Denton: Magic Look to Turn Things Around Against Wizards
By John Denton
January 8, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – If the Orlando Magic think they have problems as losers of their last three games all they have to do Friday night is look across the way at the Washington Wizards for a bit of perspective.
Wizards star Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday by the NBA following his actions after being investigated for bringing three guns into the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. And the Wizards have lost five of six games and currently sit at 11-22 after being picked by manyas a playoff team this season.
Not that any of that makes the Magic, 24-11 and three games back of Boston from the top spot in the Eastern Conference, feel any better. The Magic have hit their worst snag in the Stan Van Gundy era in Orlando, losing their last three games to sub-.500 teams and suffering through a frustrating drought in which they have dropped four of the past six games.
Facing a short-handed Washington team on Friday would seem like the perfect opportunity for the Magic to snap out of the funk that gripped the team of late. Van Gundy said the Magic have allowed the frustration to sap some of the team’s confidence and chemistry of late. He said it’s up to the Magic’s players and coaches to find a way out of the malaise and get back on track.
``Instead of our frustration maybe fueling an anger to where maybe you want to do something about it, I see us more hanging our heads a little bit,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It’s totally up to us and no one else to get this turned around.’’
Maybe most shocking of all in this stretch has been the struggles of the Magic’s offense. Vince Carter is in the throes of one of the worst shooting slumps of his career, the Magic have been unable to consistently get shots for Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson’s play has been up and down since returning from knee surgery.
So with the four all-stars struggling, Orlando has had to lean on reserves J.J. Redick, Mickael Pietrus and new starter Matt Barnes for long stretches. Too often, it hasn’t been enough during this three-game losing streak. Orlando lost three in a row last April, but that was when it was resting players for the playoff run. This is the first three-game skid since January of 2008.
``I think that we’re out there thinking a little too much right now, and we’re not sure of ourselves at times,’’ Nelson said after Wednesday’s 108-103 loss to Toronto. ``The only thing we can do is continue working at it and get out of this funk this we’re in right now. Eventually every team is going to go through a little funk, but the good teams get on top of it.’’
Howard insisted that the Magic are still a very good team, albeit a frustrated one. He said the locker room has remained united and he’s gone out of his way to talk to teammates in hopes of keeping them from splintering from the team. Howard thinks that one good game, one he hopes comes Friday in Washington, will trigger relief and better play from a Magic team that’s clearly been pressing of late.
``This is a tough stretch for us, but we’re going to fight though it,’’ Howard said. ``I look around the locker room and see guys who are hoping that we can just one day have a breakout offensively. We’ve missed shots and everybody is down, but we just have to continue to fight.
``We go through situations during the season that will prepare us for the long run and the playoffs,’’ Howard continued. ``We’re going through this phase right now and it might not be pretty, but we just have to understand that it will make us a better team and better as individuals. Me as a leader, I just have to stay positive and make sure we all fight though this, so later on we’ll be fine.’’
Van Gundy is hoping the Magic can take the stirring rally in Wednesday’s fourth quarter – one in which the Magic sliced an 18-point deficit to two points on two different occasions – and carry it over to Friday’s game in Washington. Van Gundy said the only thing that will break the cycle of frustration surrounding the team is a unified resolve to be better from start to finish in games.
``Eventually we’ll be the ones who will figure out that we’re the ones who have to change this,’’ he said. ``This isn’t happening to us; it is happening because of us. Right now, we’re feeling sorry for ourselves and that has to change for us to get it turned around and playing better again.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonJanuary 8, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – If the Orlando Magic think they have problems as losers of their last three games all they have to do Friday night is look across the way at the Washington Wizards for a bit of perspective.
Wizards star Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday by the NBA following his actions after being investigated for bringing three guns into the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. And the Wizards have lost five of six games and currently sit at 11-22 after being picked by manyas a playoff team this season.
Not that any of that makes the Magic, 24-11 and three games back of Boston from the top spot in the Eastern Conference, feel any better. The Magic have hit their worst snag in the Stan Van Gundy era in Orlando, losing their last three games to sub-.500 teams and suffering through a frustrating drought in which they have dropped four of the past six games.
Facing a short-handed Washington team on Friday would seem like the perfect opportunity for the Magic to snap out of the funk that gripped the team of late. Van Gundy said the Magic have allowed the frustration to sap some of the team’s confidence and chemistry of late. He said it’s up to the Magic’s players and coaches to find a way out of the malaise and get back on track.
``Instead of our frustration maybe fueling an anger to where maybe you want to do something about it, I see us more hanging our heads a little bit,’’ Van Gundy said. ``It’s totally up to us and no one else to get this turned around.’’
Maybe most shocking of all in this stretch has been the struggles of the Magic’s offense. Vince Carter is in the throes of one of the worst shooting slumps of his career, the Magic have been unable to consistently get shots for Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson’s play has been up and down since returning from knee surgery.
So with the four all-stars struggling, Orlando has had to lean on reserves J.J. Redick, Mickael Pietrus and new starter Matt Barnes for long stretches. Too often, it hasn’t been enough during this three-game losing streak. Orlando lost three in a row last April, but that was when it was resting players for the playoff run. This is the first three-game skid since January of 2008.
``I think that we’re out there thinking a little too much right now, and we’re not sure of ourselves at times,’’ Nelson said after Wednesday’s 108-103 loss to Toronto. ``The only thing we can do is continue working at it and get out of this funk this we’re in right now. Eventually every team is going to go through a little funk, but the good teams get on top of it.’’
Howard insisted that the Magic are still a very good team, albeit a frustrated one. He said the locker room has remained united and he’s gone out of his way to talk to teammates in hopes of keeping them from splintering from the team. Howard thinks that one good game, one he hopes comes Friday in Washington, will trigger relief and better play from a Magic team that’s clearly been pressing of late.
``This is a tough stretch for us, but we’re going to fight though it,’’ Howard said. ``I look around the locker room and see guys who are hoping that we can just one day have a breakout offensively. We’ve missed shots and everybody is down, but we just have to continue to fight.
``We go through situations during the season that will prepare us for the long run and the playoffs,’’ Howard continued. ``We’re going through this phase right now and it might not be pretty, but we just have to understand that it will make us a better team and better as individuals. Me as a leader, I just have to stay positive and make sure we all fight though this, so later on we’ll be fine.’’
Van Gundy is hoping the Magic can take the stirring rally in Wednesday’s fourth quarter – one in which the Magic sliced an 18-point deficit to two points on two different occasions – and carry it over to Friday’s game in Washington. Van Gundy said the only thing that will break the cycle of frustration surrounding the team is a unified resolve to be better from start to finish in games.
``Eventually we’ll be the ones who will figure out that we’re the ones who have to change this,’’ he said. ``This isn’t happening to us; it is happening because of us. Right now, we’re feeling sorry for ourselves and that has to change for us to get it turned around and playing better again.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
