a quick first step, and athletic ability around the rim, time will tell if he makes the team, but as of right now, because of all the wings the Magic have at the moment, if he makes the team, and his role won’t be significant as of right now.
Orlando's rebuilding mode on the court officially starts on November 2nd. the Franchise worst years, well, if including expansion in 1989 was 18-64, but having a Superstar in Tracy McGrady back in 2003 and going 21-61 was quite embarrassing, losing 19 straight that year. McGrady had no help, the next player was a tie between Drew Gooden or Juwan Howard, and that’s not saying much. Don’t see this team losing near 19 in a row, different types of characters on this team, Jacque Vaughn will get this team to compete, and the Motion offense is where everyone is active, moving around, screening, cutting. What will lose us games is defense, and rebounding, that causes extra possessions, and it exhausts players to reset and give up a lot of opportunities. Orlando will not be as bad as the Bobcats, but, could see them winning 25-30 games this year, so, I will give them 28-54. But, my bold prediction will be Orlando will be back in the playoffs in three years, low seed. Orlando’s campaign “WE WILL” is taking fire, and we will compete and start with the building blocks of the foundation, starting November 2nd, Rob Hennigan’s way, and hopefully the right way.
The Orlando Magic are starting anew, a new coach, new General Manager, new scouts, a lot of new everything. From the few games that were played so far during this preseason, there has been plays ran from the high post, high pick and roll, creating offense from the mid post, and run back door plays. Vaughn’s Motion offense seems to preach fluency on the offensive side of the ball, likes to have three point shooting from the sides, instead of the arc, where as Stan Van Gundy ran a pick and roll and pick and pop system, and based his philosophy off post play to open up the three point shooting, or give our post threat a one on one match-up, the 4 out, 1 in offense. during the preseason, the Magic are averaging 24 assists per game, and 97.5 per game. Nelson and Moore, the PG tandem, has 10.1 assists together and 4.33 turnovers. Gustavo Ayon, the Spanish-bred center who is known for his passing, averaging 3.2, shown some nice flashes in putting the ball in the right place. Vaughn’s defense so far in the preseason seems to involve a lot of zone, 2-3 zone, and 3-2 zone during the games that were broadcast over the past few weeks, still analyzing for ways how Vaughn is pressuring the ballhanders, His offense will be very solid, on the other side of ball, the glaring weaknesses are what the Howard took with him, rebounding and interior post defense. Since there are so many new faces, I will take a stab who should be starting and in the rotation, and why, which player may surprise some people, and how many games do I see the Magic winning. The starting lineup will be Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis, and Nikola Vucevic, but below are the ones who should start in my opinion.
Starting Lineup
PG- Jameer Nelson
SG- JJ Redick
SF- Hedo Turkoglu
PF- Glen Davis
C- Gustavo Ayon
Nelson, Turkoglu, and Davis you could say were already locked to be starters, including Afflalo and Honestly, Redick and Ayon won’t start, but here’s why I think they should open the season against the Denver Nuggets. JJ has been playing exceptionally well. Redick is averaging a second best 5.0 this preseason in assists, while scoring 13.7 ppg. he’s the smartest player on the Magic as far as Basketball IQ, not to mention, he’s another 3 point threat, this has to do with JJ winning it, and seizing the opportunity while Arron Afflalo was out with an Hamstring injury, but came back to play the last two games. JJ should at least start the season, and see can Afflalo can work his way into the starting lineup. Now who gets the following act behind Dwight Howard? How about getting Ayon a nod here, last year, the 27 year old rookie that has a 1.61 assist-to-turnover ratio, the big men in front of him you ask? Marc Gasol with 1.71, and Pau Gasol at 1.69, and leading was Boris Diaw with 1.83. In 20 MPG, Ayon grabbed 4.9 rebounds, and if that was on a per 36 minutes scale, he would average 8.8 RPG. While Nikola Vucevic has the higher ceiling, of the two, coming off averaging 5.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG on .45% FG, in 16 MPG with the Philadelphia 76ers. Davis, Nelson are looking to be our primary options, I think the “Goose” would a better clean up player, operate passing the ball from the mid and high post to our slashers to create the back door opportunities. Ayon recently injured himself in the Spurs game with a sprained thumb, and will be out for two weeks, once again, this is off
opinion.
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| Andrew Nicholson |
Arron Afflalo, E’Twaun Moore, Andrew Nicholson, Nikola Vucevic, Al Harrington
Those names should be in the rotation, sure when Afflalo catches up the grasp of what Vaughn wants to do, he will take the starting SG slot back from Redick, which Redick can come to the bench and help Moore with another facilitator operate Vaughn’s motion offense, it was an assumption that Ish Smith would have that spot, but injuries are plaguing him as well, and Moore has done a great job this preseason, and is a lock for the backup Point Guard. Nikola is having a nice preseason averaging 8.6 PPG and 7.8 RPG will get the starting nod for the season due to Ayon’s injury, solid mid-range game, who’s still a work in progress. Al Harrington is battling a knee injury, and projecting his debut in mid-November, I expect him to back up Turkoglu, or if Coach Vaughn wants to go small, play him as a stretch four. This brings the attention to Andrew Nicholson, the 19th pick from St. Bonaventure, who at first, there were a lot of doubts about this young player, with a few prospects that was still available at the time, Sullinger and Jones III being available. Hennigan saw something we didn’t, which now it’s present, this kid has great offensive IQ, plays very well on the high post, and wonderful footwork around the basketball, he’s averaging 20 MPG, 10.5 PPG on 42% shooting, and 3.4 RPG. Injuries open up more playing time and possibly during the regular season for Nicholson. Moe Harkless is battling from injuries and DeQuan Jones, the undrafted rookie from Miami is taking advantage of the opportunity fighting for a roster spot, and he’s opening eyes in the preseason with a quick first step, and athletic ability around the rim, time will tell if he makes the team, but as of right now, because of all the wings the Magic have at the moment, if he makes the team, and his role won’t be significant as of right now.
Orlando's rebuilding mode on the court officially starts on November 2nd. the Franchise worst years, well, if including expansion in 1989 was 18-64, but having a Superstar in Tracy McGrady back in 2003 and going 21-61 was quite embarrassing, losing 19 straight that year. McGrady had no help, the next player was a tie between Drew Gooden or Juwan Howard, and that’s not saying much. Don’t see this team losing near 19 in a row, different types of characters on this team, Jacque Vaughn will get this team to compete, and the Motion offense is where everyone is active, moving around, screening, cutting. What will lose us games is defense, and rebounding, that causes extra possessions, and it exhausts players to reset and give up a lot of opportunities. Orlando will not be as bad as the Bobcats, but, could see them winning 25-30 games this year, so, I will give them 28-54. But, my bold prediction will be Orlando will be back in the playoffs in three years, low seed. Orlando’s campaign “WE WILL” is taking fire, and we will compete and start with the building blocks of the foundation, starting November 2nd, Rob Hennigan’s way, and hopefully the right way.
